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# The Interference between Virtual Photon and 1⁻⁻ Charmonium in 𝑒⁺𝑒⁻ Experiment

## 1 Introduction

There are three well-known problems in the study of the charmonium decays, namely the relative phase between strong and electromagnetic amplitudes of the $`1^{}`$ charmonium decays, “$`\rho \pi `$ puzzle” between $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$ decays, and non-$`D\overline{D}`$ decays of $`\psi (3770)`$.

The attempt to understand the strong decays of $`J/\psi `$ via three-gluon and the electromagnetic decays via one-photon annihilation reveals the relative phase between these two amplitudes is close to $`90^{}`$ , while for the radially excited $`\psi (2S)`$, the phase is $`0^{}`$ or $`180^{}`$ . This indicates there would be no interference between these two amplitudes in $`J/\psi `$ decays, but strong interference in $`\psi (2S)`$ decays.

It was found that in $`\psi (2S)`$ hadronic decays, some decay modes are abnormally suppressed compared with the corresponding $`J/\psi `$ decays based on perturbative QCD (pQCD) prediction. This suppression was first observed by the Mark-II in vector pseudoscalar (VP) decay modes like $`\rho \pi `$ and $`K^{}\overline{K}`$ , and confirmed by BES . Moreover, BES also observed the suppression in vector tensor (VT) decays of $`\psi (2S)`$ . This has led to active theoretical efforts in solving the problem . Unfortunately, most of the models were ruled out by the experiments, while some others need further experimental test.

There is a renewed interest in $`\psi (3770)`$ studies because of the upcoming high precision measurements by CLEO-c  and BES-III . One of the puzzling problems in $`\psi (3770)`$ decays is that the $`D\overline{D}`$ cross section may be significantly lower than the inclusive hadronic cross section . This is in contradiction with the commonly accepted picture that $`\psi (3770)`$ decays predominantly to the OZI allowed $`D\overline{D}`$ states.

These three topics play important roles in understanding the charmonium decay dynamics. In this paper we examine what the experiments observe and what theories analyze on charmonium produced in $`e^+e^{}`$ experiments. We present a self-consistent analysis by considering the unavoidable background process in $`e^+e^{}`$ experiment, namely, the continuum process. We show that, for exclusive decays of these charmonium states, the contribution of this process could be very important, or even if the direct contribution is relatively small, the interference between this term and other dominant amplitudes may contribute a non-negligible part.

## 2 Experimentally observed cross section

It is known that $`J/\psi `$ or $`\psi (2S)`$ decays into light hadrons via strong and electromagnetic interactions. At the leading order in $`\alpha _s(m_c)`$ and $`1/m_c`$, it goes through three-gluon and one-photon annihilation of which the amplitudes are denoted by $`a_{3g}`$ and $`a_\gamma `$ respectively . This is also true for $`\psi (3770)`$ in its OZI suppressed decay into light hadrons. In general, for the resonance $``$ ($`=J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ or $`\psi (3770)`$), the cross section at the Born order is expressed as

$$\sigma _B(s)=\frac{4\pi s\alpha ^2}{3}|a_{3g}+a_\gamma |^2,$$
(1)
where $`\sqrt{s}`$ is the C.M. energy, $`\alpha `$ is the fine structure constant. If the $`J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ or $`\psi (3770)`$ is produced in $`e^+e^{}`$ collision, the process

$$e^+e^{}\gamma ^{}hadrons$$

could produce the same final hadronic states as charmonium decays do . We denote its amplitude by $`a_c`$, then the cross section becomes

$$\sigma _B^{}(s)=\frac{4\pi s\alpha ^2}{3}|a_{3g}+a_\gamma +a_c|^2.$$
(2)
So what truly contribute to the experimentally measured cross section are three classes of diagrams, $`i.e.`$ the three-gluon decays, the one-photon decays, and the one-photon continuum process, as illustrated in Fig. 1, where the charm loops stand for the charmonium state, and the photons and gluons are highly off-shell and can be treated perturbatively. To analyze the experimental results, we must take into account three amplitudes and two relative phases.

For an exclusive mode, $`a_c`$ can be expressed by

$$a_c(s)=\frac{(s)}{s}e^{i\varphi ^{}},$$
(3)
where $`\varphi ^{}`$ is the phase relative to $`a_{3g}`$; $`(s)`$ depends on the individual mode, and for simplicity, the phase space factor is incorporated into $`|(s)|^2`$. The one-photon annihilation amplitude can be written as

$$a_\gamma (s)=\frac{3\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}(s)/(\alpha \sqrt{s})}{sm_{}^2+im_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_t}e^{i\varphi },$$
(4)
where $`m_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_t`$ are the mass and the total width of $``$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}`$ is the partial width to $`e^+e^{}`$, $`\varphi `$ is the phase relative to $`a_{3g}`$. The strong decay amplitude $`a_{3g}`$ is defined by $`𝒞|a_{3g}/a_\gamma |`$, which is the relative strength to $`a_\gamma `$, so

$$a_{3g}(s)=𝒞\frac{3\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}(s)/(\alpha \sqrt{s})}{sm_{}^2+im_{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_t}.$$
(5)
For resonances, $`𝒞`$ can be taken as a constant.

In principle, $`a_{3g}`$, $`a_\gamma `$ and $`a_c`$ depend on individual exclusive mode both in absolute values and in relative strengths. In this paper, for illustrative purpose, following assumptions are used for an exclusive hadronic mode: $`(s)`$ is replaced by $`\sqrt{R(s)}`$, where $`R(s)`$ is the ratio of the inclusive hadronic cross section to the $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ cross section measured at nearby energy ; in Eq. (5),

$$𝒞=\sqrt{\frac{B(ggghadrons)}{B(\gamma ^{}hadrons)}}.$$
(6)
Here $`B(\gamma ^{}hadrons)=B_{\mu ^+\mu ^{}}R(s)`$, where $`B_{\mu ^+\mu ^{}}`$ is the $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ branching ratio; while $`B(ggghadrons)`$ is calculated as following: we first estimate the branching ratio of $`B(\gamma gg)+B(ggg)`$ by subtracting the lepton pairs, $`\gamma ^{}hadrons`$, and the modes with charmonium production from the total branching ratio (100%). Then using pQCD result  $`B(\gamma gg)/B(ggg)6\%`$ we obtain $`B(ggghadrons)`$. Table 1 lists all the estimations used as inputs in the calculations, where $`\sigma _B^{}`$ is the total resonance cross section of Born order at $`s=m_{}^2`$ obtained from

$$\sigma _0^{}(s)=\frac{12\pi \mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}\mathrm{\Gamma }_t}{(sm_{}^2)^2+m_{}^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_t^2}.$$
(7)
The cross section by $`e^+e^{}`$ collision incorporating radiative correction on the Born order is expressed by

$$\sigma _{r.c.}(s)=\underset{0}{\overset{x_m}{}}𝑑xF(x,s)\frac{\sigma _0(s(1x))}{|1\mathrm{\Pi }(s(1x))|^2},$$
(8)
where $`\sigma _0`$ is $`\sigma _B`$ or $`\sigma _B^{}`$ by Eq. (1) or (2), $`F(x,s)`$ has been calculated in Ref.  and $`\mathrm{\Pi }(s)`$ is the vacuum polarization factor ; the upper limit of the integration $`x_m=1s_m/s`$ where $`\sqrt{s_m}`$ is the experimentally required minimum invariant mass of the final state $`f`$ after losing energy to multi-photon emission. In this paper, we assume that $`\sqrt{s_m}`$ equals to $`90\%`$ of the resonance mass, $`i.e.`$ $`x_m=0.2`$.

For narrow resonances like $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$, one should consider the energy spread function of $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders:

$$G(\sqrt{s},\sqrt{s^{}})=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }\mathrm{\Delta }}e^{\frac{(\sqrt{s}\sqrt{s^{}})^2}{2\mathrm{\Delta }^2}},$$
(9)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ describes the C.M. energy spread of the accelerator, $`\sqrt{s}`$ and $`\sqrt{s^{}}`$ are the nominal and actual C. M. energy respectively. Then the experimentally measured cross section

$$\sigma _{exp}(s)=\underset{0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\sigma _{r.c.}(s^{})G(\sqrt{s},\sqrt{s^{}})𝑑\sqrt{s^{}}.$$
(10)
The radiative correction reduces the maximum cross sections of $`J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\psi (3770)`$ by $`52\%`$, $`49\%`$ and $`29\%`$ respectively. The energy spread further reduces the cross sections of $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$ by an order of magnitude. The radiative correction and energy spread also shift the maximum height of the resonance peak to above the resonance mass. Take $`\psi (2S)`$ as an example, from Eq. (7), $`\sigma _B^{\psi (2S)}=7887`$ nb at $`\psi (2S)`$ mass; substitute $`\sigma _0(s)`$ in Eq. (8) by $`\sigma _0^{}(s)`$ in Eq. (7), $`\sigma _{r.c.}`$ reaches the maximum of $`4046`$ nb at $`\sqrt{s}=m_{\psi (2S)}+9`$ keV; with the energy spread $`\mathrm{\Delta }=1.3`$ MeV at BES/BEPC, combining Eqs. (7$``$10), $`\sigma _{exp}`$ reaches the maximum of $`640`$ nb at $`\sqrt{s}=m_{\psi (2S)}+0.14`$ MeV. Similarly, at $`J/\psi `$, with BES/BEPC energy spread $`\mathrm{\Delta }=1.0`$ MeV, the maximum of $`\sigma _{exp}`$ is $`2988`$ nb. At DORIS, the maximum of $`\sigma _{exp}`$ at $`J/\psi `$ is $`2190`$ nb ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$= 1.4 MeV), and at $`\psi (2S)`$, it is $`442`$ nb ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$= 2.0 MeV). In this paper, we calculate $`\sigma _{exp}`$ at the energies which yield the maximum inclusive hadronic cross sections.

To measure an exclusive mode in $`e^+e^{}`$ experiment, the contribution of the continuum part should be subtracted from the experimentally measured $`\sigma _{exp}^{}`$ to get the physical quantity $`\sigma _{exp}`$, where $`\sigma _{exp}`$ and $`\sigma _{exp}^{}`$ indicate the experimental cross sections calculated from Eqs.(8$``$10) with the substitution of $`\sigma _B`$ and $`\sigma _B^{}`$ from Eqs. (1) and (2) respectively for $`\sigma _0`$ in Eq. (8). Up to now, most of the measurements did not include this contribution and $`\sigma _{exp}^{}=\sigma _{exp}`$ is assumed at least at $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$. As a consequence, the theoretical analyses are based on $`\sigma _{exp}`$, while the experiments actually measure $`\sigma _{exp}^{}`$.

