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# Redshift of Galaxy Clusters from the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect.

## 1 Introduction

The advent of new experiments dedicated to the observation of the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect (Sunyaev & Zel’dovich, 1972) (SZE hereafter), demands the development of new techniques to best analyze these new and exciting data.
Through the SZE it is possible to trace the hot plasma in the galaxy clusters which distorts the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation. This distortion is redshift independent and it is proportional to the temperature of the plasma and its electron density ($`n_e`$). This quality ($`z`$-independent, and $`n_e`$) makes the SZE effect an ideal way to explore the high redshift population of galaxy clusters. However, the fact that the distortion induced by the cluster in the CMB is independent of the redshift of the cluster, makes the determination of the cluster redshift from SZE observations a challenging task.
Redshifts can be easily measured for relatively nearby clusters but for distant clusters one should use other approaches, for instance photometric redshifts. However, photometric redshifts for clusters above redshift $``$ 0.5 require large telescopes. Ongoing and future SZE experiments will detect hundreds or thousands of clusters. The redshift estimation of all these clusters using 10-m class telescopes is unfeasible. An optimal solution could be to combine small, and medium-sized telescopes to determine the redshifts of the low and intermediate $`z`$ clusters respectively. Then, we could leave the estimation of the redshifts of the most distant clusters to the large telescopes. However, to select the low, intermediate and high z clusters we need an estimate of their redshift. The motivation of this work is to show how it is possible to make this preselection of the low, intermediate and high redshift clusters using SZE data alone. Then, this preselection can be used to determine more accurately the redshifts of the clusters combining small (for the low z clusters) medium-sized (for the intermediate z clusters) and large (for the high z clusters) telescopes.
Our method is based only on observed quantities of the SZE. These quantities are associated with the observed shapes of the 2D surface brightness profile of the clusters which does have some dependence on the redshift. The observed size of a particular cluster, for instance, will decrease with increasing redshift. So, given an observed size we could, in principle, get a probability for the cluster to be at a given redshift. However, the size of the cluster will also depend on its total mass. This means that two clusters with different redshifts and masses could have the same apparent size provided the most distant cluster had a larger mass that compensates the decrease in the apparent size due to the increase in redshift. There are, therefore, degeneracies between the redshift of the cluster and its mass. The question now is, can we break this degeneracy by including more information in our analysis ? A resolved SZE image of a cluster provides information, not only about its size, but also about the shape of the entire profile. The total observed flux of the cluster, for instance, will depend on the total mass of the cluster (and its redshift and temperature). The central SZE decrement will depend on the core radius and electron central density but not on the redshift. By adding these and other additional observables, it should be possible to break the degeneracies between the mass and redshift.
Our method will have, however, one limitation: it works with resolved SZE images. Therefore it should be useful for sub-arcmin experiments but not for experiments like Planck where the best resolution will be 5 arcmin.

## 2 Morphological redshifts

The idea behind morphological redshift estimation is that by combining many observables taken from the 2D SZE cluster profile it is possible to divide the clusters in different groups, each one for a different redshift interval.
The first two obvious observables are the total flux and size of the cluster. However, in real experiments it will be difficult to measure these two quantities due to the instrumental noise and the limited sensitivity of the detectors. In order to get the total flux and size of the cluster, one should extrapolate the observed 2D profile below the noise level. The easiest approach to solve this problem is just to consider the isophotal size and isophotal flux instead of the total flux and total size of the cluster. Isophotal fluxes and sizes are direct observed quantities. Like the total flux and total size, their isophotal equivalents also show strong scaling relations in galaxy clusters (see Mohr & Evrard 1997, Mohr et al. 2000, Verde et al. 2000 for a relation between isophotal size and temperature).
If we only use the isophotal flux and isophotal size and we take into account that the scaling relations in galaxy clusters have an intrinsic scatter, we find that the redshift estimation is quite poor. In order to improve the result, more observables should be combined.
In this work we will include 5 additional observables. The central amplitude, second derivative in the center, and 3 mexican hat wavelet coefficients at the center.
The central amplitude does not depend on the redshift but depends on the total projected mass along the line of sight. This will make this quantity very useful to break the degeneracy between the mass and the redshift when combined with other observables which do depend on the redshift. One such observable is the second derivative at the center. It gives an idea of how cuspy the cluster is. If we move a cluster of fixed mass back in redshift, we will see that the central amplitude does not change with redshift but the cluster becomes more and more cuspy. Related to the second derivative is the mexican hat wavelet. By changing the scale of this wavelet we can trace the 2D SZE profile at different radii. Although in this work we will present only the preliminary results obtained with these 7 observables, in a subsequent work (Diego et al.) we will show how it is possible to improve the result by including more observables.
In the next section we will show how to combine all these observables and use that combination to get an estimate of the redshift.

### 2.1 Principal Component Analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA hereafter) has been widely used in the last years as a powerful classifier of data sets. For our particular case, PCA has several desirable advantages which can be briefly summarized as follows.

$``$ PCA produces an optimal linear combination of the observables. It is optimal in the sense that it maximizes the variance of the linear combination (or projection).

$``$ There is no limit in the number of observables. One can include as many observables as wanted.

$``$ PCA is a non-parametric method. This is a key point since no assumptions about the cluster scaling relations need to be done. If there are intrinsic scaling relations between some of the observables, PCA will find them.

If we write our data set in matrix notation, $`X_{Nm}`$ ($`N`$ clusters observed and $`m`$ observables per cluster), then the principal components are given by the projections along the directions of the eigenvectors of the matrix $`S=X^tX`$.
The matrix $`S`$ has as many eigenvectors as observables (7 in our case). One quality of these eigenvectors is that they are independent one from each other. So, when projecting the data set, $`X`$, along the directions given by the eigenvectors we have a representation of the original data set in an orthogonal system. Another quality of these new representation of the data is that the projection along the direction of the eigenvector with the highest associated eigenvalue retains the highest percentage of information of the original data set. The eigenvector associated with the second highest eigenvalue retains the second largest percentage of information and so on. Therefore we can reduce the dimensionality of the problem by considering only the $`p`$ first directions (eigenvectors) such that the percentage of information retained by these $`p`$ directions is above certain threshold (typically the percentage should be $`>95\%`$).

## 3 Results

We have applied the previous method to hydrodynamical N-body simulations of the SZE. We have filtered the images with a Gaussian of FWHM = 15 arcsec simulating the effect of an antenna and we have set a threshold in the maps which simulates the sensitivity of our instrument.
After computing the principal components we keep only the first three principal components since they will retain $`95\%`$ of the variance of the original data set. In Figure 1 we show the result. As can be seen, different redshifts are grouped in different regions in this 3D space. This suggests that it will be possible to discriminate between low, intermediate and high redshift clusters. Our method should be useful for future sub-arcmin SZE surveys where hundreds of clusters should be detected and a preselection of high-intermediate-low redshift clusters should be very useful to optimize the optical follow up.

In a subsequent work (Diego et al.) we will apply the method to better high resolution N-body simulations and we will include more observables in the analysis. Finally, we will recover the redshifts of our simulated clusters using a Bayesian approach and we will give the error of the recovered redshifts as a function of $`z`$.

## Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Community programme Improving the Human Research Potential and Socio-Economic knowledge under contract number HPMF-CT-2000-00967.

## References


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# Two-level laser light statistics

## 1 Introduction

We consider the light statistics of two-level atom lasers. Analytical expressions for the photo-detection spectral density, $`𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })`$, and the Fano factor, $`\mathrm{var}(m)/m`$, where $`m`$ denotes the number of photons in the laser cavity, $`\mathrm{var}(m)`$ the variance of $`m`$, and $`m`$ the average value of $`m`$, are derived. Numerous paper have addressed this problem before, e.g. . However, explicit formulas that are not restricted to high-pumping levels and do not neglect spontaneous decay do not seem to be available. The concepts on which rests our generalized rate-equations approach have been explained in detail in tutorial papers  and applied to three- and four-level lasers . This method enables one to obtain analytical expressions straightforwardly, which coincide with Quantum-Optics results whenever a comparison can be made, even in the case of sub-Poissonian light statistics. The novelty of the paper resides in the fact that a simple formula is found that holds irrespectively of the pumping rates. Similar formulas were previously obtained for four-level lasers , but they were too involved to be written down. The present paper may be viewed as an illustration of that previous work, with formulas that are easier to appreciate because of their simplicity.

Rate equations treat the number of photons in the cavity as a classical random function of time. The light field is quantized as a result of matter quantization and conservation of energy, but not directly. Rate equations should be distinguished from semi-classical theories in which the optical field is driven by atomic dipole expectation values. The present theory rests instead on the consideration of transition probabilities as in . Every absorption event, even if it occurs in the detector, reacts on the number of photons in the optical cavity. Our method allows the use of Monte-Carlo simulations .

The active medium considered is a collection of $`N`$ identical atoms. Transitions are supposed to be strongly homogeneously broadened so that atomic polarizations may be adiabatically eliminated. The two-level scheme is obtained as a limit case of the three-level one (see Fig. 1), with the levels labeled $`|0`$, $`|1`$, and $`|2`$ in increasing order of energy. Level separations are supposed to be large compared with $`k_\mathrm{B}T`$, where $`T`$ denotes the atomic temperature and $`k_\mathrm{B}`$ the Boltzmann constant, so that thermally-induced transitions are negligible. The classical 2-level scheme is a valid one in the limit in which the lower decay time $`1/p_d`$ tends to zero. In that limit, the $`|1`$ population tends to zero and stimulated absorption from $`|1`$ to $`|2`$ does not occur. For concreteness, we may think of the pumping as resulting from the injection of atoms in the excited state inside the cavity, as in Scully and Lamb . If the atoms are injected regularly the fluctuations of the pumping rate vanish ($`\xi =0`$ in our notation).

The probability per unit time that an electronic transition from level $`|2`$ to $`|1`$ occurs is taken as equal to $`m+1`$, where $`m`$ denotes the number of photons in the cavity. This amounts to selecting a time unit for which the laser gain $`g1`$. Spontaneous decay from level $`|2`$ to level $`|1`$ is allowed with probability $`\gamma `$. This decay may be either non-radiative or involve radiation into other electromagnetic modes, besides the one of interest. Photons are absorbed with probability $`\alpha m`$, where $`\alpha `$ denotes a constant, the absorbing atoms residing most of the time in their ground state. These absorbing atoms model the transmission of light through mirrors with subsequent absorption by a detector. Provided detection is linear and reflectionless, it is immaterial whether absorption occurs inside or outside the optical cavity. For simplicity, internal absorption is neglected.

