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# Cosmic Ray Production of 6Li by Structure Formation Shocks in the Early Galaxy

## 1 Introduction

The origin of the light element isotope 6Li in old, metal-poor halo stars (MPHS) is currently mysterious (see  for reviews). Although the most widely discussed models of light element production based on nuclear reactions by cosmic rays (CRs) from supernovae (SNe) give a good account of the Be and B observed in such stars, they generally fall short for the observed 6Li. Such models must resort to rather implausible or contrived assumptions for 6Li, e.g. a CR injection efficiency substantially higher than normally inferred  or an additional low energy CR component lacking observational support . We have recently proposed a fundamentally different 6Li production scenario: nuclear reactions induced by CRs accelerated at structure formation (SF) shocks, i.e. gravitational virialization shocks driven by the infall and merging of sub-Galactic halos during the hierarchical build-up of structure in the early Galaxy . Given below is a very brief description of the scenario, along with a discussion in relation to recent and future observations. See  for more details.

## 2 Structure formation cosmic ray scenario: advantages and implications

SF shocks are inevitable consequences of the currently standard theory of hierarchical structure formation in the universe. The specific energy dissipated at the main SF shock accompanying the ‘final major merger’ at redshift $`z_f2`$ can be evaluated from the expected post-merger virial temperature $`T_v`$ as $`ϵ_{SF}=3kT_v/20.4\mathrm{keV}(M_t/3\times 10^{12}\mathrm{M}_{})^{2/3}f_c(1+z_f)/3`$ per particle, where $`f_c`$ is a cosmology dependent factor being unity for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ and $`h=0.7`$, and the mass of the merged system $`M_t`$ is taken to be close to the total mass of the Galaxy today. In comparison, the estimated specific energy input from early SNe is $`ϵ0.15\mathrm{keV}`$ per particle, so SF shocks can potentially be more energetic at early Galactic epochs and the associated CRs can explain the 6Li observations much more naturally . Since SF shocks do not eject freshly synthesized CNO nor Fe, $`\alpha \alpha `$ fusion is the dominant production reaction at low metallicities, which can generate large amounts of 6Li with little Be or B and no direct correlation with Fe. A unique, characteristic evolutionary behavior may arise, whereby 6Li increases very quickly at low metallicity (reflecting the main epoch of Galactic SF) followed by a plateau or a very slow rise. This is in marked contrast to models based on SN CRs, for which $`\mathrm{log}^6`$Li/H vs. \[Fe/H\] can never be much flatter than linear. It is also clearly distinct from genuine plateaus that may result from exotic production processes in the early Universe .

Starting with the SN CR light element evolution model of Suzuki & Yoshii , we model SF shock CRs in a simple, parameterized way, described more fully in . In Figure 1, we show several SF CR model curves for different parameter values of $`t_{SF}`$, the main epoch of Galactic SF relative to halo chemical evolution, $`\tau _{SF}`$, the main duration of SF, and $`\gamma _{SF}`$, the spectral index of injected particles; a standard SN CR model is also displayed. A CR injection efficiency of 15 % has been assumed for all cases. Plotted together are current observational data for 6Li  (see next section for more discussion), along with data for Be . It is apparent that the SN CR model fares well for Be but underproduces 6Li, whereas the SF CR model is in good agreement with the present 6Li data.

A further, important feature expected in this scenario are correlations between the 6Li abundance and the kinematic properties of the MPHS. According to the SF CR picture, 6Li production is a direct consequence of the principal gas dissipation mechanism of gravitational shock heating, so that 6Li in MPHS may be interpreted as a fossil record of gas dynamical processes during Galaxy formation. For example, the observed two-component nature of the halo, consisting of the inner, flattened and rotating halo and the outer, spherical and non-rotating halo, suggest that gaseous dissipative processes have been crucial to the former whereas dissipationless stellar dynamics determine the latter ; this idea is supported by numerical simulations of Galaxy formation . If this is true, 6Li/H should be systematically larger in stars belonging to the inner halo compared to those of the outer halo, a testable prediction. Such correlations are not expected at all in SN CR models.

Thus the SF CR model for 6Li has important implications for understanding the formation of our Galaxy. If the above mentioned trends are indeed observed, it would not only confirm the SF origin of 6Li, but may also point to potential new studies of ‘6Li Galactic archaeology’, whereby extensive observations of 6Li in MPHS can be exploited as unique probes of the past dynamical history of our Galaxy. Some particularly intriguing possibilities include testing the hypothesis of non-standard cold dark matter on sub-Galactic scales through the early evolution of 6Li, and probing the efficiency of supernova feedback heating through the relative evolution of Be or B and 6Li (Inoue & Suzuki, in prep.).

## 3 Recent and future observations of 6Li in metal-poor halo stars

Observing 6Li in MPHS is a challenging task, as measurement of its weak isotopic shift feature relative to the much stronger 7Li line requires very high resolution and high S/N spectroscopy . Previous searches had resulted in positive detections for only three stars  along with a number of upper limits . More recent observations by VLT/UVES reveal likely detections for 4 additional stars through a preliminary analysis . A new study by Aoki et al.  discusses the highest quality data yet (S/N $`9001100`$) for 6Li in a MPHS, that of HD140283 obtained by the Subaru HDS, in which analysis with 1D spectrum synthesis models leads to a low upper limit on the isotope ratio of 6Li/7Li $`<0.026`$. These data are all plotted in Figure 1. Note that although HD140283 is one of the stars tentatively detected by UVES as reported in Asplund et al. , the latest analysis of this star by the same authors is consistent with the HDS result .

Taken at face value, comparison of the HD140283 upper limit with the earlier detections suggests either a relatively steep increase of 6Li/H with metallicity near \[Fe/H\] $`2.3`$, or typical 6Li abundances that are a factor of 2–3 lower than the highest measured values. This can impose interesting constraints on 6Li production models, provided that stellar depletion effects have not been significant. For the SN CR models, lower observed abundances help in bringing them closer toward agreement, but the data are still significantly higher than the conservative SN CR prediction (curve VI; see  for details). A steep log(6Li/H)-\[Fe/H\] relation can arise in some secondary CR models depending on the uncertain O-Fe relation , but is unlikely at this abundance level in this metallicity range. In light of our SF CR model, the data set may be consistent with curve IV, corresponding either to strong shocks with hard CR spectra and less low energy particles for 6Li production (which is expected if the preshock gas is efficiently cooled by radiation), or a total CR energy a factor of $``$ 2.7 below the above estimates. If the steep rise is real, curve III may be a better representation, where the main SF shock at the final major merger occurs near \[Fe/H\] $``$ -2, possibly being compatible with some other lines of evidence .

