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# Radio Pulsar Death

## 1. Why pair production essential?

A pulsar drags its magnetosphere to co-rotate. In the observer’s rest frame, the local charge density required for co-rotation is the “Goldreich-Julian” (1969) density, which when $`rr_{lc}`$ ($`r_{lc}`$ is the light cylinder radius) is approximately $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}(𝛀𝐁)/(2\pi c)`$, where $`𝛀`$ is the angular velocity of the star, and $`𝐁`$ is the local magnetic field vector. In a simplest GJ magnetosphere, the positive and negative charges are separated from each other in space, and pair production is not required.

Pair production comes in for two reasons. First, it is obligatory. The most prominent feature of pulsar radio emission is its very high brightness temperature (typical value $`T_B10^{25}10^{30}`$ K). Due to self-absorption, the maximum brightness temperature for any incoherent emission is limited by the kinetic energy of the emitting electrons, i.e. $`T_{incoh,max}=\gamma _em_ec^2/k6\times 10^{12}\gamma _{e,3}`$ K. The pulsar radio emission mechanism therefore must be extremely coherent. Guided by our understanding of other coherent sources in the universe, the emission source is very likely a plasma in which various plasma instabilities can be developed to achieve coherent emission. A pair plasma is therefore required in an otherwise charge-separated magnetosphere.

Second, it is inevitable. A rotating magnetic pulsar is a unipolar generator, with a potential drop across the open field line region

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=(B_pR^3\mathrm{\Omega }^2/2c^2)=6.6\times 10^{12}\mathrm{V}B_{p,12}P^2R_6^3,$$
(1)
where $`B_p`$ is the surface magnetic field at the pole, $`P`$ is the rotation period, $`R`$ is the neutron star radius, and the convention $`Q=10^nQ_n`$ has been adopted. Such a huge potential is likely dropped along the open field lines (see §2 for the reasons), which accelerates a test particle up to an energy of $`\gamma _pm_ec^2=e\mathrm{\Phi }6.6`$ TeV, or $`\gamma _p10^7`$ ($`\gamma _p`$ is the Lorentz factor of the “primary” particles to be distinguished with the secondary pairs). These particles emit curvature radiation (CR) or inverse Compton scattering (ICS) photons (eqs.\[2-4\]) during acceleration. These primary $`\gamma `$-rays inevitably materialize in a strong magnetic field or a hot thermal photon bath near the surface (see §2 for detailed discussions).

## 2. Pulsar inner gaps and pair production mechanisms

In a force-free magnetosphere where $`\rho =\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$, the electric field parallel to the local magnetic field, $`E_{}`$, is equal to zero everywhere. In order to have particles accelerated in a pulsar magnetosphere, there must be a deficit of $`\rho `$ with respect to $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$ so that an $`E_{}`$ can be developed. There are two preferred charge-depleted regions, namely gaps, in a pulsar magnetosphere: the polar cap region above the neutron star surface (inner gap), and the region near or beyond the $`𝛀𝐁=0`$ “null charge surface” (outer gap). Since outer gaps can only be developed in young and millisecond pulsars while a much larger population of pulsars have radio emission, it is generally believed that radio emission may not be closely related to the existence of the outer gap. Rather, it should be closely related to an active inner gap which provides copious pairs from the polar cap cascade.

There are two ways to classify the inner gaps. The first way is according to the boundary condition at the pulsar surface, and inner gaps can be divided into two subtypes: a vacuum gap ($`E_{}0`$ at the surface, Ruderman & Sutherland 1975) and a space-charge-limited flow ($`E_{}=0`$ at the surface, Arons & Scharlemann 1979). The first type (hereafter VG) requires that the charges (usually positive ions) are tightly bound in the surface, so that a large vacuum gap naturally develops as charges in the polar regions move away from the surface due to centrifugal forces. Such a suggestion, however, is questioned later since calculations show that ion binding energies are usually much smaller than the one required for binding (e.g. Usov & Melrose 1995 for a review). The picture may be still pertained by conjecturing either that some pulsars are more exotic objects with exposed strange quark surface (Xu, Qiao & Zhang 1999; Xu, Zhang & Qiao 2001), or that much stronger (compared with the dipolar field inferred from the $`P`$ and $`\dot{P}`$ data) sun-spot like local magnetic fields anchor in the polar caps (Gil & Mitra 2001; Gil & Melikidze 2002). The second type of inner gaps (hereafter SCLF) is the natural outcome of a neutron star (or a strange star with a normal matter crust) with none or weakly distorted dipolar magnetic field configuration. In such a case, charges (either electrons for $`𝛀𝐁>0`$, or ions for $`𝛀𝐁<0`$) will be freely pulled out from the surface. Taking $`\rho =\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$ at the surface, it is natural that a deficit of $`\rho `$ with respect to $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$ will grow as the current flow outwards in the open field line region, since both $`\rho `$ and $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$ follow different $`r`$dependences. In the early years of pulsar theories when general relativistic effects are not noticed, such $`\rho `$-deficit growth was believed to be due to the curvature of the pulsar dipolar field lines (Arons & Scharlemann 1979; Arons 1983). In an oblique pulsar, for those field lines curving towards the rotational axis (the so-called favorably curved lines), an decreasing angle between $`𝛀`$ and $`𝐁`$ result in a net gain in $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}𝛀𝐁`$ with respect to the local $`\rho |𝐁|r^3`$ ($`r`$ is the radial coordinate of the point of interest) value defined by the magnetic flux conservation. The small $`E_{}`$ gradient generated from a small $`(\rho \rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}})`$ deviation results in an elongated gap compared with VGs. The growth of $`E_{}`$ at the edges of the gap is even smaller, resulting in a “slot gap” (Arons 1983). Later Muslimov & Tsygan (1992) first realized that by taking into account the general relativistic effect, another more prominent acceleration mechanism in the SCLF picture is available. For a Kerr metric, an observer at infinity views that local inertia frames are dragged by the rotating body. This modified the requires “co-rotating” magnetosphere charge density to a relatively smaller value: $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}(\mathrm{GR})[(𝛀𝛀_{\mathrm{LIF}})𝐁]/2\pi c\alpha (𝛀𝐁/2\pi c\alpha )[1\kappa _g(R/r)^3]`$, where $`\alpha 0.78`$ and $`\kappa _g0.150.27`$ are some constants depending on the equation of state of the neutron star (Muslimov & Harding 1997; Harding & Muslimov 1998, hereafter HM98). Clearly, besides the “flaring” term due to field line curvature (the $`[𝛀𝐁]`$ factor), an additional $`r`$-dependence of $`\rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}}`$ is introduced (the $`[1\kappa _g(R/r)^3]`$ factor). It turns out that this component results in a larger $`(\rho \rho _{_{\mathrm{GJ}}})`$ deviation, and a much faster growth of $`E_{}`$, as long as the inclination angle is not very close to 90o. Such an effect significantly influences the properties of the SCLF gaps (HM98). In the VG scenario, however, since $`\rho =0`$ in the gap, the frame-dragging modification is only minor, i.e., by a factor of $`(1\kappa _g)0.85`$ (Zhang, Harding & Muslimov 2000, hereafter ZHM00).

The second way to classify inner gaps is according to the source of $`\gamma `$-ray photons that trigger the pair cascade. For a long time since the early pulsar theories, curvature radiation (CR) is regarded as the only source of the primary $`\gamma `$-rays (Sturrock 1971; Ruderman & Sutherland 1975; Arons & Scharlemann 1979). The typical CR photon energy is ($``$ is the field line curvature)

$$ϵ_{_{\mathrm{CR}}}=(3/2)(\mathrm{}c/)\gamma _p^376\mathrm{GeV}_{6}^{}{}_{}{}^{1}\gamma _{p,7}^3.$$
(2)
The importance of inverse Compton scattering (ICS) off the thermal X-rays near the neutron star surface is gradually appreciated later (e.g. Xia et al. 1985; Daugherty & Harding 1989; Dermer 1990; Sturner et al. 1995). Zhang & Qiao (1996) and Luo (1996), within the frameworks of VG model and the (non-relativistic) SCLF model, respectively, first clearly suggested that the ICS photons may be more energetic and therefore have shorter mean free path to generate pairs than the CR photons. Zhang et al. (1997) further pointed out that there are two preferred ICS photon energies (though K-N limit ignored), so that by combining the CR typical energy, there are altogether three inner gap “modes”. The understanding of these three modes were greatly advanced by HM98, Hibschman & Arons (2001a, b, hereafter HA01a, HA01b) and Harding & Muslimov (2001, 2002, hereafter HM01, HM02) within the framework of the relativistic SCLF models. The first ICS mode is defined by the characteristic photon energy due to “resonant” scatterings (which are generally related to transition of electrons between the first Landau state and the ground state, and have much larger cross section than the Thomson cross section), i.e., ($`B^{}=B/B_q`$ and $`B_qm_e^2c^3/\mathrm{}e4.414\times 10^{13}`$ G is the critical field)

$$ϵ_{_{\mathrm{ICS},\mathrm{R}}}=2\gamma _pB^{}(m_ec^2)23\mathrm{GeV}\gamma _{p,6}B_{12}.$$
(3)
Scatterings above the resonance (non-resonant scatterings) also contribute to a significant higher energy component in the final IC spectrum. The typical energy of these scatterings is defined by the minimum of the IC-boosted thermal peak energy and the Klein-Nishina limit (i.e. the electron’s kinetic energy)

$$ϵ_{_{\mathrm{ICS},\mathrm{NR}}}=\mathrm{min}(\gamma _p^2kT,\gamma _pm_ec^2)=\mathrm{min}(8.6\gamma _{p,4}^2T_6,5.1\gamma _{p,4})\mathrm{GeV}.$$
(4)
The K-N limit takes over as long as $`\gamma _p>5.9\times 10^3T_6^1`$. Resonant scattering also reaches K-N regime when $`B^{}>1`$.

Gamma-rays produced via CR or ICS can materialize essentially in two ways, i.e., one photon production (1p: $`\gamma e^+e^{}`$) in strong magnetic fields and sometimes two photon production (2p: $`\gamma \gamma e^+e^{}`$). The 1p is believed to be the dominant source of pairs (Sturrock 1971). The pair generation rate exponentially grows as the factor $`(1/2)(ϵ_\gamma /m_ec^2)B^{}\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\gamma B}`$ reaches a critical value of $`1/10`$, or in high magnetic fields ($`B^{}>0.1`$), as the threshold condition $`(1/2)(ϵ_\gamma /m_ec^2)\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\gamma B}>1`$ is reached (Daugherty & Harding 1983), where $`\theta _{\gamma B}`$ is the incident angle between the gamma-ray and the local magnetic field. These define the “mean free path” (i.e. attenuation length) of the photons, $`l_{ph}`$, which is shorter for a larger $`ϵ_\gamma `$, a larger $`\theta _{\gamma B}`$ (or a shorter pulsar period which gives a larger field line curvature), and a higher $`B`$ when the near-threshold effect is not important. In most pulsars, usually more than one generation of pairs are produced. The first generation pairs lose their perpendicular energies through synchrotron radiation (SR), and the resultant secondary $`\gamma `$-rays also usually meet one photon pair production condition, so that a photon-pair cascade develops (Daugherty & Harding 1982, 1996). The remaining parallel energy of the pairs will also be converted to radiation through resonant ICS, and the resulting photons may sometimes (although the condition is more stringent) be converted to further pairs, leading to a full polar cap cascade (Zhang & Harding 2000a).