Golubev and Sokolov  first pointed out in 1984 that if the laser pumping rate does not fluctuate and detection is ideal, the detected current should not fluctuate at low Fourier (or baseband) frequencies. This observation was made independently by Yamamoto et al. . These latter authors furthermore proposed 1986 a practical way of realizing quiet electrical pumps, namely a battery in series with a cold resistance, much greater than the laser diode dynamic resistance . This scheme was implemented for the first time in 1987 . The pumping rate is supposed in the present paper to be fully prescribed through its average value $`J`$ and the spectral density $`\sigma _j\xi J`$ of its fluctuations. It would be straightforward, however, to account for a dependence of the pumping rate on the atomic populations, as is required in the case of optical pumps .

We first consider the steady-state regime and subsequently derive formulas for the photo-detection spectrum and the intra-cavity field Fano factor.

## 2 Steady-state

Let $`n_j`$, $`j=0,1,2`$, denote the number of atoms in state $`j`$. In the limit $`1/p_d=0`$, we have $`n_1=0`$, and thus

$`N=n_0+n_2.`$ (1)
Let $`𝒥`$ denote the pumping rate, $``$ the net stimulated rate, $`𝒮`$ the spontaneous decay rate from the upper to the lower working levels, and $`𝒬`$ the photon absorption rate. The steady-state conditions read

$`𝒥`$ $`=+𝒮,`$ $`𝒬`$ $`=,`$ (2)
where

$`𝒥`$ $`=J,`$ $``$ $`=(m+1)n_2,`$ $`𝒮`$ $`=\gamma n_2,`$ $`𝒬`$ $`=\alpha m.`$ (3)
Equations (1), (2) and (3) provide the steady-state atomic populations $`n_i`$ and photon number $`m`$ as

$`m`$ $`=\sqrt{\left(\widehat{J}+\gamma +1\right)^24\widehat{J}\gamma }\gamma 1,`$ $`n_2`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha m}{m+1}},`$ $`n_0`$ $`=N{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha m}{m+1}},`$ (4)
where $`\widehat{J}=J/\alpha `$.

When $`\gamma =0`$, Eq. (4) leads to

$`m`$ $`=\widehat{J},`$ $`n_2`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha \widehat{J}}{\widehat{J}+1}},`$ $`n_0`$ $`=N{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha \widehat{J}}{\widehat{J}+1}}.`$ (5)
## 3 Photo-detection spectrum

Within the weak-noise approximation atomic and photonic populations split into steady-state values and fluctuations. For example the instantaneous photon number $`m`$ may be written as $`m=m+\mathrm{\Delta }m`$, where $`m`$ needs not be not distinguished from the steady-state value of $`m`$. Similarly, rates get split into steady-state values and fluctuations consisting of a deterministic function of the population fluctuations and uncorrelated Langevin “forces”. For example $`𝒥`$ splits into $`J=𝒥`$ and the sum, $`\mathrm{\Delta }J`$, of a deterministic function of populations and a Langevin force $`j(t)`$ expressing the jump process randomness. Thus

$`𝒥`$ $`J+\mathrm{\Delta }J,`$ $``$ $`R+\mathrm{\Delta }R,`$ $`𝒮`$ $`S+\mathrm{\Delta }S,`$ $`𝒬`$ $`Q+\mathrm{\Delta }Q.`$ (6)
where a first-order variation of the expressions in Eq. (3) gives

$`\mathrm{\Delta }J`$ $`=j,`$ (7a)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }R`$ $`=\left(m+1\right)\mathrm{\Delta }n_2+n_2\mathrm{\Delta }m+r,`$ (7b)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }S`$ $`=\gamma \mathrm{\Delta }n_2+s,`$ (7c)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }Q`$ $`=\alpha \mathrm{\Delta }m+q.`$ (7d)
Since the number $`N`$ of atoms is supposed to be constant we have

$$\mathrm{\Delta }n_0+\mathrm{\Delta }n_2=0.$$
(8)
At some Fourier frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, 111The Fourier angular frequency is called here ‘frequency’ for short. The frequency, as it is usually defined, is obtained by dividing $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ by $`2\pi `$. the generalized rate equations read

$`i\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Delta }m`$ $`=\mathrm{\Delta }R\mathrm{\Delta }Q,`$ (9a)
$`i\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Delta }n_0`$ $`=\mathrm{\Delta }R+\mathrm{\Delta }S\mathrm{\Delta }J,`$ (9b)
$`i\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Delta }n_2`$ $`=\mathrm{\Delta }J\mathrm{\Delta }R\mathrm{\Delta }S.`$ (9c)
Equations (6)–(9) are solved for $`\mathrm{\Delta }Q`$, yielding a linear combination of the Langevin forces

$$\mathrm{\Delta }Q=\underset{z\{j,q,r,s\}}{}\stackrel{~}{c}_zz,$$
(10)
where the $`\stackrel{~}{c}_z`$ are complex and frequency dependent coefficients. The normalized photo-current spectral density is thus

$$𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })=\frac{1}{\alpha m}\underset{z\{j,q,r,s\}}{}\left|\stackrel{~}{c}_z\right|^2\sigma _z,$$
(11)
where $`\sigma _z`$ denotes the spectral density value of the Langevin noise source $`z`$, equal to average rates

$`\sigma _j`$ $`=\xi J,`$ $`\sigma _q`$ $`=\alpha m,`$ $`\sigma _r`$ $`=\left(m+1\right)n_2,`$ $`\sigma _s`$ $`=\gamma n_2.`$ (12)
$`\xi `$ accounts for a poissonian pump if $`\xi =1`$, while a perfect quiet pumping is obtained at $`\xi =0`$. When these expressions are introduced in Eq. (11) an analytical expression of $`𝒮`$ is obtained

$$𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })=1+\frac{\alpha }{m}\frac{𝒰(\mathrm{\Omega })}{𝒟(\mathrm{\Omega })},$$
(13)
with

$`𝒰(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=\left(n_2(3m+1)\alpha m\right)\mathrm{\Omega }^2+n_2(3m+1)\gamma \widehat{m}\alpha m\widehat{m}^2+J(m+1)^2\xi ,`$ (14a)
$`𝒟(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=\mathrm{\Omega }^4+\left(\left(\widehat{m}+\alpha n_2\right)^2+2\left(\gamma n_2\alpha \widehat{m}\right)\right)\mathrm{\Omega }^2+\left(\gamma n_2\alpha \widehat{m}\right)^2.`$ (14b)
where $`\widehat{m}`$ stands for $`m+\gamma +1`$. $`𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })1`$ is the ratio of a polynomium of degree 1 in $`\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ in the numerator and of degree 2 in $`\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ in the denominator. A few observations can be made from Eqs. (13)–(14)

* Well above threshold and with $`\gamma =0`$, implying that $`m1`$ and $`J1`$, Eqs. (13)–(14) simplify to $`𝒮=\left(\alpha ^2\xi +\mathrm{\Omega }^2\right)/\left(\alpha ^2+\mathrm{\Omega }^2\right)`$, as is well-known, see e.g. ;
* $`lim_\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{}𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })=1`$. That is, the light statistic is Poissonian at high Fourier frequencies irrespective of the pumping and laser parameters;
* $`𝒮(0)=\xi `$ for an ideal laser ($`\gamma =0`$), i.e., laser light spectrum at zero-frequency corresponds to the value of the pump $`\xi `$-parameter;
* For usual laser parameters there is a value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ that maximizes $`𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })`$, according to Eq. (13).

The features of $`𝒮(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ just discussed are illustrated in Fig. 2. We have chosen two-level laser parameters corresponding to a thresholdless laser ($`\gamma =0`$), $`N=10^5`$ atoms, and cavity losses $`\alpha =6.32`$ identical to those considered for three- and four-level lasers in . Figs. 2a and 2b verify that two-level lasers are noisy even when spontaneous decay is negligible. This occurs at a Fourier frequency that depends on the pumping level. The maximum spectral-density value is a function of the number $`m`$ of photons stored in the cavity. The curves given in Figs. 2c and 2d demonstrate that the laser is most noisy when $`m`$ is on the order of unity. At small $`m`$-values there is no phase-coherence between successive wave trains emitted because they do not overlap, and the light is thermal-like. At high $`m`$-values a regulation mechanism takes place.

## 4 Fano factor

The intra-cavity photon statistics is characterized by the Fano factor $`=\mathrm{var}(m)/avem`$. The variance of $`m`$ is the integral over frequency of $`𝒮_{\mathrm{\Delta }m}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$, the normalized spectral density of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m`$. Similar to Sec. 3, $`𝒮_{\mathrm{\Delta }m}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ is obtained by solving Eqs. (6)–(9) for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m`$ instead of $`\mathrm{\Delta }Q`$

$$𝒮_{\mathrm{\Delta }m}(\mathrm{\Omega })=\frac{1}{m}\frac{𝒱(\mathrm{\Omega })}{𝒟(\mathrm{\Omega })},$$
(15)
where

$$𝒱(\mathrm{\Omega })=\left(n_2(m+1)+\alpha m\right)\mathrm{\Omega }^2+n_2(m+1)\gamma \widehat{m}+\alpha m\widehat{m}^2+J(m+1)^2\xi ,$$
(16)
and with $`𝒟(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ still given by Eq. (14b).

The Fano factor is thus

$$=_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝒮_{\mathrm{\Delta }m}(\mathrm{\Omega })\frac{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\pi },$$
(17)
for which a lengthy analytical expression has been obtained using symbolic computations. Well above threshold and with $`\gamma =0`$, this expression yields $`=\left(1+\xi \right)/2`$, in agreement with .

The Fano factor of two-level lasers is represented as a function of the pumping rate and the spontaneous decay rate in Fig. 3. When $`\gamma =0`$ a bump is observed on $``$ at $`J10`$, related to the bump observed on $`𝒮`$ in Fig. 2: light statistics is nearly that of thermal light. The bump sharpens as $`\gamma `$ increases with a maximum occurring at threshold. Below threshold the light statistics is thermal-like, so that $`m+1`$. Above threshold Poissonian light statistics ($`1`$) is being approached, for the case of a Poissonian pump.