The complication with HD140283 is its low surface temperature ($`T_{eff}5750`$ K), indicating that stellar depletion of 6Li could have been significant. As the current data are still insufficient to firmly support or rule out different production models, high resolution, high S/N spectroscopic observations for a large sample of stars with a wide range of metallicities and higher surface temperatures are clearly essential. More detailed and predictive (i.e. less parameterized) modeling of the SF shock scenario, using e.g. semi-analytic galaxy modeling techniques (Suzuki, Nagashima & Inoue, in prep.) is also necessary to test its viability more quantitatively. Such investigations should lead us to decipher the true origin of 6Li in MPHS, and may also possibly open up a new window on studies of the formation and evolution of the Galaxy.


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# Many Triangulated 3-Spheres

## 1 Introduction

In 1988, Kalai  proved a lower bound of

$$\mathrm{log}s(d,n)=\mathrm{\Omega }(n^{d/2})\text{for fixed }d3$$

for the number $`s(d,n)`$ of distinct combinatorial types of simplicial PL $`d`$-spheres on $`n`$ vertices.777Here and in the following, we use Landau’s $`O`$-notation for positive functions: $`f=\mathrm{\Omega }(g)`$ denotes that there is a positive constant $`c`$ such that $`f(n)cg(n)`$ holds for all sufficiently large $`n`$. Similarly $`f=O(g)`$ if there is a $`c^{}>0`$ such that $`f(n)c^{}g(n)`$ for all large $`n`$, and $`f=\mathrm{\Theta }(g)`$ denotes that both conditions hold. Combining this with Goodman and Pollack’s  upper bound

$$\mathrm{log}p(d,n)d(d+1)n\mathrm{log}n$$

for the number $`p(d,n)`$ of combinatorial types of simplicial $`d`$-polytopes on $`n`$ vertices, he derived that for $`d4`$, there are far more simplicial $`d`$-spheres than simplicial $`(d+1)`$-polytopes. In particular, *most* of these spheres, in a very strong sense, are not polytopal, i.e. there is no convex polytope with the same face lattice. On the other hand, we proved in earlier work  that in dimension $`d=3`$, Kalai’s construction produces only polytopal spheres, and up to now only few families of non-polytopal $`3`$-spheres were known.

In this paper, we combine two constructions from a recent paper by Eppstein, Kuperberg & Ziegler  to show for the first time that for $`n`$ large enough, there are far more simplicial $`3`$-spheres than $`4`$-polytopes on $`n`$ vertices.

###### Theorem 1.

There are at least

$$s(3,n)=2^{\mathrm{\Omega }\left(n^{5/4}\right)}$$

combinatorially non-isomorphic simplicial $`3`$-spheres on $`n`$ vertices.

In brief, we prove Theorem 1 by producing a cellular decomposition $`𝒮`$ of $`S^3`$ with $`n`$ vertices and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(n^{5/4})`$ octahedral facets, and triangulating each octahedron independently. The cellulation $`𝒮`$ is constructed from a Heegaard splitting $`S^3=H_1H_2`$ of $`S^3`$ of high genus by appropriately subdividing the thickened boundary surface $`(H_1H_2)\times [0,1]`$.

Because of their sheer number, *most* of the spheres we construct are combinatorially distinct: There can be at most $`n!`$ spheres combinatorially isomorphic to any given one, where $`n!<n^n=2^{n\mathrm{log}n}`$. Also note that the only currently known upper bound for $`s(3,n)`$ is the rather crude estimate $`\mathrm{log}s(3,n)=O(n^2\mathrm{log}n)`$ obtained from Stanley’s proof of the Upper Bound Theorem for spheres .

## 2 Background

For $`d2`$ all simplicial $`d`$-spheres are realizable as polytopes: $`1`$-dimensional spheres are trivial to realize, and Steinitz’ famous theorem  from the beginning of the 20th century asserts that *all* $`2`$-spheres, including the non-simplicial ones, are polytopal (i.e., they arise as boundary complexes of $`3`$-dimensional polytopes). Tutte  showed in 1980 that the number of combinatorially distinct rooted simplicial $`3`$-polytopes with $`n`$ vertices is asymptotically

$$\frac{3}{16\sqrt{6\pi n^5}}\left(\frac{256}{27}\right)^{n2},$$

and Bender  established sharp asymptotic formulas counting the number of unrooted $`3`$-dimensional polytopes.

The first example—the so-called *Brückner sphere*—of a simplicial sphere that is *not* the boundary complex of a polytope was inadvertedly found by Brückner  in 1910 in an attempt to enumerate all combinatorial types of $`4`$-polytopes with $`8`$ facets. As noted in 1967 by Grünbaum and Sreedharan , one of the $`3`$-dimensional complexes that Brückner thought to represent a polytope is in fact *not* realizable in a convex way in $`^4`$. As the (polytopal) complex Brückner considered is simple (any vertex is contained in exactly $`4`$ facets), its combinatorial dual is a simplicial $`3`$-sphere.

Another known ‘sporadic’ example of a non-polytopal simplicial sphere is *Barnette’s sphere* , which is nicely explained in \[9, Chapter III.4\]. From these two examples one can build infinite series, but apart from such sporadic families, no substantial number of non-polytopal spheres on a fixed number of vertices was known until Kalai’s 1988 construction.

The related problem of estimating the number $`t(3,m)`$ of combinatorial types of simplicial $`3`$-spheres with $`m`$ *facets* has attracted attention in gravitational quantum physics . Gromov  has asked whether there exists a constant $`c>0`$ such that $`t(3,m)2^{cm}`$. By duality, this is equivalent to bounding the number of *simple* $`3`$-spheres on $`m`$ vertices. The problem is “dual” to the one we treat here, but seems to require different methods.