We display the effect from the continuum amplitude and corresponding phase for $`J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\psi (3770)`$ respectively. To do this, we calculate the ratio

$$k(s)\frac{\sigma _{exp}^{}(s)\sigma _{exp}(s)}{\sigma _{exp}^{}(s)}$$
(11)
as a function of $`\varphi `$ and $`\varphi ^{}`$, as shown in Fig. 2a for $`\psi (2S)`$ at $`\sqrt{s}=m_{\psi (2S)}+0.14`$ MeV for $`\mathrm{\Delta }=1.3`$ MeV. It can be seen that for certain values of the two phases, $`k`$ deviates from 0, or equivalently the ratio $`\sigma _{exp}^{}/\sigma _{exp}`$ deviates from 1, which demonstrates that the continuum amplitude is non-negligible. By assuming there is no extra phase between $`a_\gamma `$ and $`a_c`$ ($`i.e.`$ set $`\varphi =\varphi ^{}`$), we also work out the $`k`$ values for different ratios of $`|a_{3g}|`$ to $`|a_\gamma |`$, as shown in Fig. 2b: line 3 corresponds to the numbers listed in Table 1, line 1 is for pure electromagnetic decay channels, and others are chosen to cover the other possibilities of the ratio $`|a_{3g}|`$ to $`|a_\gamma |`$.

## 3 Continuum contribution for charmonium decay

We now discuss separately the effect of continuum amplitude for $`\psi (3770)`$, $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`J/\psi `$.

At $`\psi (3770)`$, the maximum resonance cross section of inclusive hadrons is 8 nb which predominantly decays into $`D\overline{D}`$, while the continuum cross section is 14 nb which mainly goes to light hadrons. Assuming 1% of $`\psi (3770)`$ decays to non-$`D\overline{D}`$ interferes with the continuum amplitude, it could bring an effect of maximum 1.9 nb in the observed cross section. Such large constructive interferences could be responsible for the larger cross section of inclusive hadrons by direct measurement of $`e^+e^{}\psi (3770)hadrons`$ than the $`D\overline{D}`$ cross section . As to the exclusive decays, it could make some of the decay modes with small branching ratios more observable at the resonance. For example, if $`(\psi (3770)\rho \pi )4\times 10^4`$ (or equivalently, $`\sigma _{\psi (3770)\rho \pi }0.003`$ nb) as suggested in Ref. , and $`\sigma (e^+e^{}\rho \pi )0.014`$ nb at Born order by the model of Ref. , then the maximum interference could be 0.011 nb, much larger than the pure contribution from $`\psi (3770)`$ decays.

For $`\psi (2S)`$, as can be seen in Fig. 2, the ratio $`\sigma _{exp}^{}/\sigma _{exp}`$ could deviate from $`1`$ substantially. In general, $`a_{3g}`$, $`a_\gamma `$ and $`a_c`$ are different for different exclusive mode, so $`k`$ could be different. This must be taken into account in the fitting of $`a_\gamma `$, $`a_{3g}`$ and the phase in between. It is noticeable that the observed cross sections of some electromagnetic processes, such as $`\psi (2S)\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`\omega \pi ^0`$, and the famous puzzling $`\psi (2S)\rho \pi `$, are three to four orders of magnitude smaller than the total hadronic cross section of the continuum process, which is about 14 nb. Form factor estimation  gives these cross sections at continuum comparable to the ones measured at the resonance . It implies that a substantial part of the experimentally measured cross section could come from the continuum amplitude $`a_c`$ instead of the $`\psi (2S)`$ decays, and interference between these two amplitudes may even affect the measured quantity further. Therefore it is essential to measure the production rate of $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`\omega \pi ^0`$ and $`\rho \pi `$ at the continuum in order to get the correct branching ratios of the $`\psi (2S)`$ decays. The same holds for VT decays of $`\psi (2S)`$.

As for $`J/\psi `$, the interference between the amplitude $`a_c`$ and the resonance is at the order of a few percent. It is smaller than the statistical and systematic uncertainties of current measurements. Nevertheless, for future high precision experiments such as CLEO-c  and BES-III , when the accuracy reaches a few per mille or even smaller level, it should be taken into account.

## 4 Dependence on experimental conditions

Here we emphasize the dependence of the observed cross section in $`e^+e^{}`$ collision on the experimental conditions. The most crucial ones are the accelerator energy spread and the beam energy setting for the narrow resonances like $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$.

Fig. 3 depicts the observed cross sections of inclusive hadrons and $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ pairs at $`\psi (2S)`$ in actual experiments. Two arrows in the figure denote the different positions of the maximum heights of the cross sections. The height is reduced and the position of the peak is shifted due to the radiative correction and the energy spread of the collider. However, the energy smear hardly affects the continuum part of the cross section. The $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ channel is further affected by the interference between resonance and continuum amplitudes. As a consequence, the relative contribution of the resonance and the continuum varies as the energy changes. In actual experiments, data are naturally taken at the energy which yields the maximum inclusive hadronic cross section. This energy does not coincide with the maximum cross section of each exclusive mode. So it is important to know the beam spread and beam energy precisely, which are needed in the delicate task to subtract the contribution from $`a_c`$.

It is worth noting that in principle if $`a_c`$ is not considered correctly, different experiments will give different results for the same quantity, like the exclusive branching ratio of the resonance, due to the dependence on beam energy spread and beam energy setting. The results will also be different for different kinds of experiments, such as production of $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$ in $`p\overline{p}`$ annihilation, or in $`B`$ meson decays. This is especially important since the beam spreads of different accelerators are much different  and charmonium results are expected from $`B`$-factories.

## 5 Summary and perspective

In summary, the continuum amplitude $`a_c`$, by itself or through interference with the resonance, could contribute significantly to the observed cross sections in $`e^+e^{}`$ experiments on charmonium physics. Its treatment depends sensitively on the experimental details, which has not been fully addressed in both $`e^+e^{}`$ experiments and theoretical analyses. So far, most of the measurements have large statistical and systematic uncertainties, so this problem has been outside the purview of concern. Now with large $`J/\psi `$ and $`\psi (2S)`$ samples from BES-II  and forthcoming high precision experiments CLEO-c  and BES-III , the effect of $`a_c`$ needs to be treated properly. To study it, the most promising way is to do energy scan for every exclusive mode in the vicinity of the resonance, so that both the amplitudes and the relative phases could be fit simultaneously. In case this is not practicable, data sample off the resonance with comparable integrated luminosity as on the resonance should be collected to measure $`|a_c|`$, which could give an estimation of its contribution to the decay modes studied. The theoretical analyses based on current available $`e^+e^{}`$ data, particularly on $`\psi (2S)`$ may need to be revised correspondingly.


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# Resonant helical deformations in nonhomogeneous Kirchhoff filaments

## Appendix

Here we show that the potential $`V(\theta )`$ of equation (4) cannot be well approximated by an expansion up to order 2 or 3 around its minimum at $`(\theta =\theta _0)`$. This is due to the presence of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ in the denominator of one of the terms of the $`V(\theta )`$. To illustrate this, we expand $`V(\theta )`$, up to order 6 in $`(\theta \theta _0)`$, for the same numerical parameters used in this paper,

$$\begin{array}{c}V(\theta )=V(\theta _0)+0.0205(\theta \theta _0)^2+0.0227(\theta \theta _0)^3+0.0235(\theta \theta _0)^4+\hfill \\ 0.0257(\theta \theta _0)^5+0.0275(\theta \theta _0)^6+O[(\theta \theta _0)^7],\hfill \end{array}$$
(8)
where $`\theta _02.043`$ for this case.

Since the coefficients of the terms $`(\theta \theta _0)^n`$ have the same order of magnitude, it is necessary to check if $`(\theta \theta _0)<<1`$ for all $`\theta (s)`$, i.e., along the rod. We found that for the frequency $`\omega `$ of the Young’s modulus far from the resonance ($`|\omega \omega _0|>>0`$), the solutions corresponding to the equilibrium points have $`(\theta (s)\theta _0)_{\mathrm{MAX}}0.03`$, where the subscript MAX means “maximum value for all $`s`$”. But at the resonance, $`\omega =\omega _0`$, the solution corresponding to the equilibrium point has $`(\theta (s)\theta _0)_{\mathrm{MAX}}0.5`$. $`(\theta (s)\theta _0)_{\mathrm{MAX}}`$ becomes even larger than 0.5 if we consider the solution related to the new equilibrium point (the new island that appeared in the map displayed in the Fig 1b).

Therefore, the perturbative method of the dynamical systems theory is not applicable to analyzing this case.


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# ICOSAHEDRAL SKYRMIONS

## 1 Introduction

Skyrmions are topological solitons in three space dimensions which are candidates for an effective description of nuclei, with an identification between soliton and baryon numbers . Recently, the minimal energy Skyrmions for all baryon numbers $`1B22`$ were computed and their symmetries identified . The baryon density of these Skyrmions is localized around the vertices and edges of polyhedra, which are almost always trivalent, and for $`B7`$ are composed of 12 pentagons and $`2B14`$ hexagons, with only a few exceptions (which can be understood by a symmetry enhancement principle). These Skyrmions have discrete point group symmetries, including occasional Platonic symmetries. For $`B=7`$ and $`B=17`$ the minimal energy Skyrmion is particularly symmetric, having icosahedral symmetry $`Y_h`$, and the value of the energy is unusually low. However, there are other baryon numbers at which icosahedral Skyrme fields exist, but the minimal energy Skyrmion has less symmetry. This motivates the main question addressed in this paper, namely, what are the magic baryon numbers at which the minimal energy Skyrmion has icosahedral symmetry with a resulting unusually low energy?

To gain some insight into this problem we note that, as first observed in , there is a close relationship between the polyhedra which arise as minimal energy Skyrmions and the duals of polyhedra which occur in the problem of minimizing point Coulomb charges on a sphere. This latter problem is often known as the Thomson problem, even though he appears not to have posed it explicitly, and we shall use this nomenclature here. The Thomson problem is well studied for upto 200 points on the sphere  and generically the $`n`$ points sit at the vertices of a combinatoric deltahedron. Taking the dual of a deltahedron leads to a trivalent polyhedron, which is the class of polyhedra which generically arise for Skyrmions. A Skyrmion polyhedron with baryon number $`B`$ has $`2B2`$ faces, so to identify this with the dual of a Thomson polyhedron requires that we consider $`n=2B2`$ Coulomb charges on the sphere. Let us denote by $`G_B`$ the symmetry of the minimal energy Skyrmion with baryon number $`B`$ and by $`H_B`$ the symmetry of the minimal energy Thomson configuration of $`2B2`$ points on the sphere. Extracting the information from references  and  we obtain Table 1, in which we compare the symmetries of the minimal energy configurations for each problem.

From Table 1 it is clear that although a variety of different Platonic, dihedral and cyclic symmetry groups occur, there is a remarkable match for the two problems in 17 out of the 22 cases. Moreover, a closer inspection reveals that in these 17 cases not only do the symmetry groups match, but the combinatorial types of the Skyrmion polyhedron and the dual of the Thomson polyhedron are identical. The five examples that do not coincide, $`B=5,9,10,19,22`$ shows that the topography of the two energy functions is slightly different and suggests that the same factors which determine the polyhedron (or its dual) are important, but perhaps with slightly different weightings. For example, for $`B=9`$ and $`B=10`$, which are not particularly low in energy, it is known that Skyrmion configurations exist which have the symmetries required to match to those of the Thomson problem, but that they have very slightly higher energy than the minimal energy Skyrmion. The fact that there is so often an agreement for the two problems leads us to believe that, in the cases where particularly symmetric low energy configurations arise, they will be the minima in both problems. Thus, as a working hypothesis to test, we shall postulate that $`G_B`$ is the icosahedral group only if $`H_B`$ is also the icosahedral group.

