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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Time dependent backgrounds have arisen in the study of tachyon condensation , as well as gravitational backgrounds related to de Sitter space  and inflationary scenarios . A class of time dependent solutions called S-branes  has been found, and related supergravity  solutions have already been explored. In this paper we approach the topic of time dependent systems by examining solutions of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. We find similar braney objects in the sense that the induced metric on these solutions is similar to the metric of the known gravity solutions.

In Section 2 we give a quick review of the DBI action and its string-like excitation solution . We discuss how this static brane and anti-brane configuration resembles charged wormhole solutions from black hole theory. In Section 3 we discuss new DBI solutions which come from analytically continuing the string-like excitation solutions. These brane configurations are similar to Witten bubbles and play a role in brane and anti-brane annihilation. An important difference between the new bubble solutions presented here and the previous gravity solution, is that a Witten bubble “eats up” spacetime while the bubble solution in this paper is a safer process which does not effect the bulk of spacetime. In our case we have a time dependent brane and anti-brane configuration in flat space.

Section 4 introduces solutions which appear similar to S-brane solutions and which also arise from analytically continuing the string-like excitation solution. These solutions are presented and discussed although their interpretation is more difficult since they are embedded in spaces with two times.

## 2 Review of DBI

In this section we will give a quick review of the DBI action and its equations of motion. We review the string-like excitation  of a brane and give an explicit embedding of the solution. In addition we give the induced metric on this brane and anti-brane configuration which is a type of static wormhole. Discussion of the various p-branes solutions is separated into three categories $`p>3`$, $`p=3`$ and $`p<3`$ which exhibit qualitatively different behaviors.

### 2.1 Equations of Motion

The Dirac-Born-Infeld action

$$S=T_pd^{p+1}x\sqrt{det(G_{MN}_aZ^M_bZ^N+F_{ab})}$$
(2.1)
is the worldvolume action describing the shape and abelian gauge field of a Dp-brane embedded in a $`D+1`$ dimensional space, $`M_2`$. The metric on $`M_2`$ is $`G_{MN}`$ and the indices $`M,N`$ range from 0 to D. The coordinates $`x^a,a=0,\mathrm{},p`$ are the coordinates for the brane worldvolume while the functions

$$Z^M:M_1M_2M$$
(2.2)
are the embedding coordinates of the worldvolume manifold $`M_1`$ into the embedding space $`M_2`$. For simplicity we will restrict ourselves to the case where the embedding space is flat pseudo-Euclidean spacetime $`M_2=R^{(p,q)}`$. We will also take the Cartesian coordinate representation of $`M_2`$ so the Christoffel symbols vanish.

This action provides the low energy effective description of open string dynamics provided we take the usual light brane or decoupling limit  which neglects backreaction effects of the brane on the target space. The shape of the brane is obtained by varying the action

$$\delta _ZS=\frac{T_p}{2}d^{p+1}x\sqrt{(g+F)}(g+F)^{ab}\delta (G_{MN}_aZ^M_bZ^N)=0.$$
(2.3)
The equations of motion for the DBI action are

$`_a(\sqrt{(g+F)}(g+F)_S^{ab}_bZ^M)`$ $`=`$ $`0M`$ (2.4)
$`_b(\sqrt{(g+F)}(g+F)_A^{ba})`$ $`=`$ $`0a`$ (2.5)
where the second equation comes from varying the action with respect to the gauge potential. In the above expressions $`(g+F)_{A/S}^{ab}`$ is the (anti-)symmetric part of the inverse of the matrix $`g+F`$ which is generally different from the sum of inverses. It is known that this system of equations can also be obtained from a pure Born-Infeld system with just a field strength.

### 2.2 String-like Brane Intersections

The known string type excitation of the DBI action can be presented in the following parametrization

$`Z^0`$ $`=`$ $`t`$ (2.6)
$`Z^1`$ $`=`$ $`rcos\theta `$ (2.7)
$`Z^i`$ $`=`$ $`rsin\theta n^i,i=2,\mathrm{},p`$ (2.8)
$`Z^{p+1}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{B}{\sqrt{r^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}}}𝑑r}.`$ (2.9)
The rest of the $`Z`$ coordinates are constant functions which will not play a dynamical role in the discussion and can be set to zero. The above parametrization satisfies the constraints $`_{a=1}^p(Z^a)^2=r^2`$ and $`_i(n^i)^2=1`$. The vector $`\stackrel{}{n}`$ is a coordinate free way to specify the angular coordinates of the brane worldvolume; an example of an explicit parametrization is $`n^i=(cos\varphi _1,sin\varphi _1cos\varphi _2,sin\varphi _1sin\varphi _2cos\varphi _3,\mathrm{})`$. The first $`p+1`$ coordinates are coordinates of the brane worldvolume and the $`Z^{p+1}`$ coordinate is the one dimensional string-like excitation direction of the brane. For the cases $`p3`$ the above solution asymptotes to $`Z^{p+1}=0`$ as the radius $`r`$ approaches infinity. Also, even though the derivative $`_rZ^{p+1}`$ goes to infinity at $`r=r_0`$, the value of $`Z^{p+1}`$ approaches a finite value $`Z^{p+1}(r_0)`$ when $`r_00`$. Examining this string-like excitation of the brane, illustrated in Figure 1, we find that it has the appearance of a volcano where the radius of the volcano’s mouth is $`r_0`$ and the height of the volcano is $`Z^{p+1}(r_0)`$.

The embedding space is Minkowski with metric $`G_{MN}=\eta _{MN}=(1,1,1,\mathrm{},1)`$ where $`M,N=0,\mathrm{},D`$ so the induced metric on this brane is

$$ds_{volcano}^2=\eta _{\mu \nu }dZ^\mu dZ^\nu =dt^2+\frac{1+A^2/r^{2p2}}{1(r_0/r)^{2p2}}dr^2+r^2(d\theta ^2+sin^2\theta d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2)$$
(2.10)
$$A^2B^2r_0^{2p2}.$$
(2.11)
The variable $`A`$ plays a role in determining the field strength of this solution

$$F_{tr}=\frac{A}{\sqrt{r^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}}}$$
(2.12)
which will play an interesting role later in our discussion. To insure that the electric field is real valued, the parameters must satisfy $`B^2r_0^{2p2}`$. We note here that the field strength diverges at $`r=r_0`$ and there is no source of charge along the brane.

If we glue two such volcano solutions together at the radius $`r=r_0`$ then this is a static configuration, shown in Figure 2, representing a brane and anti-brane configuration connected by a wormhole throat. An explicit way to do this is to take two copies of the above parametrization but with

$$Z^{p+1}=2Z^{p+1}(r_0)\frac{B}{\sqrt{r^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}}}𝑑r$$
(2.13)
for the second copy. We note that this configuration is similar to the Einstein-Rosen bridge where the radius $`r_0`$ corresponds to the horizon and the brane and the anti-brane correspond to the two asymptotically Minkowski regions. This solution is smooth and does not have a singular region of infinite curvature. It is like a charged black hole where the constant $`A`$ is an electric charge parameter, $`B`$ the mass parameter and $`r_0`$ tells us how far away we are from the BPS configuration.

Several limits are of interest. The first is the limit, $`A^2=B^2`$ where the electric charge is equal to the mass. In this limit $`r_0`$ is zero and the string excitation stretches to infinity. This BPS configuration is interpreted as a half-infinite string ending on a brane with the end of the open string acting as an electric charge source for the gauge field on the brane. There is also the interesting non-BPS limit $`A=0`$ with no electric charge. This solution

$$ds_{nochargevolcano}^2=dt^2+\frac{dr^2}{1(r_0/r)^{2p2}}+r^2(d\theta ^2+sin^2\theta d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2)$$
(2.14)
is similar to a Schwarzschild black hole. However whereas the Schwarzschild black hole can be extended past the horizon, the above parametrization does not reach into the singular region. Also the time direction of this volcano solution is independent of the radius, so dynamics on this brane will not be the same as on a Schwarzschild spacetime .

Because the volcano solutions are not supersymmetric they have also been mentioned as being related to possible decay modes for brane and anti-brane annihilation. However since these solutions are time independent, it is interesting to obtain explicit time dependent annihilation processes. In the next section we will discuss new time dependent solutions and their relevance to brane and anti-brane annihilation.

### 2.3 Low Dimensional Volcano Solutions

For the case of $`D3`$ branes, there is a similar configuration to the one mentioned above where the role of electric and magnetic charges is switched. In this case we turn on a magnetic field in the radial direction

$$F_{\theta \varphi }=\sqrt{B^2r_0^4}sin\theta B_r=\sqrt{\frac{1r_0^4/r^4}{1+A^2/r^4}}\frac{A}{r^2}$$
(2.15)
in which case the infinite excitation is not a fundamental string but a D-string.

For the case of two-branes, the excitation does not asymptote to a fixed value in the large radius $`r`$ limit. The integral expression for $`Z^3`$ can be solved explicitly in this case and has logarithmic behaviour

$$r\mathrm{}Z^3=B\text{ln}\frac{1}{2}|\sqrt{r^2}+\sqrt{r^2r_0^2}|\text{ln}r.$$
(2.16)
This logarithmic behavior, shown in Figure 3, is expected for a system of two-branes instead of two-branes connected by a string, and indicates that we are capturing non-perturbative string coupling effects.

Finally, for the case $`p=1`$ we obtain string junction configurations which are continuous but not necessarily smooth. An example of a three string junction is shown in Figure 4.

## 3 Bubble Solution

Given a solution to the DBI equations, we can generate new solutions by analytic continuation. Here we will use this procedure to generate time dependent solutions which seem to play a role in brane and anti-brane annihilation. Specifically we analytically continue the volcano solution of the previous section and obtain an analogue of Witten’s bubble of nothing. This is a DBI approach to brane and anti-brane annihilation with some similarities to the supergravity approach discussed by Fabinger and Horava . They studied a non-supersymmetric $`E_8\times \overline{E_8}`$ compactification of M theory on $`S_1/Z_2`$ and proposed that spacetime could semiclassically annihilate due to wormholes nucleating between the two $`E_8`$ boundaries. The role of bubble type solutions has also been discussed by K. Hashimoto in  especially from the viewpoint of time evolution of the tachyon field.