## 3 Definitions and notation

A *cellulation* $`𝒞`$ of a manifold $`X`$ is a finite CW complex whose underlying space is $`X`$. $`𝒞`$ is *regular* if all closed cells are embedded, and *strongly regular* if in addition the intersection of any two cells is a cell. The *star* of a cell $`\sigma 𝒞`$ is the union of the closure of all cells containing $`\sigma `$, and the *link* of $`\sigma `$ consists of all cells of $`\mathrm{star}\sigma `$ not incident to $`\sigma `$. The entry $`f_i`$ of the *$`f`$-vector* $`f(𝒞)=(f_0,f_1,\mathrm{})`$ of a cellulation counts the number of $`i`$-dimensional cells. The $`d`$-dimensional cells are called *facets*, and $`(d1)`$-dimensional ones *ridges*.

## 4 The ingredients for the construction

### 4.1 Heffter’s embedding of the complete graph

In 1898, Heffter  constructed remarkable cellulations of closed orientable surfaces:

###### Proposition 1.

Let $`q=4k+1`$ be a prime power, and $`\alpha `$ be any generator of the cyclic group $`𝔽_q^{}`$ of invertible elements of the finite field $`𝔽_q`$ on $`q`$ elements. Then there exists a regular but not strongly regular cellulation $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ of the closed orientable surface $`S_g`$ of genus $`g=q(q5)/4+1`$ with $`f`$-vector $`\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{(}q,\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{q}{2}\right),q\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{)}`$, all of whose $`2`$-cells are $`(q1)`$-gons. $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ can be refined to a strongly regular triangulation $`𝒯_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ of $`S_g`$ with $`f`$-vector $`\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{(}2q,\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{q}{2}\right)+q(q1),q(q1)\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{)}`$.

###### Proof.

There exist infinitely many *prime* numbers $`q`$ of the form $`q=4k+1`$; see . For any prime *power* $`q`$ of this form, take as vertices of the cellulation $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ the elements of $`𝔽_q`$, and as $`2`$-cells the $`(q1)`$-gons (compare Figure 1, left)

$$F^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }(s)=\{v^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }(s,k)=s+\frac{\alpha ^k1}{\alpha 1}:0kq2\}\text{for }s𝔽_q.$$

It is straightforward to check (see  and \[7, Lemma 12\]) that this cellulation is regular (all vertices in each $`F(s)`$ are distinct), neighborly (any two vertices are connected by an edge), and closed (any edge is shared by exactly two polygons), but not strongly regular (any two polygons share $`q2`$ vertices). An Euler characteristic calculation yields the genus of the underlying surface $`S_g`$ of $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$. By subdividing each polygon as in Figure 1 (right), the cellulation becomes strongly regular with the stated $`f`$-vector. ∎

###### Remark 1.

This cellulation was independently obtained in  as an abelian covering of the canonical one-vertex cellulation of $`S_g`$.

###### Remark 2.

Heffter’s original construction involved only prime numbers. As it turns out, allowing prime powers becomes necessary for symmetric embeddings: According to Biggs , if the complete graph $`K_n`$ embeds into a closed orientable surface in a symmetric way (i.e. there exists a “rotary” or “chiral” combinatorial automorphism, see ), then $`n`$ is the power of a prime number, and James & Jones  showed that *any* such embedding of $`K_n`$ is actually one from Heffter’s family.

###### Remark 3.

Two cellulations $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ and $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\beta }`$ are combinatorially distinct for $`\beta \alpha ,1/\alpha 𝔽_q`$: By , the only automorphisms of $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ are induced by affine maps $`\phi :𝔽_q𝔽_q`$, $`xax+b`$ with $`a𝔽_q^{},b𝔽_q`$. An easy calculation shows that requiring $`\phi (v^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }(s,k+i))=v^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\beta }(t,\mathrm{}+i)`$ resp. $`\phi (v^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }(s,k+i))=v^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\beta }(t,\mathrm{}i)`$ for $`t𝔽_q`$, $`0\mathrm{}q2`$ and $`i=0,1,2`$ already implies $`\beta =\alpha `$ resp. $`\beta =1/\alpha `$.

### 4.2 The E-construction

###### Proposition 2.

 Given a cellulation $`𝒞`$ of a $`d`$-dimensional manifold $`M`$ with boundary with $`f`$-vector $`(f_0,f_1,\mathrm{},f_d)`$ and $`f_{d1}^{\mathrm{in}}`$ interior ridges, there exists a cellulation $`E(𝒞)`$ of $`M`$ with $`f_0+f_d`$ vertices consisting of $`f_{d1}^{\mathrm{in}}`$ bipyramids and $`f_{d1}f_{d1}^{\mathrm{in}}`$ pyramids.

###### Proof.

Cone a new vertex to the inside of each $`d`$-cell $`F`$ of $`M`$ to create $`f_{d1}+f_{d1}^{\mathrm{in}}`$ pyramids, then combine each pair of pyramids over the same interior ridge to a bipyramid. ∎

###### Example.

Let $`𝒞`$ be a cellulation of a closed orientable surface $`S`$ with $`f`$-vector $`(f_0,f_1,f_2)`$. Then applying Proposition 2 to $`𝒞\times [0,1]`$ yields a cellulation of the prism $`S\times [0,1]`$ with $`2f_0+f_2`$ vertices consisting of $`f_1`$ octahedra and $`2f_2`$ pyramids; see Figure 2.

### 4.3 Heegaard splittings

###### Proposition 3.

(see \[22, Section 8.3.2\]) For any $`g1`$, the $`3`$-sphere may be decomposed into two solid handlebodies $`S^3=H_1H_2`$ that are identified along a surface $`S_g=H_1H_2`$ of genus $`g`$. Conversely, any $`3`$-manifold can be split into handlebodies $`H_1`$, $`H_2`$ and is determined up to homeomorphism by the images $`h(m_1),\mathrm{},h(m_{2g})`$ on $`H_2`$ of the canonical meridians $`m_1,\mathrm{},m_{2g}`$ of $`H_1`$ under the identification map $`h:H_1H_2`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Theorem 2.

(Lazarus et al. \[17, Theorem 1\]) Any triangulation $`𝒯`$ of a closed orientable surface of genus $`g`$ with a total of $`f=f_0+f_1+f_2`$ cells can be refined to a triangulation $`\stackrel{~}{𝒯}`$ with $`O(fg)`$ vertices that contains representatives of the canonical homology generators in its $`1`$-skeleton. These representatives only intersect in a single vertex, and each one uses $`O(f)`$ vertices and edges. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Idea of proof..

Lazarus et al. present two algorithms that actually *compute* the canonical homology generators, and from which the subdivision is easy to derive. Both algorithms are “optimal” from a worst-case complexity point of view.