Although the Thomson problem is a difficult one to study numerically, it is certainly much easier than finding minimal energy Skyrmions, so we can take advantage of the known numerical results. Minimal energy configurations are currently available for upto 200 points, that is, $`B101`$, and of these the values $`B=7,17,37,62,67,97`$ are selected as magic numbers at which the configuration has icosahedral symmetry and unusually low energy when compared to a numerical fit of all 200 configurations . As we describe later, the case $`B=62`$ is rather different from the others in the sequence, so we shall leave this example out for the moment. We are thus led to conjecture that there is a sequence $`B=7,17,37,67,97,\mathrm{}`$ at which the minimal energy Skyrmion has icosahedral symmetry and unusually low energy. In the rest of this paper we perform some investigations to test this conjecture, and hence the connection between Skyrmions and the Thomson problem.

## 2 Minimizing Rational Maps

A static Skyrme field, $`U(𝐱),`$ is an $`SU(2)`$ matrix defined throughout $`\text{}^3`$ and satisfying the boundary condition that $`U1`$ as $`|𝐱|\mathrm{}.`$ This boundary condition implies a compactification of space so that the Skyrme field becomes a mapping $`U:S^3SU(2),`$ and so can be classified by an integer valued winding number

$$B=\frac{1}{24\pi ^2}ϵ_{ijk}\text{Tr}\left(_iUU^1_jUU^1_kUU^1\right)d^3x,$$
(2.1)
which is a topological invariant. This winding number counts the number of solitons in a given field configuration and is identified with baryon number in the application to modelling nuclei.

The energy of a static Skyrme field is given by

$$E=\frac{1}{12\pi ^2}\text{Tr}\left(\frac{1}{2}\left(_iUU^1\right)^2\frac{1}{16}[_iUU^1,_jUU^1]^2\right)d^3x$$
(2.2)
and for each integer $`B,`$ the problem is to minimize this energy within the class of fields with baryon number $`B`$ in order to find the minimal energy Skyrmion. This problem has been solved numerically for all $`B22`$  yielding the results presented in Table 1 for the symmetries of the minimal energy Skyrmions. When we refer to the symmetry of a Skyrmion we do not mean that the Skyrme field itself is invariant under particular spatial rotations, but rather that the effect of a spatial rotation can be undone by the application of the global $`SO(3)`$ symmetry of the Skyrme model, which acts through the conjugation $`U𝒪U𝒪^{},`$ where $`𝒪SU(2)`$ is a constant matrix. In particular this means that the baryon and energy densities (the integrands in (2.1) and (2.2)) are strictly invariant.

It is computationally prohibitive to apply the full numerical scheme to larger values of $`B`$ at the present time, but fortunately an approximation method has been developed which provides very accurate results. This is the rational map ansatz , where a Skyrme field with baryon number $`B`$ is constructed from a degree $`B`$ rational map between Riemann spheres. Although this ansatz does not give exact solutions of the static Skyrme equations, it produces approximations which have energies only a few percent above the numerically computed solutions. Briefly, use spherical coordinates in $`\text{}^3`$, so that a point $`𝐱\text{}^3`$ is given by a pair $`(r,z)`$, where $`r=|𝐱|`$ is the distance from the origin, and $`z`$ is a Riemann sphere coordinate giving the point on the unit two-sphere which intersects the half-line through the origin and the point $`𝐱`$. Now, let $`R(z)`$ be a degree $`B`$ rational map between Riemann spheres, that is, $`R=p/q`$ where $`p`$ and $`q`$ are polynomials in $`z`$ such that $`\mathrm{max}[\text{deg}(p),\text{deg}(q)]=B`$, and $`p`$ and $`q`$ have no common factors. Given such a rational map the ansatz for the Skyrme field is

$$U(r,z)=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{if(r)}{1+|R|^2}\left(\begin{array}{cc}1|R|^2& 2\overline{R}\\ 2R& |R|^21\end{array}\right)\right],$$
(2.3)
where $`f(r)`$ is a real profile function satisfying the boundary conditions $`f(0)=\pi `$ and $`f(\mathrm{})=0`$, which is determined by minimization of the Skyrme energy of the field (2.3) given a particular rational map $`R`$.

Substitution of the rational map ansatz (2.3) into the Skyrme energy functional results in the following expression for the energy

$$E=\frac{1}{3\pi }\left(r^2f^2+2B(f^2+1)\mathrm{sin}^2f+\frac{\mathrm{sin}^4f}{r^2}\right)𝑑r,$$
(2.4)
where $``$ denotes the integral

$$=\frac{1}{4\pi }\left(\frac{1+|z|^2}{1+|R|^2}\left|\frac{dR}{dz}\right|\right)^4\frac{2idzd\overline{z}}{(1+|z|^2)^2}.$$
(2.5)
To minimize the energy (2.4) one first determines the rational map which minimizes $``$, then given the minimum value of $``$ it is a simple exercise to find the minimizing profile function. Thus, within the rational map ansatz, the problem of finding the minimal energy Skyrmion reduces to the simpler problem of calculating the rational map which minimizes the function $``$.

The baryon density of the rational map $`R=p/q`$ is proportional to the Wronskian

$$w(p,q)=p^{}qq^{}p$$
(2.6)
which has $`2B2`$ roots, giving the points on the Riemann sphere for which the baryon density vanishes along the corresponding half-lines through the origin. These $`2B2`$ points on the sphere give the face-centres of the Skyrmion polyhedron, or equivalently the vertices of the dual polyhedron which is associated with the Thomson problem.

Using a simulated annealing algorithm the $``$ minimizing rational maps for $`1B22`$ have been computed  and found to be in good agreement with the results of full Skyrme field minimization. Here we extend the simulated annealing computation to $`B40,`$ in an attempt to determine particularly low energy magic numbers. In the Thomson problem the magic numbers are determined by comparing the energy of minimal solutions with the energy of a numerical fit to the data of all known minimal energy solutions - thereby isolating cases where the energy is lower than the expected fit. In the problem of minimizing rational maps it turns out that there is a more natural approach, due to the fact that a useful lower bound exists. Using a simple inequality it is shown in  that $`B^2.`$ It turns out that examining the excess above this bound, by computing the quantity $`/B^2`$, is a good diagnostic tool for highlighting low energy maps, and in particular is more useful than simply calculating the energy of the associated Skyrme field. We illustrate this in Fig. 1 by plotting $`/B^2`$ for the results of our simulated annealing computations for $`2B40.`$

There are clear dips at the magic numbers $`B=7`$ and $`B=17,`$ corresponding to the already known low energy icosahedral Skyrmions (see Table 1). There are also dips at $`B=4`$ and $`B=13`$, where it is known that the Skyrmions also have Platonic symmetry, but this time octahedral (see Table 1). However, there is one more major dip at $`B=37,`$ and this is precisely the value predicted as the next magic number in the icosahedral sequence suggested by comparison with the Thomson problem. This result, therefore, provides strong support for our conjectured sequence, providing we can prove that this low energy degree 37 map obtained from simulated annealing does indeed have icosahedral symmetry. This will be discussed in the next section.

Note that the quantity $`/B^2`$ appears to be tending towards an asymptotic value of around $`1.28,`$ apart from magic numbers where it drops to around $`1.25.`$ It would be interesting to understand this approach to a relatively constant value, as well as its magnitude.

In Fig. 2 we plot the energy per baryon $`E/B`$ of the Skyrmions constructed from the minimizing maps with $`1B40.`$ The dips at the magic numbers are clearly visible in Fig. 2, reproducing the sequence displayed in Fig. 1. However, in this case the dips are superimposed upon a general decrease of $`E/B`$ with increasing $`B,`$ which is why we regard the quantity $`/B^2`$ as a more useful diagnostic than $`E/B.`$

The radius of a Skyrmion produced from the rational map ansatz can be defined as the radial value, $`r_{},`$ at which the profile function is equal to $`\pi /2.`$ In Fig. 3 we plot $`r_{}^2`$ as a function of $`B`$ for $`1B40.`$ This clearly shows that the radius has a $`\sqrt{B}`$ dependence, and given that all these configurations are reasonably close to the Faddeev-Bogomolny energy bound $`E|B|`$, this means that the energy grows like the square of the radius, as expected for a shell-like structure. Note that at the magic numbers the radius of the Skyrmion is slightly less than expected, presumably due to a more compact arrangement of a particularly symmetric energy density.

## 3 Computing Icosahedral Maps

Recall that a Skyrmion is symmetric under a group $`GSO(3),`$ if a spatial rotation $`gSO(3)`$ can be compensated by an action of the global $`SO(3)`$ symmetry. In terms of the rational map approach a spatial rotation acts on the Riemann sphere coordinate $`z`$ as an $`SU(2)`$ Möbius transformation. Similarly the global symmetry acts as on the Riemann sphere coordinate $`R`$ of the target 2-sphere as an $`SU(2)`$ Möbius transformation. Hence, a map is $`G`$-symmetric if, for each $`gG`$, there exists a target space rotation $`D_g`$ such that $`R(g(z))=D_g(R(z)).`$ Since we are dealing with $`SU(2)`$ transformations the set of target space rotations will form a representation of the double group of $`G`$, but we shall continue to call this $`G.`$

To determine the existence and compute particular symmetric rational maps is a matter of classical group theory. We are concerned with degree $`B`$ polynomials which form the carrier space for $`\underset{¯}{B+1}`$, the $`(B+1)`$-dimensional irreducible representation of $`SU(2).`$ Now, as a representation of $`SU(2)`$ this is irreducible, but if we only consider the restriction to a subgroup $`G`$, $`\underset{¯}{B+1}|_G`$, this will in general be reducible. What we are interested in is the irreducible decomposition of this representation and tables of these subductions can be found, for example, in ref. .

The simplest case in which a $`G`$-symmetric degree $`B`$ rational map exists is if

$$\underset{¯}{B+1}|_G=E+\mathrm{}$$
(3.1)
where $`E`$ denotes a two-dimensional representation. Here, and in the following, the dots denote representations of dimension higher than those shown. In this case a basis for $`E`$ consists of two degree $`B`$ polynomials which can be taken to be the numerator and denominator of the rational map. A subtle point which needs to be addressed is that the two basis polynomials may have a common root, in which case the resulting rational map is degenerate and does not correspond to a genuine degree $`B`$ map.

More complicated situations can arise, for example, if

$$\underset{¯}{B+1}|_G=A_1+A_2+\mathrm{}$$
(3.2)
where $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ denote two one-dimensional representations, then a whole one-parameter family of maps can be obtained by taking a constant multiple of the ratio of the two polynomials which are a basis for $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ respectively. An $`m`$-parameter family of $`G`$-symmetric maps can be constructed if the decomposition contains $`(m+1)`$ copies of a two-dimensional representation, that is,

$$\underset{¯}{B+1}|_G=(m+1)E+\mathrm{}$$
(3.3)
where the $`m`$ (complex) parameters correspond to the freedom in the choice of one copy of $`E`$ from $`(m+1)E.`$

A detailed explanation of how to explicitly calculate any required symmetric map is given in . However, this approach involves computing appropriate projectors which are matrices of size $`(B+1)\times (B+1),`$ and even with the use of symbolic computational packages this procedure becomes cumbersome for the large values of $`B`$ that we are interested in here. In this section we therefore describe and apply two new, more convenient, methods for calculating symmetric maps. We shall concentrate on the situation of relevance to this paper, where $`G=Y,`$ the icosahedral group, but the methods are applicable for any $`G.`$

Before we describe our new approaches we need to recall some facts about representations of the icosahedral group and Klein polynomials of the icosahedron. The icosahedral group $`Y`$ has the trivial 1-dimensional representation $`A`$ and two 2-dimensional representations, which we denote by $`E_1^{}`$ and $`E_2^{},`$ with a prime denoting the fact that these are representations of the double group of $`Y`$ which are not representations of $`Y.`$ There are also three, four, five and six-dimensional representations, but we shall not need these here.