### 3.1 Bubble Embedding

Motivated by the Witten bubble solution, we examine the following analytic continuation of the embedding in the previous section. If we make the analytic continuations $`ti\chi `$ and $`\theta \pi /2i\tau `$ then the embedding functions become

$`Z^0`$ $`=`$ $`\chi `$ (3.1)
$`Z^1`$ $`=`$ $`rsinh\tau `$ (3.2)
$`Z^i`$ $`=`$ $`rcosh\tau n^i,i=2,\mathrm{},p`$ (3.3)
$`Z^{p+1}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{B}{\sqrt{r^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}}}𝑑r}.`$ (3.4)
The coordinates $`Z^M`$ for $`M=0`$ to $`p`$ are along the brane worldvolume while $`Z^{p+1}`$ is again the direction of the excitation of the configuration. The embedding functions are all real because we take this solution to be embedded into flat Minkowski space with metric $`\eta _{MN}=(1,1,1,\mathrm{},1)`$. The induced metric on this brane is

$$ds_{bubble}^2=d\chi ^2+\frac{1A^2/r^{2p2}}{1(r_0/r)^{2p2}}dr^2+r^2(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2)$$
(3.5)
$$A^2r_0^{2p2}B^2.$$
(3.6)
Here we impose the restriction $`r_0^{2p2}B^2`$ which is the reverse inequality relative to the volcano solution; the well-defined bubble solutions are analytic continuations of volcano solutions with imaginary field strength. This solution has an expanding bubble situated at the radius $`r=r_0`$ as will be discussed shortly. We also note that because  the embedding space of this bubble metric has only one time, this solution is globally hyperbolic which is just a way of saying that the spacetime has a Cauchy surface. Having a target space with one embedding time effectively means that each constant time slice is a Cauchy surface.

One can ask why we did not drop the coordinate $`\chi `$ from the solution and interpret this configuration as a lower dimensional $`p1`$ brane. Although the coordinate $`\chi `$ plays no role in the dynamics of the membrane embedding, one can not simply drop this coordinate in general. The reason why is that the general solution has a magnetic field so dropping $`\chi `$ is equivalent to the limiting case of no field strength. Whereas the solution of the previous section had a radial electric field, this solution comes with a magnetic field in the “angular directions” but which decreases radially

$$F_{\chi r}=\frac{A}{\sqrt{r^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}}}.$$
(3.7)
Hence, although this solution has a string-like excitation, it can not be interpreted as either a fundamental string or a D-string.

### 3.2 Properties

To obtain a clearer picture of the shape of this solution, see also Figure 5, consider the constant $`\chi `$ and $`Z^1=\tau =0`$ slice of the $`Dp`$ brane bubble solution. We find that this slice is the same as a constant time slice of a D(p-1) volcano solution

$$ds_{bubble\tau =0}^2=\frac{1A^2/r^{2p2}}{1(r_0/r)^{2p2}}dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2.$$
(3.8)
Therefore if we glue together two bubble solutions, we can also interpret this configuration as a smooth brane and anti-brane system. Just as in the case of the volcano solution we still have the same change in orientation when we cross the horizon $`r_0`$. This solution therefore is a time-dependent solution related to brane and anti-brane annihilation.

When there are no gauge fields, it is safe to drop the $`\chi `$ coordinate which does not play a role in this solution. In this case it is possible to interpret the remaining solution as a lower dimensional $`p1`$ brane and it is easy to see why this bubble solution is time dependent as compared to the volcano solution. Comparing the $`p`$ brane volcano solution and the $`p1`$ dimensional bubble solution, we see that they have identical excitation profiles. If the $`p`$ brane volcano solution is just massive enough to support this excitation, then the $`p1`$ brane can not be massive enough to keep this excitation static and therefore the bubble expands. In fact as shown in Figure 6, if we consider the full solution it shows a brane and anti-brane rapidly coming in from infinity, slowing to a stop when they become nearly parallel, and then annihilating. The energy of the branes is transferred into accelerating the bubble wall. This solution has the relevant boundary conditions to describe parallel brane and anti-brane annihilation with no field strength. This expanding bubble solution derives its name from the fact that there is a minimal volume sphere from the worldvolume perspective.

In general, examining the brane with the above worldvolume coordinates leads to unusual behavior for the light cones directions. For example if we study the radial null geodesics, we find that $`(dr/d\tau )^2=r^2[1(r_0/r)^{2p2}]`$ which does not go to a fixed value when $`r`$ goes to infinity. On the other hand, we expect the spacetime to be asymptotically Minkowski since the brane flattens out to $`Z^{p+1}=0`$. Also it is unusual that there is only a magnetic field in these coordinates since the spacetime is time dependent. This is a sign that to better understand the dynamics, especially at infinity, we should express the system in another set of coordinates to make contact with our usual intuition.

One can choose the following coordinates to express the solution

$$W=rcosh\tau ,T=rsinh\tau $$
(3.9)
$$ds_{bubble}^2=d\chi ^2dT^2+dW^2+\frac{1A^2/r_0^{2p2}}{(\sqrt{W^2T^2}/r_0)^{2p2}1}\frac{(WdWTdT)^2}{W^2T^2}+W^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2.$$
(3.10)
This is a natural choice of coordinates since the new time coordinate along the brane, $`T`$, is the time coordinate of the embedding space. In these Cartesian coordinates the spacetime becomes asymptotically Minkowski with the expected light cone property $`(dW/dT)^21`$ as $`W`$ goes to infinity. We see then that the essence of the problem was that there was a discrepancy between worldvolume time and embedding time. In these coordinates we have both an electric and a magnetic field

$`F_{\chi T}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{T}{\sqrt{W^2T^2}}}{\displaystyle \frac{A}{[(\sqrt{W^2T^2})^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}]^{1/2}}}`$ (3.11)
$`F_{\chi W}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{W}{\sqrt{W^2T^2}}}{\displaystyle \frac{A}{[(\sqrt{W^2T^2})^{2p2}r_0^{2p2}]^{1/2}}}.`$ (3.12)
From the magnitudes of the field strength it appears that this solution looks like a time dependent electric dipole and a magnetic charge at large $`W`$ distances. However the field configurations have the electric field pointed along the $`\chi `$ direction and the magnetic field is in the angular directions. At time $`T=0`$ there is only a magnetic field and no electric field. If we stay at a fixed position $`W`$ which is far from the bubble, $`r_0`$, then we see the electric field decreasing and the magnetic field increasing. Another way to say this is that an initial magnetic field gets pushed in the direction $`\chi `$, along which the brane is smeared, in the form of an electric field. This process is illustrated in figure 7. In this case the brane and anti-brane annihilate in all spatial directions except $`\chi `$ which remains unchanged for all times. This direction can not be interpreted as a fundamental string since there is no electric field at $`T=0`$. It would be interesting however to see if there are similar situations where $`\chi `$ can be identified as a remnant of the annihilation process.

The special case when $`r_0`$ approaches zero is also interesting. As $`r_0`$ goes to zero, the excitation becomes narrower while the distance between the brane and anti-brane increases; the width of the throat increases in time just like for all the other bubble solutions. However the case $`r_0=0`$ is qualitatively different and has no excitation at all. In this case we are describing only a flat brane or an anti-brane. A comparison of the solutions is given in Figure 8. The configuration is flat since the constraint $`A^2+B^2=r_0^{2p2}`$, implies if $`r_0=0`$ then $`A`$ and $`B`$ are zero. In this case we can drop the $`\chi `$ direction and the solution is

$`Z^1`$ $`=`$ $`rsinh\tau `$ (3.13)
$`Z^i`$ $`=`$ $`rcosh\tau n^i,i=2,\mathrm{},p`$ (3.14)
$`ds_{limit}^2`$ $`=`$ $`dr^2+r^2(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2)`$ (3.15)
which is just Minkowski space in unusual coordinates. Setting $`r`$ constant, which is de Sitter space, is not a solution.

### 3.3 Comparison to Bubble of Nothing

Here we further examine the special case with no field strength. The induced metric on this non-BPS solution is

$$ds_{bubble}^2=d\chi ^2+\frac{dr^2}{1(r_0/r)^{2p2}}+r^2(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2)$$
(3.16)
where for comparison purposes we have reverted back to the spherical coordinate system in Eq. 3.1. This is quite similar to the Witten bubble metric

$$ds_{WB}^2=[1(\frac{r_0}{r})^{D2}]d\chi ^2+\frac{dr^2}{1(r_0/r)^{D2}}+r^2(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{D2}^2)$$
(3.17)
which is a vacuum gravity solution for $`D+1`$ spacetime dimensions with $`rr_0`$. To make the Witten bubble metric regular at $`r=r_0`$, we must impose the periodicity condition $`\chi =\chi +4\pi r_0/(D2)`$. Asymptotically the Witten bubble is flat space times a circle whose radius is proportional to the bubble size. Although this periodicity condition is apparently not required for the DBI solution (since $`\chi `$ is independent of the other coordinates), actually the periodicity condition is reflected in the fact that we had to join together the two halves of a bubble solution at $`r_0`$ to form a smooth wormhole. In other words the distance between the brane and anti-brane is fixed by the minimum size bubble due to the tension of the branes; the only way to change this relationship is by adding charge to the branes.

Although these two solutions are similar, there is never a case where they exactly coincide even if we neglect the $`\chi `$ direction. Setting $`D=p`$ we find that the DBI solution changes much more quickly in the radial direction than the Witten bubble. One can view a slice of the Witten bubble solution in $`D=2p`$ as being exactly the bubble solution. In this case the time coordinate is embedded correctly so dynamics on the brane configuration really are the same as that of a slice of the Witten bubble. Comparing the whole solutions, however, the new bubble solution is closer to a $`Z_2`$ projection  along the circle direction of the Witten bubble. It is interesting that the DBI solutions are similar only to the Witten bubbles in odd spacetime dimensions. One wonders if this is a reflection of the different causal structures of branes of even versus odd dimension. If so then it suggests the existence of new DBI solutions.