## 5 Conclusion

Two-level lasers have been considered within the framework of generalized rate-equations. Fully analytical expressions of the photo-current spectral density and intracavity field Fano factor were obtained. It was shown that thresholdless two-level lasers become noisy when the average number of photons in the cavity is on the order of unity. Sub-Poissonian light statistics is accurately described. The present paper should be considered as being partly tutorial, in that it provides more accessible formulas than does a previous paper dealing with four-level atom lasers .


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# A note on the discovery of absorption features in 1E 1207.4-52091

## 1. Introduction

Strange (quark) star is composed of nearly equal number of up, down, and strange quarks, and a few electrons for keeping neutralization of matter. It has important implications for studying the phase diagram of strong interaction system whether this kind of quark stars exist. Recently, Xu (2002) suggests that a featureless thermal spectrum could be a probe for identifying strange stars, since no bound charged particle is in discrete quantum states on the quark surface without strong magnetic field. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that discrete Landau levels appear for charged particles in strong fields.

Two absorption lines, at $`0.7`$ and $`1.4`$ keV, are detected from an isolate neutron star (1E 1207.4-5209) with Chandra by Sanwal et al. (2002), and are then confirmed with XMM-Newton by Mereghetti et al. (2002). Certainly 1E 1207.4-5209 can not be a bare strange star if those two lines are atomic-transition originated, although the stellar mass $`M`$ and radius $`R`$ may be derived by obtaining the gravitational redshift (as $`M/R`$) and the pressure broadening (as $`M/R^2`$) of the lines. However, if these double lines are caused by the Landau-level transition of electrons, 1E 1207.4-5209 could also be a bare strange star since no atom might be on the stellar surface. Sanwal et al. (2002) addressed that the features are associated with atomic transition of once-ionized helium, and thought that it is hard to interpret the absorption features in term of cyclotron lines. However, we will find in the next section that the possibility of the absorption being cyclotron resonance can not be ruled out. We will present, in this Letter, a short note to confute the interpretation of the recently discovered lines in the X-ray spectrum of 1E1207-52, that these spectral lines are testifying the presence of an atmosphere on the star which can absolutely not be a bare strange star.

## 2. The possibility of cyclotron lines from 1E 1207.4-5209

In Sanwal et al. (2002), the authors discussed two potential possibilities in generating the absorption features, i.e., cyclotron or atomic transition lines, but considered the former scenario unlikely. They hence suggested that the features are associated with atomic transitions of once-ionized helium. Here we hope to point out that all the criticisms about the cyclotron line mechanism by Sanwal et al. can be circumvented, so that such a possibility is not ruled out. Below we will answer their criticisms in turn.

1. The inferred field value, $`B_\mathrm{e}=3\times 10^{12}`$ G, based on $`P`$ and $`\dot{P}`$ is significantly larger than the field $`B_{\mathrm{ce}}10^{11}`$ G derived by assuming that the 0.7 keV and $`0.7\times 2`$ keV lines are the fundamental and the first harmonics, respectively (Sanwal et al. 2002). However, it is possible that 1E 1207.4-5209 has a debris disk, which is currently conjectured for interpreting the enigmatic sources of anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft $`\gamma `$ray repeaters in literatures (e.g., Chatterjee et al. 2000), since it is in the center of a supernova remnant. A recent discovery of a near-infrared counterpart to an AXP (1E1048, Wang & Chakrabarty 2002) may be a hint of such kind a fallback accretion disk. Israel et al.’s discovery (2002) strengthens the infrared association with the AXP 1E1048.1-5937. In case of this disk, 1E 1207.4-5209 provides a potential possibility for us to investigate the disk property by dividing the total braking rate into magnetodipole and disk ones, since the total rotational energy loss ($`I\mathrm{\Omega }\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$, $`I`$ the moment of inertia) is the sum of the dipole radiation power and the propeller energy loss $`\dot{E}_\mathrm{d}=I\mathrm{\Omega }\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\mathrm{d}G\dot{M}M/R_\mathrm{m}`$ (Francischelli & Wijers 2002), where $`M`$ is the mass of center star, $`\dot{M}`$ the accretion rate, and the magnetosphere radius $`R_\mathrm{m}2.2\times 10^{13}B_{12}^{4/7}\dot{M}^{2/7}`$ cm. It is worth noting that most of the accretion material driven by viscosity in the fossil disk can’t fall onto the stellar surface because of centrifugal forces acting on the matter, but is ejected by the boundary reaction during the propeller phase. The magnetodipole spin down $`\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\mathrm{m}8\times 10^{16}`$ s-2 for a pulsar with polar field $`B_{\mathrm{ce}}`$, and then $`\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\mathrm{d}=\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\mathrm{m}7\times 10^{13}`$ s-2. The fossil disk torque dominates, which could be the reason that this source is radio quiet (otherwise, a source may be radio loud if the dipole radiation torque dominates). Therefore, the accretion rate $`\dot{M}9.1\times 10^{15}`$ g/s $`6.4\times 10^{11}M_{}`$ per year. We find $`R_\mathrm{m}1.6\times 10^8`$ cm, the radius of light cylinder $`R_\mathrm{L}2\times 10^9`$ cm, and the corotating radius $`R_\mathrm{C}9.5\times 10^7`$ cm. These radii are consistent with the propeller requirement: $`R_\mathrm{C}R_\mathrm{m}<R_\mathrm{L}`$. In addition, the age problem (e.g., Mereghetti et al. 2002), that the characteristic age $`\tau _\mathrm{c}=200900`$ kyrs is much larger than the estimated age $`7`$ kyrs for the remnant PKS 1209-51/52, might also be solved in this scenario.

2. The 0.7 keV line is not much stronger than the 1.4 keV one (Sanwal et al. 2002). It is true that the oscillator strength of the first harmonic is much smaller than that of the fundamental in the weak field limit, but this does not mean that the absorption-like dips would have significant differences. In fact, the spectrum profile should be calculated by modelling the resonant cyclotron radiation transfer. For instance, even for a field of $`B=1.7\times 10^{12}`$ G (in this case, the ratio of the oscillator strength could be $`0.04`$), those two spectrum lines calculated could be similar in depth (Freeman et al. 1999), depending on radiative geometry. Observationally, the cyclotron absorption depth of the fundamental is not much stronger than that of the first harmonic (e.g., Trümper et al. 1978, with $`B3\times 10^{12}`$ G). In addition, the observation does show that the integrated photons absorbed by the fundamental transition are much more than those by the first harmonic transition.

3. The charge density in the star’s magnetosphere can not be large enough to scatter resonantly the photons from the surface (Sanwal et al. 2002). The main reason, which leads the authors to this conclusion, is that the required electron number density, $`n_\mathrm{e}10^{13}`$ cm-3, is two orders larger than the Goldreich-Julian density, $`n_{\mathrm{GJ}}5\times 10^{11}`$ cm-3. However, although pulsar magnetospheres are not known with certain, it is a common point that primary pairs with Lorentz factor $`\gamma _\mathrm{p}10^6`$ and with density $`n_{\mathrm{GJ}}`$ are accelerated in gaps while more secondary pairs with Lorentz factor $`\gamma _\mathrm{s}10^{24}`$ are created outside the gaps (e.g., Ruderman & Sutherland 1975). In despite of that the net charge density could be $`n_{\mathrm{GJ}}`$, the absolute number density should be $`10^{24}`$ times of $`n_{\mathrm{GJ}}`$, which should be enough to effectively scatter the photons from the stellar surface. Actually, this could be another possibility for cyclotron absorptions in the magnetosphere even if no fossil disk contributes a braking torque.

4. The atomic transition of once-ionized helium may be responsible to these lines, although the authors had not presented a full discussion in this possibility. However, in this interpretation, they assume a general field with superstrong strength, $`B1.5\times 10^{14}`$ G, which is much larger than the derived field $`B_\mathrm{e}=3\times 10^{12}`$ G. It is hard to understand that this “neutron” star with a typical field $`B_\mathrm{e}`$ can have such a strong prevalent multipole field on the surface.

## 3. Discussions

Certainly Sanwal et al’s discovery is very important in both possibility: the mass and radius may be derived if the absorption are atomic transition originated, or the accretion rate in the propeller phase could be estimated, for the first time, in case of two cyclotron lines (point 1).

Mereghetti et al. (2002) found that the absorption features are phase-dependent: the $`1.4`$ keV line prefers to appear during the minimum and the rising the parts, rather than at the peak, of the pulse profile. This observational property may reflect the geometry of resonant cyclotron emission: there is almost only one fundamental line for an observer along the magnetic fields, while more harmonic lines appear if the line-of-sight is perpendicular to the fields (Fig.3 of Freeman et al. 1999). An effort to fit the observed spectrum of 1E 1207.4-5209 was tried by Hailey & Mori (2002) who presumed that the star has an atmosphere with He-like Oxygen or Neon in not too high a field; whereas an elaborate model calculation (being prepared), to fit in term of cyclotron resonance lines, is also necessary in order to know the details of the source.

A very interesting and important question is: why is 1E 1207.4-5209 the only one in which significant absorption features have been detected so far? To answer this question, Mereghetti et al. (2002) suggested 1E 1207.4-5209 has a metal atmosphere, which is not old enough to accrete a hydrogen layer. However, this question may naturally be answered by the selective effect in observations, since maybe only a few sources have magnetic fields being suitable for creating cyclotron lines with energies in the detector energy range. The fundamental electron cyclotron resonance lies at $`\mathrm{\Delta }E=11.6B_{12}\sqrt{1R_\mathrm{s}/R}`$ keV, where $`B_{12}`$ is the polar magnetic field in $`10^{12}`$ G, $`R_\mathrm{s}2GM/c^2`$ is the Schwarzschild radius, and $`M`$ and $`R`$ are the stellar mass and radius, respectively. For a bare strange star with certain mass $`M`$, one can obtain its radius $`R`$ by integrating numerically the TOV equation, with the inclusion of the equation of state for strange matter: $`P=(\rho 4B)/3`$ ($`B`$ is the bag constant). The fundamental resonance energy as a function of magnetic field for strange stars with different masses is shown in Fig.1. We can see that, for detectors (Chandra or XMM-Newton) from $`0.1`$ to $`10`$ keV, the sensitivity fields in which electrons can absorb resonantly photons within that energy range are from $`9\times 10^9`$ G to $`1\times 10^{12}`$G. It is well known that pulsars tend to have a magnetic field of $`10^{12}`$ G (normal pulsars) or of $`10^8`$ G (millisecond pulsars); it is thus not a surprise that only few sources are observed to show spectral lines. No source listed in the table of Xu (2002) has definitely a suitable field.