Klein polynomials are strictly invariant polynomials for the Platonic groups . Since,

$$\underset{¯}{13}|_Y=A+\mathrm{}$$
(3.4)
this implies that there is degree 12 invariant polynomial. This is the Klein polynomial given by

$$k_v=z^{11}+11z^6z$$
(3.5)
and although it appears to have degree 11, it should be thought of as having degree 12 with one root at infinity. The roots of this polynomial, considered as points on the Riemann sphere, are located at the vertices of a suitably oriented and scaled icosahedron. The same construction, but using the face-centres and mid-points of the edges of the icosahedron, in place of the vertices, produces the Klein polynomials

$`k_f`$ $`=`$ $`z^{20}228z^{15}+494z^{10}+228z^5+1`$ (3.6)
$`k_e`$ $`=`$ $`z^{30}+522z^{25}10005z^{20}10005z^{10}522z^5+1`$ (3.7)
which are also $`Y`$-invariant, by construction.

### 3.1 Polarization

In this subsection we describe our polarization method for computing symmetric maps. It has similar features to the polarization technique used to construct symmetric Nahm data .

Suppose we wish to obtain the symmetric degree $`B`$ map associated with the decomposition

$$\underset{¯}{B+1}|_Y=E+\mathrm{}$$
(3.8)
where $`E`$ denotes one of the 2-dimensional representations. The above fact implies that

$$E\underset{¯}{B+1}|_Y=A+\mathrm{}$$
(3.9)
and, in our polarization method, the invariant polynomial corresponding to this 1-dimensional representation is used to construct a basis for the $`E`$ in (3.8).

It is convenient to work with homogeneous coordinates $`x,y`$ on the Riemann sphere, that is, $`z=x/y`$, so that a polynomial in $`z`$ of degree $`B`$ corresponds to a homogeneous degree $`B`$ polynomial in $`x`$ and $`y.`$

Let $`(p_L(x,y),q_L(x,y))`$ be known degree $`L`$ polynomials which form a basis for the representation $`E`$ and let $`k(x,y)`$ be a degree $`B+L`$ invariant polynomial which is a basis for the 1-dimensional representation in (3.9). Then, since the pair $`(_y,_x)`$ transform in the same way as the pair $`(x,y)`$ under linear $`SU(2)`$ transformations, this means that the polynomials $`p_B(x,y),q_B(x,y)`$ defined by

$$p_B(x,y)=p_L(_y,_x)k(x,y),q_B(x,y)=q_L(_y,_x)k(x,y)$$
(3.10)
have degree $`B`$ and are the required basis for the 2-dimensional representation occuring in (3.8).

As an example of this scheme we now construct the icosahedrally symmetric degree 17 rational map, in an orientation that we shall require later. The relevant decomposition is

$$\underset{¯}{18}|_Y=E_2^{}+\mathrm{}$$
(3.11)
so we first require a known $`Y`$-symmetric rational map that is a basis for the representation $`E_2^{}.`$ The simplest known example is the degree 7 map  (corresponding to the $`B=7`$ $`Y_h`$-symmetric minimal energy Skyrmion)

$$p_7(x,y)=x^77x^5y^27x^2y^5y^7,q_7(x,y)=x^7+7x^5y^27x^2y^5+y^7.$$
(3.12)
Hence we have $`B=17`$ and $`L=7,`$ so now we require an invariant polynomial $`k(x,y)`$ of degree $`B+L=24.`$ This is easily found by using an appropriate combination of Klein polynomials, in this case $`k(x,y)=k_v^2(x,y)`$ is the degree 24 invariant where $`k_v(x,y)=x^{11}y+11x^6y^6xy^{11}`$ is the degree 12 Klein polynomial given earlier, when written in terms of homogeneous coordinates. The formula (3.10) then produces

$`p_{17}`$ $`=`$ $`z^{17}+17z^{15}+119z^{12}187z^{10}+187z^7+119z^5+17z^21`$
$`q_{17}`$ $`=`$ $`z^{17}17z^{15}+119z^{12}+187z^{10}+187z^7119z^5+17z^2+1`$ (3.13)
when written in terms of the inhomogeneous coordinate $`z.`$ This map is equivalent, after a change of spatial and internal orientation, to the $`Y_h`$-symmetric map presented in  that corresponds to the $`B=17`$ $`Y_h`$-symmetric minimal energy Skyrmion. In the following subsection we shall require this map in the orientation presented in (3.13).

Although this method is much easier to implement than the projector algorithm, it turns out that for the icosahedral maps we require in this paper there is yet another approach, which is even more effecient.

### 3.2 Klein Leapfrog

From the previous section we already have two $`Y`$-symmetric rational maps, which are $`R_7=p_7/q_7`$ and $`R_{17}=p_{17}/q_{17}.`$ Here we describe how the other $`Y`$-symmetric maps that we require can be obtained from these two by the simple multiplication of invariant Klein polynomials. This way of obtaining higher degree invariant rational maps we refer to as the Klein Leapfrog method.

Recall that we wish to determine whether the low energy $``$ minimizing map of degree 37 that we found earlier is icosahedrally symmetric. The relevant decomposition is

$$\underset{¯}{38}|_Y=E_1^{}+2E_2^{}+\mathrm{}$$
(3.14)
Both the maps $`(p_7,q_7)`$ and $`(p_{17},q_{17})`$ are a basis for the representation $`E_2^{}`$, and the multiplication of these maps by any (integer power of a) Klein polynomial does not change the transformation properties, since Klein polynomials are invariants. Thus, both $`(k_ep_7,k_eq_7)`$ and $`(k_fp_{17},k_fq_{17})`$ are degree 37 $`Y`$-symmetric maps. Each map alone is not a valid degree 37 rational map, since the numerator and denominator contain common factors, but taken together they form an acceptable basis for the $`2E_2^{}`$ in (3.14). Explicitly,

$$R_{37}=\frac{p_{37}}{q_{37}}=\frac{k_fp_{17}+ck_ep_7}{k_fq_{17}+ck_eq_7}$$
(3.15)
where $`c`$ is a complex parameter. For $`c=0`$ or $`c=\mathrm{}`$ the map is clearly degenerate, having degree lower than 37, but for generic values of $`c`$ the numerator and denominator are coprime.

The Wronskian of this map must be strictly invariant, and indeed it is given by the following combination of Klein polynomials

$$w(p_{37},q_{37})=k_e^2k_v(80c+28c^2)k_f^3k_v(68+120c).$$
(3.16)
The 72 roots of this polynomial give the face-centres of the Skyrmion polyhedron. Minimizing the integral $``$ over the one (complex) parameter family of maps (3.15) results in a minimum at $`c=0.829+0.545i,`$ where $`/B^2=1.255.`$ This is precisely the value found by the minimization over all degree 37 maps, so we confirm that the $``$ minimizing degree 37 map, and hence the minimal energy $`B=37`$ Skyrmion, has icosahedral symmetry. Note that the symmetry group is only $`Y`$ and not $`Y_h`$ since $`c`$ is not real. A baryon density isosurface plot for the associated Skyrmion is displayed in Fig. 4a.

The next magic number in our conjectured icosahedral list is $`B=67.`$ The application of our simulated annealing scheme to extend the results presented in Fig. 1 to such a large value of $`B`$ would require unreasonable computing resources. We therefore make use of the fact that the quantity $`/B^2`$ appears to approach an asymptotic value of around $`1.28,`$ whereas for icosahedral magic numbers the value is closer to $`1.25.`$ Therefore we aim to present evidence in support of our conjecture by finding an icosahedral map of degree 67 with $`/B^21.25.`$

The relevant decomposition is

$$\underset{¯}{68}|_Y=2E_1^{}+3E_2^{}+\mathrm{}$$
(3.17)
so we require three degree 67 maps to form a basis for the second component in the above decomposition. These are given by a Klein leapfrog as

$$(k_ek_fp_{17},k_ek_fq_{17}),(k_e^2p_7,k_e^2q_7),(k_f^3p_7,k_f^3q_7).$$
(3.18)
It might seem strange that $`(k_v^5p_7,k_v^5q_7)`$ is not included, but because $`\underset{¯}{61}|_Y=2A+\mathrm{},`$ there must be a linear relationship between $`k_e^2`$, $`k_f^3`$ and $`k_v^5.`$ In fact, it is given by $`1728k_v^5=k_e^2k_f^3,`$ .

Minimizing over the two (complex) parameter family of maps

$$R_{67}=\frac{k_ek_fp_{17}+c_1k_e^2p_7+c_2k_f^3p_7}{k_ek_fq_{17}+c_1k_e^2q_7+c_2k_f^3q_7}$$
(3.19)
yields a minimum at $`c_1=0.2920.816i,`$ $`c_2=0.491+1.008i,`$ for which $`/B^2=1.250.`$ This value is plotted as the square in Fig. 1, and it is clearly consistent with being an icosahedral magic number, as is the energy per baryon of the associated Skyrmion which is plotted as the square in Fig. 2. A baryon density isosurface derived from the minimal $`Y`$-symmetric map is displayed in Fig. 4c.