The Witten bubble has also been called a bubble of nothing since there is a “hole” in space due to the fact that we always stay in the region $`rr_0`$; naively being inside the hole would give a spacetime with three timelike directions. One might ask if spacetime becomes singular or if there is a boundary at $`r_0`$. Given that the new bubble in Eq. 3.5 is smooth and boundary free, and given the similarities of the two bubble solutions, it should not be surprising that the Witten bubble is smooth and boundary free. To better understand the spacetime near $`r_0`$ and see that there is no singularity there, it is convenient to make the coordinate transformation $`y=\sqrt{1(r_0/r)^{D2}}`$. This region is undergoing inflation in the radial direction as can be seen by Taylor expanding the metric

$$ds_{WB}^2r_0^2[(1+\frac{2}{D2}y^2)(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{D2}^2)+(\frac{2}{D2})^2(1+2\frac{D1}{D2}y^2)dy^2].$$
(3.18)
So near the bubble, and actually at all fixed radius points, the spacetime first undergoes smooth polynomial expansion and then exponential inflation at late times. The bubble accelerates from zero velocity to the speed of light at late times. The same conclusion also holds for the bubble solution of Eq. 3.1 which also undergoes inflation along the worldvolume directions. A quick way to see this is examine the constraint $`(Z^1)^2+_i(Z^i)^2=r^2`$. This constraint, along with the fact that the brane flattens out at infinity, shows that the bubble approaches the speed of light at late times. Finally, we note that of the two bubbles, the Witten bubble accelerates from zero velocity to the speed of light more slowly for $`p=D`$.

The surface of the Witten bubble undergoes contraction and then expansion. In fact, this surface of the bubble in Eq. 3.18 has the metric of de Sitter space

$$r_0^2(d\tau ^2+cosh^2\tau d\mathrm{\Omega }_{D2}^2).$$
(3.19)
The bubble solution is in effect a way to embed de Sitter space into an asymptotically flat background solution. Ref.  gave a discussion as to whether one can regard the Witten bubble to be a full solution of classical string theory. Having obtained a similar bubble solution one can ask the same question, do we have a string theory solution. Because this embedding satisfies the DBI equations, this solution naively captures the $`\alpha ^{}`$ contributions in the small string coupling limit. However at our level of approximation we are neglecting possible higher order derivative corrections and the tachyon field. Since these solutions are not supersymmetric one would question if, by neglecting the tachyon field, one is being consistent. Although we have found new solutions to the DBI equations of motion, it is not apparent if these are also solutions of string theory.

Further properties of the Witten bubble can be found in .

### 3.4 Low Dimensional Bubbles

In analyzing the rest of the lower dimensional bubbles, we drop the $`\chi `$ direction. Then for the two brane case, $`p=3`$, we find that the profile of the excitation $`Z^4`$ is not logarithmic and flattens out at infinity. This bubble solution should be relevant to the decay of a parallel two-brane and anti-brane pair. In contrast, the volcano solutions for the case of two-branes had logarithmic behavior at infinity. Although the volcano solution is a particular two brane configuration, it is not related to annihilation of parallel two-branes. When $`p=3`$ we can also find another time dependent solution. This solution has the same spatial embedding as the other bubbles except it has an electric field in the angular $`\varphi `$ direction

$$F_{\tau \varphi }=\sqrt{B^2+r_0^4}cosh\tau $$
(3.20)
which comes from analytically continuing the volcano solution with a magnetic field in Eq. 2.15. In this case the $`\chi `$ direction does not seem to play a role and so could be dropped. We can therefore regard this too as a time dependent two-brane configuration.

For the case $`p=2`$, we find a one dimensional time dependent solution which one can explicitly write down. When $`p=1`$ we have a point particle and since there is no angular coordinate to analytically continue, it might appear that this configuration has no time evolution. Realizing, however, that we can also analytically continue the Cartesian coordinates, we find solutions for a free particle. A discussion of the annihilation of zero-branes can be found in .

## 4 Spacelike Brane

In this section we find further solutions of the DBI equations of motion. These solutions will be very different from the bubble and volcano solutions we have discussed so far and in fact they will be embedded in spaces with two times. Yet even with the appearance of two times, their worldvolume will have just one timelike direction and they will share similarities with known supergravity S-brane solutions .

### 4.1 S-brane embedding

Analytically continuing the embedding of the volcano solution in Eq. 2.6 by taking $`ti\chi `$, $`\theta i\theta `$ and $`ri\tau `$ we obtain

$`Z^0`$ $`=`$ $`\chi `$ (4.1)
$`Z^1`$ $`=`$ $`\tau cosh\theta `$ (4.2)
$`Z^i`$ $`=`$ $`\tau sinh\theta n^i,i=2,\mathrm{},p`$ (4.3)
$`Z^{p+1}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{B}{\sqrt{\tau ^{2p2}\tau _0^{2p2}}}𝑑\tau }.`$ (4.4)
Since we made a triple analytic continuation the embedding space is not Minkowski and its metric $`G_{MN}=(1,1,1,\mathrm{},1,1)`$ has two times. The induced metric on this solution is

$$ds^2=d\chi ^2\frac{1+A^2/\tau ^{2p2}}{1(\tau _0/\tau )^{2p2}}d\tau ^2+\tau ^2[d\theta ^2+sinh^2\theta d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2]$$
(4.5)
$$A^2=B^2\tau _0^{2p2}$$
(4.6)
and the field strength

$$F_{\chi \tau }=\frac{A}{\sqrt{\tau ^{2p2}\tau _0^{2p2}}}$$
(4.7)
is an explicitly time dependent electric field. Here we must take $`B^2\tau _0^{2p2}`$ just like for the volcano solution. Even though the embedding space has two times, this S-brane type solution is still well behaved in two respects. The DBI action is still real and it is possible to discuss time-evolution on the brane. The induced metric on this solution has at most only one independent time-like direction and if we stay in region $`\tau \tau _0`$ then $`\tau `$ can be used to parametrize the worldvolume time. If we naively try to take $`\tau \tau _0`$ then the worldvolume is spacelike. In this paper we will not discuss this spacelike region, or attempt to discuss any relationship between the two embedding times and the possible holographic reconstruction of a timelike direction proposed for spacelike branes.

For the case without charge, $`A=0`$, the induced metric

$$ds^2=d\chi ^2\frac{d\tau ^2}{1(\tau _0/\tau )^{2p2}}+\tau ^2[d\theta ^2+sinh^2\theta d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2]$$
(4.8)
bears some similarity to the known S-brane supergravity solutions in $`p+1`$ dimensions. For example the metric of an S0-brane solution in four dimensions discussed in  is

$$ds_{S0}^2=\frac{\tau _0^2}{Q^2}(1(\tau _0/\tau )^2)d\chi ^2\frac{Q^2}{\tau _0^2}\frac{d\tau ^2}{1(\tau _0/\tau )^2}+\frac{Q^2}{\tau _0^2}\tau ^2[d\theta ^2+sinh^2\theta d\varphi ^2].$$
(4.9)
However due to the fact that the known S-branes contain a dilaton, a form field, or a field strength, there is actually another solution to Einstein’s equations which is more like the DBI solution above. It is the triple analytic continuation of a $`D+1`$ Schwarzschild black hole

$$ds^2=(1(\tau _0/\tau )^{D2})d\chi ^2\frac{d\tau ^2}{1(\tau _0/\tau )^{D2}}+\tau ^2[d\theta ^2+sinh^2\theta d\mathrm{\Omega }_{D2}^2]$$
(4.10)
where we have taken the analytic continuation $`ti\chi `$, $`ri\tau `$ and $`\theta i\theta `$ of the Schwarzschild solution. Since this metric is nothing but the analytic continuation of the Schwarzschild metric, it clearly satisfies the vacuum Einstein equations.

### 4.2 Properties

As mentioned in Subsection 3.1, if the embedding space had only one time then this would imply that the embedded solution is globally hyperbolic. Since it turned out that our embedding space has two times, one then wonders if this was just an artifact of the embedding or if it not possible to embed this solution into a space with one time. If not, then there are some possible reasons why one time-like direction does not suffice. The first reason is that this spacelike brane seems to have a singularity at $`\tau _0`$. This induced metric has singular components when $`\tau =\tau _0`$. It is known that singularities in the time direction can lead to spaces not being globally hyperbolic. The second reason is that spacelike branes are supposed to represent a finely tuned configuration for a system. Perhaps this fine tuning could mean that the system is correlated so it is not enough to specify the initial conditions of the system at one moment in time so there is no Cauchy surface. The size of the correlation effects could then give the S-branes a finite width.

This new solution does not appear to be a brane and anti-brane configuration but instead seems to be an unstable brane configuration. Let us use the worldvolume time to analyze the shape of this brane. It is possible to use the parameter $`\tau `$ to obtain sensible one time evolution along the worldvolume as long as we take $`\tau \tau _0`$. In the above spherical coordinate system we find some interesting features of this solution. For comparison we first review the bubble case where the spatial directions satisfied the relationship $`(Z^i)^2=r^2cosh^2\tau `$. This shows us that at time $`\tau =0`$ the solution starts at rest and that at late times the solution has accelerated to the speed of light. For the S-brane type solution we have $`(Z^i)^2=\tau ^2sinh^2\theta `$. Yet since we also take $`\tau \tau _0`$, the solution begins with some finite initial velocity proportional to $`\tau _0`$. Further there is a gradient of initial velocities as we vary $`\theta `$. The spatial origin which is located at $`\theta =0`$ does not move while the points at large $`\theta `$ move very quickly.

It is also instructive to analyze the time evolution of this brane using the coordinate system

$$T=\tau cosh\theta ,W=\tau sinh\theta $$
(4.11)
which is similar to the coordinate transformation for the bubble. In this case the induced metric becomes

$$ds_{Stype}^2=d\chi ^2dT^2+dW^2\frac{1+A^2/\tau _0^{2p2}}{(\sqrt{T^2W^2}/\tau _0)^{2p2}1}\frac{(WdWTdT)^2}{T^2W^2}+W^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{p2}^2.$$
(4.12)
In terms of the $`W,T`$ coordinates, the restriction $`\tau ^2\tau _0^2`$ becomes

$$W^2T^2\tau _0^2$$
(4.13)
so we live in the ball bounded by a maximum sphere. Also the metric singularity at $`\tau =\tau _0`$ turns into a singularity when $`W^2=T^2\tau _0^2`$. Along the spatial directions, $`Z^i`$ with $`i=2,\mathrm{},p`$, this brane can be said to represent an expanding (or contracting) brane with the condition that the hole always begins with zero size since $`\tau `$ and hence $`T`$ starts at $`\tau _0`$. The time evolution is shown schematically in Figure 9. Although the brane does not start off with an infinite velocity, it expands to infinite size. At late times in this coordinate system, the brane becomes essentially flat Minkowski space. If we include the excitation direction, this brane has the form of a peaked excitation which eventually flattens out as shown in Figure 10. In the two previous cases, it was shown that we could glue together solutions to form a brane and anti-brane system. Although in this case since the excitation direction is timelike, since there is only one worldvolume time it seems possible also to perform the gluing procedure. From the perspective of the brane observers the excitation direction serves only to time dilate events. The worldvolume then becomes topologically a double cover of a ball and instead of going to the edge of the ball we arrive on an identical second surface.