The 2p process is in principle expected, since the typical energy of primary gamma-rays, $`ϵ_\gamma `$, and the typical energy of the thermal X-rays, $`ϵ_x`$, usually satisfy the kinetic condition $`ϵ_\gamma ϵ_x(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\gamma x})(m_ec^2)^2`$, where $`\theta _{\gamma x}`$ is the incident angle between the gamma-ray and the X-ray (Zhang & Qiao 1998). However, the mean free path of a typical gamma-ray for 1p is usually smaller than that of 2p, so that a gamma-ray usually has materialized in the strong magnetic field before interacting with the thermal X-rays. To have 2p competitive against 1p, one has to either raise the thermal luminosity and $`\theta _{\gamma x}`$ or considerably lower the magnetic field. The hot magnetar environment (Zhang 2001) and the low-$`B`$ millisecond pulsars (Harding, Muslimov & Zhang 2002, hereafter HMZ02) are therefore possible sites where the 2p process may become noticeable.

## 3. Energy budget deathlines and death valley

We have shown above that pair production is generally expected in normal pulsars, and in §1 we have made the argument that pair production is almost obligatory in the current radio emission models. Production of free pairs is the essential condition for pulsar radio emission. The condition that free pair production is prohibited or suppressed therefore defines radio pulsar death (recent discussions on this topic include, e.g. Arons 2000; ZHM00; HA01a,b; HM02; HMZ02). One important caveat is that free pair production may not be the sufficient condition for pulsar radio emission, which is model-dependent and poorly known. There exists a missing link between the pulsar high energy emission theories from which the cascade pair properties are predicted, and the pulsar radio emission theories in which various pair properties are required (but see Arendt & Eilek 2002 for a recent attempt to connect the missing link).

When a radio pulsar ages, it slows down so that the unipolar potential drops. The accelerated particles achieve less energies, and their subsequent CR/ICS photons are less energetic. Eventually, these photons no longer pair produce, either via 1p or 2p. No further pair plasma is ejected into the plasma, and the pulsar stops shining in the radio band. A radio pulsar dies. The death of this type is due to inadequate rotational energy budget. The condition defines the so-called energy budget “deathline” (e.g. Ruderman & Sutherland 1975 and many literatures thereafter) in the $`PB_p`$ space or $`P\dot{P}`$ space. For a star-centered dipole, the surface magnetic field at the pole reads ($`I`$ and $`R`$ are moment of inertia and radius of the neutron star, respectively)

$$B_p=6.4\times 10^{19}\mathrm{G}(P\dot{P})^{1/2}I_{45}^{1/2}R_6^3.$$
(5)
In some work where detailed theories are not needed, the pulsar deathline is conventionally taken as a line of constant $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ (eq.), with a slope 3 in the $`P\dot{P}`$ diagram. We’d like to caution here, however, that the real death lines could considerably differ from such a line, since the final potential drop across the gap at the pulsar death is defined by the condition of pair production, which gives a lower $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ with a different slope than 3. In fact, it is not easy to draw a single line to define radio pulsar death, since many factors will affect the position of the deathline. (This is why I did not present any analytical expression of the deathline in this chapter.) What is more relevant should be a “death valley”, a term first invented by Chen & Ruderman (1993).

Before moving into detailed discussions about the energy budget deathlines, two more length parameters need to be introduced. One is the acceleration length, $`l_{acc}`$, which is the typical distance an electron has to travel for acceleration to achieve a typical Lorentz factor $`\gamma _{p,c}`$, with which the electron’s CR/ICR emission photons can pair produce. This is acceleration-model-dependent (VG vs. SCLF). Another one is the mean free path of the electrons, $`l_e`$, which is the distance of the electron travels before emitting one CR or ICS photon, i.e., $`l_e(ϵ_\gamma /\dot{\gamma }m_ec^2)c`$. This is radiation-mechanism-dependent (CR vs. ICS). These two length parameters, together with the mean free path of the photon, $`l_{ph}`$, as discussed in §2, are essential for the following discussions. In all the models, a test particle has to be accelerated through a length scale of $`l_{acc}`$ to reach a Lorentz factor $`\gamma _c`$. This particle emits a test photon (via CR or ICS) with a probability (depends on $`l_e`$), and the photon attenuation length is $`l_{ph}`$. By minimizing the length $`l_{acc}+l_{ph}`$, one gets a typical height of the gap, and hence, the potential drop across the gap ($`\mathrm{\Delta }V`$). By demanding $`\mathrm{\Delta }V`$ equal to the maximum achievable potential (some fraction of $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ in eq.), one gets a deathline (ZHM00).

Lack of a well-defined deathline is due to many uncertainties involved:

1. Criterion: In the literatures, there exist essentially two criteria to define the deathlines. ZHM00 adopted the criterion of $`l_el_{acc}+l_{ph}`$ (see also Zhang et al. 1997), which ensures that the pair “multiplicity” is at least 1. HA01a adopted a (usually) less demanding criterion for pair production to reach a minimum multiplicity adequate to screen the $`E_{}`$. These could be regarded as the “strong criterion”. On the other hand, HM02 proposed a “weak criterion”. They did not introduce any demand on $`l_e`$, but just evaluated the condition that pair production happens at all. In this criterion, $`E_{}`$ is not necessarily screened, and the pair number density at the deathline may be very low, i.e., could be below the GJ density. Two comments need to be addressed. First, neither criteria are necessarily the criterion for radio emission. The latter merely defines a pair deathline. Second, the discrepancies between both criteria only step out in the ICS-controlled gaps. For CR-gaps, the difference between these treatments disappear, essentially because $`l_el_{ph}`$ in the CR case (ZHM00).

2. Model-dependence: Clearly different models (VG or SCLF; CR-, RICS-, or NRICS-controlled) result in different $`\mathrm{\Delta }V`$’s of the gap, and hence, different deathlines within that particular model (e.g. ZHM00). An adequate study needs to address the parameter regimes for the different modes to dominate so as to achieve a synthesized deathline in the whole $`P\dot{P}`$ space (e.g. HA01a, HM01, HM02, for SCLF models). The following essential features are noticeable. in VGs, usually $`l_{acc}`$ is small and negligible; in SCLFs, $`l_{acc}`$ is comparable to (although smaller than) $`l_{ph}`$ for the minimized case; in CR gaps, $`l_e`$ is small and negligible; in ICS gaps, $`l_e`$ is comparable to $`l_{ph}+l_{acc}`$.

3. Equation of state (EOS): Since 1p process is the dominant pair formation process in normal pulsars, the magnetic fields in the pair formation region is a crucial parameter to define the deathline in the $`P\dot{P}`$ space (although not in the $`PB_p`$ space. For the pure dipolar field configuration, equation (5) indicates that the neutron star EOS influences the estimated polar cap surface magnetic fields through influencing $`I_{45}`$ and $`R_6`$. If pair production region is right above the surface (or a fixed altitude above the surface), then different EOSs result in different deathlines. In SCLF models, different EOSs also modify the frame-dragging terms. The combined effects (HMZ02) generally makes a larger difference in short period (e.g. millisecond) regimes than in the long period regime. Softer neutron star EOSs or strange star EOSs tend to facilitate pair production and hence, lower the deathlines.

4. Unknown surface field configuration: A potentially even more important factor that may influence the surface magnetic field configuration and hence the deathlines is the unknown near-surface magnetic field configuration. It has been long recognized that a CR-controlled gap in a star-centered dipolar field can not sustain pair production in all known pulsars, so that near-surface multipole magnetic fields have long been speculated (Ruderman & Sutherland 1975; Arons & Scharlemann 1979). Several possible distorted magnetic configurations have been discussed in Chen & Ruderman (1993) within the VG models, and these are also valid in discussing other models. The magnetic configuration is the key factor that influences the deathlines although it is sparsely modeled due to many uncertainties involved. Recently, Gil et al. (Gil & Mitra 2001; Gil & Melikidze 2002; Gil et al. 2002) investigated some possible consequences when the polar cap fields are extremely curved and strengthened.

5. Refined geometry and physics: Most deathline discussions have been analytical. With the “weak criterion” and the assumption of a star-centered dipole, HM01 and HM02 performed detailed numerical simulations to study pulsar deathlines for the CR- and ICS-controlled SCLF gaps, respectively. Refined geometry (e.g. curved spacetime) and physics (e.g. pair formation details) are included. Their results suggest that many of the previous analytical treatments may not be reliable. One important finding is that at the deathlines, the maximum usable potential is only a small fraction of the value expected analytically (cf. ZHM00), and is model-dependent (CR vs. ICS). This cautions us that numerical calculations may be also essential to discuss deathlines in other models under other criteria and/or assumptions.

## 4. A death valley in the high-$`B`$ regime?

Two other QED processes can potentially suppress free pair formation in the strong magnetic field regime. These are magnetic photon splitting (sp: $`\gamma \gamma \gamma `$) and bound pair (positronium) formation.

Baring & Harding (1998, see also 2001, hereafter BH98, BH01) suggested a possible radio pulsar deathline in the high magnetic field regime, due to possible suppression of 1p pair production by magnetic photon splitting. (Strictly speaking, pulsars do not evolve across this line, so the “deathline” is essentially a radio quiescence line.) Such a line, by definition, is defined by $`l_{\gamma \gamma \gamma }<l_{\gamma e^+e^{}}`$, where $`l`$’s are the $`\gamma `$-ray attenuation lengths of the relevant processes (sp or 1p), which are dependent on both the field strength and the $`\gamma `$-ray energy, $`ϵ_\gamma `$. By specifying a characteristic $`ϵ_\gamma `$, a deathline in the $`PB_p`$ or $`P\dot{P}`$ space can be plotted. BH98’s photon splitting deathline ($`\dot{P}7.9\times 10^{13}P^{11/15}`$) is defined by specifying $`ϵ_\gamma =ϵ_{esc}`$, where $`ϵ_{esc}`$ is critical energy of the $`\gamma `$-ray that can just evade both 1p pair production and photon splitting.