The first algorithm is inductive, removing one triangle at a time from the surface in question and maintaining information about the still unvisited part of the surface and its collared boundary.

The second algorithm (based on Brahana ) starts with a maximal subgraph $`G`$ of the vertex-edge graph of the surface that has a connected complement $`𝒯G`$, which is thus an open disk. One derives generators for the fundamental group of $`G`$, which also generate the fundamental group of $`𝒯`$. These generators are then modified to yield canonical generators for the fundamental group of $`𝒯`$. ∎

## 5 Many triangulated 3-spheres

###### Proof of Theorem 1:.

We build a cellular decomposition $`𝒮`$ of $`S^3`$ with $`n`$ vertices and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(n^{5/4})`$ octahedral facets from two triangulated handlebodies and a stack of prisms over a Heffter surface. The theorem then follows by independently triangulating the octahedra.

The construction begins with a Heegaard splitting $`S^3=H_1H_2`$ of $`S^3`$ of genus $`g=q(q5)/4+1`$ as in Proposition 3, for any prime power $`q`$ of the form $`q=4k+1`$ for $`k1`$. We replace the boundary $`S_g=H_1H_2`$ of the handlebodies by the prism $`\mathrm{\Pi }_g=S_g\times [0,1]`$, pick a generator $`\alpha `$ of $`𝔽_q^{}`$, and embed a copy of the Heffter triangulation $`𝒯_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ on $`S_g\times \{0\}`$ and $`S_g\times \{1\}`$.

* *The triangulated handlebodies.* Use Theorem 2 to refine each copy of $`𝒯_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }`$ to a triangulation of $`S_g`$ that contains representatives of the canonical homology generators $`\{a_i,b_i:1ig\}`$ in its $`1`$-skeleton, such that the $`a_i`$’s span meridian disks in $`H_1`$ and the $`b_i`$’s do the same in $`H_2`$. This introduces $`O(q^2g)=O(q^4)`$ new vertices. Double all generators as in Figure 3 using another $`O(q^4)`$ vertices to obtain a triangulation $`𝒯^{}`$ of $`S_g`$, and in each handlebody triangulate the meridian disks spanned by all these polygonal curves (using a total of $`O(q^2g)`$ triangles, but no new vertices). Then cone the boundary of each of the $`2g`$ solid cylinders bounded by the meridian disks to a new vertex (introducing a total of $`O(q^2g)`$ tetrahedra), and cone the triangulated boundary of each of the remaining two $`3`$-balls to another new vertex. This last step uses $`2g+2`$ new vertices and $`O(q^4)`$ tetrahedra. The total $`f`$-vector of this triangulation $`𝒯^{\prime \prime }`$ of $`H_1H_2`$ is

$$(O(q^4),O(q^4),O(q^4),O(q^4)).$$
* *The stack of prisms.* Let $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }\times I_m`$ cellulate the manifold with boundary $`\mathrm{\Pi }_g=S_g\times [0,1]`$, where $`I_m`$ is the subdivision of $`[0,1]`$ into $`m=\mathrm{\Theta }(q^3)`$ closed intervals, and refine each of $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }\times \{0\}`$ and $`𝒞_q^\textcolor[rgb]{0,0,0}{\alpha }\times \{1\}`$ into the triangulation $`𝒯^{}`$. This refined cellulation $`𝒞`$ is composed of $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4)`$ prisms over $`(q1)`$-gons and $`2q`$ 3-cells whose boundary consists of $`q1`$ $`4`$-gons, one $`(q1)`$-gon, and on average $`O(q^3)`$ triangles that together triangulate another $`(q1)`$-gon. The boundary of $`𝒞`$ consists of the union of these $`O(q^4)`$ triangles, and its total $`f`$-vector is

$$(\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4)).$$

Apply the E-construction (Proposition 2) to $`𝒞`$, using $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4)`$ new vertices, to arrive at a cellulation $`E(𝒞)`$ of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ into $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q)`$ simplices (pyramids over the boundary triangles), $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4)`$ bipyramids over $`(q1)`$-gons, and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5)`$ octahedra. Now triangulate the bipyramids by joining each main diagonal to each edge of the base $`(q1)`$-gon. This cellulation $`𝒞^{}`$ of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ consists of $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5)`$ simplices and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5)`$ octahedra (Figure 4). Its total $`f`$-vector is

$$(\mathrm{\Theta }(q^4),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5),\mathrm{\Theta }(q^5)).$$

The desired cellulation of $`S^3`$ is $`𝒮=𝒯^{\prime \prime }𝒞^{}`$. ∎


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# Spontaneous spirals in vibrated granular chains

## I Introduction

Ratchet mechanisms are thought to play an important role in producing net transport or motion by asymmetrically absorbing energy from a stochastic source . Such mechanisms should apply to systems far from equilibrium as well, specifically with respect to the formation of patterns or structures. In other words, spontaneously generated patterns might arise from a stochastic forcing. Shaken granular media are natural systems for investigating possible ratchet effects in nonequilibrium systems . Mechanical vibration is athermal and coupled with the dissipative collisions results in effectively a stochastic forcing often manifested by anomalous velocity fluctuations.

Recently, we have explored a chain of coupled hollow spheres attached by rods and vibrated vertically on a horizontal surface . The vertical vibration pumps energy into the chain and, because the collisions with the plate are typically asynchronous with the drive, the chain develops irregular vertical structure. Collisions between balls on the chain generate a noisy dynamics of lateral motions so that viewed from above the chain appears as effectively two-dimensional. Further, when the vibration is weak so that the vertical displacement of the chain is less than one ball diameter, the chain cannot cross itself and is self-avoiding.

Previous experiments suggest that vibration induces strong fluctuations which in turn cause the chain to explore all regions of the available phase space, similar to the ergodicity principle in equilibrium statistical mechanics. Statistical properties of the unraveling times of knots is consistent with random thermal motion of the crossing points constituting the knot . Moreover, two-loop figure-eight configurations in a ring chain prefer states with maximal disparity in the size of the loops, consistent with uniform sampling of the microscopic configuration space . Further, the statistical properties of free and closed chains  are reminiscent of the properties of ideal polymers in equilibrium systems  for such quantities as, for example, the radius of gyration.

One would expect on the basis of these previous results that a free chain weakly excited so that it cannot cross itself would explore phase space uniformly. Such is not the case. Instead the chain may form a compact spiral, see Figure 1a, starting from some generic initial condition. From the available phase space, the system condenses into a very small region, namely the spiral state. In this paper, we present a characterization of the spiral state. We start with a short description of the experimental apparatus, followed by discussions of the formation, geometry and dynamics of the spirals.