The next magic number on our list is $`B=97.`$ The required decomposition is

$$\underset{¯}{98}|_Y=3E_1^{}+4E_2^{}+\mathrm{}$$
(3.20)
so there is a three (complex) parameter family of $`Y`$-symmetric maps. Three of the required basis maps are obtained by a Klein leapfrog of the three degree 67 basis maps given above, through the multiplication by $`k_e.`$ The fourth basis map is a Klein leapfrog of $`(p_{17},q_{17})`$ through the multiplication by $`k_f^4.`$ The full map is therefore

$$R_{97}=\frac{k_e^2k_fp_{17}+c_1k_e^3p_7+c_2k_ek_f^3p_7+c_3k_f^4p_{17}}{k_e^2k_fq_{17}+c_1k_e^3q_7+c_2k_ek_f^3q_7+c_3k_f^4q_{17}}.$$
(3.21)
A minimization over the three complex parameters yields a minimum for $`c_1=0.705+0.699i,c_2=0.5541.701i,c_3=0.967+0.930i,`$ at which $`/B^2=1.248.`$ This value is plotted as the circle in Fig. 1, and again it is consistent with being the minimal degree 97 map, producing another icosahedral magic number at $`B=97.`$ A baryon density isosurface of the Skyrmion derived from this minimal $`Y`$-symmetric map is displayed in Fig. 4d. The energy per baryon of this Skyrmion is plotted as the circle in Fig. 2. Given that the rational map ansatz tends to overestimate the energy by around one or two percent, then the true energy per baryon of this Skyrmion must be very close to that of the hexagonal lattice , which has $`E/B=1.061.`$

Icosahedrally symmetric rational maps, and hence Skyrme fields, exists for many values of $`B,`$ but rarely are these symmetric configurations those of minimal energy. The simplest example is the degree 11 rational map presented in . For this map $`/B^2=3.84,`$ which is clearly very large, and indeed the associated $`B=11`$ Skyrme field has larger energy than 11 well-separated single Skyrmions. This is not very surprising, given that the associated polyhedron is an icosahedron - clearly violating the favourable trivalent property at all vertices. However, in the Thomson problem there are more subtle examples, where there is an icosahedrally symmetric configuration which has reasonably low energy, but not quite as low as a less symmetric minimal energy solution. This situation occurs for the values $`B=22,47,82,\mathrm{}`$ . We shall see if this situation is also mirrored in the Skyrmion problem, by studying $`Y`$-symmetric rational maps of degree $`47.`$

The required decomposition is

$$\underset{¯}{48}|_Y=E_1^{}+2E_2^{}+\mathrm{}$$
(3.22)
and a basis for the $`2E_2^{}`$ is obtained by the Klein leapfrog of $`R_{17}`$ by $`k_e`$ and the Klein leapfrog of $`R_7`$ by $`k_f^2.`$ Therefore, the one parameter family of $`Y`$-symmetric maps is

$$R_{47}=\frac{k_ep_{17}+ck_f^2p_7}{k_eq_{17}+ck_f^2q_7}.$$
(3.23)
Minimizing over $`c`$ yields a minimum when $`c`$ is real (so the symmetry extends to $`Y_h`$) and takes the value $`c=1.425,`$ at which $`/B^2=1.314.`$ This value is plotted as the cross in Fig. 1, and it can be seen that, even though it is reasonably low, it is not consistent with the general trend for minimal energy maps. The associated energy per baryon is plotted as the cross in Fig. 2 and provides further evidence that this is not a minimal energy Skyrmion. This suggests that the same phenomenon of non-minimal icosahedral maps exists in both the Thomson and Skyrme problems, providing yet more evidence for the similarity of these two systems. A baryon density isosurface is displayed in Fig. 4b for the $`Y_h`$-symmetric Skyrmion obtained from the above map with the minimal value of $`c.`$ From this figure it can be seen that the Skyrmion polyhedron fits into the required class, as a trivalent polyhedron with 12 pentagonal faces and the remaining faces hexagonal. Therefore, the reason for it not to be the minimal energy Skyrmion must be subtle, and probably involves the placement of the pentagons within the polyhedron, when compared to a more favourable but less symmetric distribution.

Finally, we turn to the anomalous case of $`B=62.`$ In the Thomson problem there is an icosahedral magic number at $`B=62`$, but the relevant decomposition for rational maps is

$$\underset{¯}{63}|_Y=A+\text{irreps of dimension greater than 2}$$
(3.24)
so there is certainly no $`Y`$-symmetric degree 62 rational map, and probably no $`Y`$-symmetric $`B=62`$ Skyrmion either. The resolution of this problem is the fact that the polyhedron associated with a Skyrmion is derived from the baryon density, and it is possible that the baryon and energy density of a Skyrmion could have more symmetry than the Skyrme field itself. In terms of the rational map ansatz this corresponds to an enhanced symmetry of the Wronskian, not shared by the rational map.

Recall that the Wronskian is a polynomial of degree $`2B2,`$ so to see if this is a possible explanation for the case $`B=62`$ we need to look for $`Y`$-invariant polynomials of degree 122. The decomposition

$$\underset{¯}{123}|_Y=2A+\mathrm{}$$
(3.25)
reveals that there are two invariants, and in fact they are given by $`k_vk_fk_e^3`$ and $`k_vk_f^4k_e.`$ Thus, to address this case we would need to find the family of degree 62 rational maps, $`(p_{62},q_{62})`$ so that the Wronskian takes the form

$$w(p_{62},q_{62})=k_vk_fk_e(c_1k_e^2+c_2k_f^3)$$
(3.26)
where $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$ are arbitrary complex constants. It is difficult to see how to explicitly construct this family, given we do not know the symmetry of the rational map, but it would be interesting if this could be done, to see whether a map with a $`Y`$-invariant Wronskian is likely to be the minimal map. However, as far as our definition of icosahedral magic number is concerned, the value $`B=62`$ does not qualify because the map is not $`Y`$-symmetric.

The example of a non-minimal icosahedral $`B=22`$ Thomson configuration, briefly mentioned above, also appears to fall into the same class . There are no $`Y`$-symmetric degree 22 maps, but there is a degree 42 invariant, given by $`k_vk_e,`$ to which the Wronskian of a degree 22 map could be proportional.

## 4 Conclusion

In this paper we have used a comparison between Skyrmion polyhedra and the duals of Thomson polyhedra to predict a sequence of magic baryon numbers at which the Skyrmion has icosahedral symmetry and unusually low energy. We have presented some evidence for our conjecture, through the minimization of the most general rational maps for all degrees upto 40, and by the explicit construction, using two new methods, of some high degree rational maps with icosahedral symmetry.

Our methods could also be used to find other possible minimal energy rational maps and Skyrme fields, with octahedral and tetrahedral symmetries. It is likely that these other Platonic symmetries are more prevalent than icosahedral symmetry, and may account for some of the less pronounced dips in Fig. 1.

Finally, a comparison between the Skyrme crystal and the Skyrme lattice  suggests that for large enough baryon numbers the shell-like structure of Skyrmions may give way to a crystal structure. However, even the order of magnitude of $`B`$ at which this transition might take place is not known, so whether all the icosahedral Skyrmions we have constructed will survive this possible transition remains an open question.

## Acknowledgements

We acknowledge EPSRC (PMS) and PPARC (RAB) for Advanced Fellowships.


text:
# Neutron Star Masses from Arecibo Timing Observations of Five Pulsar–White Dwarf Binary Systems

## 1. Introduction

Evolutionary considerations suggest that pulsars in white dwarf–neutron star binaries might have masses higher than the canonical value of 1.35 M, perhaps due to extended, stable mass transfer. Here we report on observations of five pulsars in such binary systems. We have measured one or more post-Keplerian effects in each system, leading to constraints on the pulsar masses. (For a review of previous pulsar mass measurements, see Thorsett & Chakrabarty 1999.)

We observed the pulsars over several years with the post-upgrade Arecibo telescope. We used the Princeton Mark IV data acquisition system to perform baseband sampling, coherent dedispersion, pulse-synchronous folding, and timing (Stairs et al. 2000). Depending on the pulsar, we also used data collected at Green Bank (140 Foot telescope), Jodrell Bank, and/or Effelsberg, as well as data from the Arecibo Berkeley Pulsar Processor and the Princeton Mark III system (pre-upgrade Arecibo). Details will be given elsewhere.

## 2. Constraints on Pulsar and Companion Mass

### 2.1. Keplerian Mass Function

For each system, five Keplerian parameters are measured: orbital period, $`P_b`$; eccentricity, $`e`$; angle of periastron, $`\omega `$; time of periastron passage, $`T_0`$; and projected semi-major axis, $`x=(a_1\mathrm{sin}i)/c`$, where $`a_1`$ is the semi-major axis of the pulsar orbit, $`i`$ is the orbital inclination angle, and $`c`$ is the speed of light. These combine to form the mass function, $`f_1=(m_2\mathrm{sin}i)^3(m_1+m_2)^2=(2\pi /P_b)^2x^3/T_{},`$ where $`T_{}=4.925\mu `$s is the solar mass in time units, and where $`m_1`$ and $`m_2`$ are the mass of the pulsar and its companion, respectively, in solar mass units. While $`i`$ is unknown, the constraint $`\mathrm{sin}i1`$ leads to $`m_1<m_2^{3/2}f_1^{1/2}m_2.`$

### 2.2. Relativistic Phenomena

Three relativistic phenomena constrain the system masses.

Precession of an orbit can be measured if eccentricity is sufficiently large. (For circular orbits, precession is completely covariant with orbital period.) The rate of apsidal advance is $`\dot{\omega }=3(P_b/2\pi )^{5/3}(1e^2)^1T_{}^{2/3}(m_1+m_2)^{2/3},`$ so measurement of $`\dot{\omega }`$ yields total mass, $`m_1+m_2`$.

Shapiro delay, the excess propagation time through the gravitational potential well of the secondary is, for small $`e`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_s=2m_2T_{}\mathrm{ln}[1\mathrm{sin}i\mathrm{sin}(\varphi \varphi _0)],`$ where $`\varphi `$ is the orbital phase measured from the ascending node, $`\varphi _0`$. For edge-on orbits (large $`i`$), detection of Shapiro delay leads to measurement of $`m_2`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}i`$. For face-on orbits (small $`i`$), Shapiro delay is covariant with projected semi-major axis and cannot be detected; this non-detection can be used to exclude high-inclination, low-companion-mass orbits.

Orbital decay due to gravitational radiation causes $`P_b`$ to change at a rate $`\dot{P}_b=(192\pi /5)(P_b/2\pi )^{5/3}(1+\frac{73}{24}e^2+\frac{37}{96}e^4)(1e^2)^{7/2}T_{}^{5/3}m_1m_2(m_1+m_2)^{1/3}.`$ This can be measured for sufficiently small orbits (low $`P_b`$).

### 2.3. Kinematic $`\dot{x}`$

Motion of a binary system relative to the Sun induces a change in the inclination angle of the orbit, and hence a change in the projected semi-major axis, $`\dot{x}/x=\mu \mathrm{cot}i\mathrm{sin}\theta `$, where $`\mu `$ is the (measured) proper motion and $`\theta `$ is the (a priori unknown) difference between the position angle of proper motion and the position angle of the ascending node (Kopeikin 1996; see also Nice, Splaver, & Stairs 2001). Measurement of $`\dot{x}`$ alone does not yield a value of $`i`$, but the constraint $`|\mathrm{sin}\theta |1`$ leads to $`i<\mathrm{tan}^1(\mu x/\dot{x})`$, giving a firm upper limit on $`i`$.

### 2.4. Orbital Period–Core Mass relation.

Studies of low- and intermediate-mass binary evolution predict a nearly unique relation between $`P_b`$ and $`m_2`$ in pulsar–helium white dwarf binaries (Podsiadlowski, Rappaport, & Pfahl 2002; Tauris & Savonije 1999; Rappaport et al. 1995). The $`P_bm_2`$ relation may be used to constrain the system masses; alternatively, measured system masses may be used to test the evolution theory.

## 3. Timing Analysis and Results

Table 1 summarizes the post-Keplerian phenomena detected in each of five pulsar binaries. For each pulsar, we used tempo111http://pulsar.princeton.edu/tempo to calculate the goodness-of-fit of timing solutions over a uniform grid of $`\mathrm{cos}i`$ and $`m_2`$ values. In each timing run, relativistic parameters appropriate to the given $`\mathrm{cos}i`$ and $`m_2`$ were calculated and held constant, while all other parameters were allowed to vary. The gray regions in figures 1 and 2 show combinations of $`\mathrm{cos}i`$ and $`m_2`$ that gave acceptable fits at the 68% and 95% confidence levels (inner and outer contours).222For J0621+1002, the contours are at 39% and 86% confidence levels.