There are several caveats concerning the BH98 photon splitting deathline:

1. How many modes split? The BH98 high-$`B`$ deathline is contingent upon the assumption that photons for both the $``$ and $``$ modes (defined by the electric vector with respect to the magnetic field plain) split in superstrong magnetic fields. Within the linear vacuum polarization treatment, only the $``$-mode photons are allowed to split at least for fields below $`B_q`$ (e.g. Usov 2002). Whether the $``$-mode photons split in superstrong fields due to non-linear vacuum polarizations is fundamental for all the discussions in this section.

2. High altitude pair formation? Even if both photon modes split, whether 1p pair production is completely suppressed still depends on some further conditions. If particles can be accelerated at higher altitudes and emit photons, these $`\gamma `$-rays can still produce pairs since the local field has degraded with respect to the high value near the surface (Zhang & Harding 2000b, hereafter ZH00b). For a VG, on the other hand, since downwards photons can not pair produce and there is no free source of the primary electrons, essentially few pairs could be generated. The magnetosphere would be dead, so strictly speaking, the photon splitting deathline is valid only for such a case (ZH00b).

3. Model-dependence? Both $`l_{\gamma \gamma \gamma }`$ and $`l_{\gamma e^+e^{}}`$ depend on $`ϵ_\gamma `$ in different ways. It is more relevant to adopt the characteristic $`ϵ_\gamma `$ of a certain type of the VG gap, rather than $`ϵ_{esc}`$ to define the photon splitting deathlines (Zhang & Harding 2001; Zhang 2001). The deathlines drawn with such a criterion tends to be tilted up with respect to the BH98 deathline in the short period regime, since fast pulsars have larger potentials to accelerate particles to higher energies and the more energetic photons are more facilitated to 1p pair production (Zhang & Harding 2001). Distorted magnetic configurations will also modify the competition between the sp and the 1p processes (e.g. Gil et al. 2002).

4. 2p pairs in magnetars? Finally, in magnetars, even if 1p pair production could be completely suppressed by photon splitting, 2p pair production typically has a shorter attenuation length in the hot magnetar environment (Zhang 2001). So pair production might not be completely suppressed in magnetars. A photon splitting death valley, if exist, is therefore only valid for the high magnetic field pulsars without substantial magnetic decay but with strong binding at the surface.

Bound pair formation (e.g. Usov & Melrose 1995; Usov 2002) essentially delay the free pair formation front, but in principle does not suppress free pair formation. Its role is similar to the two-mode photon splitting processes in a SCLF gap, i.e., to increase the gap height and the gap potential, which is helpful to interpret pulsar high energy emission within the polar cap models.

## 5. Concluding remarks

The following statements may be pertinent:

1. We now have a clear framework about the particle acceleration and photon-pair cascade in the pulsar polar cap region. Pair production from the polar cap is believed to be an essential condition for pulsar radio emission. The sufficient condition for radio emission, however, is unknown. Personally, I think that radio emission condition should be more stringent than the pair production condition. Thus, (moderate) non-dipolar fields may indeed exist at least in some pulsars. An important advance in the pulsar study in the recent years is the realization that ICS plays a crucial role in stead of CR in determining gap properties at least in some pulsars.

2. Theories are generally successful to define the conventional radio pulsar death in the long period regime, although many uncertainties prevent us from achieving a solid deathline. A death valley is more pertinent. Without introducing distortions from a star-centered-dipolar configuration, one can not include all pulsars above the deathline. The 8.5 second pulsar (Young et al. 1999) remains a challenge for any pure-dipole model after detailed numerical simulations. A best guess is that an ICS-controlled gap anchors in this pulsar with a moderate non-dipolar near-surface field configuration.

3. In the high magnetic field regime, pulsar death is not unambiguously defined. There is no strong reason against the possible radio emission from high magnetic field pulsars and magnetars. Possible reasons of apparent radio quiescence of magnetars may be due either to (a) that the coherent condition is destroyed; or to (b) that the main energy band of the coherent emission is not in radio; or to (c) the beaming effect; or else to (d) that the soft gamma-ray repeaters and the anomalous X-ray pulsars are not magnetars at all (but might be accretion-powered systems).

### Acknowledgments.

I am grateful to Alice Harding, G. J. Qiao, and Alex Muslimov for stimulating collaborations, to Jon Arons, Matthew Baring, Janusz Gil for discussions concerning various topics covered in this talk, and to R. X. Xu for presenting the materials at the meeting on behalf of me.

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text:
# Extrasolar Planets and Mean-Motion Resonances

## 1. Introduction

Marcy et al. (2001) have discovered two planets in 2:1 orbital resonances about the star GJ 876. This and possibly two other resonant pairs, one in 2:1 resonances about HD 82943 (Mayor et al. 2001; Goździewski & Maciejewski 2001) and the other in 3:1 resonances about 55 Cnc (Marcy et al. 2002), and the ease of capture into these resonances from nebula induced differential migration of the orbits (e.g., Lee & Peale 2002), mean that such resonances are likely to be ubiquitous among extrasolar planetary systems.

## 2. The GJ 876 System

A dynamical fit to the radial velocity data (e.g., Laughlin & Chambers 2001) places the GJ 876 planets on coplanar orbits deep in three resonances at the 2:1 mean-motion commensurability. The libration of the mean-motion resonance variables, $`\theta _1=\lambda _12\lambda _2+\varpi _1`$ and $`\theta _2=\lambda _12\lambda _2+\varpi _2`$, and the secular resonance variable, $`\theta _3=\varpi _1\varpi _2=\theta _1\theta _2`$, about $`0^{}`$ (where $`\lambda _{1,2}`$ are the mean longitudes of the inner and outer planet and $`\varpi _{1,2}`$ are the longitudes of periapse) differs from the familiar geometry of the 2:1 resonances between Jupiter’s satellites Io and Europa, where $`\theta _1`$ librates about $`0^{}`$ but $`\theta _2`$ and $`\theta _3`$ librate about $`180^{}`$. We have found that this difference is mainly due to the magnitudes of the orbital eccentricities involved ($`e_1<0.005`$ for the Io-Europa system, but $`e_10.26`$ for GJ 876). Stable simultaneous librations of the resonance variables require the equality of the average periapse motions, $`\dot{\varpi }_1=\dot{\varpi }_2`$. When the $`e_j`$ are small, the $`\dot{\varpi }_j`$ are dominated by the lowest order resonant terms in the disturbing potential, and $`\dot{\varpi }_1=\dot{\varpi }_2`$ requires $`\theta _10^{}`$ and $`\theta _2180^{}`$. On the other hand, when the $`e_j`$ are large, the dominance of higher order terms means that $`\dot{\varpi }_1=\dot{\varpi }_2`$ requires both $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _20^{}`$ (see Lee & Peale 2002 for details) and for some systems with masses different from those in GJ 876, $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$ far from either $`0^{}`$ or $`180^{}`$ (see § 3).

The likely origin of the resonances in the GJ 876 system is the differential planet migration due to planet-nebula interaction. The planets are sufficiently massive to open gaps in the nebula disk surrounding the young GJ 876 and to clear the disk material between them (Bryden et al. 2000; Kley 2000), and the resulting planet-nebula interaction typically forces the outer planet to migrate inward on the disk viscous timescale (e.g., Ward 1997). Figure 1 shows the evolution of the semimajor axes $`a_j`$, eccentricities $`e_j`$, and resonance variables $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$ for a calculation where the outer planet of the GJ 876 system is forced to migrate inward and there is no eccentricity damping. Both $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$ are captured into libration about $`0^{}`$, but the $`e_j`$ quickly exceed the observed values (dotted lines) with continued migration within the resonance. Therefore, unless resonance capture occurred just before nebula dispersal, eccentricity damping is required to produce the observed $`e_j`$ of the GJ 876 system. Eccentricity damping of the form $`\dot{e}_2/e_2=K|\dot{a}_2/a_2|`$ causes the eccentricities to reach constant values that decrease with increasing $`K`$. Figure 1 also shows the evolution of the $`e_j`$ for a calculation with $`K=100`$, which is chosen to yield the observed $`e_j`$. In Figure 1 we have neglected the outward migration of the inner planet due to the torques induced by any nebula left on the inside of the inner planet, as this does not qualitatively change the evolution except to require less eccentricity damping ($`K10`$) to arrive at the observed eccentricities (Lee & Peale 2002).

## 3. Diversity of 2:1 Resonance Configurations

As the example in Figure 1 shows, differential migration of planets through capture into a set of resonances and subsequent evolution without eccentricity damping cause the system to pass through a continuous sequence of stable libration states, whose configurations depend on the values of the eccentricities $`e_j`$ and the mass ratios $`m_1/m_2`$ and $`(m_1+m_2)/m_0`$ (where $`m_0`$ is the mass of the primary). Where a system with a given set of parameters is left along this sequence depends on the termination of the migration through nebula dispersal, or much more probably, the magnitude of the eccentricity damping.

For $`(m_1+m_2)/m_010^3`$ (a factor of 10 smaller than in the GJ 876 system), $`m_1/m_2<1`$, and very small initial $`e_j`$, a system is captured initially into a Io-Europa like configuration, with $`\theta _1`$ librating about $`0^{}`$ and $`\theta _2`$ librating about $`180^{}`$. Continued migration forces $`e_1`$ to larger values and $`e_2`$ from increasing to decreasing until the system passes smoothly over to the GJ 876 configuration with all $`\theta _j`$ librating about $`0^{}`$. Then both $`e_1`$ and $`e_2`$ increase smoothly as in Figure 1 until instability ensues at very large $`e_j`$. For $`1<m_1/m_2<2.5`$ (see Fig. 2), the passage from the Io-Europa configuration to the GJ 876 configuration is as above, but when the increasing $`e_1`$ reaches $`0.1`$$`0.3`$ (depending on $`m_1/m_2`$), the libration centers depart by tens of degrees from $`0^{}`$, leading to stable libration of the $`\theta _j`$ far from either $`0^{}`$ or $`180^{}`$. This asymmetric libration can persist for a wide range of $`e_1`$, but the system returns to the configuration with all $`\theta _j`$ librating about $`0^{}`$ for sufficiently large $`e_1`$. If $`m_1/m_2>2.5`$ (see Fig. 3), the resonance variables never reach the GJ 876 configuration after leaving the Io-Europa configuration. Within each type of evolution, the details of the path depend only on $`m_1/m_2`$ and not on the total planetary mass, provided $`m_j`$ are not too large. If $`(m_1+m_2)/m_010^2`$ as in the GJ 876 system, fairly large $`e_j`$ are generated before resonance encounter and the Io-Europa configuration expected at small $`e_j`$ is skipped (see Fig. 1).