## II Experimental Set-Up

The experiment consists of a vertically-vibrated anodized-aluminum plate driven harmonically by an electromagnetic shaker. The plate was circular with a diameter of $`11.50`$ inches. It was coupled to the shaker by a shaft that occupied the bore of a precise square-section linear air bearing. As a result, the plate’s vertical vibration was accurately sinusoidal with amplitude $`A`$ and angular velocity $`\omega =2\pi f`$ where $`f`$ is the driving frequency. In addition, the square-section of the bearing ensured that the plate did not experience rotational torques. An acrylic lateral boundary confined the chain to the plate. The instantaneous acceleration of the plate, measured with an accelerometer, was maintained at constant value of the dimensionless peak acceleration $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=a/g=\omega ^2A/g`$ to within 2%.

The commercially-available ball chain consisted of $`N`$ hollow, approximately spherical shells that were connected by dumb-bell shaped rods. The chains were nickel-plated steel with a nominal bead diameter $`d=\frac{3}{32}`$ inches with a variation of about $`1\%`$. The rods had a diameter $`0.22d`$ and constrained the inter-bead separation $`1b1.4`$ measured in units of the bead diameter. The maximal angle between two consecutive rods was $`50^{}`$ so that the smallest circle that could be made from the chain had $`n=8`$ beads. The ratio of the diameter of the available plate to the bead diameter is about $`110`$, and boundary effects were negligible.

In our experiments, a ball chain was placed onto the vibrating plate. The relevant driving conditions are the frequency, $`f`$, and the acceleration, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. We restricted our attention to weak vibration, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }<2`$, where the geometry is quasi two-dimensional. The chain is initiated in a random configuration subject only to the condition that it did not intersect itself. In these weak driving conditions, the chain remains close to the plate surface, free of self-intersections.

We obtained digital images of the chain using a high-resolution (1024 x 1024 pixels) CCD camera. Data sets were acquired at frame rates of $`1`$ Hz to observe the slow global dynamics and at $`250`$ Hz to characterize internal vibrational modes. Using standard image analysis procedures, we extracted positions of the bead centers. These were then ordered to recover the locus of the spiral. For more details see . A typical image and chain reconstruction are shown in Figure 1.

## III Spiral formation

We find experimentally that sufficiently long chains spontaneously organize into spirals in a narrow range of accelerations, $`1.70\mathrm{\Gamma }1.85`$, and frequencies $`10f25`$ Hz. Starting from a linear chain, a tight spiral core nucleates (either clockwise or counter clockwise) at one end of the chain. This core rotates, and as a result the chain winds into a spiral. The formation of compact spirals from a nucleated core typically takes $`37`$ minutes for a chain with $`N=256`$ beads. However, the nucleation of the spiral core from a linear chain is a random event occurring on the scale of $`30`$ minutes. Once formed, the spiral was stable.

The formation of spirals is more sensitive to variations in the acceleration rather than in the frequency, similar to pattern formation and clustering in vibrated granular layers . When the acceleration is too large, the chain exhibits strong excitations that quickly destroy the spiral. On the other hand, when the acceleration is too small, lateral chain motion is insufficient to nucleate the spiral core.

Interestingly, for a given chain, the spiral always nucleates with its core at the same end. Moreover, artificially formed spirals with their core at the opposite end are unstable. The mechanism responsible for this symmetry breaking are minute imperfections in size, shape, and weight of the extremal beads. Asymmetry underlies numerous transport phenomena in physical and biological systems, for example, Brownian motors. Typically, asymmetry in the environment coupled with oscillatory driving leads to ratchet motion. While similar in spirit, granular chains are different in that the asymmetry is in the transported object itself. Such a transport mechanism may be relevant in biological systems, for example, it can be realized via defects in the macromolecules.

## IV Spiral Geometry

The asymmetries are important in the nucleation of the spiral core and its evolution to a compact rotating state. Since we are unable to systematically control these asymmetries, we do not consider here the transient formation stage, but rather, we focus on the characteristics of the formed spiral. As a reference, we use a ideal tight spiral. Consider such a spiral formed by a flexible rope. Without loss of generality, its diameter is set to unity. A point along the spiral is (over)specified by its arc length $`s`$, radius $`r`$, and winding angle $`\theta `$. It is convenient to think of the spiral as composed of concentric tori. In such an arrangement, the addition of the outermost torus increases the angle by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta =2\pi `$ and the arc length by $`\mathrm{\Delta }s=2\pi r`$. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }r=1`$ we have $`ds/dr=2\pi r`$ and $`ds/d\theta =r`$. It follows that $`r(s)=\sqrt{s/\pi }`$ and $`\theta (s)=\sqrt{4\pi s}`$.

Consider now a bead chain. The bead number $`n`$ is a natural measure of the arc length, and assuming an average separation of $`b`$, one has $`s(n)=nb`$. Moreover, the distance between the $`n`$th bead and the $`1`$st bead, $`r(n)`$, is used as a measure of the radius, since the spiral center is not uniquely defined. The $`(s,\theta )`$ coordinates of the first bead are $`(1,0)`$. Substituting $`s(n)=nb`$ in the above expressions for $`\theta (s)`$ and $`r(s)`$, and using the law of cosines yields an expression for the winding angle and distance to the core as a function of the bead number:

$`\theta (n)`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{4\pi nb},`$ (1)
$`r(n)`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{1+{\displaystyle \frac{nb}{\pi }}2\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{nb}{\pi }}}\mathrm{cos}\theta (n)}.`$ (2)
Of course, these expressions apply to sufficiently large spirals and $`n1`$.

We have measured the average angle and distance as a function of the bead number from over $`500`$ frames. In these experiments and for the remainder of this paper we have $`N=256`$ beads, $`f=16`$ Hz and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.77`$. In reconstructing the spiral from the image our ordering was such that the innermost core bead corresponds to $`n=1`$.