### 4.3 Low Dimensional Solutions

For the case $`p=3`$, we can find another spacelike brane with time dependent electric field

$$F_{\theta \varphi }=\sqrt{B^2\tau _0^4}sinh\theta .$$
(4.14)
This is the analytic continuation of the volcano solution with a magnetic field. When $`\tau _0=0`$ the solution is non-trivial.

In treating the other solutions of low dimensionality, take $`\chi =0`$ and $`\tau >\tau _0`$. For the case $`p=2`$, take a constant timelike slice of $`\tau `$. Then in this case $`(Z^1)^2(Z^2)^2`$ is constant and the span of $`\theta `$ gives half of a hyperbola at a constant $`Z^3`$ height. As we evolve to more positive $`\tau `$ times, the brane moves away from the origin and decreases in $`Z^3`$ height. Due to the low dimensionality of this solution it is also possible to reinterpret the embedding space with metric $`(1,1,1)`$ as having only one time. This solution has the same form as the time dependent $`p=2`$ bubble solution. When $`p`$ is greater than two, then it is not possible to reinterpret the embedding space as having one time.

For the case $`p=1`$, the worldvolume is zero dimensional, and we are describing a point like object. We find a freely moving object which is purely in the time direction since the embedding space has metric $`(1,1)`$. However we can again interpret this as a purely spatial trajectory and add an extra embedding dimension $`t`$ of plus signature. The embedding space now has the metric $`(1,1,1)`$. In this case the dynamics of this object are equivalent to those of a freely propagating tachyon. These spacelike branes are tachyons with spacelike trajectories which exist only at one moment of time $`t`$ in the embedding space. It is interesting to explore to what extent string junctions can be interpreted as a tachyon interaction process as shown in Figure 11.

Further properties of these solutions will be discussed elsewhere.

## 5 Conclusions

We have provided time dependent solutions to the DBI equation of motions. These solutions are similar to Witten’s bubble of nothing, de Sitter space and to S-branes and one is tempted to consider them as “dual” of the closed string gravity solutions. The interpretation of the S-brane type solution is not very clear although it seems to be a generalization of a tachyon. It is an unstable brane configuration with singularities, and its dynamics take place in a background space with two times. Although the interpretation of two times is not fully understood, the worldvolume has only one timelike direction which we used for time evolution.

The bubble solution has a clear interpretation as being a time dependent brane and anti-brane annihilation process that can be solved exactly and which resembles some cosmological scenarios. For example one could imagine that we live in an inflationary universe due to the annihilation of a $`D3\overline{D3}`$ pair. A problem immediately arises since this space has eternal inflation. However since more than one bubble can nucleate, the interactions of different bubbles could potentially serve as a qualitative reason why inflation should end. Another problem with a such a scenario however is how one could account for the fact that such branes actually got close enough for a wormhole to have a reasonable chance to form. Taking into account the mutual attraction between the branes could potentially solve this problem.

To increase the chances for wormholes to nucleate, one could increase the dimensionality of the branes. For example we could take a $`D4\overline{D4}`$ pair which is much more likely to intersect. If the branes intersect then they will be close enough in general for wormholes to form with non-negligible probability. In this case one wonders if it is possible to have our observable universe located on the bubble which is four dimensional de Sitter space with matter accumulating near the bubble as it sweeps throughout the brane. One can also examine the case of fivebranes  and look for a new decay process. In this case one would look for a vortex solution which would be our three brane universe.

In this paper we have discussed the open string tachyon from the DBI point of view. Of course one wonders about the closed string tachyons. In general it appears to be a difficult question to imagine how to give a formulation where both instabilities are treated concurrently. It is possible however to make some qualitative statements about known instabilities and see if they agree with expectations. For example in a set up similar to Fabinger and Horava but for p-branes instead of $`E_8`$ boundaries, one can calculate that the orbifold projection of the Witten bubble has a nucleation probability proportional to $`exp(L^{p2}/g^2l_s^{p2})`$ where $`L`$ is the separation distance between branes. In the case of the DBI bubble we find that the nucleation rate is proportional to $`exp(L^{p+1}/gl_s^{p+1})`$, which has the same form as the decay rate calculated  using the tachyonic DBI action. In the case of very large separation the Witten bubble is the more dominant decay process. In the case where the brane separation is of the order of the string scale, the Witten bubble dominates for large string coupling while the DBI bubble dominates for small string coupling. The expectation is that for light branes, the backreaction is small and so the open string tachyon should dominate, while for heavy branes the backreaction is large and so the closed string tachyon should dominate.

For small string coupling the above results seem to lead to the following possible picture of the tachyon decay process for a brane and anti-brane. A brane and anti-brane at large separation create Witten bubbles between them and approach each other. The bulk of spacetime is annihilating. When the brane separation approaches the string scale, the other bubbles take over and we proceed with the safer decay process where just the brane and anti-brane annihilate. Although both tachyons are present, the safer one takes over and saves the bulk of the universe while annihilating the branes. In this account we are neglecting the interaction of the various bubbles which is expected to be complicated. An explicit solution describing two Witten bubbles has recently been found .

Given the above qualitative statements, one can also attempt to make some contact with the homogenous tachyon decay process discussed by Sen. Although the bubble decay process is inhomogeneous, in the limit of small string coupling and brane separation, the probability of bubble production becomes very large. In general one would then expect to see an almost uniform distribution of bubble type solutions when the branes are nearly coincident.

Finally it would be interesting to see if solutions with time dependent field strength can give a physical picture for the problem of the U(1) gauge field . New explicit time dependent solutions describing the fate of the electric field can be found in  and will also play a role in a future paper.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the following people for stimulating and invaluable discussions: Chiang-Mei Chen, Sergey Cherkis, Koji Hashimoto, Pei-Ming Ho, Matt Kleban, Ashoke Sen, Hyun Seok Yang and Hoi-Lai Yu.

I am supported by the Academia Sinica and would like to thank its members. I would also like to thank Pei-Ming Ho, the COSPA project and NCTS for additional support.


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# General relation between drift velocity and dispersion of a molecular motor

## I Introduction

Molecular motors are enzymes mediating intracellular transport and cellular motion in living cells. The most important examples are kinesins (responsible for transport of organelles), myosins (which drive muscle contraction) and dyneins (involved in cellular locomotion)HowardBook .

Based on their function and structure, molecular motors can be divided into several families. Here we will focus on processive linear motors. A motor is linear if it moves along a complementary protein fiber (other types of motors include protein pumps, involved in transport across membranes, and rotary motors). A motor is processive if it can travel a long distance before it detaches from the filament.

A typical example of a processive linear motor is kinesin. It is a mechanoenzyme which transduces the chemical energy of hydrolysis of ATP molecules into mechanical work, which is then used to move vesicles and organelles along microtubules. Each step is powered by hydrolysis of one ATP molecule. The main theoretical challenge is to explain how the chemical energy of ATP is transformed into practically unidirectional motion of protein motors.

Theoretical modeling of the motion of motor proteins has been mainly based on two approaches. The first one, called a thermal ratchet model, regards a motor protein as a Brownian particle diffusing in several periodic, asymmetric potentials which are alternatively switched on and off in stochastic time intervals Julicher-RMP97 . In the following we employ the second approach, which is based on an assumption that the motion of a motor can be modeled as a sequence of transitions between discrete mechano-chemical states of the motor, which are represented as nodes of a linear lattice FisherPNAS ; KoloJChP2000 ; FischerPNAS01 . A segment of a microtubule corresponds to an elementary cell of the lattice, and the number of sites in an elementary cell, $`N`$, is equal to the number of different internal states in a full mechano-chemical cycle of a motor. For kinesin the lattice constant $`d=8`$ nm HowardBook ; Coppin ; Visscher99  and $`N4`$ FischerPNAS01 .

Any theoretical model must account for experimental results. Here we will be interested in an approach which attempts to determine internal properties of molecular motors based on the statistical analysis of their motion as observed in experiments. The fundamental quantities employed in this method are the mean velocity $`V=x(t)/t`$ and the dispersion $`D=(x(t)x(t))^2/2t`$. Having determined these two parameters (in the limit of large $`t`$), one can find the so called randomness $`r`$ defined simply as SvobodaPNAS94 ; FischerPNAS01

$$r2D/Vd.$$
(1)
This quantity can be used to estimate the number of internal states of a molecular motor. The idea is simple: if transitions constitute a Poisson unidirectional process with exactly the same transition rates $`k`$, then $`r=1/N`$ SvobodaPNAS94 . This idea was extended by Fisher and Kolomeisky FisherPNAS ; FischerPNAS01 , who made a conjecture that in a general case of a linear chain with bidirectional Poissonian transitions there is

$$N1/r,$$
(2)
which enables one to determine the minimal number of internal states in a full mechano-chemical cycle of a motor.

Another important quantity which can be directly related to $`V`$ and $`D`$ is the so called Einstein force

$$F_Ek_BT\frac{V}{D},$$
(3)
where $`T`$ is temperature and $`k_B`$ denotes the Boltzmann constant. This quantity is a linear-response estimation of the force exerted by a molecular motor FisherPNAS ; FischerPNAS01 . Conjecture (2) can be now written as

$$F_E2k_BT\frac{N}{d}.$$
(4)
The maximal value of the Einstein force is thus a simple function of three parameters: temperature $`T`$, a step length $`d`$ and the number $`N`$ of different internal states of a motor.

In a recent paper KozaPRE01  we have given a rigorous proof of relation (2) for linear chains with arbitrary Poisson transitions between nearest-neighbor sites. However, that proof is rather lengthy and complicated. Here we present a different argument justifying (2) and (4). Not only is it much simpler, but it is also more general, as it can be used for systems with transitions between arbitrary lattice sites (provided the lattice is periodic).

The paper is organized as follows. In Section II we present a mathematical definition of the model. Section III contains the proof of equation (2), and Section IV is devoted to the discussion of our results.