## 4. The 55 Cnc System and 3:1 Resonance Configurations

For the inner two planets of the 55 Cnc system \[with minimum $`(m_1+m_2)/m_010^3`$\] and the expected range of migration rates, capture into the 3:1 resonances is sensitive to the initial conditions and migration rate. Figures 3 and 4 show the results of two calculations that are different only in the initial orientation of the orbits, and the former is captured into 2:1 resonances while the latter is captured into 3:1. As shown in Figure 4, there are also 3:1 resonance configurations with asymmetric librations. The “normal” behavior for small eccentricities where the 3:1 resonance variables (see Fig. 4 for definitions) librate about $`0^{}`$ or $`180^{}`$ changes to librations about angles far removed from either of these as the system is forced deeper into the resonances with continued migration.

### Acknowledgments.

This research was supported in part by NASA PGG grants NAG5 3646 and NAG5 11666.

## References

Bryden, G., Różyczka, M., Lin, D. N. C., & Bodenheimer, P. 2000, ApJ, 540, 1091

Goździewski, K., & Maciejewski, A. J. 2001, ApJ, 563, L81

Kley, W. 2000, MNRAS, 313, L47

Laughlin, G., & Chambers, J. E. 2001, ApJ, 551, L109

Lee, M. H., & Peale, S. J. 2002, ApJ, 567, 596

Marcy, G. W., Butler, R. P., Fischer, D., Vogt, S. S., Lissauer, J. J., & Rivera, E. J. 2001, ApJ, 556, 296

Marcy, G. W., Butler, R. P., Fischer, D. A., Laughlin, G., Vogt, S. S., Henry, G. W., & Pourbaix, D. 2002, ApJ, submitted

Mayor, M. et al. 2001, ESO Press Release 07/01

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text:
# Off-diagonal geometric phase for mixed states

## Abstract

We extend the off-diagonal geometric phase \[Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3067 (2000)\] to mixed quantal states. The nodal structure of this phase in the qubit (two-level) case is compared with that of the diagonal mixed state geometric phase \[Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2845 (2000)\]. Extension to higher dimensional Hilbert spaces is delineated. A physical scenario for the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase in polarization-entangled two-photon interferometry is proposed.

The geometric phase discovered by Berry berry84  for cyclic adiabatic evolution has led to important insights into the geometry of quantal evolution as well as to several generalizations. Extension to the nonadiabatic cyclic case was given by Aharonov and Anandan aharonov87 , who pointed out that the geometric phase is due to the curvature of the quantal state space. Based upon Pancharatnam’s pancharatnam56  work on interference of light in distinct state of polarization, Samuel and Bhandari samuel88  provided a general setting for the geometric phase so as to cover noncyclic and nonunitary evolutions. These noncyclic concepts become undefined when the interfering states are orthogonal, which led Manini and Pistolesi manini00  to introduce the off-diagonal geometric phase for pure states in adiabatic evolution. This adiabaticity assumption was subsequently removed by Mukunda et al. mukunda02  and the off-diagonal pure state geometric phase was verified by Hasegawa et al. hasegawa01  in a neutron experiment.

Another development of the geometric phase has been its extension to the mixed state case. Uhlmann uhlmann86  was probably first to address this issue in the context of purification. More recently another mixed state geometric phase was discovered in the experimental context of interferometry by Sjöqvist et al. sjoqvist00 . It has been pointed out bhandari01  that this latter mixed state geometric phase can be undefined at nodal points in the parameter space where the interference visibility vanishes.

In this Letter, we expand the concept of mixed state geometric phase to the off-diagonal case. This off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase could contain interference information when the “diagonal” phase in sjoqvist00  is undefined. The off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase reduces to that proposed in manini00  in the limit of pure states and it may be verified experimentally as a shift in the interference oscillations in a polarization-entangled two-photon interferometry set up.

The idea behind the off-diagonal pure state geometric phase arises when considering parallel transport generated by the operator $`U^{}`$ of the $`j^{th}`$ eigenstate $`|\psi _j`$ of some time-independent Hermitian operator along the path $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in state space to the $`k^{th}`$ eigenstate $`|\psi _k=U^{}|\psi _j`$. Then the scalar product $`\psi _j|U^{}|\psi _j`$ vanishes and the concomitant relative phase becomes undefined. The only phase information left is in the cross scalar product $`\psi _k|U^{}|\psi _j(jk)`$, from which the off-diagonal geometric phase factor $`\gamma _{jk}^\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ can defined as

$$\gamma _{jk}^\mathrm{\Gamma }\sigma _{jk}\sigma _{kj}$$
(1)
where $`\sigma _{jk}=\mathrm{\Phi }[\psi _j|U^{}|\psi _k]`$ with $`\mathrm{\Phi }[z]=z/|z|`$. This quantity is gauge invariant and consequently measurable. Furthermore, it is reparametrization invariant, real-valued, and it is solely a property of the subjacent geometry of state space. In the qubit (two-level) case it can be shown that the off-diagonal geometric phase $`\mathrm{arg}\gamma _{jk}^\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ becomes $`\pi `$ for any open path $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ on the Bloch sphere.

The above can be generalized to $`l`$ mutually orthogonal states by defining

$`\gamma _{j_1j_2\mathrm{}j_l}^{(l)\mathrm{\Gamma }}\sigma _{j_1j_2}\sigma _{j_2j_3}\mathrm{}\sigma _{j_lj_1}`$ (2)
as any cyclic product of $`\sigma `$’s is gauge invariant. If $`l=1`$ this reduces to the diagonal geometric phase factor $`\gamma _j^\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and if $`l=2`$ we obtain the off-diagonal pure state geometric phase. For $`l>2`$ more complex phase relations among off-diagonal components of the eigenstates at the end-points of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ can be described. Such phase relations have been analyzed manini00 ; pistolesi00  for the deformed microwave resonator experiments in lauber94 .

Due to decoherence effects or improper preparation procedures it is more realistic to talk about mixed states in quantum mechanics. To cover such situations the concept of diagonal mixed state geometric phase was introduced in sjoqvist00  by considering Mach-Zehnder interferometry with a nondegenerate mixed internal input state $`\rho `$. This phase arises naturally as the shift of the interference oscillations determined by

$$\gamma _\rho =\mathrm{\Phi }\left[\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\rho \right)\right]$$
(3)
with the unitarity $`U^{}`$ parallel transporting each eigenstate of $`\rho `$ in one arm of the interferometer. The geometric phase factor $`\gamma _\rho `$ is a property of the subjacent geometry of state space and reduces to that of the standard geometric phase in the limit of pure states. It becomes undefined at its nodal points where the visibility factor $`\left|\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\rho \right)\right|`$ vanishes bhandari01 .

To generalize the above to the off-diagonal mixed state case we have to find an appropriate notion of “maximal orthogonality” between unitarily connected density matrices. One approach would be to take the density matrices $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}=U\rho U^{}`$ as maximally orthogonal if their Bures fidelity bures69  $`_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}]=\left[\text{Tr}\sqrt{\sqrt{\rho }\rho ^{}\sqrt{\rho }}\right]^2`$ is at infimum, as this would ensure maximal distinguishability between $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$ jozsa94 . However, for our needs a simpler definition is adequate, namely to say that $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$ are “quasi-orthogonal” if

$`\rho `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\lambda _k|\psi _k\psi _k|,`$
$`\rho ^{}`$ $``$ $`\rho ^{}={\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\lambda _k|\psi _k^{}\psi _k^{}|`$ (4)
with $`\psi _k|\psi _k^{}=0`$ for each $`k=1,\mathrm{},N`$, $`N`$ being the dimension of the Hilbert space. In the qubit case, this notion is equivalent to solving the minimization problem for the Bures fidelity, but in higher dimensional cases it is straightforward to find examples where the two approaches differ.

Using the above concept of quasi-orthogonality, we now define the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase factor $`\gamma _{\rho \rho ^{}}`$ for nondegenerate density matrices as

$$\gamma _{\rho \rho ^{}}\mathrm{\Phi }\left[\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt{\rho }U^{}\sqrt{\rho ^{}}\right)\right],$$
(5)
where the unitarity $`U^{}`$ parallel transports each eigenstate $`|\psi _k`$ of $`\rho `$. This definition can be seen as a natural extension of manini00  as it reduces to Eq. (1) in the limit of pure states. Furthermore, it may be well-defined for points in parameter space, where the mixed state diagonal geometric phase factor is undefined and it is manifestly gauge invariant under a phase transformation of the spectral bases $`\{|\psi _k\}`$ and $`\{|\psi _k^{}\}`$ of $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$. We demonstrate below that it can be assigned an operational meaning in terms of a purification lift that can be experimentally tested using two-particle interferometry.

We may extend the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase to $`lN`$ mutually quasi-orthogonal density matrices $`\rho _{j_k}`$, $`k=1,2,\mathrm{},l`$, yielding the expression

$$\gamma _{\rho _{j_1}\rho _{j_2}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}\mathrm{\Phi }\left[\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_1}}U^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_2}}\mathrm{}U^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_l}}\right)\right],$$
(6)
which is gauge invariant and independent of cyclic permutations of the indexes $`j_1,j_2,\mathrm{}j_l`$. It reduces to the diagonal mixed state geometric phase $`\mathrm{arg}\text{Tr}[U^{}\rho ]`$ for $`l=1`$ and to the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase $`\mathrm{arg}\text{Tr}[U^{}\sqrt{\rho }U^{}\sqrt{\rho ^{}}]`$ for $`l=2`$. In the limit of pure states it is equivalent to Eq. (2).

To delineate the nodal structure of the mixed state geometric phases in Eqs. (3) and (5) let us first consider the qubit case with $`\rho =\frac{1}{2}(1+r\sigma _z)`$, where $`r0`$ is the length of the Bloch vector and $`\sigma _z`$ is the standard Pauli operator in the $`|\psi _1,|\psi _2`$ basis. Using the definition of quasi-orthogonality yields $`\rho ^{}=\frac{1}{2}(1r\sigma _z)`$. Putting these density matrices into Eq. (5) we obtain

$`\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt{\rho }U^{}\sqrt{\rho ^{}}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`\eta ^2\sqrt{_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}]}\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ (7)
$`+(1\eta ^2)\gamma _{12}^\mathrm{\Gamma }.`$
Here, $`\eta =\left|\psi _1|U^{}|\psi _1\right|`$ is the pure state visibility and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the solid angle enclosed by the path $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the shortest geodesic connecting its end-points on the Bloch sphere. Similarly, the expression in the diagonal case becomes sjoqvist00

$`\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\rho \right)`$ $`=`$ $`\eta \sqrt{\mathrm{cos}^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}+r^2\mathrm{sin}^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}}`$ (8)
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left(i\mathrm{arctan}\left[r\mathrm{tan}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}\right]\right).`$
The Bures fidelity $`_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}]=1r^2`$ vanishes for pure states and the off-diagonal geometric phase becomes undefined only for cyclic evolution, where the diagonal geometric phase is well-defined. In the mixed state case $`0<r<1`$ the diagonal geometric phase becomes undefined only for rotations that flip the Bloch vector, corresponding to $`\eta =0`$. For such rotations $`\left|\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt{\rho }U^{}\sqrt{\rho ^{}}\right)\right|=1`$ and the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase is well-defined and equals the pure state value $`\mathrm{arg}\gamma _{12}^\mathrm{\Gamma }=\pi `$. This shows in the qubit case that the diagonal and off-diagonal mixed state geometric phases never become undefined simultaneously.