In Figures 2a and b we have plotted the averages $`\theta (n)/2\pi `$ and $`r(n)`$ versus $`\sqrt{n}`$ respectively. For comparison, we also show the tight spiral angle and distance calculated from Equations (1) and (2). Here, the average separation $`b=1.2`$ was measured directly, as discussed below. The slower (faster) linear growth of $`\theta (n)`$ ($`r(n)`$) corresponds to the spiral becoming less tight the further one goes from the compact core. Nevertheless, the gross features such as the overall linear growth of $`r(n)`$ with $`\sqrt{n}`$, and the periodic corrections, with a period that is fixed in $`\sqrt{n}`$, indicate that the spiral is approximately tight.

The periodic oscillations of $`r(n)`$ allows for a characterization of the number of beads in a given turn of the spiral. A single turn is contained between two consecutive minima in Figure 2b. As shown in Figure 2c, the mean number of beads per turn grows linearly with the loop index, consistent with the expected behavior for concentric tori. The deviation from linearity for the last turn indicates that the spiral has a straight tail. From this measurement, the average size of the tail is estimated at $`10`$, consistent with direct observation. We also find that different sets of $`500`$ images, corresponding to independently formed spirals, are characterized by quantitatively similar mean angle, distance and number of beads per turn as in Figure 2.

When comparing with a tight spiral, we implicitly assumed that the separation between two beads is constant. Direct measurement shows that this is a reasonable assumption as variations in $`b`$ are of the order of 10%. However, this deviation has a clear trend. The separation increases as a function of the bead number and it saturates at a value of $`b1.24`$ for $`n>150`$.

## V Spiral dynamics

Once formed, the vibrating spiral has dynamics on fast and slow time scales. In Figure 4a, we have plotted an overlay of $`16`$ consecutive reconstructions of the spiral obtained at a sampling rate of $`250`$ Hz. The $`16`$ images correspond to approximately $`1`$ oscillation of the plate. The lateral wave modes visible here constitute in part the fast dynamics of the spiral. What is not obvious in Figure 4a is the large number of collisions and the constrained motion that effectively gives rise to the transverse modes. Approximately $`4`$ beads separate the nodes of these modes. On a much longer time scale we find that the spiral undergoes axial rotation.

Four snapshots of a spiral with a separation of $`15`$ seconds or $`240`$ oscillations between snapshots is shown in Figure 4b. The spiral rotates so as to keep tightly wound at a constant rate of about one revolution per minute. On shorter time scales the rotation is not constant, and is better described as a ratcheting motion with the spiral core moving back and forth. The asymmetry between the winding and unwinding motion of the core is transmitted along the spiral length and over long time scales produces the global rotation.

We now focus on the richer fast dynamics. Denoting the displacement in position between consecutive images for each bead $`\delta =(\delta _x,\delta _y)`$, we find that they are independent of the bead position with slight differences for the end beads. We sampled in excess of $`5000`$ displacements per bead. The data was obtained in sets of approximately $`540`$ frame to frame displacements per experiment sampled at $`250`$ Hz. We verified that for each bead the mean value $`\delta `$ vanished and that the displacements were isotropic. Since the spiral rotates, its fast displacements sample all directions in the plane so that the orientation of the coordinate axes is irrelevant. We have plotted the probability distribution functions $`P(\mathrm{\Delta }_x)`$ and $`P(\mathrm{\Delta }_y)`$ in Figure 5. Here, we have defined the normalized displacements $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{x,y}=\delta _{x,y}/\sigma _{x,y}`$ where $`\sigma _{x,y}`$ are the respective standard deviations. Our results show that the quantities $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_y`$ are identically distributed with significant incidence for displacements as large as $`\pm 3\sigma _{x,y}`$. The probability distribution functions are symmetric and non-Gaussian. Over populated (with respect to a Gaussian) velocity distributions  and, in particular, exponential tails  are actually observed in excited granular gases and are understood to be a consequence of the dissipative bead-bead and bead-plate collisions. Our observations suggest that velocity statistics of beads in granular chains may be anomalous as well. Although the exponential tail of the displacement distribution suggests that the velocity distribution has a stretched exponential tail, we are unable to discern its precise form due to insufficient time resolution.

At present we only observe the lateral fast dynamics. The transverse wave modes illustrated in Figure 4b also appear in the vertical plane. Although the in-plane motion consists primarily of transverse modes, they must be accompanied by longitudinal modes that allow for the stretching and contraction of the spiral. To further study these modes we consider the locus of the spiral given by the bead positions $`𝐱_i=(x_i,y_i)`$ and inter-connecting rods $`𝐫_i=𝐱_{i+1}𝐱_i`$. The mean locus of the spiral $`𝐫_i`$ is defined as the time average of $`𝐫_i(t)`$ over an experimental run. For the frame acquired at time $`t`$, we calculate the spiral displacements $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐫_i(t)=𝐫_i(t)𝐫_i`$. The longitudinal $`L_i(t)`$ and transverse $`T_i(t)`$ displacements from the mean spiral are defined by $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐫_i(t)𝐫_i/|𝐫_i|`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐫_i(t)\times 𝐫_i/|𝐫_i|`$, respectively. In Figure 6a we have plotted $`T_i(t)`$ as a function of position and time. The space-time plot shows that between collisions with the plate, positive (negative) displacements continue as positive (negative) i.e. the beads are roughly ballistic between collisions. In Figure 6b we plot representative displacements for $`80`$ oscillations of the plate. We see that the transverse displacements are roughly periodic and are significantly larger than the longitudinal ones. This behavior is typical for all inter-connecting rods.

## VI Conclusion

A general expectation from previous experimental work on granular chains is that configurationally the chain assumes very many different states and in this manner explores a large region of its phase space. Contrary to this, we found that a long chain would spontaneously nucleate into a spiral in a narrow range of weak accelerations. It is surprising that a linear chain initiated in a random configuration invariably evolves to a highly specialized state that occupies a very small volume of the available phase space. Moreover, it is interesting that minor differences between the two ends of the chain have such a pronounced effect.

The origins of spiral formation in vibrated chains is the slight forward motion of the chain induced by variations at the ends of the chain. As a result of this asymmetry, the chain crawls forward until it encounters itself. It then has two choices: to turn inwards and wrap itself into a spiral or outwards forming locally aligned chain segments. In the latter case, the end eventually escapes. With successive encounters, it becomes likely that the end will be captured and coil up into a spiral. The rate of nucleation depends, therefore, on the forward ratcheting motion coupled with the possibility of becoming trapped. Such a mechanism would apply to any flexible forward-translating object confined to two-dimensions and moving stochastically.