## II Model

We consider a one-dimensional lattice with its sites located at $`x_n`$, $`n𝒵`$. At time $`t=0`$ we put a particle at site $`x_0=0`$ and let it jump between the nearest-neighbor lattice sites. Transitions are assumed to represent a Poisson process governed by the master equation

$$\frac{P(n,t)}{t}=k_{n1}^+P(n1,t)+k_{n+1}^{}P(n+1,t)(k_n^++k_n^{})P(n,t),$$
(5)
where $`P(n,t)`$ denotes the probability of finding the particle at site $`x_n`$ at time $`t`$ and $`k_n^\pm 0`$ are the (constant in time) transition rates from a site $`x_n`$ to $`x_{n\pm 1}`$. We assume that the system is periodic in space with a period $`N1`$ and a lattice constant $`d>0`$. We do not demand that the distances between consecutive lattice sites, $`x_{n+1}x_n`$, should be all equal to each other. Our goal is to prove (2) for any choice of $`N`$, $`k_n^+`$ and $`k_n^{}`$.

## III Proof of relation (2)

Relation (2) is equivalent to

$$D\frac{Vd}{2N}.$$
(6)
We will prove this inequality by fixing the values of $`V`$, $`d`$ and $`N`$ and finding the minimal value of $`D`$ as a function of $`d`$ and transition rates $`k_n^\pm `$, $`n=1,\mathrm{},N`$. Since $`V/d`$ and $`D/d^2`$ depend only on transition rates $`k_n^\pm `$ Koza , the problem of proving (6) reduces to the one of minimizing a rather complicated function of $`2N`$ nonnegative variables $`k_n^\pm `$.

Probably the simplest proof of inequality (6) is based on a very general and nontrivial property of diffusive lattice systems Koza . Suppose we have a diffusion process on a periodic lattice with Poissonian transitions between its sites and let $`k_{mn}0`$ denote the transition rate from site $`n`$ to $`m`$. There exists a time interval $`\tau `$ such $`k_{mn}\tau 1`$ for all $`n`$ and $`m`$. We can thus define another stochastic process on this lattice, in which transitions can occur only at regular intervals $`\tau `$ and are characterized by probabilities $`k_{mn}\tau `$ ($`k_{mn}\tau `$ is the probability of jumping from $`n`$ to $`m`$). It has been rigorously shown Koza  that the drift velocity $`V`$ and dispersion $`D`$ calculated in the original, continuous-time system are related to the drift velocity $`V^D`$ and dispersion $`D^D`$ of its discrete-time counterpart through general formulae

$$V=V^D,D=D^D+\frac{\tau }{2}V^2.$$
(7)
The problem of finding the combination of transition rates $`k_n^\pm `$ which minimize the value of dispersion $`D`$ for some fixed values of $`V`$ and $`d`$ in the continuous-time process is therefore equivalent to the same problem posed for the corresponding discrete-time system. However, the latter problem is much simpler. By definition dispersion $`D^D`$ cannot be negative. Moreover, $`D^D=0`$ for two particular choices of transition probabilities $`k_n^\pm \tau `$: either when $`k_n^{}\tau =0`$ and $`k_n^+\tau =1`$ or when $`k_n^{}\tau =1`$ and $`k_n^+\tau =0`$. In these two cases the motion of a diffusing particle is actually unidirectional and deterministic — hence the value of dispersion $`D^D=0`$. Clearly, $`D^D`$ assumes the minimal possible value only in these two particular ”degenerated” cases where the stochastic, bidirectional process turns into a unidirectional, deterministic one. Non-vanishing transition rates in the corresponding continuous-time process are equal $`1/\tau `$, and in this case $`V=d/N\tau `$ and $`D=(d/N)^2/2\tau =Vd/2N`$ Koza . The minimal value of dispersion $`D`$ is thus equal to $`Vd/2N`$, which completes the proof of (6).

It is worth noting that not only have we just proved inequality (6), but but we also showed that $`V/D`$ assumes its maximal value, $`2N/d`$, if and only if all transitions are unidirectional and of the same magnitude, i. e. when for any $`1n,mN`$ there is

$$k_n^+=k_m^+>0,k_n^{}=0\text{or}k_n^{}=k_m^{}>0,k_n^+=0.$$

It is also interesting to note that in our present approach we almost did not employ the assumption that only transitions between nearest-neighbor lattice sites are allowed. The same line of reasoning could be applied for more general systems. The only difference would be that in a general case there would be several choices of transition rates for which the auxiliary discrete-time process is deterministic. Some of them could be characterized by different values of $`N`$ and we would have to plug the smallest of them in Eq. (6). However, in the case of molecular motors such complicated models do not seem to be appropriate, as we expect that their behavior is governed by the most probable reaction path HowardBook .

## IV Conclusions

We have rigorously proved that in diffusive processes on periodic lattices with Poissonian transitions between its nodes the value of diffusion coefficient $`D`$ is bounded from above by $`Vd/2N`$, where $`V`$ is the mean drift velocity, $`d`$ is the length of the elementary cell, and $`N`$ denotes the number of sites in the elementary cells. The present approach is much simpler than our previous method employed in Ref. KozaPRE01 . It is also more general, as it can be applied to arbitrary lattice systems, while our previous approach was applicable only to linear lattices with transitions restricted to the nearest-neighbor sites.

Our result has interesting applications in the theory of molecular motors. First of all it implies that by measuring experimentally the randomness $`r2D/Vd`$ one can determine the minimal number $`N`$ of internal states of a motor in its full mechano-chemical cycle. As a matter of fact, this approach was already employed in Ref. FischerPNAS01 , where it was found that for kinesin $`N4`$. Our result gives firmer basis for this kind of argumentation.

Our result implies also that the maximal value of the Einstein force, $`F_E`$, is $`2k_BTN/d`$, where $`T`$ is the temperature and $`k_B`$ – the Boltzmann constant. We showed that this maximal value is attained if and only if all transitions are unidirectional and of the same magnitude.

Although our approach is valid for any value of $`N`$ and an arbitrary choice of transition rates, in the context of molecular motors it still refers to a simplified situation. First, we assumed that the motion of a motor protein can be reduced to diffusion of a Brownian particle on a linear chain of lattice nodes, and other topologies deserve at least equal attention Julicher-RMP97 ; KoloJChP2000 ; MotorsB ; Lipovsky . Second, we assumed that transitions constitute a Poisson process. Although this hypothesis is confirmed by recent experiments on myosin Rief , it is well known that transition rates with other probability density functions may lead to completely different upper bounds for dispersion $`D`$ (and hence the upper bound for $`F_E`$ and the lower bound for $`r`$ may also change) FisherPNAS ; KoloJChP2000 ; FischerPNAS01 . Nevertheless, the force calculated using all these approximations ($`4.3`$ pN) agrees quite well with the experimental value of the stalling force $`F_\mathrm{s}`$ for kinesin (different experimental techniques yielded $`F_\mathrm{s}48`$ pN HowardBook ). Further work is, of course, required to clarify the relevance of the above-mentioned problems.

## Acknowledgments

Support from the Polish KBN Grant Nr 2 P03B 119 19 is gratefully acknowledged.


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# Internal Rotation of Disilane and Related Molecules: a Density Functional Study

## 1 Introduction

Recently disilane has attracted attention poph01 ; cho97  due to its importance in the production of silicon based semiconductor devices. Its geometry is quite similar to ethane, which is the best known and most widely studied example jones ; march ; loudon ; mcmurry  of simple molecules with properties that markedly depend on the rotation of a group of atoms around one or more internal bonds, going through stable and unstable conformations as a full 360 rotation is executed. In particular, the central C-C bond of ethane is a threefold symmetry axis. Thus, as one of the two methyl groups rotates around this axis the molecule goes through (stable) staggered and (unstable) eclipsed conformations (see Fig. 1). The preferred staggered structure is attributed to steric effects jones ; march ; loudon ; mcmurry ; pop ; badenhoop , more precisely to increased repulsion between electrons in bonds that are drawn closer together mcmurry .

On the other hand, the fundamental processes in the disilane decomposition on silicon surfaces are relevant to the understanding and optimization of the growth of epitaxial silicon on silicon substrates. The morphological parameters of the eclipsed and staggered silane conformations were recently calculated by Pophristic and co-workers poph01 . They concluded that the origin of the eclipsed to staggered relaxation is related to the preferential hyperconjugative stabilization (meaning energy stabilization through electron excitation to a delocalized state). This charge delocalization changes the electronic properties of the molecule, as a function of the conformation it adopts.

When a reaction moves forward along the reaction coordinate, a redistribution of the ground–state electron density takes place, and the resulting energy change can be understood in terms of the response of the system to variations of the total number of electrons $`N`$, and of the external $`v(\stackrel{}{r})`$ potential parr88 . Density functional theory (DFT) parr88 ; dreizler  has been quite successful in providing a theoretical basis for qualitative chemical concepts like chemical potential ($`\mu `$) and hardness ($`\eta `$), which describe the response of the system when $`N`$ is varied for a fixed $`v(\stackrel{}{r})`$ parr88 . In DFT $`\mu `$ is the Lagrange multiplier associated with the normalization constraint that requires conservation of the number of electrons $`N`$. Classical structural chemistry is recovered with the identification of $`\mu `$ as minus the electronegativity ($`\mu =\chi `$), a well known and well established quantity. Definitions of $`\mu `$ and $`\eta `$, two global electronic properties that are implied in the reactivity of molecular systems, were given by Parr et al. parrdonn  and Parr and Pearson ppierson ; pierson97 , respectively. The application of DFT concepts to the analysis of chemical reactions is better appreciated with the help of the principle of maximum hardness (PMH), that asserts that molecular systems reach equilibrium tending towards states with the highest hardness pmh1 ; pmh2 . In this context the PMH can also be helpful in identifying transition states where minimum values of $`\eta `$ are expected atl01 .

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed report on the geometric and electronic structure of disilane (Si2H6) and the family of closely related molecules Si2X6, where X = F, Cl and Br, as well as the implications this structure has on the molecular properties. We focus our attention on the changes that are induced on the energy and molecular properties as the molecular conformation periodically changes from staggered to eclipsed and back to staggered through rotation with respect to the Si-Si bond of the SiX3 group of Si2X6 (X=H,F,Cl,Br).