The off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase in the qubit case has a nontrivial nodal structure that arises due to the nonvanishing Bures fidelity. This can be seen by putting the left-hand side of Eq. (7) to zero and solving for $`\eta ^2`$ yielding

$$\eta ^2=\left(1+\sqrt{_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}]}\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }\right)^1,$$
(9)
which has solutions at $`\eta 1`$ for $`\mathrm{cos}\mathrm{\Omega }>0`$ and $`_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}]>0`$. Thus, the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase factor may change sign across the nodal surfaces in the parameter space $`(_B[\rho ,\rho ^{}],\eta ,\mathrm{\Omega })`$ defined by the solutions of Eq. (9), as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the corresponding off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase can take both values $`0`$ and $`\pi `$, contrary to the corresponding pure state phase, which can only be $`\pi `$.

In the maximally mixed state case $`(r=0)`$, the density matrix is degenerate and the geometric phases are undefined since there is no direction in space singled out. Still, there is a unique notion of relative phase in this case with a nontrivial nodal structure discussed in bhandari01 . The generic situation is covered by the unitarity $`U=e^{i\delta \sigma _z}`$ from which we obtain $`\text{Tr}[U\sqrt{\rho }U\sqrt{\rho ^{}}]=\mathrm{cos}2\delta `$ and $`\text{Tr}[U\rho ]=\mathrm{cos}\delta `$ with no common nodal points.

Next, let us generalize to arbitrary Hilbert space dimensions $`N`$. We take the set

$`\rho _1`$ $`=`$ $`\lambda _1|\psi _1\psi _1|+\lambda _2|\psi _2\psi _2|+\mathrm{}+\lambda _N|\psi _N\psi _N|,`$
$`\rho _2`$ $`=`$ $`\lambda _1|\psi _2\psi _2|+\lambda _2|\psi _3\psi _3|+\mathrm{}+\lambda _N|\psi _1\psi _1|,`$
$`\mathrm{}`$
$`\rho _N`$ $`=`$ $`\lambda _1|\psi _N\psi _N|+\lambda _2|\psi _1\psi _1|+\mathrm{}`$ (10)
$`+\lambda _N|\psi _{N1}\psi _{N1}|.`$
of mutually quasi-orthogonal nondegenerate density matrices and consider parallel transporting unitarities that permute the eigenstates $`|\psi _1,\mathrm{},|\psi _N`$. By appropriate labeling of the eigenstates, such operators can always be decomposed into the direct sum

$$U^{}=u_p^{}u_d^{}$$
(11)
where $`u_p^{}`$ permutes $`|\psi _1|\psi _m\mathrm{}|\psi _2|\psi _1`$ and $`u_d^{}`$ is diagonal in the remaining $`Nm`$ eigenstates. These terms do not mix so that one may write

$`\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_1}}\mathrm{}U^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_l}}\right)=𝒫_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}+𝒟_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)},`$ (12)
where $`𝒫_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}=\text{Tr}\left(u_p^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_1}}\mathrm{}u_p^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_l}}\right)`$ and $`𝒟_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}=\text{Tr}\left(u_d^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_1}}\mathrm{}u_d^{}\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_l}}\right)`$. If $`l=K\times m`$, $`K`$ integer $`N/m`$ and $`m2`$, then

$`𝒫_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}=\left[(1)^{m1}detu_p^{}\right]^Kf_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}(\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _N),`$ (13)
where the $`f^{(l)}`$’s can be written as sums of terms of the form $`\sqrt[l]{\lambda _{a_1}\mathrm{}\lambda _{a_l}}`$. For other $`l`$, the $`𝒫^{(l)}`$’s vanish as there is $`K\times m`$ steps needed to connect $`\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_1}}`$ and $`\sqrt[l]{\rho _{j_l}}`$ with $`u_p^{}`$. In the extreme case where all $`N`$ eigenstates are permuted, only $`𝒫_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(N)}`$ may be nonvanishing. In particular, we have the $`\lambda `$-independent expression $`𝒫_{\rho _1\rho _2\mathrm{}\rho _N}^{(N)}=(1)^{N1}detU^{}`$, while the existence of each of the remaining $`\gamma ^{(N)}`$’s depends upon the rank of the $`\rho `$’s. Turning to the contribution from the diagonal part of $`U^{}`$, we have

$`𝒟_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}={\displaystyle \underset{k=m+1}{\overset{N}{}}}\left(U_{kk}^{}\right)^l\sqrt[l]{\lambda _{k_1}\mathrm{}\lambda _{k_l}}`$ (14)
with $`U_{kk}^{}`$ the matrix elements of $`u_d^{}`$ in the eigenbasis of the $`\rho `$’s. As the density matrices are nondegenerate, it follows that all $`\lambda _{k_\alpha }`$ are different in each term on the right-hand side of Eq. (14) and $`𝒟_{\rho _{j_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{j_l}}^{(l)}`$ must vanish if $`l>`$ rank of the $`\rho `$’s.

Let us revisit the qubit $`(N=2)`$ case using the above general theory. If $`m=0`$, both $`\gamma _{\rho _1}^{(1)}`$ and $`\gamma _{\rho _2}^{(1)}`$ exist. Moreover, we have

$`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _2}^{(2)}=\sqrt{\lambda _1\lambda _2}\left[\left(U_{11}^{}\right)^2+\left(U_{22}^{}\right)^2\right],`$ (15)
which is consistent with Eq. (7) for $`\eta =1`$. In the permutation case $`m=2`$, we may use $`(1)^{N1}detU^{}=1`$ for $`N=2`$ and obtain

$`𝒫_{\rho _1\rho _2}^{(2)}=1,`$ (16)
in agreement with Eq. (7) for $`\eta =0`$.

As a further illustration, let us work out the $`N=3`$ case in detail. For $`m=0`$, all the $`\gamma ^{(1)}`$’s are well-defined. The dependence upon the rank of the density matrices is visible for higher $`l`$, namely

$`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _2}^{(2)}`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{\lambda _1\lambda _3}\left(U_{11}^{}\right)^2+\sqrt{\lambda _1\lambda _2}\left(U_{22}^{}\right)^2`$
$`+\sqrt{\lambda _2\lambda _3}\left(U_{33}^{}\right)^2,`$
$`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _2\rho _3}^{(3)}`$ $`=`$ $`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _3\rho _2}^{(3)}=\sqrt[3]{\lambda _1\lambda _2\lambda _3}`$ (17)
$`\times \left[\left(U_{11}^{}\right)^3+\left(U_{22}^{}\right)^3+\left(U_{33}^{}\right)^3\right]`$
with $`𝒟_{\rho _2\rho _3}^{(2)}`$ and $`𝒟_{\rho _3\rho _1}^{(2)}`$ obtained by permutations of the $`\lambda `$’s. In the $`m=2`$ case, $`|\psi _1|\psi _2|\psi _1`$ while $`|\psi _3`$ undergoes cyclic evolution. Explicitly we have

$`𝒟_{\rho _1}^{(2)}`$ $`=`$ $`\lambda _3U_{33}^{},`$
$`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _2}^{(2)}`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{\lambda _2\lambda _3}\left(U_{33}^{}\right)^2,`$
$`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _2\rho _3}^{(3)}`$ $`=`$ $`𝒟_{\rho _1\rho _3\rho _2}^{(3)}=\sqrt[3]{\lambda _1\lambda _2\lambda _3}\left(U_{33}^{}\right)^3,`$
$`𝒫_{\rho _1\rho _2}^{(2)}`$ $`=`$ $`U_{12}^{}U_{21}^{}\left(\lambda _1+\sqrt{\lambda _2\lambda _3}\right),`$ (18)
where we have used $`(1)^{m1}detu_p^{}=U_{12}^{}U_{21}^{}`$. The remaining $`𝒟_{\rho _2}^{(1)}`$, $`𝒟_{\rho _3}^{(1)}`$, $`𝒟_{\rho _2\rho _3}^{(2)}`$, $`𝒟_{\rho _3\rho _1}^{(2)}`$, $`𝒫_{\rho _2\rho _3}^{(2)}`$, $`𝒫_{\rho _3\rho _1}^{(2)}`$ are given by appropriate permutations of the $`\lambda `$’s. For $`m=3`$ (full permutation) the only possible contributions are

$`𝒫_{\rho _1\rho _2\rho _3}^{(3)}`$ $`=`$ $`1,`$
$`𝒫_{\rho _1\rho _3\rho _2}^{(3)}`$ $`=`$ $`3\sqrt[3]{\lambda _1\lambda _2\lambda _3},`$ (19)
where the latter requires full rank to be nonvanishing and we have used $`(1)^{N1}detU^{}=+1`$ for $`N=3`$.

Let us now turn to the issue how to measure $`\gamma _{\rho ,\rho ^{}}^{(2)}`$. In general, the procedure to achieve this is based upon lifting $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$ to the pure states $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}`$ and $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}^{}`$, respectively, by attaching an ancilla system $`a`$ in such a way that $`\rho =\text{Tr}_a|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}|`$ and $`\rho ^{}=\text{Tr}_a|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}^{}\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}^{}|`$. This purification can be performed experimentally in the qubit case by using a Franson type interferometer set up and polarization-entangled photon pairs (system and ancilla photon) franson89 , see Fig. 2. A source of this type that produces photons in the horizontal-vertical ($`hv`$) basis has been demonstrated in kwiat99 . Such photon pairs are sent to the interferometer in the polarization-entangled state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}=\sqrt{\frac{1}{2}(1+r)}|h|h+\sqrt{\frac{1}{2}(1r)}|v|v`$ and in the short arms the polarization is flipped so as to obtain $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}^{}=\sqrt{\frac{1}{2}(1r)}|h|h+\sqrt{\frac{1}{2}(1+r)}|v|v`$, where $`r`$ is the degree of polarization in single-photon measurement. By an appropriate choice of unitarity $`V`$, the off-diagonal phase $`\gamma _{\rho \rho ^{}}^{(2)}`$ can be measured as a shift of the interference pattern obtained by varying the $`U(1)`$ phase $`\chi `$ in this two-photon scenario. For simplicity, one may consider parallel transporting unitarities that rotates linear polarization into linear polarization. With $`\beta `$ the polarization angle of the photons with respect to the horizontal axis, this amounts to $`U^{}=\mathrm{exp}\left[\beta (|hv||vh|)\right]`$, and the desired output intensity detected in coincidence is

$``$ $``$ $`\left|e^{i\chi }|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}^{}+U^{}V|\mathrm{\Psi }_{sa}\right|^2`$ (20)
$``$ $`1+\left|\text{Tr}\left(U^{}\sqrt{\rho }U^{}\sqrt{\rho ^{}}\right)\right|\mathrm{cos}\left(\chi \gamma _{\rho ,\rho ^{}}^{(2)}\right)`$
if we choose $`V=\mathrm{exp}\left[\beta (|hv||vh|)\right]`$. Explicit calculation predicts $`\text{Tr}[\sqrt{\rho }U^{}(\beta )\sqrt{\rho ^{}}U^{}(\beta )]=\sqrt{1r^2}\mathrm{cos}^2\beta \mathrm{sin}^2\beta `$, which can be positive and negative for $`r1`$ depending upon $`\beta `$. Thus, such an experiment would test that the off-diagonal geometric phase is either $`0`$ or $`\pi `$ for mixed qubit states.