Recently, a 5 keV absorption feature has been detected and confirmed in the bursts of a soft-gamma-repeater SGR 1806-20 (Ibrahim et al. 2002a, 2002b), which is believed to be the feature as one of the proton cyclotron lines in superstrong magnetic field ($`10^{15}`$ G) by the authors. However there are some difficulties in this explanation. 1, due to the high mass-energy ($`1`$ GeV) of a proton, the ratio of the oscillator strength of the first harmonic to that of fundamental in $`10^{15}`$ G is only $`10^6`$! It is not reasonable to detect the first and the even higher harmonics. In fact, numerical spectrum simulations of atmospheres with protons in superstrong fields have never show more than two proton absorption lines (Ho & Lai 2001, 2002). 2, a better and more reasonable model for the continuum spectrum component is needed in order to identify such absorption features in reality. Motivated by these flaws, we suggest that the possible absorption lines at $`5`$, $`11.2`$, and $`17.5`$ keV could be interpreted as electron cyclotron lines, while the $`7.5`$ keV absorption might be caused by other effects (e.g., can the accreting plasma with irons absorb at $`7.5`$ keV?). The much small ratio, $`10^7`$, of oscillation strength can also not large enough to produce a second harmonic of $`\alpha `$ particle at $`7.5`$ keV. SGR 1806-20 may have an ordinary magnetic field, $`5\times 10^{11}`$ G, which should be another pulsar-like compact stars with suitable magnetic fields for the detectors in the sky.

Strange stars could exist; the exotic surface of a bare strange star might eventually result in the identification of them, especially the most probable one RX J1856 (e.g., Drake et al. 2002, Xu 2002). Although each of the observed phenomena from pulsar-like stars may be interpreted under the regime of traditional neutron star with unusual or artificial physical properties, it might be a natural way to understand the observations by updating “neutron” stars with (bare) strange stars.

Acknowledgments. We would like to thank Dr. Bing Zhang for his valuable suggestions. RXX wishes to thank Dr. Jianrong Shi for his valuable discussions about cyclotron line formation.


text:
# Universal spectral statistics of Andreev billiards: semiclassical approach

## I Introduction

Based on early work of Wigner Wigner , Dyson Dyson  proposed a classification of complex quantum systems according to their behavior under time reversal and spin rotations. The ergodic limits of the proposed symmetry classes are described by the Gaussian orthogonal, unitary, and symplectic ensembles (GOE, GUE, and GSE) of random-matrix theory. These were initially motivated by atomic nuclei and have since been applied successfully to a large variety of systems, most notably chaotic and disordered quantum systems Guhr . More recently, an additional seven symmetry classes have been identified Zirnbauer , which are naturally realized in part by Dirac fermions in random gauge fields (chiral classes) chiral  and in part by quasiparticles in disordered mesoscopic superconductors asz  or superconducting-normalconducting (SN) hybrid systems Altland . The common new feature of the new symmetry classes is a mirror symmetry in the spectrum: if $`E`$ is in the spectrum, so is $`E`$. The corresponding Gaussian random-matrix ensembles differ from the Wigner-Dyson ensembles in so far as their spectral statistics, while still universal, is no longer stationary under shifts of the energy due to additional discrete symmetries.

Much insight into the range of validity of the Wigner-Dyson random-matrix ensembles has been gained from the semiclassical approach to the spectral statistics of chaotic quantum systems, based on Gutzwiller’s trace formula Gutzwiller . In a seminal paper Berry , Berry gave a semiclassical derivation of the spectral form factor of chaotic quantum systems for the Wigner-Dyson ensembles, partially reproducing the results of random-matrix theory and clarifying its limitations. In this paper we provide such a semiclassical interpretation, based on Andreev systems, of a generalized form factor for the Gaussian random-matrix ensembles associated with the new symmetry classes termed $`C`$ and $`C`$I (the pertinent Gaussian ensembles will be referred to as $`C`$-GE and $`C`$I-GE).

There have been several attempts to apply semiclassical theory to SN hybrid systems Melsen ; Taras ; Richter . Melsen et al. Melsen  pointed out that the gap induced by the proximity effect in a billiard coupled to a superconducting lead (Andreev billiard – cf. Fig. 1b) is sensitive to whether the classical dynamics of the (normal) billiard is integrable or chaotic. These authors showed that the proximity-induced hard gap in the chaotic case is *not* fully reproduced by semiclassical theory, the reasons for which have been discussed further in Ref. Taras . All these systems have in common that due to the presence of the superconductor the combined electron-hole dynamics is no longer chaotic even if the corresponding normal (nonsuperconducting) billiard is chaotic Andreevbilliard . By contrast, we focus here on a semiclassical approach to SN hybrid systems where the combined electron-hole dynamics remains chaotic even in the presence of the superconductor. Such systems exhibit the *universal* spectral statistics of the Gaussian random-matrix ensembles for the new symmetry classes. We identify the class of periodic orbits contributing to universal features in the density of states near the Fermi energy and show that in this case, semiclassics reproduces the spectral statistics predicted by random-matrix theory.

## II Universal spectral statistics

We briefly summarize the pertinent random-matrix results for the Gaussian ensembles corresponding to the new symmetry classes. For the Wigner-Dyson ensembles (GUE, GOE, GSE), the average density of states is nonuniversal and random-matrix theory makes universal predictions only about spectral fluctuations in the ergodic limit such as the correlation function

$$C(ϵ)=\delta \rho (E)\delta \rho (E+ϵ)$$
(1)
of the deviations $`\delta \rho (E)`$ of the density of states $`\rho (E)`$ from its mean value $`\rho (E)`$. A central quantity is the spectral form factor

$$K_{\text{WD}}(t)=\frac{1}{\rho }_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑ϵe^{\mathrm{i}ϵt/\mathrm{}}C(ϵ).$$
(2)
The ergodic limit of the new symmetry classes differs from the Wigner-Dyson case by the fact that even the average density of states has universal features close to the Fermi energy $`\mu `$. Thus, in this case, we define a generalized spectral form factor by the Fourier transform of the expectation value of the (oscillating part of the) density of states:

$$K(t)=2_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑E\delta \rho (E)e^{\mathrm{i}Et/\mathrm{}},$$
(3)
where $`E`$ is the energy (measured relative to $`\mu `$). For the ensemble $`C`$-GE (class $`C`$ is invariant under spin rotations, while time reversal is broken), this form factor is Altland

$$K^C(t)=\theta (1\frac{|t|}{t_H}).$$
(4)
Here, $`t_H=2\pi \mathrm{}\rho _{\mathrm{av}}`$ is the Heisenberg time defined in terms of the mean density of states $`\rho _{\mathrm{av}}`$ sufficiently far from the Fermi energy (the oscillating part of the density of states is defined as $`\delta \rho (E)=\rho (E)\rho _{\text{av}}`$). Semiclassically $`\rho _{\mathrm{av}}`$ corresponds to Weyl’s law. For the ensemble $`C`$I-GE (class $`C`$I differs from $`C`$ by invariance under time-reversal), the short-time expansion is Altland

$$K^{C\mathrm{I}}(t)=1+\frac{|t|}{2t_H}+𝒪(|t|^2).$$
(5)
Wigner-Dyson statistics can be applied even to a single chaotic system by exploiting a spectral average. By contrast, the new symmetry classes require an ensemble average since they have universal features in the vicinity of special energies (Fermi energy $`\mu `$). For billiards one may average over shapes.

Before entering into the semiclassical analysis for the new symmetry classes, we briefly review the semiclassical derivation of the usual spectral form factor of the GUE. There one starts from the Gutzwiller trace formula, that relates the oscillatory contribution $`\delta \rho (E)`$ to the density of states to a sum over periodic orbits $`p`$,

$$\delta \rho (E)=\frac{1}{\pi \mathrm{}}\mathrm{Re}\underset{p}{}t_pA_pe^{\mathrm{i}S_p/\mathrm{}}.$$
(6)
Here, $`S_p`$ denotes the classical action of the orbit, $`A_p`$ denotes its stability amplitude, and $`t_p`$ is the primitive orbit traversal time. The explicit factor $`t_p`$ arises because the traversal of the periodic orbit can start anywhere along the orbit. Inserting this expression into the definition of the spectral form factor, and employing the diagonal approximation, one finds

$$K_{\mathrm{WD},\mathrm{diag}}(t)=\underset{p}{}\frac{t_p^2}{t_H}|A_p|^2\delta (tt_p).$$
(7)
Finally averaging over some time interval $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ and using the Hannay–Ozorio-de-Almeida sum rule sumrule  $`_p^{t_p[t,t+\mathrm{\Delta }t]}|A_p|^2=\mathrm{\Delta }t/t`$ one obtains the result

$$K_{\mathrm{WD},\mathrm{diag}}(t)=\frac{t}{t_H}$$
(8)
valid for $`t_0tt_H`$, where $`t_0`$ is the period of the shortest periodic orbit. This result agrees with the short-time behavior of the spectral form factor predicted by the GUE.

## III Semiclassical approach to magnetic Andreev billiards

We now turn to Andreev billiards – the central theme of this paper. The novel element in SN hybrid systems is Andreev reflection converting electrons into holes (and vice versa) at the interface to the superconductor (see Fig. 1a). In this process, the incoming electron (hole) acquires a phase $`\mathrm{i}e^{\mathrm{i}\alpha }`$ ($`\mathrm{i}e^{\mathrm{i}\alpha }`$), where $`\alpha `$ is the phase of the superconducting order parameter $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ gauge . In the absence of a magnetic field, electrons (holes) sufficiently close to the Fermi energy ($`E|\mathrm{\Delta }|\mu `$) are reflected as holes (electrons) which then retrace the electron (hole) trajectory backwards (retroflection). In chaotic billiards, essentially all trajectories eventually hit any given part of the boundary. Thus, if the billiard is then coupled to a superconductor any quasiparticle eventually hits the superconducting interface, leading to a periodic orbit bouncing back and forth between two points on the superconducting interface. It follows that a conventional chaotic billiard (without magnetic field) that is coupled to a superconductor has a combined electron-hole dynamics that is no longer chaotic. Instead, the resulting trajectories are all periodic, leading to nonuniversal behavior such as the proximity-induced hard gap Melsen ; Taras  for time-reversal invariant systems.