This paper is organized as follows: after this introduction we discuss technical aspects of our calculation in Sec. 2, discuss the molecular geometry in Sec. 3, the electronic energy profiles and rotational barriers in Sec. 4 and the chemical potential and the hardness in Sec. 5. In Sec. 6 we present a qualitative analysis of the chemical reactivity of silanes and finally, we close the paper in Sec. 7 drawing conclusions.

## 2 Computational Details

The calculations reported in this paper were performed using the Gaussian 98 gaus98  package. The results we report were obtained implementing the B3LYP–DFT method and corresponds to the B3LYP/6-311++G\** level. A lower level B3LYP/6-31G\* calculation was tested for comparison purposes. For the staggered and eclipsed conformations, and in order to test the DFT results, MP2/6-311++G\** calculations were also carried out to check the quality of the B3LYP results.

## 3 Geometry

Constrained geometrical optimization was performed varying the dihedral angle $`\alpha `$, defined as the rotation angle of the silyl group of Si2H6 (or the three X atoms in Si2X6), located at one end of the Si-Si bond, relative to the same three atoms at the other end of this bond (see the illustration in Fig. 1). The angle $`0\alpha <60^{}`$, with $`\alpha =0`$ defined as the staggered conformation and $`\alpha =60^{}`$ as the eclipsed one, is varied in steps of 10.

The structural parameters obtained for the staggered conformation are listed and compared to experimental data -whenever the latter is available- in Table 1. It is apparent that for the lighter molecules (i.e. Si2H6 and Si2F6) B3LYP/6-31G\* yields better agreement with experimental values than B3LYP /6-311++G\**, while the larger basis set 6-311++G\** fares better for Si2Cl6. We expect the same to hold for Si2Br6 (a molecule that has not yet been synthesized) since heavier atoms require larger basis sets for a proper description. Thus, in what follows below, our comparisons with experiment are based upon the results of B3LYP/6-311++G\**.

Rotation of one sylil group with respect to the staggered conformation is accompanied by a significant change in the Si-Si distance (see Fig. 2) while the Si-X (X=H, F, Cl and Br) distance remains almost unchanged (see Table 1). In fact, Si2Br6 displays the largest deformation, which amounts to about 1.59%, while Si2F6 undergoes a tiny elongation of only 0.23% .

The angle $`\mathrm{}`$(SiSiX), between the Si axis and the X-atoms, exhibits a small but systematic increase as a function of $`\alpha `$. Again, this change is largest for Si2Br6 (approximately 0.66%) and smallest for Si2F6 (approximately 0.04%).

## 4 Energy Profiles and Rotational Barriers

Fig. 3 shows the evolution of the total energy for each molecule studied, measured with respect to the total energy in the staggered configuration. In each case, staggered conformation is of minimum energy and eclipsed conformation presents maximum energy.

It is also evident from Figs. 2 and 3 that the energy follows the same trend as the Si-Si distance along the torsional angle. Clearly, the torsional potential energy can be understood in terms of the structural changes of the molecule undergoes as $`\alpha `$ is varied. Si2F6 being almost free to rotate, in the sense that it undergoes only minor geometrical changes, presents a rather small rotational barrier of $``$0.61 kcal/mol, while Si2Br6 has a rotational barrier of $``$ 2.6 kcal/mol, consistent with its larger geometric changes. The above results indicate that torsional potential barriers, that hinder the interconversion between two staggered conformations, arise from structural rearrangements induced by an interplay between steric repulsion and hyperconjugation effects pop .

It is important to remark that at the B3LYP/6-31G\* level Si2Br6 is predicted to be stable in the eclipsed configuration, with a rather significant energy difference of 1.17 kcal/mol relative to the staggered one. MP2/6-31G\* also yields a smaller energy for the eclipsed configuration, but with a much smaller difference of only 0.150 kcal/mol. However, the MP2/6-311++G\** calculations agree with the B3LYP/6-311++G\** results. Thus, it seems that 6-311++G\** is the minimum basis set required to correctly describe the rotational behavior of Si2Br6.

Table 2 displays the B3LYP/6-311++G\** rotational barriers we obtained. Substitution of the hydrogens, by the more electronegative fluor atoms, results in a lowering of the potential barrier. The electronic population is now mainly localized at the SiF3 groups thus weakening the Si-Si torsional bond. The values for Si2H6 and Si2F6 compare well with those calculated by Cho et al. cho97 . The experimental values for the rotational barrier of Si2H6 are $`1`$ kcal/mol, and for Si2F6 between 0.51-0.73 kcal/mol, according to early electron diffraction measurements cho97 .

On the other hand, substitution of the hydrogens by chlorine and bromine atoms tends to keep the electronic population uniformly distributed, and the observed increase of the potential barrier seems to be related to steric hindrance between quite voluminous chemical groups.

## 5 Chemical Potential and Hardness

In DFT the chemical potential of a molecule is defined by the derivative of the energy with respect to the number of electrons $`N`$ at constant external potential $`v(r)`$:

$$\mu =\left(\frac{E}{N}\right)_{v(r)},$$
(1)
where $`E`$ is the energy and $`N`$ the number of particles. For a finite system this extrapolation takes the form parr88

$$\mu \frac{1}{2}[E(N+1)E(N1)].$$
(2)
Moreover, following Koopmans’ theorem koopmans , the anion energy $`E(N+1)`$ can be approximated by $`E(N+1)E(N)+E_{\text{LUMO}}`$, and the cation energy $`E(N1)`$, by $`E(N1)E(N)E_{\text{HOMO}}`$, where $`E_{\text{LUMO}}`$ and $`E_{\text{HOMO}}`$ are the energies of the Lowest Unoccupied and Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital, respectively. Within this approximation

$$\mu \frac{1}{2}(E_{\text{LUMO}}+E_{\text{HOMO}}).$$
(3)
Another relevant characteristic property we want to probe is the chemical hardness $`\eta `$, defined as

$$\eta =\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{^2E}{N^2}\right)_{v(r)},$$
(4)
which can be approximated by a finite difference as follows:

$$\eta \frac{1}{2}[E(N+1)+E(N1)2E(N)],$$
(5)
which in terms of the HOMO–LUMO energies reads

$$\eta \frac{1}{2}[E_{\text{LUMO}}E_{\text{HOMO}}].$$
(6)
Nevertheless it is important to notice that the actual changes in the torsional energy must include the geometrical changes induced by the removal or addition of electrons. This geometrical relaxation may include symmetry changes, such as the rotations around the Si-Si axis we study in this paper. Thus, the significance of $`\eta `$ and $`\mu `$ as calculated above, whether with the HOMO–LUMO approximation or with the unrelaxed (or constraint relaxed) cation and anion energies, is not completely accurate.

Figs. 4 and 5 display the chemical potential $`\mu `$ and chemical hardness $`\eta `$, respectively, as a function of the torsion angle $`\alpha `$, in the HOMO–LUMO approximation. An appreciably difference of the $`\mu `$ values between two reference conformations implies that an electronic rearrangement, with some charge transfer from the higher towards the lower $`\mu `$ conformation, will take place. By inspection of Fig. 4 we observe that the chemical potential versus $`\alpha `$ profiles for all molecules, except Si2H6, display a variation of $`\mu 1`$ kcal/mol as $`\alpha `$ varies by 60, always opposite in sign to the relative to the energy variation displayed in Fig. 5. This is an indication that torsion implies a rearrangement of the electronic density. In contrast, for Si2H6, the chemical potential remains quite constant over the range $`0\alpha 60^{}`$, with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mu 0.10`$ kcal/mol.

Further inspection of Fig. 5 reveals that the overall hardness changes are quite small, ranging from $`0.2`$ kcal/mol for Si2H6 to $`1`$ kcal/mol for Si2F6. Si2H6, Si2Cl6 and Si2Br6 are chemically hardest in the eclipsed conformation, while Si2F6 is hardest in the staggered conformation. It is interesting to mention that the same trends for the chemical hardness are predicted both by the cation-anion energies, at the B3LYP/6-311++G\** level, and by the HOMO–LUMO approximation at MP2/6-311++G\** level, as seen in Table 3, where the numerical values of the hardness in the staggered and eclipsed conformations are listed.

It is noticed that the PMH is verified only for Si2F6, while Si2H6, Si2Cl6 and Si2Br6 present hardness profiles obeying the same trend as their energy profiles. According to the PMH, the hardness profile of Si2F6 displays a maximum at the stable staggered conformation and a minimum at the unstable eclipsed conformation. We want to emphasize the complementary behavior of energy and hardness: whereas for Si2F6 the almost free internal rotation does not allow to distinguish the energetically most favorable $`\alpha `$ value, the hardness profile allows this characterization. In contrast, the hindered rotation in Si2X6 (X=H, Cl, Br) yields energetically distinguishable conformations, but they cannot be characterized by the hardness profiles.

## 6 Reactivity of Silanes

The reactivity of these systems, induced by the internal rotation, cannot be rationalized in terms of the profiles of $`\mu `$ and $`\eta `$ alone, due to their almost constant behavior as a function of $`\alpha `$. However, a different perspective of the electronic structure and reactivity is provided by the LUMO and HOMO densities. In Fig. 6 the HOMO of the Si2H6 molecule is shown and we observe very similar orbitals to the other Si2X6 molecules we have considered. The majority of the orbital charge accumulates on the Si-Si bond with some contribution on the hydrogens, and with a bond of clear $`\pi `$-character. Moreover, there is little difference between the HOMO staggered and eclipsed charge distributions, indicating that the effect of the torsional motion on an electrophilic attack is negligible.

The LUMO electronic structure, as illustrated in Fig. 7, is completely different. For Si2H6, in the lowest energy (staggered) configuration, the charge density is delocalized on the sylil groups. Moreover, inspection of Figs. 6 and 7, shows that the largest overlap between HOMO and LUMO orbitals occurs for Si2F6, which suggests that in the staggered configuration this molecule has the strongest hyperconjugative effects pop . On the contrary, in the eclipsed conformation the charge is delocalized on the Si-Si bond, with a $`\pi `$-antibond character. This indicates that a nucleophilic attack on Si2H6 may present different specific mechanisms, as a consequence of the low torsion barrier. In the Si2F6 staggered configuration the delocalization process is different: the charge is delocalized on the Si-Si bond, with antibond character, and is symmetric around the Si-Si bond, but with an asymmetry in the direction of the sylil groups. Instead, in the eclipsed conformation, the charge is again delocalized on the Si-Si bond with antibond character, but with some preferential charge on the sylil side when viewed in a plane with four hydrogen atoms. In addition, the delocalization volume is larger in the staggered conformation.