Once formed, the spiral geometry and dynamics is very reproducible. The spiral becomes looser away from the core and eventually, its tail is practically linear. Dynamically, bead-bead and bead-plate collisions induce transverse and longitudinal modes, the former being stronger. On a longer time scale, the spiral rotates in the direction of coiling and so remains stable.

It will be interesting to further study the spiral formation mechanism. This may be done for example by manipulating one of the chain ends using say a relatively larger bead. Observing the rotation rate as a function of the bead size may elucidate the physical nature of the ratcheting mechanism. Moreover, the nucleation process is in itself intriguing. The distribution of waiting times and its extremal characteristics may alternatively shed light on the same question.

We thank Matthew Hastings, Charles Reichhardt, and James Glazier for useful discussions. This research is supported by the U.S. DOE (W-7405-ENG-36).


text:
# Phenomenology of Supersymmetric Large Extra Dimensions

SLAC-PUB-9608  December 2002

Phenomenology of Supersymmetric Large Extra Dimensions

JoAnne L. Hewett and Darius Sadri
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Stanford CA 94309, USA

We study the phenomenology of a supersymmetric bulk in the scenario of large extra dimensions. The virtual exchange of gravitino KK states in selectron pair production in polarized $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions is examined. The leading order operator for this exchange is dimension six, in contrast to that of graviton KK exchange which induces a dimension eight operator at lowest order. Some kinematic distributions for selectron production are presented. These processes yield an enormous sensitivity to the fundamental higher dimensional Planck scale.

Presented at the The 10th International Conference on Supersymmetry and Unification of Fundamental Interactions (SUSY02), Hamburg, Germany 17-23 June 2002; and the International Workshop on Linear Colliders (LCWS 2002), Jeju Island, Korea, 26-30 August 2002.

## Abstract

We study the phenomenology of a supersymmetric bulk in the scenario of large extra dimensions. The virtual exchange of gravitino KK states in selectron pair production in polarized $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions is examined. The leading order operator for this exchange is dimension six, in contrast to that of graviton KK exchange which induces a dimension eight operator at lowest order. Some kinematic distributions for selectron production are presented. These processes yield an enormous sensitivity to the fundamental higher dimensional Planck scale.

One might wonder whether supersymmetry plays a role in the recently proposed ADD scenario Arkani-Hamed:1998rs  of large extra dimensions. Clearly, bulk supersymmetry is not in conflict with the basic assumptions of the model. In fact, various reasons exist for believing in a supersymmetric bulk, not least of which is the motivation of string theory. D-branes of string theory provide a natural mechanism for the confinement of SM fields. If string theory is the ultimate theory of nature then the proposal of ADD might be embedded within it with a bulk supporting a supersymmetric gravitational action, with supersymmetry serving as a mechanism for stabilizing the bulk radii. In sadri , we investigated the consequences of a supersymmetric bulk in the ADD scenario. If bulk supersymmetry remains unbroken away from the brane, then it is natural to ask what happens to the superpartners of the bulk gravitons, the gravitinos. The bulk gravitinos must also expand into a Kaluza-Klein (KK) tower of states and induce experimental signatures.

We focus on the effects of the virtual exchange of the bulk gravitino and graviton KK tower states in the process $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}^+\stackrel{~}{e}^{}`$ at a high energy Linear Collider (LC). This process is well-known as a benchmark for collider supersymmetry studies Baer:1988kx , as the use of incoming polarized beams enables one to disentangle the neutralino sector and determine the degree of mixing between the various pure gaugino states. The effects of the virtual exchange of a graviton KK tower in selectron pair production has been examined in tgr  for the case of non-supersymmetric large extra dimensions. The introduction of gravitino KK exchange greatly alters the phenomenology of this process by modifying the angular distributions and by substantially increasing the magnitude of the cross section. We find that the leading order behavior for this process is given by a dimension-6 operator, in contrast to the dimension-8 operator corresponding to graviton KK exchange. This yields a tremendous sensitivity to the existence of a supersymmetric bulk, resulting in a search reach for the ultraviolet cut-off of the theory of order $`2025\times \sqrt{s}`$.

We assume that the Standard Model fields are confined to a 3-brane. In string theory, D-branes are extended objects on which open strings terminate Polchinski:1996na . Only closed strings can propagate far away from the D-brane, which on a ten dimensional background is described locally by a type II string theory whose spectrum contains two gravitinos (their vertex operators carry one vector and one spinor index). The D-brane introduces open string boundary conditions which are invariant under just one supersymmetry, so only a linear combination of the two original supersymmetries survives for the open strings. Since open and closed strings couple to each other, the D-brane breaks the original $`N=2`$ supersymmetry down to $`N=1`$. The low energy effective theory will then be a $`D=10,N=1`$ supergravity theory with a single Majorana-Weyl gravitino which couples to a conserved space-time supercurrent.

We take the vacuum of space-time to be of the form $`M^4\times T^6`$, where $`M^4`$ is four dimensional Minkowski space-time and $`T^6=S^1\times \mathrm{}\times S^1`$, the direct product of six dimensions each compactified on a circle, insuring four dimensional Poincaré invariance. For simplicity, we take a common radius of compactification $`R_c`$ for all extra dimensions. The gravitino kinetic term of the Lagrangian is

$$E^1=\frac{i}{2}\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}_{\widehat{\mu }}\mathrm{\Gamma }^{\widehat{\mu }\widehat{\nu }\widehat{\rho }}_{\widehat{\nu }}\mathrm{\Psi }_{\widehat{\rho }},$$
(1)
with $`E`$ being the determinant of the vielbein in ten dimensions, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{\widehat{\mu }\widehat{\nu }\widehat{\rho }}`$ the antisymmetric product of three $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ matrices, and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\widehat{\mu }}`$ a Majorana-Weyl vector-spinor. Here the hatted indices range over all dimensions of the space-time.