In conclusion, we have introduced the concept of off-diagonal geometric phase for mixed states. In the qubit case we have demonstrated that the nodal points of the diagonal and off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase never coincide. Extension to cyclic products of density matrices in arbitrary Hilbert space dimensions is shown to further enrich the mixed state phase. We have also proposed a polarization-entangled two-photon experiment that could test the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase, and in particular check the sign change property across its nodal surfaces.

E.S. acknowledges financial support from the Swedish Research Council.


text:
# Constraining Evolution of Quintessence with CMB and SNIa Data

## I Introduction

Recent astrophysical and cosmological observations such as dynamical mass, Type Ia supernovae (SNe), gravitational lensing, and cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies, concordantly prevail a spatially flat universe containing a mixture of matter and a dominant smooth component, which provides a repulsive force to accelerate the cosmic expansion ctrig . The simplest candidate for this invisible component carrying a sufficiently large negative pressure is a true cosmological constant. The current data, however, are consistent with a somewhat broader diversity of such a repulsive “dark energy” as long as its equation of state approaches that of the cosmological constant at recent epoch. A dynamically evolving scalar field $`\varphi `$ called “quintessence” (Q) is probably the most popular scenario so far to accommodate the dark energy component. It is very interesting and fundamentally important to distinguish the Q field from the true cosmological constant case.

Many efforts have been put forth to reconstruct the scalar potential $`V(\varphi )`$ from observational data based on various reasonable physical motivations. They include pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, inverse power law, exponential, tracking characteristics, oscillating feature, and others qmods . Several attempts have been made to test different Q-models many . Nevertheless, it proves to be premature at this stage to perform a meaningful data fitting to a particular quintessence model, or to differentiate between the variations. Reconstruction of $`V(\varphi )`$ would likely require next-generation observations.

Since the scalar potential of the Q-field is scarcely known, it is convenient to discuss the evolution of $`\varphi `$ through its equation of state, $`p_\varphi =w_\varphi \rho _\varphi `$. Physically, $`1w_\varphi 1`$, where the former equality holds for a pure vacuum state. Lately some progress has been made in constraining the behavior of Q field from observational data. A combined large scale structure, SNe, and CMB analysis has set an upper limit on Q models with a constant $`w_\varphi <0.7`$ bond ; bean , and a more recent analysis of CMB observations gives $`w_\varphi =0.82_{0.11}^{+0.14}`$ bac . Furthermore, the SNe data and measurements of the position of the acoustic peaks in the CMB anisotropy spectrum have been used to put a constraint on the present $`w_\varphi ^00.96`$ cope . The apparent brightness of the farthest SN observed to date, SN1997ff at redshift $`z1.7`$, is consistent with that expected in the decelerating phase of the flat $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }0.7`$ riess , inferring $`w_\varphi =1`$ for $`z<1.7`$.

Given the above observational constraints, one would like to know the possible role played by the Q field in the early universe. If the dark energy is a pure cosmological constant or it has a constant equation of state of $`0.7`$, it would be quickly dominated by the matter for $`z>0.3`$. The situation may be very different for quintessence with a time-dependent $`w_\varphi `$. Here we will adopt a model-independent approach in which a phenomenological form for the time-dependent $`w_\varphi `$ is assumed and then used to unfold the dynamics of the Q field up to the epoch of the last scattering surface. In particular, we focus on the CMB constraints that apply to such a generic quintessence (GQ) scenario in the hope of distinguishing the Q field from the true cosmological constant and the constant equation of state.

## II Quintessential Cosmology

Consider a flat universe in which the total density parameter of the universe today is represented by $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0=\mathrm{\Omega }_m^0+\mathrm{\Omega }_r^0+\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^0=1`$ with a negligible $`\mathrm{\Omega }_r^0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m^0/\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^01/2`$. Assuming a spatially homogeneous $`\varphi `$ field, the evolution of the cosmic background is governed by

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\varrho _\varphi }{d\eta }}`$ $`=`$ $`3a\left(1+w_\varphi \right)\varrho _\varphi ,`$ (1)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d}{d\eta }}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}a^2{\displaystyle \frac{a}{2}}(w_r\varrho _r+w_\varphi \varrho _\varphi ),`$ (2)
where the conformal time $`\eta =H_0𝑑ta^1(t)`$ with the scale factor $`a`$ and the Hubble constant $`H_0`$, we have used $`(d\varphi /dt)^2=(1+w_\varphi )\rho _\varphi `$ and $`V(\varphi )=(1w_\varphi )\rho _\varphi /2`$, and rescaled the energy density of the $`i`$-th component by the reduced Planck mass $`M_p(8\pi G)^{1/2}`$ and $`H_0`$, i.e. $`\varrho _i\rho _i/(M_pH_0)^2`$. Accordingly, the dimensionless Hubble parameter is given by

$$^2\left(\frac{H}{H_0}\right)^2=\mathrm{\Omega }_m^0a^3+\mathrm{\Omega }_r^0a^4+\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^2.$$
(3)
Therefore, given a prescribed function of time for the equation of state, $`w_\varphi (\eta )`$, the problem is reduced to solving a set of first-order coupled ordinary differential equations (1) and (2) with the initial conditions set at the present time and the time variable running backwards.

It is well-known that $`w_\varphi 0`$ after last scattering would result in a time-varying Newtonian potential which produces anisotropies at large angular scales through the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. If we are to constrain dynamical Q models, it will be useful to define an $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi `$-weighted average huey99

$$w_\varphi =_{\eta _{\mathrm{dec}}}^{\eta _0}\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi (\eta )w_\varphi (\eta )𝑑\eta \times \left(_{\eta _{\mathrm{dec}}}^{\eta _0}\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi (\eta )𝑑\eta \right)^1,$$
(4)
where $`\eta _0`$ and $`\eta _{\mathrm{dec}}`$ are respectively the conformal time today and at the last scattering. It was shown huey99 ; bean  that as far as the CMB anisotropy power spectrum is concerned, the time-averaged $`w_\varphi `$ is well approximated by an effective constant $`w_\varphi `$ for models in which the Q component is negligible at the last scattering.

## III The Generic Quintessence Scenario

The generic quintessence scenario assumes a phenomenological form for the equation of state $`w_\varphi `$ to accommodate as many observational outcomes as possible. Here we take $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m^0=0.3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_r^0=9.89\times 10^5`$ with $`w_r=1/3`$. Note that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^0=1\mathrm{\Omega }_m^0\mathrm{\Omega }_r^00.7`$. Let us start with the form for $`w_\varphi `$ at low redshifts. In order to satisfy the above-mentioned SNe observational constraints on $`w_\varphi `$, we are bound to choose $`w_\varphi =1`$ for $`z2`$. As such, the quintessence behaves just like a cosmological constant for $`0<z<2`$, and it becomes dominated by the matter density at $`z0.3`$. This can be seen in an example of the GQ in Fig. 1.

We have also plotted $`d\theta /d\eta =a\sqrt{(1+w_\varphi )\varrho _\varphi }`$, where $`\theta \varphi /M_p`$. For the Q field to obtain maximal dynamics at low redshifts, $`w_\varphi `$ has to increase abruptly to unity for $`z>2`$. However, if $`w_\varphi `$ remains at unity for too long, it would induce an unacceptably large integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect on the CMB large-scale anisotropy. In Fig. 1, we have chosen a width of the square-wave form of $`w_\varphi `$ such that $`w_\varphi 0.7`$, which saturates the above-mentioned upper limit from CMB data on a constant $`w_\varphi `$ bond . We thus see that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi `$ can reach a value of $`0.42`$ at $`z23`$ at which $`w_\varphi `$ is forced to decrease to a negative value. On the other hand, a Q component with a constant $`w_\varphi =0.7`$ is dominated by matter for $`z>0.5`$. Also note that at the present time $`H_0t=0.95`$, and we have plotted the history of the deacceleration parameter $`q`$.

The above GQ model exemplifies an extreme case on how the quintessence may be different from a cosmological constant for $`z>2`$. If we shift the square-wave of $`w_\varphi `$ to higher redshifts while keeping $`w_\varphi 0.7`$, the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect on the CMB anisotropy power spectrum would be almost the same. Meanwhile, the dynamics of the Q field will take place at higher redshifts accordingly. This will be valid until the Q component becomes significant at the last scattering.

## IV CMB Acoustic Peaks and Quintessence

We now turn to study the effect of the presence of the Q component at the time of last scattering on the CMB acoustic peaks. The tightly coupled baryon-photon plasma experienced a serial acoustic oscillation just before the recombination epoch. The acoustic scale (the angular momentum scale of the acoustic oscillation) sets the locations of the peaks in the power spectrum of the CMB anisotropies hu95 , and is characterized by

$$l_A=\pi \frac{d_{}}{h_s}=\pi \frac{\eta _0\eta _{\mathrm{dec}}}{_0^{\eta _{\mathrm{dec}}}c_s𝑑\eta },$$
(5)
where $`d_{}`$ represents the comoving distance to the last scattering surface and $`h_s`$ denotes the sound horizon at the decoupling epoch with the sound speed $`c_s`$. Both $`d_{}`$ and $`h_s`$ are affected in the presence of the Q component. Furthermore, the location of the $`m`$-th peak can be parametrized in practice by the empirical fitting formula, $`l_m=l_A(m\phi _m)`$, where the phase shift $`\phi _m`$ caused by the plasma driving effect is solely determined by pre-recombination physics hu01 . It was shown doran2  that the shift of the third peak is relatively insensitive to cosmological parameters. Consequently, by assuming $`\phi _3=0.341`$, the value of the acoustic scale derived from the analysis of BOOMERANG data boom01  lies in the range doran3

$$l_A=316\pm 8,$$
(6)
which is estimated to be within one percent error if the location $`l_3`$ is measured.