Finally, we consider the Si2Cl6 molecule (Si2Br6 behaves similarly), which in its staggered configuration has the charge localized on the Si atoms, with a very clear $`\sigma `$-character, but with some asymmetry in the sylil group directions. This is similar to the eclipsed configuration, where the charge distributes in much the same way, except in that it is completely symmetric around the Si-Si bond. The above results suggest that the low, but significant, barriers that hinder internal rotation may induce different specific nucleophilic attack mechanisms.

## 7 Concluding Remarks

We have performed DFT calculations on Si2H6, Si2F6, Si2Cl6, and Si2Br6 of the evolution of the electronic energies, chemical hardness and chemical potentials as a function of torsion angle. For all these molecules at the DFT-B3LYP/6-311++G\** level, the staggered conformation is predicted to be the most stable one. Moreover, except for Si2F6, it is softer than the eclipsed configuration due to a different charge delocalization at the LUMO orbital.

Low, but significant, energy barriers hinder internal rotation. For Si2H6 the chemical potential and hardness remains quite constant during the torsion process, while the other molecules show different degrees of electronic density rearrangement as a function of the torsion angle. However, it was not possible to characterize precisely the reactivity behavior just on the basis of the chemical potential and hardness profiles.

The qualitative analysis of the frontier orbitals shows that for the Si2X6 series there is little difference between the HOMO staggered and eclipsed charge distributions. This indicates that the effect of the torsional motion on an electrophilic attack is negligible. In contrast, the low but significant barriers that hinder internal rotation may induce different nucleophilic attack mechanisms.


text:
# I Introduction

## I Introduction

A breakthrough in particle physics happened in 1998, when the SuperKamiokande Collaboration announced evidence for oscillation of atmospheric neutrinos . Recently, at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), evidence for flavor conversion of solar neutrinos has been found , pointing towards oscillation of solar neutrinos too. These two important results come after a long series of experiments.

The most natural explanation of neutrino oscillations is that neutrinos have masses, and leptons mix just like quarks do. In this case, neutrino mass eigenstates $`\nu _i`$ are related to neutrino flavor eigenstates $`\nu _\alpha `$ by the unitary transformation $`\nu _\alpha =U_{\alpha i}\nu _i`$, where $`U`$ is the lepton mixing matrix .

It turns out that neutrino masses are very small with respect to charged lepton and quark masses. This fact can be accounted for in a simple and elegant way by means of the seesaw mechanism , which requires only a modest extension of the minimal standard model, namely the addition of the right-handed neutrinos.

As a consequence of this inclusion, a Yukawa term generating a Dirac mass term for the neutrino is allowed. Moreover, a Majorana mass term for the right-handed neutrino is also allowed. While the Dirac mass, $`m_\nu `$, is expected to be of the same order of magnitude as the quark or charged lepton mass, the Majorana mass of the right-handed neutrino, $`m_R`$, is not constrained and thus may be very large. If this case occurs, a small effective Majorana mass for the left-handed neutrino, $`m_L(m_\nu /m_R)m_\nu `$, is generated.

In this framework, lepton flavors and lepton number are not conserved. The amount of lepton flavor violations may be very different, according to supersymmetric (SUSY) or nonsupersymmetric (nonSUSY) models. In fact, in nonSUSY models, due to the smallness of neutrino masses, lepton flavor violations are so small to be unobservable . Instead, in SUSY models with universal soft breaking terms, lepton flavor violations can get much enhanced with respect to nonSUSY models .

On the other hand, the seesaw mechanism allows for lepton number violations, such as the neutrinoless double beta decay and the right-handed neutrino decay. The latter may be involved in the generation of the baryon asymmetry in the universe, through the baryogenesis via leptogenesis mechanism . In fact, the lepton asymmetry produced by the decay of heavy right-handed neutrinos is partially converted into a baryon asymmetry by electroweak sphaleron processes .

In the present paper, we discuss both lepton number and lepton flavor violations in nonSUSY and SUSY seesaw models, especially in connection with fermion mass matrices. We consider some explicit models for mass matrices and determine the implications for the baryogenesis via leptogenesis, the neutrinoless double beta decay and the radiative lepton decays in SUSY theories. In section II we summarize the experimental informations on neutrino masses and lepton mixings. In section III the seesaw mechanism is briefly discussed. In section IV and V we outline the link between mass matrices, leptogenesis and radiative lepton decays in SUSY models. Finally, in section VI, we comment on the results.

## II Neutrino masses and mixings

From the combined study of atmospheric, solar and also reactor neutrinos we get a nearly bimaximal form for the mixing matrix,

$$U\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}& ϵ\\ \frac{1}{2}& \frac{1}{2}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\\ \frac{1}{2}& \frac{1}{2}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\end{array}\right),$$
(1)
where $`ϵ0.1`$. The name bimaximal comes from the fact that both $`U_{\mu 3}`$ and $`U_{e2}`$ have the value $`1/\sqrt{2}`$, while $`U_{e3}`$ is very small. However, the best fit is closer to

$$U\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\frac{2}{\sqrt{6}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}& ϵ\\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{6}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{6}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}& \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\end{array}\right).$$
(2)
The element $`U_{\mu 3}`$ is determined by atmospheric oscillations, with a mixing angle nearly maximal. The element $`U_{e2}`$ by solar oscillations, with a mixing angle large but not maximal. The smallness of element $`U_{e3}`$ is obtained from reactor neutrinos .

These studies also provide values for square mass differences of left-handed neutrinos. From atmospheric neutrinos we get

$$|m_3^2m_2^2|10^3\text{eV},$$
(3)
and from solar neutrinos (LMA solution)

$$|m_2^2m_1^2|10^5\text{eV},$$
(4)
or less favoured (LOW solution)

$$|m_2^2m_1^2|10^7\text{eV}.$$
(5)
Other two experimental informations come from single beta decay ,

$$m_{\nu _e}=(|U_{ei}|^2m_i^2)^{1/2}<2.5\text{eV},$$
(6)
and neutrinoless double beta decay ,

$$M_{ee}=U_{ei}^2m_i0.38\text{eV}.$$
(7)
The process of neutrinoless double beta decay is allowed only if neutrinos are Majorana particles, thus evidence for it would support the seesaw mechanism.

Due to the property $`|m_2^2m_1^2||m_3^2m_2^2|`$, three types of hierarchies for left-handed neutrinos are possible. In the normal hierarchy $`m_3m_2,m_1`$, with a complete hierarchy for $`m_2m_1`$. In this case $`m_3^210^3`$ eV2 and $`m_2^210^5`$ eV2 (or $`m_2^210^7`$ eV2). The partially degenerate spectrum is obtained for $`m_2m_1`$. In the inverse hierarchy, $`m_1m_2m_3`$, we get $`m_{1,2}^210^3`$ eV2. Finally, for the nearly degenerate spectrum we have $`m_1m_2m_30.11`$ eV, because of relations (6) and (7).

In general, the lepton mixing matrix can be parametrized as the standard form of the quark mixing matrix (including a phase $`\delta `$), times a diagonal phase matrix, like $`P=\text{diag}(\text{e}^{\text{i}\phi _1/2},\text{e}^{\text{i}\phi _2/2},1)`$. Sometimes a simplified approach is useful, namely to consider $`m_1,m_2`$ to be positive and negative, neglecting phases $`\phi _1,\phi _2`$. In a similar way one can take $`ϵ`$ positive or negative, and neglect the phase $`\delta `$. Negative masses $`m_{1,2}`$ correspond to phases $`\phi _{1,2}=\pi `$.

## III Seesaw mechanism

For three generations of fermions the seesaw formula is given by

$$M_LM_\nu M_R^1M_\nu ^T,$$
(8)
where $`M_\nu `$ is the Dirac neutrino mass matrix, $`M_R`$ the right-handed neutrino mass matrix and $`M_L`$ the left-handed (effective) neutrino mass matrix. Some problems with naturalness may happen. In fact, if $`M_\nu `$ is highly hierarchical, as quark or charged lepton mass matrices are, then it is unnatural to obtain nearly degenerate neutrinos.

From the experimental informations on neutrino masses and mixings we can infer the possible forms of the effective neutrino mass matrix through the formula

$$M_L=UD_LU^T,$$
(9)
where $`D_L`$ is the diagonal of effective neutrino masses. This relation is valid in the basis with the charged lepton mass matrix diagonal, $`M_e=D_e`$. However, for $`M_e`$ nearly diagonal, the approximation (9) can be adopted because of the bilarge lepton mixing. In fact, the difference between matrices (1) and (2) could be due to the contribution of the charged lepton mass matrix  or to a running effect from a high scale . We are interested in determining the form of the heavy neutrino mass matrix through the inverse seesaw formula

$$M_RM_\nu ^TM_L^1M_\nu .$$
(10)
Note that the matrix $`M_L^1`$ can be obtained from $`M_L`$ by changing $`m_i`$ with $`1/m_i`$, because $`M_L^1=UD_L^1U^T`$. As a first step we may assume symmetric matrices and quark-lepton symmetry,

$$M_eM_d\text{diag}(m_d,m_s,m_b),$$
(11)
$$M_\nu M_u\text{diag}(m_u,m_c,m_t).$$
(12)
The first quark-lepton relation is indeed a good approximation, while the second one is only an assumption.

## IV Lepton number violation

If we consider the seesaw mechanism, we have light (left-handed, effective) and heavy (right-handed) Majorana neutrinos and hence the violation of total lepton number. The neutrinoless double beta decay is allowed, with $`M_{ee}=M_{L11}`$. Moreover, as a consequence of electroweak sphaleron processes, the lepton number violation can be converted into a baryon number violation. Then, the baryogenesis via leptogenesis mechanism was proposed  where the out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy neutrinos produce a lepton asymmetry which is tranformed into a baryon asymmetry by sphaleron processes.