One expects to recover universal spectral statistics *only* if the *combined* electron-hole dynamics is chaotic and periodic orbits are isolated as in conventional chaotic (hyperbolic) systems. In Andreev billiards this occurs naturally when time-reversal symmetry is broken by a perpendicular magnetic field (symmetry class $`C`$). In this case the retroflected hole (electron) does not retrace the trajectory of the incoming electron (hole), as electron and hole trajectories are curved in the same direction (cf. Fig. 1a). This allows one to express the density of states semiclassically by a Gutzwiller-type trace formula as a sum over the isolated periodic orbits of the *combined* electron-hole dynamics of the Andreev billiard,

$$\delta \rho (E)=\frac{1}{\pi \mathrm{}}\mathrm{Re}\underset{p}{}t_pA_pe^{\mathrm{i}S_p(E)/\mathrm{}+\mathrm{i}\chi }.$$
(9)
The orbit amplitudes $`A_p`$ are products of electron and hole contributions,

$$A_p=A_p^{(e)}A_p^{(h)},$$
(10)
while the orbit actions are sums of electron and hole actions,

$$S_p(E)=S_p^{(e)}(E)+S_p^{(h)}(E).$$
(11)
The factor $`t_p`$ again reflects the arbitrary starting point of the orbit and $`\chi `$ denotes the accumulated Andreev phases.

Coherent contributions to the form factor can be expected from the periodic orbits that retrace the same trajectory in the same direction with the roles of electrons and holes interchanged. Such *self-dual* orbits are invariant under electron-hole conjugation and the dynamical contributions to their action largely cancel due to the relation $`S_p^{(e)}(E)=S_p^{(h)}(E)`$, so that $`S_p(E)Et_p`$. Moreover, the amplitudes of electron and hole are just complex conjugates of one another, giving $`A_p=|A_p^{(e)}|^2`$. The accumulated Andreev phase is $`(\mathrm{i})^{2s}=1`$ with $`s`$ an odd integer. Keeping only the self-dual periodic orbits – the *self-dual approximation* – we find

$$\delta \rho (E)_{\mathrm{sd}}=\frac{1}{\pi \mathrm{}}\mathrm{Re}\underset{p}{}t_p|A_p^{(e)}|^2e^{\mathrm{i}Et_p/\mathrm{}}.$$
(12)
For the generalized form factor, this leads to

$$K(t)_{\mathrm{sd}}=2\underset{p:\text{sd}}{}t_p|A_p^{(e)}|^2\delta (tt_p).$$
(13)
This expression reveals the similarity to the diagonal approximation for the Wigner-Dyson form factors. However, only *one* factor $`t_p`$ arises.

The Hannay–Ozorio-de-Almeida sum rule does not apply directly to the sum over self-dual orbits (being a sum over amplitudes of a subclass of periodic orbits). To deal with this difficulty, we introduce a *virtual billiard* with the same dynamics as the Andreev billiard except that there is *no* particle-hole conversion at the SN interface. Thus, the virtual billiard is an ordinary chaotic billiard with unusual reflection conditions at the SN interface (retroflections). Primitive periodic orbits of the virtual billiard involve either even or odd numbers of retroflections. Reintroducing electron-hole conversion, one observes that even orbits lead to non-self-dual periodic orbits in the Andreev billiard. By contrast, twofold traversals of odd orbits are periodic and self dual in the Andreev billiard as the roles of electron and hole are interchanged in the second traversal (see Fig. 1b). We can now interpret the sum over self-dual orbits in Eq. (13) as a sum over odd orbits of the virtual billiard. Since on average half of its orbits are odd, the Hannay–Ozorio-de-Almeida sum rule for the virtual billiard gives

$$\underset{p:\text{sd}}{\overset{t_p[t,t+\mathrm{\Delta }t]}{}}|A_p^{(e)}|^2=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }t}{2t}.$$
(14)
Thus

$$K(t)_{\mathrm{sd}}=1$$
(15)
in agreement with the random-matrix result predicted by $`C`$-GE (4) for short times. The self-dual approximation is expected to hold for $`t_0,t_\mathrm{A}tt_H`$ where $`t_0`$ is the traversal time of the shortest periodic orbit and $`t_\mathrm{A}`$ the Andreev time (typical time until electron-hole conversion takes place).

## IV Spectral statistics for Andreev graphs

The semiclassical calculation of the form factor becomes particularly transparent and explicit for quantum graphs which were recently introduced ksmila  as simple quantum chaotic systems. Introducing Andreev reflection as a new ingredient, we show *semiclassically* that the form factor of the resulting *Andreev graph* takes on the universal result. A quantum graph consists of vertices connected by bonds. A particle (electron/hole) propagates freely on a bond and is scattered at a vertex according to a prescribed scattering matrix. For definiteness, we discuss star graphs with $`N`$ bonds of equal length $`L`$. These have one *central* vertex and $`N`$ *peripheral* vertices. Each bond connects the central vertex to one peripheral vertex (cf. Fig. 2).

Andreev (star) graphs are obtained by introducing (complete) electron-hole conversions at the peripheral vertices, while the central vertex preserves the particle type. The quantization condition is

$$det\left(𝒮(k)\mathrm{𝟙}\right)=0,$$
(16)
with the unitary $`N\times N`$ matrix

$$𝒮(k)=S_CD_{}S_C^{}D_+.$$
(17)
Here $`S_C`$ ($`S_C^{}`$) is the central scattering matrix for an electron (hole). For definiteness, we choose Tanner

$$S_{C,kl}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}e^{2\pi \mathrm{i}kl/N},$$
(18)
where $`S_C`$ by itself does not break time-reversal symmetry. The matrix

$$=e^{\mathrm{i}kL}\mathrm{𝟙}$$
(19)
contains the phases accumulated when the quasiparticle propagates along the bonds ($`k`$ is the wave number measured from the Fermi wave number). Finally,

$$D_\pm =\mathrm{i}\mathrm{diag}(e^{\mathrm{i}\alpha _i})$$
(20)
contains the *Andreev phases* accumulated at the vertices, where $`\alpha _i`$ denotes the order-parameter phase at peripheral vertex $`i`$. Time-reversal symmetry is obeyed if all Andreev phases are either $`\alpha _i=0`$ or $`\alpha _i=\pi `$, but is broken otherwise. Accordingly, we build ensembles corresponding to the symmetry classes $`C`$ (uncorrelated Andreev phases $`\alpha _i`$ with uniform distributions in the interval $`[0,2\pi )`$) and $`C`$I (uncorrelated Andreev phases taking values $`\alpha _i=0`$ or $`\alpha _i=\pi `$ with equal probability). Numerically computed ensemble averages are in excellent agreement with random-matrix results from $`C`$-GE and $`C`$I-GE, as shown in Fig. 3.

Following previous work on quantum graphs ksmila , we write the density of states in $`k`$ space as

$$\rho (k)=\rho _{\mathrm{av}}+\delta \rho (k)$$
(21)
with $`\rho _{\mathrm{av}}=2NL/\pi `$ and obtain the exact trace formula

$$\delta \rho (k)=\frac{1}{\pi }\mathrm{Re}\underset{p}{}t_pA_pe^{\mathrm{i}S_p+\mathrm{i}\chi }$$
(22)
as a semiclassical sum over periodic orbits $`p`$ of the graph. Here, periodic orbits are defined as a sequence $`i_1,i_2,\mathrm{},i_l`$ of peripheral vertices, with cyclic permutations identified. Since the particle type changes at the peripheral vertices, the sequences must have even length $`l=2m`$. The primitive traversal “time” lang  of a periodic orbit is $`t_p=4mL/r`$ (where $`r`$ is the repetition number), the stability amplitude is $`A_p=1/N^m`$, and the action is

$$S_p=4mkL+\underset{j=1}{\overset{2m}{}}(1)^{j+1}2\pi \frac{i_ji_{j+1}}{N}.$$
(23)
The accumulated Andreev phase is

$$\chi =m\pi \underset{j=1}{\overset{2m}{}}(1)^{j+1}\alpha _{i_j}.$$
(24)
Then, the form factor becomes

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill K(t)& =2_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑ke^{\mathrm{i}kt}\delta \rho (k)\hfill \\ & =\frac{t_H}{N}\underset{m=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}K_m\delta (t\frac{m}{N}t_H)\hfill \end{array}$$
(25)
with the Heisenberg time $`t_H=4LN`$ ($``$ denotes the average over Andreev phases). The coefficients can be written as a sum over periodic orbits $`p_m`$ with $`2m`$ Andreev reflections:

$$K_m=2\underset{p_m}{}\frac{m}{r}A_pe^{\mathrm{i}S_p(k=0)+\mathrm{i}\chi }.$$
(26)
$`K_m`$ can be viewed as a form factor in discrete time $`m/N`$.

For graphs in class $`C`$, only those periodic orbits survive the average over Andreev phases that visit each peripheral vertex an even number of times – half as incoming electron and half as incoming hole. In the self-dual approximation, only those orbits contribute whose total phase due to the scattering matrix of the central vertex vanishes. As the phase factors due to scattering between bonds $`i`$ and $`j`$ for electrons and holes are complex conjugates of one another, this requires that the periodic orbits contain equal numbers of scatterings from $`i`$ to $`j`$ as electron and hole. This leads to the orbits sketched in Fig. 4: An *odd* number of peripheral vertices are visited twice, once as an electron and once as a hole. First, the peripheral vertices are visited once, alternating between electrons and holes, and subsequently the vertices are visited again in the same order but with the roles of electrons and holes interchanged. Thus, these orbits have the same structure as the self-dual orbits discussed above for the Andreev billiard. We have $`A_p=1/N^m`$, $`S_p=4mkL`$, and $`\chi =m\pi `$. The number of such orbits of length $`2m`$ is $`N^m/m`$, where the denominator $`m`$ reflects the identification of cyclic permutations of peripheral vertices. With these ingredients, we find the short-time result

$$K_{m,\mathrm{sd}}^C=1+(1)^m\overline{K}_{\mathrm{sd}}^C(t)=1,$$
(27)
where $`\overline{K}(t)`$ is the time-averaged form factor. This reproduces the result predicted by $`C`$-GE.