To impose the constraint from the peak separation of CMB, one needs to calculate the acoustic scale $`l_A`$ in Eq. (5) for different GQ models. Since the sound speed in the pre-recombination plasma is characterized by hu95

$`c_s`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{3(1+R)}}}\mathrm{with}`$
$`R`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\rho _b}{4\rho _\gamma }}30230\left({\displaystyle \frac{T_\gamma ^0}{2.728K}}\right)^4{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_b^0h^2}{1+z}},`$ (7)
where $`H_0=100h\mathrm{kms}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ and the baryon-photon momentum density ratio $`R`$ sets the baryon loading to the acoustic oscillation of CMB, the sound horizon $`h_s`$ at the decoupling epoch can be determined by the differential equation

$$\frac{dh_s}{d\eta }=c_s,$$
(8)
coupled with the background evolution equations (1) and (2). Using $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b^0=0.05`$, $`h=0.65`$, and fixing the last scattering surface at $`z_{\mathrm{dec}}=1100`$, we have calculated the acoustic scales of different GQ models by shifting the square-wave of $`w_\varphi `$ towards the last scattering surface while keeping $`w_\varphi `$ a constant.

Figure 2 plots the results against the Q energy density at decoupling $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi (z_{\mathrm{dec}})`$ with contours $`w_\varphi =0.5`$, $`0.6`$, $`0.7`$, $`0.8`$, $`0.9`$, and $`1`$. The last one is simply the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model. In general, when $`w_\varphi `$ is fixed, the acoustic scale is proportional to the quintessence density at the last scattering surface. On the other hand, for a fixed $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi (z_{\mathrm{dec}})`$, the acoustic scale decreases as $`w_\varphi `$ increases. The two horizontal lines are drawn as the upper- and lower-bounds of the acoustic scale derived from the BOOMERANG data (6). All GQ models lying in the region above the curve of $`w_\varphi =0.7`$ and within the BOOMERANG bounds are consistent with the current CMB data. Thus, the model depicted in Fig. 1 is disfavored as far as the acoustic peak location is concerned. We have presented an extreme model located at the upper right corner of the allowed region in Fig. 3, i.e. ($`w_\varphi ,\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^{\mathrm{dec}}`$) = ($`0.7,0.59`$). The figure shows the detailed background evolution of the model, in which the Q component dominates over the matter density for $`1380>z>130`$ and the deacceleration parameter $`q`$ is negative for $`1400>z>430`$.

## V The Amplitude of Matter Power Spectrum

It is well known that a non-zero $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi `$ would lead to a suppression of the growth of matter perturbations. It is therefore useful to study the constraint from the growth of structure on the GQ model. Let us consider the growth function for matter perturbations on scales smaller than the smoothing scale of the quintessence governed by the differential equation,

$$\frac{d^2\delta }{d\eta ^2}+a\frac{d\delta }{d\eta }\frac{3}{2}a^2^2\mathrm{\Omega }_m\delta =0.$$
(9)
We have evaluated the growth function $`\delta (\eta )`$ for the extreme GQ model in Fig. 3. Compared to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model, the growth of $`\delta `$ from the radiation-matter equality to $`\eta =\eta _0`$ is suppressed by about a factor of 2 (see Fig. 5). When normalized to the COBE data, the resulting CMB anisotropy power spectrum has a significant excess of power at $`l100`$. In order to keep the suppression of the growth function stable at about $`30\%`$ level, we have found that $`w_\varphi `$ has to be less than about $`0.9`$ in Fig. 2. An accurate determination would require computing small-scale matter perturbations as well as performing a maximum-likelihood fitting to the existing CMB anisotropy data. We have plotted in Fig. 4 an extreme model located at the upper end of the contour $`w_\varphi =0.9`$ where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi ^{\mathrm{dec}}=0.42`$, and the growth function of this model in Fig. 5. In this case, the Q component dominates over the matter density for $`1100>z>590`$ and the deacceleration parameter $`q`$ is negative for $`1150>z>810`$.

## VI Conclusion and Discussion

We have investigated the evolution of the quintessence allowed by the observational constraints from CMB and SNe, using a semi-analytic method with a simple square-wave function for the time-varying equation of state. Although the true equation of state, if there is any, may be a complicated function of time, the square-wave should roughly capture the generic feature of the evolution of the quintessence. This generic quintessence model is sufficient for us to confront the current observational data. Future high-precision data will tighten the constraints to this model and we may even need a more sophisticated model to parametrize the physics of the Q component. Also, the present method gives more physical insights and is much simpler though less accurate than the numerically intensive maximum likelihood analysis of CMB data (see, e.g., Ref. hansen ).

Three extreme GQ models have been presented. Figure 1 shows the maximum dynamics that the Q field can attain at low redshifts for $`z>2`$. The evolving Q field during the large-scale-struture formation may have interesting cosmological implications. For instance, the authors in Ref. qpmf02  have attempted to generate primordial magnetic fields from the dynamics of the Q field coupled to electromagnetism. This electromagnetic Q field may also be responsible for the time-varying fine structure constant ($`\alpha `$alpha  as it was recently claimed that the results of a search for time variability of $`\alpha `$ using absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars yield a smaller $`\alpha `$ in the past webb . We have also studied the constraint from the growth of large-scale matter perturbations on the GQ model. Figure 4 shows that the Q component can make up about $`40\%`$ of the total energy density of the universe at last scattering. This result is consistent with the upper bound $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\varphi <0.39`$ during the radiation dominated epoch obtained by performing a maximum likelihood analysis on the CMB data hansen . In general, the GQ scenario bears a salient feature that the Q component overwhelms the matter during the dark age. It is worth studying in more details about its influence on the evolution of matter perturbations and the subsequent structure formation. At last, we would like to point out that an acceleration of the universe in the past is consistent with all observations. So the fact that the universe is accelerating today would not be quite unnatural.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported in part by the National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC under the Grant NSC91-2112-M-001-026.


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# Search for Supernova Relic Neutrinos at Super-Kamiokande

## Abstract

A search for the relic neutrinos from all past core-collapse supernovae was conducted using 1496 days of data from the Super-Kamiokande detector. This analysis looked for electron-type anti-neutrinos that had produced a positron with an energy greater than 18 MeV. In the absence of a signal, 90% C.L. upper limits on the total flux were set for several theoretical models; these limits ranged from 20 to 130 $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1. Additionally, an upper bound of $`1.2\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1 was set for the supernova relic neutrino flux in the energy region $`E_\nu >19.3`$ MeV.

During a core-collapse supernova, approximately $`10^{53}`$ ergs of energy are released, about 99% of which are in the form of neutrinos. To date, the only time that a burst of such neutrinos has been detected was in the case of SN1987A 1987-KAM ; 1987-IMB . However, it is generally believed that core-collapse supernovae have occurred throughout the universe since the formation of stars. Thus, there should exist a diffuse background of neutrinos originating from all the supernovae that have ever occurred. Detection of these supernova relic neutrinos (SRN) would offer insight about the history of star formation and supernovae explosions in the universe.

All types of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos are emitted from a core-collapse supernova, but not all are equally detectable. The $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ is most likely to be detected by Super-Kamiokande (SK). It interacts primarily through inverse $`\beta `$ decay ($`\overline{\nu }_epne^+`$, $`E_e`$ = $`E_\nu `$ \- 1.3 MeV) with a cross section that is two orders of magnitude greater than that of neutrino-electron elastic scattering. All further discussion herein of the SRN refers only to the $`\overline{\nu }_e`$.

Several methods have been used to model the SRN flux and spectrum TS-1995 ; TSY-1996 ; malaney ; hartmann ; KSW ; LMA , with flux predictions ranging from 2 – 54 cm-2 s-1. In this paper, SK search results are compared to SRN predictions based on a galaxy evolution model TSY-1996 , a cosmic gas infall model malaney , cosmic chemical evolution studies hartmann , and observations of heavy metal abundances KSW . A model that assumes a constant supernova rate TSY-1996  was also considered; this model was used to set the previous SRN flux limit at Kamiokande-II hirata .

It has been shown that neutrinos undergo flavor oscillation sk-atm-osc ; sk-hep-1260 ; sno-2001 . Therefore, an SRN spectrum that includes the effects of neutrino mixing was also considered LMA . All six species of neutrinos are emitted during a core-collapse supernova. However, the $`\overline{\nu }_\mu `$ and the $`\overline{\nu }_\tau `$ decouple from the neutrinosphere earlier than the $`\overline{\nu }_e`$, resulting in a higher temperature for these flavors; thus, neutrino mixing would harden the $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ energy spectrum. The cross section for inverse $`\beta `$ decay increases as the square of the $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ energy, so oscillation would enhance the SRN signal. In this paper, only a large mixing angle MSW solution (LMA) was used to distort the SRN spectrum – the LMA solution is also favored by the available solar neutrino data skglob ; snoglob .

This paper presents the results of a search for SRNs in the Super-Kamiokande detector. SK is a water Cherenkov detector, with a fiducial mass of 22.5 kton, located in the Kamioka Mine in Gifu, Japan. Descriptions of the detector can be found elsewhere linac . The data reported here were collected between May 31, 1996, and July 15, 2001, yielding a total SRN search livetime of 1496 days. Backgrounds to the SRN signal are solar neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos, and muon-induced spallation products. Background reduction takes place in the following steps: spallation cut, sub-event cut, Cherenkov angle cut, and solar direction cut.

Spallation is the most serious background, and the ability to remove it determines the lower threshold of the SRN search. Spallation products are also relevant to solar neutrino studies, and so a likelihood function had been developed that uses information about the muons preceding the possible spallation event sk-hep-1260 . To permit a low analysis threshold for the SRN search, a tighter spallation cut was implemented: in addition to the likelihood function cut, all events that occur less than 0.15 seconds after a cosmic ray muon are rejected. The spallation cut is applied to all events reconstructed with $`\mathrm{E}<34`$ MeV, and introduces a deadtime of 36%. No discernible spallation events with energies above 18 MeV remain in the data after this cut is applied and so 18 MeV was set as the lower analysis threshold.