In the baryogenesis via leptogenesis mechanism, the baryon asymmetry is given by

$$Y_B\frac{1}{2}\frac{1}{g^{}}dϵ_1,$$
(13)
with the CP violating asymmetry in the decay of the lightest heavy neutrino with mass $`M_1M_2<M_3`$ given by

$$ϵ_1\frac{3}{16\pi v^2}\left[\frac{[(M_D^{}M_D)_{12}]^2}{(M_D^{}M_D)_{11}}\frac{M_1}{M_2}+\frac{[(M_D^{}M_D)_{13}]^2}{(M_D^{}M_D)_{11}}\frac{M_1}{M_3}\right],$$
(14)
where $`M_D=U_e^{}M_\nu U_R`$, with $`U_R`$ diagonalizing $`M_R`$ and $`U_e`$ diagonalizing $`M_e`$. The parameter $`vm_t`$ is the VEV of the Higgs doublet. The factor $`d`$ in (13) is a dilution factor which depends on $`M_1`$ and especially on

$$\stackrel{~}{m}_1=\frac{(M_D^{}M_D)_{11}}{M_1}.$$
(15)
Minor dilution, $`d10^1`$ is achieved for $`\stackrel{~}{m}_1=10^510^2`$ eV, while outside this range the dilution factor drops . Primordial nucleosynthesis requires $`Y_B`$ to lie between $`10^{11}`$ and $`10^{10}`$ (see for example Ref.).

We consider realistic mass matrices, expressed in terms of the Cabibbo parameter $`\lambda =0.22`$ and the overall mass scale,

$$M_e\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^6& \lambda ^3& \lambda ^5\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^5& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)m_b,$$
(16)
$$M_\nu \left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^{12}& \lambda ^6& \lambda ^{10}\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& \lambda ^4\\ \lambda ^{10}& \lambda ^4& 1\end{array}\right)m_t,$$
(17)
based on both $`U(2)`$ horizontal symmetry and quark-lepton symmetry (see Ref. and references therein).

For the complete normal hierarchy (and also the inverse hierarchy and the partially degenerate spectrum with $`m_2>0`$) we get

$$M_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^{12}& \lambda ^{10}& \lambda ^6\\ \lambda ^{10}& \lambda ^8& \lambda ^4\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& 1\end{array}\right)\frac{m_t^2}{m_1},$$
(18)
consistent with the $`U(2)`$ symmetry , and

$$ϵ_1\frac{3}{16\pi }\left(\frac{\lambda ^{20}}{\lambda ^{12}}\lambda ^4+\frac{\lambda ^{12}}{\lambda ^{12}}\lambda ^{12}\right)10^{10},$$
(19)
with $`\stackrel{~}{m}_1m_1`$, providing $`Y_B10^{14}`$. The overall mass scale of $`M_R`$ is larger than $`10^{15}`$ GeV, which is close to the unification scale.

For the partially degenerate spectrum with $`m_2<0`$ and $`m_1ϵm_3`$, so that $`(M_L^1)_{33}0`$, we have

$$M_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^{10}& \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& 1\\ \lambda ^4& 1& \lambda ^2\end{array}\right)\lambda ^6\frac{m_t^2}{m_1},$$
(20)
$$ϵ_1\frac{3}{16\pi }\left(\frac{\lambda ^{16}}{\lambda ^{12}}\lambda ^4+\frac{\lambda ^{12}}{\lambda ^{12}}\lambda ^4\right)10^4,$$
(21)
with $`\stackrel{~}{m}_1\lambda ^2m_1`$, so that high baryon asymmetry is achieved. Here the overall mass scale of $`M_R`$ is larger than $`10^{11}`$ GeV, close to an intermediate scale.

If a moderate hierarchy in $`M_\nu `$ is adopted, for example

$$M_\nu \left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^6& \lambda ^3& \lambda ^5\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^5& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)m_t,$$
(22)
we obtain

$$M_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^6& \lambda ^5& \lambda ^3\\ \lambda ^5& \lambda ^4& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)\frac{m_t^2}{m_1},$$
(23)
$$ϵ_1\frac{3}{16\pi }\left(\frac{\lambda ^{10}}{\lambda ^6}\lambda ^2+\frac{\lambda ^6}{\lambda ^6}\lambda ^6\right)10^6,$$
(24)
with $`\stackrel{~}{m}_1m_1`$, providing $`Y_B10^{10}`$. The overall mass scale of $`M_R`$ is again larger than $`10^{15}`$ GeV, close to the unification scale.

Thus we have considered three distinct models for lepton mass matrices . Model I is based on matrices (16), (17), (18), model II on matrices (16), (17), (20), and model III on matrices (16), (22), (23). Models I and III have $`M_R`$ nearly diagonal at the high scale, while the model II has a roughly offdiagonal $`M_R`$ at the intermediate scale. Models II and III are reliable for leptogenesis, while model I gives a too small asymmetry. Moreover, due to the value $`m_2<0`$, model II leads to a suppression of the rate for neutrinoless double beta decay, $`M_{ee}10^410^3`$ eV, while models I and III yield $`M_{ee}10^310^2`$ eV for the normal hierarchy and $`M_{ee}10^210^1`$ eV for the inverse hierarchy. The link between leptogenesis and lepton mass matrices is discussed in many papers, see for example Ref..

## V Lepton flavor violation

In SUSY seesaw models with universality above the heavy neutrino mass scale, lepton flavor violations are induced, which depend on the parameters

$$C_{ij}=\frac{1}{v^2}(M_D^{})_{ik}\text{ln}\frac{M_U}{M_k}(M_D)_{kj},$$
(25)
where $`M_U`$ is the universality scale. In fact, in SUSY models with soft breaking terms, there are lepton flavor violating terms in the offdiagonal elements of slepton mass matrices and trilinear couplings. If such violations occur at the tree level, the branching ratios exceed the experimental bounds. Therefore, it is usually assumed that lepton flavor violations do not occur at the tree level, and this is realized by assuming universality, that is slepton mass matrices and trilinear couplings proportional to the unit matrix, as happens in minimal supergravity. However, lepton flavor violations are generated by the effect of renormalization of Dirac neutrino Yukawa couplings from the universal scale to the right-handed neutrino scale . The offdiagonal elements of the Dirac neutrino mass matrix induce offdiagonal elements in slepton mass matrices and trilinear couplings. In particular, the branching ratios for lepton flavor violating radiative processes $`l_il_j+\gamma `$, where $`l`$ stands for a charged lepton and $`\gamma `$ for a photon, depend on the offdiagonal elements of slepton mass matrices, which in turn depend on the quantities $`C_{ij}`$. The subject has been studied in several papers, see for example Ref.. Here we discuss the impact of the mass matrices of the previous section on radiative lepton decays. Note that the baryogenesis via leptogenesis and the radiative lepton decays have a different dependence on the neutrino mass matrix $`M_D`$.

For model I we get

$$U_e\left(\begin{array}{ccc}1& \lambda & \lambda ^5\\ \lambda & 1& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^5& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right),U_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}1& \lambda ^2& \lambda ^6\\ \lambda ^2& 1& \lambda ^4\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& 1\end{array}\right),$$
(26)
so that

$$M_D=U_e^{}M_\nu U_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^7& \lambda ^5& \lambda ^5\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& 1\end{array}\right)m_t.$$
(27)
We assume that cancellations between terms of the same order in $`\lambda `$ do not occur. The calculation of $`C_{ij}`$ gives

$$C_{12}\lambda ^{12}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^{12}+\lambda ^{10}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^8+\lambda ^{10}10^7,$$
(28)
$$C_{23}\lambda ^{10}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^{12}+\lambda ^6\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^8+\lambda ^410^3,$$
(29)
$$C_{13}\lambda ^{12}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^{12}+\lambda ^8\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^8+\lambda ^610^4.$$
(30)
For model II we have

$$U_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}1& \lambda ^4& \lambda ^6\\ \lambda ^4& 1& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right),$$
(31)
and

$$M_D\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^7& \lambda ^5& \lambda ^5\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^4& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^6& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)m_t,$$
(32)
which differs from matrix (27) only for the element 3-2, so that

$$C_{12}\lambda ^{12}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^{10}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^810^6,$$
(33)
$$C_{23}\lambda ^{10}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^6\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^210^2,$$
(34)
$$C_{13}\lambda ^{12}\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^8\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^610^4.$$
(35)
For model III we obtain

$$U_R\left(\begin{array}{ccc}1& \lambda & \lambda ^3\\ \lambda & 1& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right),$$
(36)
$$M_D\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\lambda ^4& \lambda ^3& \lambda ^3\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& \lambda ^2\\ \lambda ^3& \lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)m_t,$$
(37)
and then

$$C_{12}\lambda ^7\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^6+\lambda ^5\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^510^3,$$
(38)
$$C_{23}\lambda ^6\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^6+\lambda ^4\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^210^2,$$
(39)
$$C_{13}\lambda ^7\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^6+\lambda ^5\mathrm{ln}\lambda ^4+\lambda ^310^2.$$
(40)
Generally, the dominant term is the third. However, sometimes the dominant term can be the second. Of course, each term has a coefficient of order 1 not indicated.

We have assumed that the universality scale is larger but of the same order of the heaviest right-handed neutrino mass. If $`M_UM_P`$, the Planck mass, then $`C_{ij}`$ is enhanced by about one order of magnitude. The experimental bounds on $`C_{ij}`$, inferred from Ref., are given by $`C_{12}10^310^1`$, $`C_{23}10^110^2`$, $`C_{13}10^310^1`$, for large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$. Because of uncertainties in SUSY parameters, only wide ranges are available. Future sensitivities for $`C_{12}`$ and $`C_{23}`$ are expected to be lowered by one or two orders in next years. Due to theoretical and experimental uncertainties, we cannot make definite predictions. However, it is worth stressing that generally models favoured for leptogenesis predict higher values for $`C_{ij}`$, so that a positive signal could be found.

## VI Conclusion

We have performed on order-of-magnitude analysis of some lepton number violating processes, namely baryogenesis via leptogenesis and neutrinoless double beta decay, and some lepton flavor violating processes, namely radiative lepton decays in SUSY models. Three distinct kinds of model for mass matrices have been used. Generally, when leptogenesis is enhanced, also the rate of lepton decays is higher. Then, if lepton decays are not found, this would possibly imply another mechanism for baryogenesis or another mechanism for SUSY breaking, for example, instead of the gravity mediated SUSY breaking, the gauge mediated SUSY breaking .

We thank F. Buccella, F. Tramontano, G. Ricciardi, A. Della Selva for discussions.