For each pulsar (except J2019+2425), the grids of timing runs were used to calculate the probability distribution function (pdf) for the underlying value of $`m_1`$. Briefly, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$ value from each grid point was translated into a probability and, after suitable normalization, the probabilities associated with a given range of $`m_1`$ were summed, resulting in a pdf for $`m_1`$. The limits on $`m_1`$ from each pdf are given in table 2. See Splaver et al. 2002 for more details on this procedure.

### 3.1. PSR J0621+1002

The relatively high eccentricity of this system (still only $`e=0.0025`$!) is sufficient to break the covariance between $`P_b`$ and $`\dot{\omega }`$ in the timing fit. We measure $`\dot{\omega }=0.0116\pm 0.0008^{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ ($`1\sigma `$), yielding $`m_1+m_2=2.8\pm 0.3\mathrm{M}_{}`$. This corresponds to the strip between dashed lines in figure 1a. We do not detect Shapiro delay, so orbits with high $`i`$ are excluded, closing off the gray region towards the lower right portion of figure 1a. The low eccentricity of the system, along with the lack of a detectable optical companion, provides strong evidence the companion is a white dwarf, so $`m_2<1.4\mathrm{M}_{}`$. As figures 1a and 1b show, the orbit is relatively close to face on, and the pulsar and companion masses are relatively high. Further discussion can be found in Splaver et al. 2002.

### 3.2. PSR J0751+1807

This binary has a very short orbital period, only 6.3 hours. The relativistic decay rate is expected to be around $`\dot{P_b}4\times 10^{14}`$, depending on the system masses (see figure 2a for representative calculations). The current data give $`\dot{P_b}=(2\pm 8)\times 10^{14}`$, tantalizingly close to the expected value. Results of a full relativistic timing analysis (figure 2a) show that higher values of $`i`$ are preferred, implying a marginal detection of Shapiro delay. The pulsar mass is not yet measured, though there is a strong upper limit $`m_2<2.07`$ M$`_{}`$.

We anticipate that future observations will substantially reduce the uncertainty of $`\dot{P_b}`$. (For a pulsar observed uniformly over time span $`t`$, the uncertainty of $`\dot{P_b}`$ scales as $`t^{2.5}`$.) This will be the first detection of relativistic decay outside of double-neutron-star binaries.

### 3.3. PSR J1713+0747

This pulsar in a wide binary has a strong, sharp pulse, allowing us to achieve timing precision of 200$``$400 ns in a single observation. Camilo, Foster, & Wolszczan (1994) first reported the detection of Shapiro delay. Our data give substantially improved constraints on the system masses and inclination (figure 2b). The timing data still allow a wide range of pulsar masses (table 2), but the overlap between parameters allowed by the timing data and the range of $`m_2`$ predicted by the $`P_bm_2`$ relation of Tauris & Savonije (1999) gives a tighter constraint on $`m_1`$, $`1.461.61\mathrm{M}_{}`$ (figure 2b). (The binary evolution tracks of Podsiadlowski et al. 2002 give very similar predictions.)

### 3.4. PSR B1855+09

Our new data only modestly augments that of Kaspi, Taylor, & Ryba (1994) and earlier work. Shapiro delay gives tight constraints on $`m_2`$ and $`i`$ (figure 2c), which are in excellent agreement with the $`P_bm_2`$ relation.

### 3.5. PSR J2019+2425

No relativistic effects are detected. The observed $`\dot{x}/x=1.3\pm 0.2\times 10^{15}`$ s-1 constrains $`i<72^{}`$. Shapiro delay is not detected, also constraining the system away from high $`i`$ (figure 2d). Little can be said about the system masses from timing alone. However, if $`m_2`$ is within the range allowed the $`P_bm_2`$ relation (horizontal strip in figure 2d), the neutron star mass must be $`m_1<1.51`$ M. Further analysis of this system is given in Nice, Splaver, & Stairs 2001.

## 4. Conclusion

Table 2 shows substantial constraints on neutron star mass $`m_1`$ from timing alone for three of the five pulsars, J0621+1002, J1713+0747, and B1855+09. In each case, the 68% confidence limits on $`m_1`$ are above the canonical neutron star mass of 1.35 M, although the 95% ranges all encompass this value. PSR J0437$``$4715 is similar, with $`m_1=1.58\pm 0.18`$M (van Straten et al. 2001). The evidence is mounting that some pulsars are heavier than 1.35 M, though this cannot yet be considered conclusive. The $`P_bm_2`$ relation is in good agreement with the timing data and with the relatively high pulsar masses.

The most exciting prospect for the future is PSR J0751+1807. Although its mass is only weakly constrained, especially on the lower end, great advances will be made as the decay of this pulsar’s orbit is measured in coming years.

#### Acknowledgments.

Portions of this work are collaborations with Zaven Arzoumanian, Don Backer, Fernando Camilo, Michael Kramer, Andrea Lommen, Oliver Löhmer, and Andrew Lyne. We are indebted to Joe Taylor and Steve Thorsett for development work on the Princeton Mark IV system and to Kiriaki Xilouris and Dunc Lorimer for efforts in advancing pulsar astronomy on the post-upgrade Arecibo telescope. The Arecibo Observatory is operated by Cornell University under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Pulsar research at Princeton University is supported by the NSF. IHS is supported by an NSERC UFA and Discovery Grant.

## References

Camilo, F., Foster, R. S., & Wolszczan, A. 1994, ApJ, 437, 39

Kaspi, V. M., Taylor, J. H., & Ryba, M. F. 1994, ApJ, 428, 713

Kopeikin, S. M. 1996, ApJ, 467, L93

Nice, D. J., Splaver, E. M., & Stairs, I. H. 2001, ApJ, 549, 516

Podsiadlowski, P., Rappaport, S., & Pfahl, E. D. 2002 ApJ, 565, 1107

Rappaport, S., Podsiadlowski, P., Joss, P. C., DiStefano, R., & Han, Z. 1995, MNRAS, 273, 731

Splaver, E. M., Nice, D. J., Arzoumanian, Z., Camilo, F., Lyne, A. G., & Stairs, I. H. 2002, ApJ, in press, astro-ph/0208281

Stairs, I. H., Splaver, E. M., Thorsett, S. E., Nice, D. J. & Taylor, J. H. 2000, MNRAS, 314, 459

Tauris, T. M. & Savonije, G. J. 1999, A&A, 350, 928

Thorsett, S. E. & Chakrabarty, D. 1999, ApJ, 512, 288

van Straten, W., Bailes, M., Britton, M., Kulkarni, S. R., Anderson, S. B., Manchester, R. N., & Sarkissian, J. 2001, Nature, 412, 158


text:
# The GEO 600 Gravitational Wave Detector – Pulsar Prospects

## 1. Introduction

The world-wide effort to detect gravitational waves directly has resulted in the construction of a network of laser interferometers. The US LIGO project (Sigg 2002) contributes three instruments, and the French-Italian VIRGO detector (Acernese et al. 2002), the TAMA 300 detector in Japan (Kuroda et al. 2002) and the UK/German GEO 600 detector (Willke et al. 2002) one each. These detectors are based on the principles of Michelson interferometry and use two long orthogonal arms to form a quadrupole antenna sensitive to gravitational waves, although the design details vary considerably between detectors.

The GEO 600 detector at Ruthe (close to Hannover, Germany) is now nearly complete and has recently carried out its first science observations. These were performed in coincidence with the LIGO detectors as part of its role within the LIGO Science Collaboration (LSC).

## 2. Interferometer design and performance

GEO was constructed on a site that restricted its arm lengths to 600 m, so considerable effort was put into its mechanical and optical design to reach the desired sensitivity. Seismic disturbances and thermal motions of the mirrors and of other optical components introduce changes in the optical path lengths along the two arms and add noise to the differential strain, $`h`$, caused by a passing gravitational wave. To minimise this the entire optical path, including the 60 cm diameter tube arms, is held at high vacuum ($`10^9`$ mbar), and materials capable of significant outgassing are sealed in steel or glass.

The calibrated strain output of the detector has many contributing noise components, each with a characteristic spectral density. Below about 40 Hz the spectrum is dominated by seismic noise, and seismic isolation is provided by passive stainless steel and rubber stacks supporting double or triple pendulum suspensions holding the optical components (Plissi et al. 2000). The beam splitter, end mirror optics and lower suspensions are made of fused silica, suspended by 270 $`\mu `$m diameter fused silica fibres, joined with welds and hydroxy-catalysed bonds (Rowan et al. 1998). These high-strength bonds preserve the homogeneity of the silica and give the lower assemblies mechanical quality factors in excess of $`10^7`$ (Cagnoli et al. 2000). At frequencies above about 400 Hz the dominant spectral noise power is from laser shot noise, whilst at intermediate frequencies the spectrum is dominated by the thermal and thermo-refractive noise intrinsic to silica (Braginsky, Gorodetsky & Vyatchanin 2000).

Further noise can be introduced by laser fluctuations or changes in optical alignment causing modulation of the light power at the interferometer’s output port. The laser system is built around a master non-planar ring oscillator that is injection-locked to a diode-pumped Nd:YAG slave laser delivering 12 W at 1064 nm. The light is fed to two sequential mode-cleaners that temporally and spatially filter the beam and seismically isolate it. The Michelson interferometer is held on a dark fringe at its output port, and configured as a resonant cavity by inserting a power recycling mirror at the input port. This builds up the effective power at the beam splitter to several kilowatts and so improves the shot-noise limited sensitivity of the instrument.

Although the detector is intrinsically broadband we can trade bandwidth for sensitivity by ‘signal recycling’ (Meers 1988). When installed, this will increase the shot-noise limited sensitivity by a factor of about 10 around a chosen frequency and promises to be of particular importance for targeted observations of low-mass X-ray binaries (Bildsten, these proceedings).

## 3. Observing programme

The sensitivity of GEO (and of all the current generation of detectors) is such that the probability of an astrophysical detection is fair. We will have to wait until Advanced LIGO before the odds become well stacked in our favour. However the prospect of a detection is very real, and specific effort has gone into optimal strategies for detecting the chirp waveforms from black-hole/black-hole inspirals, burst signals coincident at several detectors, the stochastic gravitational wave background and signals from continuous wave sources such as pulsars.