For class $`C`$I, the average over Andreev phases requires only an even number of visits to each vertex. In the self-dual approximation, this leads to additional orbits (see Fig. 4) and to the result

$$K_{m,\mathrm{sd}}^{C\mathrm{I}}=1+(1)^m(2m+1)\overline{K}_{\mathrm{sd}}^{C\mathrm{I}}(t)=1,$$
(28)
the leading order term for short times predicted by the corresponding random-matrix ensemble $`C`$I-GE.

## V Andreev billiards without magnetic field

Finally, we come back to Andreev billiards without magnetic field (class $`C`$I). As explained above (in section III) holes necessarily retrace the electron trajectory, thus leading to non-isolated periodic orbits and nonuniversal spectral statistics (hard gap). Universal spectral statistics of $`C`$I can, however, be found in such Andreev billiards with $`N`$ one-channel leads. The reason for this is that Andreev billiards with $`N`$ leads containing one channel each can be mapped to star graphs. The quantization condition for Andreev billiards with $`N`$ leads is Richter

$$det(𝒮(E)\mathrm{𝟙})=0.$$
(29)
Here $`𝒮(E)`$ is the $`N\times N`$ Andreev billiard scattering matrix

$$𝒮(E)=S_{NC}(E)D_{}S_{NC}^{}(E)D_+,$$
(30)
with $`S_{NC}(E)`$ the scattering matrix describing the coupling of the $`N`$ channels by the normal region. The matrices $`D_\pm `$ describing the Andreev scattering in the leads are diagonal, $`D_\pm =\mathrm{i}\mathrm{diag}(e^{\mathrm{i}\alpha _i})`$, with a specific Andreev phase $`\alpha _i`$ for each lead. Time reversal invariance demands $`\alpha _i=0`$ or $`\alpha _i=\pi `$. Then a detailed correspondence between billiard and star graph is obtained by substituting $`S_CS_{NC}(E)`$ and $`S_C^{}S_{NC}^{}(E)`$ (with a more general central scattering matrix). Thus, the form factor of these billiards can be obtained in the self-dual approximation in complete analogy with the star graph.

## VI Conclusions

We considered the universal spectral statistics for ergodic SN hybrid systems belonging to the new symmetry classes, in the semiclassical approximation. While it was known that semiclassics has problems in some types of Andreev systems Melsen ; Taras , we showed both for billiards and for quantum graphs that the universal spectral statistics of the random-matrix ensembles $`C`$-GE and $`C`$I-GE as reflected by the appropriately generalized form factor is correctly reproduced by semiclassical theory. An important condition for finding the universal spectral statistics is that the *combined* electron-hole dynamics of the Andreev system is classically chaotic. In particular, this requires that the hole does not retrace the trajectory of the incoming electron. In class $`C`$, this is naturally the case in magnetic Andreev billiards. We related the universal features in the density of states to self-dual periodic orbits which are invariant under electron-hole exchange. Our results clarify under which conditions to expect spectral statistics described by the novel random-matrix ensembles.

The results presented can be extended to the symmetry classes $`D`$,$`D`$III and the chiral classes. We also note that our results for Andreev graphs remain valid for a rather large class of central scattering matrices $`S_C`$. Finally, by going beyond the self-dual approximation in Andreev graphs, it is possible to extract the orbits contributing to the form factor to linear order in $`t`$ (weak localization corrections). These extensions will be discussed elsewhere usinwork .

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank R. Klesse, S. Nonnenmacher, H. Schanz, U. Smilansky, and especially P. Brouwer for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by SFB 290.


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# Fine tuning of parameters of the universe

## 1 Introduction

Within many years it was supposed that we live in a space with Friedman-Robertson-Walker metric. From the astrophysical point of view it means an expanding universe with small negative acceleration. From the point of view of modern field theory it means the vacuum energy density being strictly zero or, equivalently, a vanishing cosmological constant. There were no clear theoretical reasons for this, but there was speculation about a hidden symmetry, implying this strict equality (see, for example, the review ).

Four years ago observations  indicated some positive value of the cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }0.7\rho _M`$, which is only a little less than the average density of matter $`\rho _M`$ in the universe. All quantum effects, which give a contribution to the vacuum energy, surpass this value by many orders of magnitude. The mechanism of almost complete cancellation of different contributions is still not understood. And at the same time, if the cosmological constant would be approximately 200 times larger as its present value, galaxies would not have been formed  and life would have been impossible. The impression is that the universe is specially arranged to create life.

The bound of the cosmological constant described above is not the only case where the existence of life implies a constraint on parameters in nature. In elementary particle physics there a

re a number of similar examples. I recall here only one - the smallness of the electron mass. The electron mass is about 2000 times smaller than the nucleon mass. One might suppose that it would not to matter if it would be several times larger than its value $`0.511MeV/c^2`$. But in this case neutrons would be stable and the process $`p^++e^{}n+\overline{\nu }`$ would result in a sharp decrease of proton abundance in the universe with adverse consequences for the existence of life. We see that the universe is ”adjusted to life” by a set of parameters and the cosmological constant is only one of those parameters (for a recent review see e.g. ). It looks like that nature has in store a large number of universes and only a small number of it is suitable for life. The question is how to find a mechanism to select those.

In this paper a mechanism of production of a large number of universes is considered. The universes differ from each other in physical parameters. It is shown that universes with parameters suitable for creation of the life are necessarily produced as a result of quantum fluctuations. The distribution of the universes has fractal character provided fluctuations take place near the maximum of a potential. The ways of observation of fractal structures inside our universe are discussed in Section 3.

## 2 Basic postulates

Usually, when a theoretical model is set up, first a concrete Lagrangian is postulated. Coupling constants are assumed to be small such that quantum corrections to the original Lagrangian are considered to be small as well. Nevertheless, corrections are small only for weak fields, while for strong fields this does not hold. To be more specific, let us consider the Lagrangian of a scalar field

$$L=\frac{1}{2}\left(_\mu \phi \right)^2\frac{m^2}{2}\phi ^2\frac{\lambda }{4}\phi ^4.$$
(1)
One can compute one-loop quantum corrections to the potential and finds

$$\delta V=\frac{\left(3\lambda \phi ^2+m^2\right)^2}{64\pi ^2}\mathrm{ln}\frac{\left(3\lambda \phi ^2+m^2\right)}{2m^2}a\phi ^2b\phi ^4.$$
(2)
The last two terms renormalize the mass and coupling constant of the Lagrangian and depend on the scheme of renormalization. The first term changes the form of the potential. This is the most important term for the following considerations. Multi-loop corrections as well as interaction with other fields may add new terms to the potential. It is important to note that any simple interaction causes an infinite number of additional terms to the original Lagrangian.

It is easy to see, comparing expressions (1) and (2), that new terms are small in comparison with the original terms if $`\phi <<mexp(1/\lambda )`$. To get an estimate, one may choose $`m=100GeV`$, $`\lambda =0.1`$, then quantum corrections to the potential become large at $`\phi 10^6GeV`$. It is a rather large energy for an accelerator. However, at an early inflationary stage of our universe the average value was rather large, $`\phi >10^{19}GeV`$. Hence, it is necessary to take into account an infinite number of additional terms in the Lagrangian (1). Moreover, the amplitude of a scalar field is restricted even more stringently. The logarithm in expression (2) is the result of the summation of an infinite number of terms , which converges only when $`\phi <m/\sqrt{3\lambda }`$. Besides, one can see directly from Lagrangian (1) that the interaction term is of order of the mass term when $`\phi m\sqrt{2/\lambda }`$. Two last estimations are in good agreement with each other and give a much smaller value of the field when quantum corrections are really small. A similar problem was discussed in the framework of hybrid inflation .

Thus, when considering phenomena in strong fields, i.e. $`\phi >m/\sqrt{\lambda }`$, it is necessary to take into account all additional terms, inevitably arising due to quantum corrections. The potential becomes much more complex, based on the low energy limit of the theory. This can be visualized by the picture of mountains and valleys. In a mountain area it is possible to have smooth surfaces with small curvature only in valleys, i.e., in minima of the potential energy. After climbing to some height, it becomes obvious that the shape of the terrain is much more complex.

Usually the potential of interaction of a scalar field is assumed to be of the most simple form. The property of renormalizability of the theory is not required if one supposes that gravitational effects on Plank scale will regularize integrals. Usually, the fields are weak and quantum corrections are reduced to the renormalization of parameters of a Lagrangian under the assumption that the final corrections are small. As consequence of the previous discussion, at the moment of formation of our universe, i.e., at large amplitudes of a field, quantum corrections most likely were comparable with original terms of the Lagrangian, and its form was much more complex than the Lagrangian considered above.

The main conclusion is that the choice of any simple form of Lagrangian with specific parameters leads to difficult problems: One must explain ab initio the origin of both the form of Lagrangian and numerical values of parameters and finally manage to prove that quantum corrections are small at high energies. In addition, the field is only a dynamical variable which has no physical meaning. It is not clear why we should single out the value $`\phi =0`$ when postulating the form of a potential.

Let us take the opposite point of view and limit ourselves to the minimal number of specific assumptions about the form of a potential. Namely, let us postulate some kind of ”democracy” - all terms are possible - and consider consequences of this assumption. More accurately, I suppose:

* The potential of a scalar field is a polynomial with an infinite number of terms. Coefficients of polynomial terms are uncorrelated numbers and are normalized by the Plank mass $`M_{pl}`$. As was discussed above, this postulate does not contradict conclusions of the quantum field theory at low energy near the bottom of the potential. At high energy it leads to qualitatively new results.
* The potential satisfies the conditions $`0<V(\phi )<M_{pl}^4`$($`\mathrm{}=c=1`$). The first inequality is ordinary one and is necessary to escape problems with vacuum instability. The second inequality is needed to avoid influence of effects of quantum gravity what is usually out of our control and would completely change all physics.

As an example, let us consider the following Lagrangian of a scalar field

$$L=\frac{1}{2}\left(_\mu \phi \right)^2V(\phi ).$$
(3)
The field $`\phi `$ is determined in the interval $`(\mathrm{},+\mathrm{})`$. The typical behavior of the potential is represented in 1. It should also be stated that the Lagrangian (2) is a special case of a more general Lagrangian, in which quantum corrections to the kinetic term would be taken into account.