The sub-event cut removes muons with kinetic energy (T) in the range of 50 – 140 MeV. Cosmic ray muons, which have much higher energies, originate outside of SK and are removed because they produce a veto signal in the SK outer detector (OD). However, atmospheric $`\nu _\mu `$ can produce muons within the inner detector (ID) via charged current quasi-elastic scattering ($`\nu _\mu N\mu N^{}`$); such muons will not have been tagged by the OD, but will be visible in the ID. Muons with low energies will stop in SK and produce a decay electron; often the muon and decay electron are found in the same event. When this happens, the decay electron is referred to as a “sub-event.” After the vertex of each event was found and the flight time of the Cherenkov photons was subtracted, the event’s $`1.3\mu `$s time window was searched; if more than one timing peak was present, then the event was removed. The sub-event cut was tested on simulated muons in the relevant energy range, and it was shown to remove 34% of the muon background.

The remaining muons are removed by the Cherenkov angle cut. This cut exploits the mass difference between the muon and the positron, which results in a difference in their Cherenkov angles $`\theta _C`$. Positrons with $`\mathrm{E}>18\mathrm{MeV}`$ have $`\theta _C`$ $`42`$ degrees. Muons with $`\mathrm{T}<140\mathrm{MeV}`$ have $`\theta _\mathrm{C}<34`$ degrees; thus, all particles with $`\theta _C`$ $`<37`$ degrees were removed from the data. The efficiency of this selection criterion for retaining signal is 98%, as determined by applying it to simulated positron events. Using simulated muon events, it was shown that applying the Cherenkov angle cut and the sub-event cut together results in the rejection of 96% of the muon background. Furthermore, it was found that the full reduction removes $`>99\%`$ of the muons. The Cherenkov angle cut was also used to remove events with $`\theta _C>50`$ degrees; this eliminated events without clear Cherenkov rings, such as multiple $`\gamma `$ rays emitted during a nuclear de-excitation, from the data sample.

Finally, a cut on the direction of the event is made to remove contamination from solar neutrinos. Events with $`\mathrm{E}<34`$ MeV were removed if the reconstructed event direction was within thirty degrees of the vector from the Sun to the Earth at the time of the event.

By simulating positrons created from SRN, it was found that the efficiency of the full data reduction is $`47\pm 0.4\%`$ for $`E34`$ MeV, and $`79\pm 0.5\%`$ for $`E>34`$ MeV. Figure 1 plots the energy spectrum after each cut.

After applying the selection criteria, two irreducible backgrounds remain. The first is atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ and $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ events. The second comes from atmospheric $`\nu _\mu `$ that interact to form a muon with $`\mathrm{T}<50\mathrm{MeV}`$. The energy of these muons is below the threshold for emitting Cherenkov photons, so they are said to be invisible. Decay electrons from visible muons can be eliminated; however, when an invisible muon decays there is no way to tag the resulting electron as a background event.

The energy spectra of these backgrounds have shapes that are very different from each other and from the SRN signal shape. In the region where SRN events are expected (18 – 34 MeV), the dominant background is decay electrons from invisible muons, which have energies that are distributed according to the Michel spectrum. However, at higher energies, atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ events distort the Michel spectrum. To evaluate the distortion, it is necessary to extend the upper analysis threshold to energies where only atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ events are present. Decay electrons have a maximum energy of 53 MeV, but may be detected up to $``$ 65 MeV due to the energy resolution of SK. Beyond 65 MeV, only atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ are found, so the upper analysis threshold was set above 65 MeV and the data were analyzed with a three parameter fit.

To determine the final shape of the backgrounds, 100 years of simulated events were generated per background. The initial shape of the decay electrons was determined by the Michel spectrum; the initial shape of the atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ events was obtained from previous works sub-gev ; barr . The background simulations were subjected to the full reduction, and the shape of the resulting spectra were used to fit the data; each of the SRN models was treated similarly. For the fitting, the data were divided into sixteen energy bins, each 4 MeV wide (see Figure 2), and the following $`\chi ^2`$ function was minimized with respect to $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$, and $`\gamma `$.

$$\chi ^2=\underset{l=1}{\overset{16}{}}\frac{\left[\left(\alpha A_l\right)+\left(\beta B_l\right)+\left(\gamma C_l\right)N_l\right]^2}{\sigma _{stat}^2+\sigma _{sys}^2}$$
(1)
In this equation, the sum $`l`$ is over all energy bins and $`N_l`$ is the number of events in the $`l^{th}`$ bin. $`A_l`$, $`B_l`$, and $`C_l`$ represent, respectively, the fractions of the SRN, Michel, and atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ spectra that are in the $`l^{th}`$ bin. $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$, and $`\gamma `$ are the fitting parameters for the number of SRN events, decay electrons, and atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ events.

The total number of events in the data sample is small, so the statistical error $`\sigma _{stat}`$ is the dominant term in the denominator. The systematic error $`\sigma _{sys}`$ considers the effects that uncertainties in the spectrum shapes have on the SRN result. Such uncertainties originate from the reduction, the SK energy resolution, the theoretical atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ spectrum, and other sources. For all bins, $`\sigma _{sys}`$ 6%, which is always much smaller than $`\sigma _{stat}`$.

The efficiency-corrected event rate spectrum of SRN candidates and the results of the fit are shown in Figure 2. The best fits to $`\gamma `$ and $`\beta `$ are indicated, respectively, by the dot-dashed and dotted lines. The solid line is the sum of these lines and represents the total background. For all six models, the best fit to $`\alpha `$ was zero and the minimum $`\chi ^2`$ value was 8.1 for 13 degrees of freedom. A 90% C.L. limit on $`\alpha `$ was set for each model; the dashed line represents the sum of the background and the upper bound on $`\alpha `$ for the galaxy evolution model. This line shows the type of distortion in the Michel spectrum that would be indicative of an SRN signal.

Figure 2 shows that the expected backgrounds fit the data well. In this analysis, no flux normalization was chosen for the background rates; only the shapes were used. This is because there are large uncertainties ($``$ 30%) in the atmospheric neutrino fluxes at these very low energies. As a consistency check, the fit results for the number of background events were compared to the predictions, which were determined by applying the reduction cuts to 100 years of simulated background events and normalizing for livetime. For 1496 days of data, the expected number of atmospheric $`\nu _e`$ events is $`75\pm 23`$, which is consistent with the best fit result of $`88\pm 12`$ events. To determine the expected number of decay electrons from invisible muons, neutrino oscillation must be considered sk-atm-osc ; given the low energy of the atmospheric $`\nu _\mu `$ that produce invisible muons, it is assumed that half of the $`\nu _\mu `$ have oscillated into $`\nu _\tau `$. With this assumption, the predicted number of decay electron events is $`145\pm 43`$, which is consistent with the best fit result of $`174\pm 16`$ events.

The limit on $`\alpha `$ can be used to derive a 90% C.L. limit on the SRN flux from each model. The number of SRN events is related to the total flux $`F`$ by the following equation:

$$F=\frac{\alpha }{N_p\times \tau _{19.3\mathrm{MeV}}^{\mathrm{}}f(E_\nu )\sigma (E_\nu )ϵ(E_\nu )𝑑E_\nu }$$
(2)
In this equation, $`N_p`$ is the number of free protons in SK ($`1.5\times 10^{33}`$), $`\tau `$ is the detector livetime (1496 days), $`ϵ(E)`$ is the signal detection efficiency, $`\sigma (E)`$ is the cross section for the inverse $`\beta `$ decay ($`9.52\times 10^{44}\mathrm{E}_\mathrm{e}\mathrm{p}_\mathrm{e}`$), and $`f(E)`$ is the normalized SRN spectrum shape. The integral spans the energy range of the neutrinos that produce positrons in the observed region.

Using the above values, the 90% C.L. SRN flux limit was calculated for each model. The results are in the third column of Table 1, and can be compared with the predictions, which are in the fourth column. For the galaxy evolution model TSY-1996 , the cosmic gas infall model malaney , and the cosmic chemical evolution model hartmann , the SK limits are larger than the predictions by a factor of three to six. In these models, the dominant contribution to the SRN flux comes from supernovae in the early universe, so the neutrino energy is red-shifted below the 18 MeV threshold. The heavy metal abundance model primarily considers supernovae at red-shifts $`z<1`$, so SK is sensitive to more of the SRN flux. For this model, the flux limit is smaller than the calculated total flux KSW . However, this prediction is only a theoretical upper limit, so these results can constrain this model but they cannot eliminate it. The LMA model LMA  has a harder energy spectrum, and so SK is sensitive to a larger fraction of the SRN flux. The increased sensitivity is offset by the fact that this hardened spectrum also results in a larger limit for $`\alpha `$; thus, the SK flux limit is still nearly a factor of three larger than the prediction.

The total SRN flux predicted by the constant model scales with the rate of core-collapse supernovae, and so the SRN flux limit can be used to set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the constant supernova rate. The SRN flux prediction quoted in this paper is based on a reasonable supernova rate of $`1.6\times 10^3`$ SN year-1 Mpc-3. The observed SRN flux limit ($`20\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1) corresponds to a supernova rate limit of $`6.2\times 10^2`$ SN year-1 Mpc-3. Thus, the constant model can be ruled out, as the limit on the supernova rate is too low to be consistent with the observed abundance of oxygen oxygen ; TSY-1996 , which is synthesized within the massive stars that become supernovae. At Kamiokande-II, a flux limit of $`780\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1 was set with the assumption of a constant supernova model hirata ; the SK limit is 39 times more stringent.

The SRN limits vary greatly, based on the shape of the theoretical SRN spectrum at energies that are below SK’s SRN analysis threshold. To remove this strong model dependence, a limit was set for $`\mathrm{E}_\nu >19.3\mathrm{MeV}`$. In this region, all six models have similar energy spectrum shapes, and so an experimental limit that is insensitive to the choice of model can be obtained as follows:

$$F_{ins}=F\times \frac{_{19.3\mathrm{MeV}}^{\mathrm{}}f(E_\nu )𝑑E_\nu }{_0^{\mathrm{}}f(E_\nu )𝑑E_\nu }$$
(3)
Flux limits in this energy region were the same for all models considered: $`1.2\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1. Previously, the best limit on the SRN flux in this region was set using 357 days of data at Kamiokande-II zhang . This limit was $`226\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1; the current SK limit is two orders of magnitude lower.

In summary, a search was conducted at Super-Kamiokande to detect the diffuse signal of $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ from all previous core-collapse supernovae. No appreciable signal was detected in 1496 days of SK data. Using various models, 90% C.L. limits were set on the total SRN flux. A limit of $`1.2\overline{\nu }_e`$ cm-2 s-1 was set for the SRN flux above a threshold of $`E_\nu >19.3`$ MeV. These results are more than an order of magnitude better than previous limits; some theories regarding the supernova rate in the universe can be constrained or rejected by these limits.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the Kamioka Mining and Smelting Company. The Super-Kamiokande detector was built and operated with funds provided by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology; the U.S. Department of Energy; and the U.S. National Science Foundation.