We expect a non-precessing neutron star of equatorial ellipticity $`ϵ`$ spinning at a frequency $`\nu _0`$ to produce a strain amplitude, $`h_0`$, a distance $`r`$ away of

$$h_0=\frac{16\pi ^2G}{c^4}\frac{I_{zz}\nu _0^2}{r}ϵ,$$
(1)
where $`I_{zz}`$ is the principal moment of inertia about the rotation axis, $`G`$ is the gravitational constant and $`c`$ the speed of light (e.g., Brady 1998). It is interesting to note that because our detection is coherent, the signal strength falls off with distance only as $`1/r`$. The interferometer has antenna response patterns, $`F_+`$ and $`F_\times `$, to the ‘$`+`$’ and ‘$`\times `$’ wave polarisations. For a given source, these antenna responses depend both on time, $`t`$, (this is a transit instrument) and on the polarisation angle of the source ($`\psi `$, loosely its position angle around the line of sight), so the detected strain signal is quasi-sinusoidal and of the form

$$h(t)=\frac{1}{2}F_+(\psi ,t)h_0(1+\mathrm{cos}^2\iota )\mathrm{cos}2\mathrm{\Phi }(t)+F_\times (\psi ,t)h_0\mathrm{cos}\iota \mathrm{sin}2\mathrm{\Phi }(t),$$
(2)
where $`\iota `$ is the angle between the spin axis and the line of sight, and $`\mathrm{\Phi }(t)`$ is the observed rotational phase ($`2\pi \nu _0t`$) (e.g., Jaranowski et al. 1998). The detector has a quadrupole response to each polarisation, and the Earth is transparent to gravitational waves, so nearly the whole celestial sphere is under observation at any one time. The largest uncertainties in the expected strain signal are the neutron star’s equatorial ellipticity and, for radio-quiet neutron stars, their distances and frequencies. We can see from Figure 1 and Equation 1 that millisecond pulsars represent some of our best candidates for a direct detection. Predicted sensitivities require a millisecond source at 10 kpc to have an ellipticity of $`10^6`$ (a quadrupole moment of $`10^{39}`$ g cm2) for detection after one year. However the gravitational luminosity would need to come from a source somewhat better than the observed rate of decrease of rotational kinetic energy for these objects (Figure 1a), if we take them to be isolated and effectively rigid rotators.

## 4. The future

Both GEO and LIGO are presently on their final commissioning phases, and are expected to be working at full sensitivity by 2003. Members of GEO and LIGO are already working within the LSC to share software and data. Present pulsar-related efforts in GEO are concentrating on targeted searches for emission from known radio pulsars, although the algorithmic and computational resources needed to carry out more general all-sky searches are well advanced.

### Acknowledgments.

The authors would like to thank the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the UK (PPARC), the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and the State of Lower Saxony (Germany) for their funding and continuous support of the GEO 600 project.

## References

Acernese, F., et al. 2002, Class. Quantum Grav., 19, 1421

Brady, P. R., et al. 1998, Phys. Rev. D, 57, 2101

Braginsky, V. B., Gorodetsky, M. L., Vyatchanin, S. P. 2000, Phys. Lett. A, 271, 303

Cagnoli, G., et al. 2000, Phys. Rev. Lett., 85, 2442

Jaranowski, P., Królak, A., Schutz, B. F. 1998, Phys. Rev. D, 58, 3001

Kuroda, K., et al. 2002, Class. Quantum Grav., 19, 1237

Meers, B. J. 1988, Phys. Rev. D, 38, 2317

Plissi, M. V., et al. 2000, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 71, 2539

Rowan, S., et al. 1998, Phys. Lett. A, 246, 471

Sigg, D. 2002, Class. Quantum Grav., 19, 1429

Willke, B., et al. 2002, Class. Quantum Grav., 19, 1377


text:
# The structure of nuclear systems derived from low momentum nucleon-nucleon potentials

## 1 Introduction

In the past decade, there has been much progress in treating low-energy nuclear systems using the effective field theory (EFT) and renormalization group (RG) approaches,  and references therein. The fundamental theory of strong interaction, QCD, is non-perturbative in the energy regime characteristic for low energy nuclear physics. This poses a major difficulty for a proper derivation of the nuclear force from the first principles. However, this difficulty can be overcome by the EFT-RG approach where one ”integrates out” the fast fields beyond the chiral symmetry breaking scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\chi 1`$ GeV. Well below this scale, the appropriate degrees of freedom for nuclear systems are pions and nucleons. In this way, one obtains for these degrees of freedom a chiral symmetric EFT, which is used to construct either perturbative or non-perturbative controlled approximations for low energy nuclear systems.

As is well known, there are several realistic models for the NN potential $`V_{NN}`$, such as the CD-Bonn , Nijmegen  and the Argonne  potentials. These models all have the same long range tail, namely the one-pion exchange potential. But the short range parts significantly differ from each other, despite the fact they all fit essentially exactly the empirical deuteron binding energy and low energy phase shifts up to $`E_{lab}`$350 MeV. Clearly the short range (high momentum) parts of these potentials are model dependent and are different e.g. for the local and non-local interaction models. Employing the EFT-RG ideas, Refs.  ”integrated out” the high momentum modes of these potentials and thereby obtained a low momentum NN potential $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$. The high momentum modes of the original $`V_{NN}`$ are eliminated in $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ with the requirement that the deuteron binding energy and low energy phase shifts of $`V_{NN}`$ are exactly reproduced. This is in line with the central theme of the EFT-RG approach that physics in the infrared region is insensitive to the details of the short distance dynamics.

The purpose of this work is to calculate various nuclear structure observables for infinite nuclear matter and finite nuclei starting from the $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ interaction derived for the CD-Bonn and Nijmegen potentials . In particular, we would like to explore to which extent the results derived from $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ differ from the predictions obtained for the underlying interaction model $`V_{NN}`$ and the sensitivity of the results on the cut-off parameter $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. For that purpose we evaluate the ground-state energy of nuclear matter and finite nuclei taking 16O as a typical example. Apart from the bulk properties of nuclear systems we also investigate the predictions for the residual interaction characterized by the pairing gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ of neutron-neutron or proton-proton pairing as well as the Landau parametrization of the particle-hole interaction for low-energy excitations in nuclear matter.

The paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we shortly review the construction of the low-momentum $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ . The methods for the evaluation of ground-state properties of nuclear matter and finite nuclei as well as the corresponding results are presented in sections 3 and 4, respectively. Section 5 contains a discussion of the gap equation and the Landau parameters characterizing the residual interaction. The conclusions of this study are summarized in section 6.

## 2 Determination of low momentum nucleon-nucleon potentials

We start with a brief review of the method of carrying out the high-momentum decimation . In accordance with the general definition of a renormalization group transformation, the decimation must be such that low energy observables calculated from the full $`V_{NN}`$ must be reproduced by $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$, but with all loop integrals cut off at some $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. To meet this requirement, a $`T`$-matrix equivalence approach is used . One starts from the half-on-shell $`T`$-matrix

$$T(k^{},k,k^2)=V_{NN}(k^{},k)+_0^{\mathrm{}}q^2𝑑qV_{NN}(k^{},q)\frac{m}{k^2q^2+i0^+}T(q,k,k^2),$$
(1)
and then defines an effective low-momentum $`T`$-matrix by

$$T_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}(p^{},p,p^2)=V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}(p^{},p)+_0^\mathrm{\Lambda }q^2𝑑qV_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}(p^{},q)\frac{m}{p^2q^2+i0^+}T_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}(q,p,p^2),$$
(2)
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ denotes the momentum space cut-off. The above $`T`$-matrices satisfy the condition

$$T(p^{},p,p^2)=T_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}(p^{},p,p^2);\text{for}(p^{},p)\mathrm{\Lambda }.$$
(3)
$`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ has been obtained by solving the above equations using the procedures of Ref. . In particular the effects of the folded diagrams are taken into account to derive an effective interaction $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ which is energy-independent.

We have performed numerical checks to make sure that the resulting $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ does preserve the deuteron binding energy and low energy phase shifts of the original NN potential. This has been repeated assuming various cut off parameters $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ using the CD Bonn  and the Nijmegen  interaction models for the bare interaction $`V_{NN}`$. For both of these interactions we have ignored the charge dependence and used only the proton-neutron part for all interactions channels.

## 3 Energy of Nuclear Matter

It is well known that the strong short-range and tensor components of realistic NN interactions induce strong NN correlations in the wave function of nuclear many-body system. Therefore rather sophisticated approximation schemes for the solution of the many-body problem are required to obtain reasonable results for nuclear structure observables. Such approximation schemes must account at least for the two-nucleon correlations. Typical examples are variational approaches using correlated basis functions , the coupled cluster approach , the self-consistent evaluation of Green’s functions  and the hole-line expansion within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (BHF) approximation .

The effective interaction $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ has been constructed to account for NN correlations with momenta larger than the cut-off momentum $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ as they occur for two interacting nucleons in the vacuum. The question which we now want to address is whether such a treatment of correlations is sufficient to allow for simple mean field or Hartree-Fock calculations of the nuclear many-body system. As a first example we consider the equation of state of infinite nuclear matter.

The left panel of Fig. 1 shows the results of Hartree-Fock (HF) calculations for the energy per nucleon of symmetric nuclear matter as a function of density, which is characterized in this figure by the corresponding Fermi momentum $`k_F`$. For the bare CD-Bonn interaction  the HF calculations yield positive energies ranging between 3 MeV per nucleon at small densities and 20 MeV per nucleon for $`k_F`$ around 1.8 fm-1 which corresponds to a density of around 2.3 times the empirical saturation density. This demonstrates the well known fact that even modern non-local models for a realistic NN interaction, which tend to be “soft”, yield unbound nuclei if the effects of correlations are ignored .

This lack of binding energy can be cured if the effects of NN correlations are taken into account, e.g. by means of the BHF approximation. In the BHF approximation one replaces the bare interaction by the $`G`$-matrix which obeys the Bethe-Goldstone equation. For a pair of nucleons with vanishing center of mass momentum it takes the form

$$G(k^{},k,2\epsilon _k)=V_{NN}(k^{},k)+_0^{\mathrm{}}q^2𝑑qV_{NN}(k^{},q)\frac{\widehat{Q}}{2\epsilon _k2\epsilon _q+i0^+}G(q,k,2\epsilon _k).$$
(4)
Comparing this equation with the Lippmann-Schwinger equation (1), one can see that the $`G`$-matrix is closely connected to the $`T`$-matrix except for the fact that the Pauli operator $`\widehat{Q}`$ in (4) prevents scattering into states which are occupied by other nucleons and that the propagator for the two nucleons, which for the vacuum is defined in terms of the kinetic energies (see eq. (1)) is replaced in (4) by the propagator in the medium defined in terms of the single-particle energies $`\epsilon _k`$. Both of these modifications tend to reduce the effects of correlations and are referred to as Pauli and dispersive quenching, respectively .

It should be mentioned that we employ a very simple version of the BHF approach, in which the single-particle energies for states below the Fermi energy are parametrized in terms of an effective mass and a constant energy shift

$$\epsilon _k=\frac{k^2}{2m^{}}+U,$$
(5)
while for states above the Fermi energy the single-particle energies are replaced by the kinetic energy (the so-called conventional choice). The Pauli operator is treated in the angle-averaged approximation. A more sophisticated treatment of the two-nucleon propagator in the Bethe-Goldstone equation leads to larger binding energies . Note, however, that it is not the aim of this study to optimize the BHF approximation, but to study the possible use of the $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ interaction in restricted model-space calculations.

Results of such BHF calculations are displayed in the right panel of Fig. 1. The conventional BHF calculation for the bare CD Bonn interaction yields an energy of -17 MeV per nucleon and a saturation density around twice the empirical saturation density. The left panel of Fig. 1 also shows the HF energies calculated for $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ assuming three different values for the cut-off parameter $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The resulting energies are attractive. This demonstrates that the correlations from two-particle states with momenta $`q`$ larger than the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, which are accounted for in $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$, are sufficient to provide this attraction. From this consideration it is evident that the energies are more attractive the smaller the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, a feature seen in Fig. 1.