The universe is located in one of the minima, where the potential $`V(\phi )`$ can be approximated in a simple way: $`V(\phi )V(\phi _m)+a\varphi ^2+b\varphi ^4,\varphi =\phi \phi _m`$. Usually a similar potential is postulated from the beginning with specific constants $`a`$ and $`b`$. The constant $`a`$ is connected with mass of a quanta of the field $`\phi ,a=m_\phi ^2/2`$, if $`a>0`$. Other universes occupy other minima which are characterized by a potential with different parameters $`a`$ and $`b`$. The next section is devoted to cosmological consequences of the above postulates.

## 3 Quantum fluctuations as the generator of the universes

All (quasi) stationary states are located in minima of a potential and our universe, not being an exception, is located in such a minimum as well. As there is an enumerable set of minima (remind that the potential in question is the polynomial with infinite number of terms), each of which is characterized by some specific energy density, it seems unlikely that our universe has appeared just in the minimum with a very small energy density suitable for life. For an estimate of this probability let us assume that the probability to end up in a minimum of the potential with energy density $`\rho _V^{(m)}=V(\phi _m)`$ in an interval $`d\rho _V^{(m)}`$ is given by

$$dP\left(\rho _V^{(m)}\right)=d\rho _V^{(m)}/M_{pl}^4$$
(4)
(i.e. the uniform distribution of $`\rho _V^{(m)}`$ is assumed in the whole interval $`(0,M_{pl}^4)`$). The observational value of energy density in our universe is $`\rho _V10^{123}M_{pl}^4`$. Thus, we come to the conclusion that the fraction of universes with vacuum energy density similar to ours is $`10^{123}`$. It is hard to believe, given an infinite number of such universes, that an event with such small probability has happened in nature. We conclude that a mechanism of a ”sorting” of the universes is necessary, and such mechanism really exists.

To proceed, let us show that if we have a set of potential minima where life is possible, the field ends up in one of those minima starting from an arbitrary initial value of the field. Consider Fig. 1. Let the field start at a value represented by point A in Fig. 1. The spatial area which is characteristic of the size of fluctuation, is chosen to equal the Planck scale $`(10^{19}GeV10^{33}cm)`$. It is a lower limit where the concept of time can be used. The further destiny of the area strongly depends on field configurations within this area. Configurations being important for our considerations are those where spatial derivatives are small, i.e. $`(\phi _\mu )^2<<V(\phi )`$. In this case we can use well developed methods of inflation theory and especially chaotic inflation . The inflation paradigm is developing during more than 20 years . It successfully solves the basic problems of cosmology of our universe starting from the earliest stage since its creation and ending by the stage of galaxy formation. Here it worth to mention at least the horizon problem, the flatness problem and the problem of magnetic monopole absence.

It is important to note that the size of spatial area corresponding to fluctuation is growing exponentially. A physical distance $`R`$ between two points increases like $`R(t)exp(Ht)`$, while the size of horizon $`1/H`$ remains constant. The Hubble parameter $`H`$ is connected to the energy density of the potential $`H=\sqrt{8\pi V(\phi )/3m_{pl}^2}`$. It is obvious that an initial causally connected volume of size $`1/H`$ is divided into a number $`e^3`$ of causally disconnected areas with the same size $`1/H`$ in characteristic time $`1/H`$. The field values in different areas may differ from each other due to quantum fluctuations . It should be noted that this picture represents a look ’from inside’ of the domain. An external observer would detect only field fluctuations of the size $`1/H`$ . Thus, the initial area is divided into an increasing number of causally disconnected areas with various values of the field $`\phi `$. This process is the main process of the inflationary scenario.

Thus, the size of the originally chosen area grows, new areas with slightly different field values arise inside it. In some of the areas the field tends to the nearest local minimum of the potential, while in some other areas field values approach its local maximum due to fluctuations.

A universe with specific vacuum energy density is formed inside the domain where the field reached a potential minimum. According to the above estimate, the probability that this density favors life of our type, is of the order of $`10^{123}`$. New quantum fluctuations in any given universe produce new spatial domains with high energy density $`M_{pl}^4`$ and size $`1/M_{pl}`$. The process of size expansion in these causally disconnected volumes repeats itself in the manner discussed above . Some of these domains contain field values corresponding to the slope of the potential at point B in Fig. 1. Thus, quantum fluctuations allow a field in some domains to pass through minima of the potential.

The destiny of spatial areas where the field overcomes potential maxima is much more interesting. Consider the fluctuation of the field near such maximum (point C in 1). The initial spatial size of this fluctuation is $`1/H`$. When some time of the order of $`1/H`$ has passed this spatial area will be separated into $`e^3`$ causally disconnected domains with different field values. The average value of the field $`\phi `$ inside some of these domains will appear at the other side of the maximum (point $`C^{}`$ in Fig. 1). Each of these domains will be divided in $`e^3`$ subdomains of the size of $`1/H`$ in time $`1/H`$ and some of them will pass back through the maximum of the potential. This process continuously reproduces itself and already after several steps a picture of a fractal structure will be observed. Until now we have not considered the motion of the classical field which is governed by the classical equation

$$\ddot{\phi }+3H\dot{\phi }=dV/d\phi .$$
(5)
According to this equation of motion the classical field moves away from the maximum what could prevent the formation of the fractal structure. Hence, the development of fractal structure in a final stage can take place only if the fluctuations are large. More specifically, let us assume that the classical field changes its value by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{cl}`$ in the time $`1/H`$. Then a fractal structure arises if the condition of the fluctuation dominance $`\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{fluct}>>\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{cl}`$ is satisfied. It gives enough time for formation of a fractal structure due to the fluctuations around a maximum. An average value of fluctuations is well known, given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{fluct}H/2\pi `$. The classical motion can be computed explicitly if one approximates the potential around a maximum by the function

$`V(\phi )V_0(\phi \phi _{Max})^2a^2/2.`$
An approximate solution of Eq.(5) has the form

$`\phi (t)\phi _{Max}+\left[\phi (t=0)\phi _{Max}\right]exp\left({\displaystyle \frac{a^2M_{pl}}{\sqrt{24\pi V_0}}}t\right),`$
where the second time derivative is neglected as is usually done at the inflation stage. The initial field value $`\phi (t=0)\phi _{Max}+\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{fluct}/2`$ and the condition of quantum fluctuation dominance is easily found to be

$$\eta \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{fluct}}{\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _{cl}}H\frac{2\sqrt{24\pi V_0}}{a^2M_{pl}}>1.$$
(6)
The number of fractals increases with the parameter the $`\eta `$. For an estimate let us take the Planck scale: $`V_0=M_{pl}^4,a=M_{pl}`$. It leads to the value $`\eta 16\pi `$ and hence to a rich fractal structure in the final stage.

It is well known that two domains with field values separated by a potential maximum, are separated by a wall . Classically, fields in such domains tend to various (neighboring) minima, and hence the energy density of the wall grows relative to the rest of the space. We come to the conclusion that neighbor universes are separated by field walls with large energy density.

Thus, quantum fluctuations continuously produce spatial domains with various values of the field $`\phi `$. Among these set of domains it is always possible to find a sequence of domains with monotonously growing field inside them. The fields in such domains will consistently pass all minima and maxima on its way. Eventually, a minimum with energy density suitable for life of our type will be found.

## 4 Fractal structures in our universe

Let us consider in more detail the process of production of the closed walls. As was already discussed above, if a causally connected area is placed near a maximum of the potential, for example $`\phi \phi _{max}`$, then several subdomains with average field value $`\phi \phi _{max}`$ will appear inside during the time $`1/H`$. Moving along any line, connecting internal and external points of a subdomain, we necessarily pass through the maximum of the potential. Therefore, this subdomain is limited by the surface where the potential has the maximal value, i.e., by the closed field wall with definite surface energy density. Just after formation the subdomain is placed near the potential maximum, which allows to repeat the process. Hence, closed walls of smaller scale will appear already inside this subdomain. Below it will be shown that this process results in the formation of fractal structures.

Suppose for a characteristic time $`1/H`$ several closed walls appear in a causally connected area of size $`R`$ near a maximum of the potential. Denote the number of walls by $`N`$ and its average size by $`\xi R`$, $`\xi >1/e`$ ($`\xi 1/e`$ due to a possible merging of causally disconnected subdomains with one common wall). In each of these subdomains, $`N`$ new smaller closed walls of size $`\xi ^2R`$ arise during the next time step. Denote by $`\mathrm{"}a\mathrm{"}`$ the minimal size of such a wall that we are able to distinguish. This means that we may terminate the process after a step $`n`$ such that $`a\xi ^nR`$. The total area of the closed walls in the initial volume is the sum of areas with closed walls of size greater than $`a`$. The simple summation leads to the following result

$$SR^2q(q^n1)/(q1),q\xi ^2N.$$
(7)
This expression can be written in the form

$$S(R/a)^D,$$
(8)
where $`D`$ is the fractal dimension. Equating these two expressions, one obtains

$$D=2+\frac{\mathrm{ln}\left(q\frac{q^{\frac{\mathrm{ln}\left(a/R\right)}{\mathrm{ln}\xi }}1}{q1}\right)}{\mathrm{ln}(R/a)}.$$
(9)
This quantity is constant only when the ratio $`R/a`$ is large, it is different for $`q<1`$ and $`q>1`$. It can be easily verified that $`D2`$ for $`q<1`$, while for $`q>1`$, $`D2+3ln(q)/ln(4N)`$. To get an estimate, suppose that the number of closed domains is $`N4`$, and $`\xi 1/e`$. The value of the parameter $`q`$ can be easily calculated, $`q0.5`$. Hence, the fractal dimension of the system of closed walls $`D2`$.

So, if quantum fluctuations lead to the formation of spatial areas with the field taking a value near a potential maximum, its further evolution results in a system of enclosing walls. The characteristic size of the next generations of walls differs from the previous one approximately by a factor of $`e`$. The fractal dimension of such system is $`D2`$. The analytical calculations were done using approximations and hence the expression (9) has to be considered as an estimate.

According to the above postulates and based on the framework of chaotic inflation, our universe is a part of a meta-universe which was formed from one domain surrounded by a closed wall. The inflationary mechanism provided an exponential increase of its size from the point of view of an internal observer. The size of the universe, as presently observed, is estimated to be $`10^{28}cm`$, being smaller by many orders than the characteristic scale of the meta-universe $`10^{10^{12}}cm`$, . Hence, the walls surrounding our meta-universe are not observable. Nevertheless, it turns out that the mechanism of generation of fractal structures appears in a natural way in many models of inflation. Below three different models which could give rise to observable consequences are considered.