Next, in performing BHF calculations for $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$, we must take into account that $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ is designed for a model space with relative momenta smaller than $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, i.e. the matrix elements of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ must be supplemented by the value zero for momenta $`q`$ larger than the cut-off. In other words, the integral in the Bethe-Goldstone eq. (4) is restricted to momenta $`q`$ below the cut-off in order to avoid double counting of the contributions from momenta higher than the cut-off.

The energies resulting from such BHF calculations (see left panel of Fig. 1) are below the corresponding HF energies as additional correlations from NN states above the Fermi momentum but below the cut-off are taken into account. One also observes that the BHF calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ lead to more attractive energies than the BHF calculation using the bare interaction. This is due to the fact, that the dispersive quenching effects in the $`G`$-matrix discussed above are taken into account only for intermediate two-particle states with momenta below the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, while the BHF calculation using the bare interaction considers these effects for all states. Since the dispersive quenching is a very important ingredient of BHF calculations, that provides the saturation effect, the BHF calculations employing $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ do not exhibit a minimum in the energy versus density curve. One may conclude that $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ yields a good approximation for BHF calculations at small densities. In this regime even a Hartree-Fock calculation leads to reasonable results, if $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is small enough. At higher densities, however, $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ leads to too much binding as it does not account for the dispersive quenching of high-momentum modes.

In Fig. 2 we compare results derived from two different NN interaction models: the CD-Bonn (used above) and the Nijmegen  potentials. One can see from this figure that the HF calculations using the Nijmegen interaction yield energies which are more repulsive than those derived from the CD-Bonn interaction. The non-local CD-Bonn is “softer” than the local Nijmegen interaction. As it has been discussed e.g. in Ref.  the softer interaction model yields more attractive energies also within the BHF approximation (see right panel of Fig. 2). Although the results of HF as well as BHF calculations are rather sensitive to the choice of the interaction, the corresponding results from $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ are rather insensitive to the interaction model on which they are based. This is true for both the HF and the BHF approximations. This can be understood from the fact that the $`T`$-matrix is essentially independent on the interaction used, as all realistic interactions are fitted to the empirical phase shifts. Since the definition of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ is related to the $`T`$-matrix (see eq. (3)), the resulting effective interaction is rather insensitive to the original interaction it is based on.

## 4 Finite Nuclei

Since the use of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ yields rather reasonable results for the energy of nuclear matter at small densities it is of interest to investigate the predictions of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ for the ground-state properties of light nuclei. For that purpose we employ the calculation scheme, which has recently been discussed in ref.  and apply it for the nucleus 16O. This scheme is an extension of the conventional BHF approximation for finite nuclei. It assumes a model space, which in our example is defined in terms of configurations of nucleons occupying oscillator states up to the $`1p0f`$ shell. Correlations outside this model space, which we would like to call short-range correlations, are treated within the framework of the BHF approximation. The long-range correlations from configurations inside the model space are treated within the framework of the Green’s function approach, assuming a self-energy which accounts for 2-particle - 1-hole and 2-hole - 1-particle admixtures.

This Green’s function approach (for further details see ref. ) yields the spectral function of the hole-state distribution $`S_{\tau lj}^h(\omega )`$, which is the probability to remove a nucleon with quantum numbers $`\tau `$ for isospin, $`l`$ for orbital angular momentum and $`j`$ for the total angular momentum by absorption of an energy $`\omega `$. From this spectral function we can easily determine the total occupation probability

$$\rho _{\tau lj}=_{\mathrm{}}^{\epsilon _F}𝑑\omega S_{\tau lj}^h(\omega )$$
(6)
the mean single-particle energy of the distribution function

$$\epsilon _{\tau lj}=_{\mathrm{}}^{\epsilon _F}𝑑\omega \omega S_{\tau lj}^h(\omega )$$
(7)
and the total energy

$$E=\underset{\tau lj}{}\frac{(2j+1)}{2}_{\mathrm{}}^{\epsilon _F}𝑑\omega S_{\tau lj}^h(\omega _{\tau lj})\frac{p^2}{2m}+\omega _{\tau lj}.$$
(8)
Results for these observables are listed in table 1 using the bare CD-Bonn interaction along with $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ derived from the CD-Bonn potential with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ = 2 fm-1 and 3 fm-1. For the interactions $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ we have performed calculations in which the effects of short-range correlations are ignored (labeled HF) and taken into account (labeled BHF).

The BHF calculations employing $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ yield results which are very close to the corresponding ones for the bare interaction. The agreement is better for the larger value of the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The BHF calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ yield energies which are more attractive than the corresponding result for the bare interaction. This can be explained in the same way as for the case of nuclear matter: $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ accounts for correlations originating from states above the cut-off as they occur for two free nucleons. The dispersive quenching effect in the $`G`$-matrix calculated for the bare interaction, however, reduces these attractive correlation contributions. We find that this effect is rather small for finite nuclei, comparable to the same effect in nuclear matter at small densities (see Fig. 1).

The predictions from calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ in the HF approach yield energies which are less attractive than those from the bare interaction. This is due to the fact that they do not account for short-range correlations originating from configurations outside the model space (up to $`1p0f`$ shell) but only below the cut-off. Nevertheless, the results obtained for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ = 2 fm-1 are quite reasonable.

The predictions for the occupation probabilities are larger for the calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ than for the bare interaction $`V`$. This is due to the fact that the HF calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ only account for a depletion of the occupation due to long-range correlations within the $`1p0f`$ model space, while the corresponding BHF calculations include effects of correlations only up to the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. One may observe, however, that the BHF calculation using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ = 3 fm-1 yields results for the occupation which are only slightly above those derived from the bare interaction.

The reliability of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ in low-energy nuclear structure calculations of finite nuclei is also supported by the results for the spectral function displayed in Fig. 3. The structure of the spectral function derived from the bare interaction, represented by the dashed line in both parts of the figure, is nicely reproduced by the spectral function derived from $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$. This is true in particular for the BHF approach, displayed by the solid line in the upper panel, but also holds for the HF approximation, which is shown in the lower panel. The main deficiency is a shift of the strength to larger energies $`\omega `$, a feature which we have already outlined above in discussing the mean single-particle energies shown in table 1.

## 5 Pairing and Residual Interaction in Nuclear Matter

Up to this point we have focused the discussion on observables, which are characteristic for the ground state of nuclear systems. In this section we would like to address the question how reliable is the use of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ for observables related to the low-energy excitation spectrum. As the first example we consider the evaluation of the pairing gap in nuclear matter. In particular we take the example of neutron-neutron pairing in the $`{}_{}{}^{1}S_{0}^{}`$ channel for neutron matter at $`k_F`$ = 1.36 fm-1. This pairing gap is determined from the solution of the gap equation (see e.g. )

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(k)=\frac{2}{\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑k^{}k^2V(k,k^{})\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(k^{})}{2\sqrt{\left(\epsilon _k^{}\epsilon _F\right)^2+\mathrm{\Delta }(k^{})^2}}.$$
(9)
Here we will again parametrize the single-particle spectrum by eq. (5) and consider the cases $`m^{}=m`$ and $`m^{}`$ = 700 MeV. For a realistic interaction, one has to integrate up to rather large values of $`k^{}`$ before a convergent result is obtained. Corresponding results for $`\mathrm{\Delta }(k)`$ for the bare CD-Bonn interaction are displayed in Fig. 4. For the $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ interactions, the integral in (9) can be constrained to values of $`k^{}`$ below the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

The agreement for the resulting gap functions is very good for momenta below the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and a single-particle spectrum with an effective mass identical to the bare mass. In this case the use of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ in the gap equation corresponds to the use of the effective model-space interaction of ref. . However, if we use a single-particle spectrum renormalized by the medium, the results obtained from $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ differ in a more significant way from the corresponding result obtained for the bare CD-Bonn interaction. If, e.g. we use an effective mass $`m^{}`$ of 700 MeV (see right panel of Fig. 4), $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ tends to overestimate the value for the gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ as it does not account for the reduction of the contributions from high lying NN states, which is due to the decrease of the effective mass. This feature is identical to the effect of the dispersive quenching of correlations discussed above.

Finally, we would like to consider the residual interaction for low-energy excitations as characterized by the Landau parameters. It is not our goal to employ a very sophisticated calculational scheme for the Landau parameters. This would involve in particular a careful analysis of the contributions due to the induced interaction terms . Our aim here is to compare the results from the bare interaction $`V_{NN}`$, the corresponding $`G`$-matrix and those derived from $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$, in order to see to which extent $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ accounts for the short-range correlation effects in a nuclear system. For that purpose, we determine the Landau parameters either from the bare interaction or the $`G`$-matrix .

The results of our calculations of the Landau parameters are listed in table 2. Beside those parameters we also list the effective mass determined by

$$\frac{m^{}}{m}=1+\frac{1}{3}f_1$$
(10)
and the coefficient $`\beta `$ for the symmetry energy

$$\beta =\frac{1}{3}\frac{k_F^2}{2m^{}}\left(1+f_0^{}\right).$$
(11)
Comparing the various approximations with our “best” result derived from the $`G`$-matrix of the CD-Bonn potential, one finds that the bare interaction $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ with a small cut-off parameter yields a good approximation if one would like to restrict oneself to the bare interaction. If an iteration is carried out in the particle-particle channels for momenta up to the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, one obtains the best results using a larger cut-off.

## 6 Conclusions

The aim of this study was to explore to which extent the effects of short-range correlations, which are due to excited states above a cut-off parameter $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, are accounted for by the effective interaction $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$, which has recently been constructed . This effective interaction accounts for short-range correlations of two-nucleons interacting in the vacuum; the question is whether this is a good approximation also for the corresponding correlations of nucleons interacting in a nuclear medium. To study this question we considered various nuclear structure observables.

Inspecting the equation of state calculated for nuclear matter one may conclude that $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ yields a good approximation for BHF calculations at small densities. In this regime even a Hartree-Fock calculation leads to reasonable results, if $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is small enough. At higher densities, however, $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ produces too much binding as it does not account for the dispersive quenching effects, which are taken into account e.g. in the $`G`$-matrix. Therefore calculations using $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ cannot reproduce the saturation feature of nuclear matter.

The $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ interaction is well suited for studies of finite nuclei like 16O, which is again a system of small density. In this case we obtain reasonable agreement for the calculated energies, but also for the spectral function for nucleon removal.

Furthermore, we demonstrated that the use of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ is also very efficient in calculating quantities like the pairing gap in infinite nuclear matter. The agreement with the exact result is very good if one may replace the single-particle energy above the cut-off by pure kinetic energy. Deviations are observed if this is not the case. These deviations are again related to the dispersive quenching mechanism mentioned above.

In conclusion we would like to emphasize that $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ can be a very useful tool for low-energy nuclear structure calculations. However, one should be cautious if the observable of interest is sensitive to the single-particle spectrum at energies above the cut-off. This is a problem in particular for high densities.

We thank Prof. T.T.S. Kuo for supplying the matrix elements of $`V_{\mathrm{low}\mathrm{k}}`$ and for many stimulating discussions. This work was supported in part by the DFG (SFB 382) and through a stipend of the DAAD.