The first mechanism of the formation of the observable structure is based on the main postulates of Section 2. Suppose that the potential $`V(\phi )`$ has a local minimum, which is placed close to the main minimum, as shown in Fig. 1, point D. The potential can be approximated as follows

$$V\left(\phi \right)=\{\begin{array}{ccc}& \frac{1}{2}m^2\left(\phi \phi _m\right)^2;\hfill & \hfill \left|\phi \phi _D\right|>>\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _D\\ & \frac{1}{2}m^2\left(\phi _D\phi _m\right)^2+\frac{1}{2}M^2\left(\phi \phi _D\right)^2;\hfill & \hfill \left|\phi \phi _D\right|<<\mathrm{\Delta }\phi _D\end{array},$$
(10)
where $`\phi _D`$ is field value at the local minimum. Inflation takes place when $`H>>m`$ which is supposed to hold in this case.

In the vicinity of the local minimum, the equation of motion (5) becomes simpler,

$$\ddot{\phi }+3H(\phi _D)\dot{\phi }+M^2\left(\phi \phi _D\right)0.$$
(11)
If $`H(\phi _D)>>M`$, dissipation of energy is large and the field could be located in the local minimum for a long time. We encounter serious problems, which were discussed in connection with first inflationary models  where our universe is formed from the domain in a local potential minimum.

In the case $`H(\phi _D)M`$ the situation differs from the previous one. The field slowly decreases, according to equation (11) until it appears in the vicinity of the local minimum $`\phi =\phi _D`$, where the equation of motion can be reduced to

$$\ddot{\phi }+M^2\left(\phi \phi _D\right)0,$$
(12)
and the total energy of the field is approximately conserved. In this case the value of the classical field could overcome the local maximum and approach the nearest deeper minimum of the potential. In the meantime, the fluctuations described in previous section, occur in some domains near the local maximum, which leads to the formation of fractal structure. If this local maximum is deep enough, the expansion of space increases their sizes not very much. These fractal structures being small in comparison with the size of our universe could result in observable consequences.

Let us consider briefly other mechanisms of formation of similar fractal structures. They are based on a multicomponent or a complex field instead of a scalar one, which was studied so far. In this case the mechanism of closed wall production is the same as discussed above. The only difference is that fluctuations ought to be investigated near saddle points of the potential rather than near maxima.

To be specific, let us choose a complex field and, following Ref. consider the process of formation of our universe in the framework of natural inflation on the basis of the Lagrangian

$$L=_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }^{}^\mu \mathrm{\Phi }\lambda \left(\left|\mathrm{\Phi }\right|^2f/2\right)^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^4\left(1\mathrm{cos}\theta \right),$$
(13)
where $`\theta `$ is a phase of the complex field $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. The last term is an approximation of rather complex expression for the contribution of quantum corrections.

The complex field moves, according to the equations of motion, to a minimum of the potential at a point $`\theta =0`$. At the same time, due to quantum fluctuations, some part of causally disconnected domains appears to contain the field value at a saddle point $`\theta =\pi `$. In these domains the mechanism of the formation of the fractal structures sets in. If $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is not very large, then inflation has no time for a strong increase of the size of the produced closed walls and we have the opportunity of observation of fractal structures in our universe.

The last example is based on hybrid inflation, one of the most promising models of inflation . In the standard version of hybrid inflation the potential contains two fields

$$V=V_0+\frac{1}{2}m_\phi ^2\phi ^2+\frac{1}{2}\lambda _1\phi ^2\psi ^2\frac{1}{2}m_\psi ^2\psi ^2+\frac{1}{2}\lambda _2\psi ^4.$$
(14)
During inflation, the field $`\phi `$ rolls down along a valley $`\psi =0`$. Just after passing the critical point $`\phi =m_\psi ^2/\lambda _1`$ the state $`\psi =0`$ becomes unstable and field $`\psi `$ moves (in average) to one of the new stable minima. In the meantime field fluctuations around the critical point $`\psi =0,\phi =m_\psi ^2/\lambda _1`$ lead to the formation of fractal structure.

The inflationary mechanisms described above lead to the occurrence of fractal structure of the closed walls. After the end of inflation, as soon as the size of horizon becomes larger than the characteristic size of closed walls, the walls begin to shrink. The energy of each wall is proportional to the area of their surface and concentrates in small spatial domains (in the following they are considered as pointlike objects). These high density clots of energy could serve in the following for star and/or galaxy formation . Hence, according to the given models, the distribution of stars and galaxies should carry fractal character as well. It is important to note that the total surface of walls in specific volume is proportional to the total energy within the volume, while the number of walls is equal to the number of dense clots.

According to this scenario, it is interesting to find the number of walls inside a sphere of radius $`R`$ given by

$$N_{tot}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}N^i=N\frac{N^n1}{N1}\frac{N^{n+1}}{N1}.$$
(15)
By analogy with the previous calculations and using Eq.(15), one obtains the distribution of pointlike dense objects with fractal dimension $`D^{}lnN/ln(1/\xi )`$. For realistic values $`N4,\xi 1/e`$ we find $`D^{}1.4`$ which differs somewhat from the value $`D2`$ previously obtained. This is not surprising because in the first case we measure the area of surfaces of walls within a certain volume while in second case we measure the number of walls.

Let us compare our calculations with observational data of spatial distribution of galaxies and of stars in those galaxies. Recent data indicate that the distribution of stars and galaxies really carries fractal character. So, the number of galaxies inside a sphere of radius $`R`$ is $`N(R)(R)^{2.2\pm 0.2}`$ up to the sizes of 200 Mpc .

The distribution of stars inside galaxies also carries fractal character. In Ref. this fractal dimension was determined by averaging observational data of ten galaxies and was found to be equal to $`D2.3`$.

Evidently, the observable fractal dimension $`D`$ in distributions of stars and galaxies are in agreement with predictions of the given model. Of course, other mechanisms at a later stage may contribute to the distribution and change the fractal dimension somewhat, but the model discussed gives a primordial reason of fractality in the galaxy and star distribution.

For the sake of completeness it is worth to note another observational consequence following from the assumption of the existence of closed walls at an early stage of formation of the universe. If the mass of a wall is rather large, it can collapse into a black hole, when shrinking. This process was studied in Ref.. Hence, the considered model predicts existence of massive black holes at the centers of galaxies. This conclusion is in good agreement with observations. The presence of black holes with masses of order $`10^7M_{{\scriptscriptstyle }}`$ at the centers of galaxies is an established fact by now .

## 5 Interaction with fermions

The interaction of a scalar field with fermions is usually considered in the form of Yukawa coupling

$$V_F=g\phi \overline{\psi }\psi $$
(16)
In this case we arrive at a serious problem. The minimum of the potential, guaranteeing conditions suitable for life, can appear far from the value $`\phi =0`$. Hence, the term contributing to the fermion mass $`M_F=g\phi _m`$ will be huge comparing with experimentally observed fermion masses. The problem can be solved by noticing that the choice (16) selects the field value $`\phi =0`$ which contradicts the main postulates of Section 2. Let us suppose the interaction has the form

$$V_F=G(\phi )\overline{\psi }\psi ,$$
(17)
which is a generalization of expression (16). The function $`G(\phi )`$ is chosen to be a polynomial with random factors in analogy with the scalar potential $`V(\phi )`$. In this case the fermion mass $`M_F`$ and the constant $`g`$ of interaction with the field $`\varphi =\phi \phi _m`$ depend on the number $`m`$ of the universe,

$$M_F=G(\phi _m);g=G_\phi ^{}(\phi _m).$$
(18)
This expression is obtained by expansion of Eq.(17) in a power series around the minimum $`\phi _m`$. Because we have an infinite number of universes, it is obvious that for any given interval of fermion mass $`(\mu _F;\mu _F+\delta )`$ and function $`G(\phi )`$, one can find an appropriate universe such that the value of the potential at the minimum $`V(\phi _m)`$ satisfies the equality $`\mu _FG(\phi _m)`$ with desired accuracy.

It becomes now possible to use this mechanism for fine tuning of another parameters of a universe, but not only vacuum energy density. For example, the existence of life is possible if the fermion mass lies in an interval $`(\mu _{life},\mu _{life}+\delta m)`$. Then from an infinite set of universes with energy density suitable for life, one can always choose universes with suitable values $`G(\phi _m)`$, such that the fermion mass appears in the given interval. Moreover, this new restricted set of universes still contains an infinite number of universes and we can choose a subset of universes with other parameters suitable for life. Let us introduce a finite set of physical parameters $`\mathrm{}_k`$ which are necessary for creation life in a universe and enumerable set of universes $`\mathrm{}(\{\mathrm{}\}_n)`$. Here $`\{\mathrm{}\}_n`$ is a set of $`n`$ parameters $`\mathrm{}_1,\mathrm{}_2,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}_n`$. Then the process of finding of suitable universe looks like

$`\mathrm{}(\{\mathrm{}\}_0)\mathrm{}(\{\mathrm{}\}_1)\mathrm{}(\{\mathrm{}\}_2)\mathrm{}\mathrm{}(\{\mathrm{}\}_{N_{life}}).`$
Here $`N_{life}`$ is a minimal number of parameters which leads to conditions suitable for life in the universe. Thus, quantum fluctuations supply a permanent ”search” of universes, suitable for life by all parameters.

## 6 Conclusion

In this paper the mechanism of creation of universes with given set of microscopic parameters is developed. The process of formations of each universe is unique, because the form of potential is unique in the vicinity of each minimum. The formation of universes is described by different types of inflationary models. Presently, a large number of models with a wide range of different potentials are considered as potentially realistic. Apparently, each of them describes some subset of the universes of our type. It is shown, that at an early stage of formation of our universe primordial fractal structures are created in natural way. Three different scenarios of fractal creation are considered here. Two of them are based on the well known natural and hybrid models of inflation. These structures could be the germs of galaxies and stars. The fractal dimension ($`D2`$) of galaxy distribution calculated in the paper is in agreement with observations.

## 7 Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Professor H. Kröger for his interest and constant encouragement throughout the work. This work was partly performed in the framework of Section ”Cosmoparticle physics” of Russian State Scientific Technological Programme ” Astronomy.