The explicit derivation of an effective four dimensional action is presented in sadri . Here we present a summary of the results. The 4-d effective Lagrangian can be written as

$$e^1_{eff}^\stackrel{}{s}(x)=\underset{j=1}{\overset{4}{}}\left\{\frac{i}{2}\overline{\omega }_m^{\stackrel{}{s},j}(x)\gamma ^{mnp}(_n\omega _p^{\stackrel{}{s},j}(x))+i\overline{\omega }_m^{\stackrel{}{s},j}(x)\sigma ^{mp}m_\stackrel{}{s}^j\omega _p^{\stackrel{}{s},j}(x)\right\},$$
(2)
with the mass given by $`m_\stackrel{}{s}^j=(1)^j\frac{\sqrt{\stackrel{}{s}\stackrel{}{s}}}{R_c}`$. The fields associated with the negative mass eigenvalues can be redefined to remove this sign, however, care must be taken with the Feynman rule for the coupling of the gravitino to matter. The sum in Eq. (2) runs over the four Majorana vector-spinors. We have applied the Majorana-Weyl condition in ten dimensions, which yields four Majorana spinors after the decomposition into four dimensions. Generally, the masses of the four gravitinos at each Kaluza-Klein level can be shifted by supersymmetry breaking effects on the brane. When studying the phenomenology of such models, we will assume that the $`N=4`$ supersymmetry is broken at scales near the fundamental scale $`M_D`$, with only $`N=1`$ supersymmetry surviving down to the electroweak scale. The phenomenological contributions from the heavy gravitinos associated with the breaking of the extended supersymmetry near the fundamental scale will be highly suppressed, due to the large mass of these individual excitations.

In sadri , we derive the coupling of fermions and scalars to the gravitinos. The term coupling scalars, spinors and gravitinos, and minimally coupled to gravity, is

$$_I=\frac{\kappa }{\sqrt{2}}|e|\left\{\left(_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_L\right)\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\nu \gamma ^\mu \gamma ^\nu \psi _L+\left(_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_R\right)\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\nu \gamma ^\mu \gamma ^\nu \psi _R\right\}+h.c.,$$
(3)
with $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}_\nu `$ a Majorana vector-spinor. Expanding $`|e|`$ to leading order in the vierbein yields the appropriate Feynman rules.

There are numerous tree level processes contributing to selectron pair production in the presence of a supersymmetric bulk. In addition to the standard $`\gamma ,Z`$ s-channel exchange and $`\stackrel{~}{B}^0,\stackrel{~}{W}^0`$ t-channel contributions present in the MSSM, we now have contributions arising from the s-channel exchange of the bulk graviton KK tower and the t-channel exchange of the bulk gravitino KK tower. There are no u-channel contributions due to the non-identical final states. The contributions from neutral higgsino states are negligible due to the smallness of the Yukawa coupling. The diagrammatic contributions to the individual scattering processes for left- and right-handed selectron production with initial polarized electron beams are summarized in Table 1. Note that the $`\stackrel{~}{W}^0`$ exchange only contributes to the process $`e_L^{}e^+\stackrel{~}{e}_L^{}\stackrel{~}{e}_L^+`$, and that the t-channel gravitino and the $`\stackrel{~}{B}^0`$ contributions are isolated in the reaction $`e_{L,R}^{}e^+\stackrel{~}{e}_{L,R}^{}\stackrel{~}{e}_{R,L}^+`$.

The unpolarized matrix element for the case of massive gravitino KK exchanges is

$$=\frac{\kappa ^2}{2}\underset{\stackrel{}{n}}{}\frac{k_1^\nu k_2^\rho }{tm_\stackrel{}{n}^2}\overline{e}(p_1)\gamma _\mu \gamma _\nu P^{\stackrel{}{n},\mu \tau }\gamma _\rho \gamma _\tau e(p_2),$$
(4)
where the sum extends over the gravitino KK modes and $`\kappa =\sqrt{8\pi G_N}=\overline{M}_P^1`$ is the reduced Planck scale. $`P^{\stackrel{}{n},\mu \tau }`$ represents the numerator of the propagator for a Rarita-Schwinger field of mass $`m_\stackrel{}{n}`$ and is given by

$$P^{\stackrel{}{n},\mu \nu }=i\left(\overline{)}k+m_\stackrel{}{n}\right)\left(\frac{k^\mu k^\nu }{m_\stackrel{}{n}^2}\eta ^{\mu \nu }\right)\frac{i}{3}\left(\gamma ^\mu +\frac{k^\mu }{m_\stackrel{}{n}}\right)\left(\overline{)}km_\stackrel{}{n}\right)\left(\gamma ^\nu +\frac{k^\nu }{m_\stackrel{}{n}}\right).$$
(5)
The mass splitting between the evenly spaced bulk gravitino KK excitations is given by $`1/R_c`$, which lies in the range $`10^4`$ eV to few MeV for $`\delta =2`$ to 6 assuming $`M_D1`$ TeV; their number density is thus large at collider energies. The sum over the KK states can then be approximated by an integral which is log divergent for $`\delta =2`$ and power divergent for $`\delta >2`$. We employ a cut-off to regulate these ultraviolet divergences, with the cut-off being set to $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c`$, which in general is different from $`M_D`$, to account for the uncertainties from the unknown ultraviolet physics. This approach is the most model independent and is that generally used in the case of virtual graviton exchange Hewett:1998sn . In practice, the integral over the gravitino KK states is more complicated than that in the case with spin-2 gravitons due to the dependence of the gravitino propagator on $`m_\stackrel{}{n}`$. We find that the leading order term for $`\sqrt{|t|}\mathrm{\Lambda }_c`$ results in the replacement (in the case of $`\delta =6`$)

$$\frac{\kappa ^2}{2}\underset{\stackrel{}{n}}{}\frac{P^{\stackrel{}{n},\mu \tau }}{tm_\stackrel{}{n}^2}\frac{i8\pi }{5\mathrm{\Lambda }_c^3}\left(\eta ^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{3}\gamma ^\mu \gamma ^\nu \right)$$
(6)
in the matrix element; the structure of the summed gravitino propagator is thus altered from that of a single massive state. Hence the leading order behavior for gravitino KK exchange results in a dimension-6 operator! This is in stark contrast to graviton KK exchange which yields a dimension-8 operator at leading order. We thus expect an increased sensitivity to the scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c`$ in the case of a supersymmetric bulk.

In order to perform a numerical analysis of this process, we need to specify a concrete supersymmetric model. We choose that of Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GSMB) as it naturally contains a light zero-mode gravitino. We specify a sample set of input parameters at the messenger scale, where the supersymmetry breaking is mediated via the messenger sector, and use the Renormalization Group Equations (RGE) to obtain the low-energy sparticle spectrum. We choose two sets of sample input parameters describing the messenger sector which are consistent with our model. The RGE evolution of these parameter sets results in the sparticle spectrum

$`\mathrm{Set}\mathrm{I}:`$ $`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_L}`$ $`=217.0\mathrm{GeV},m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_R}=108.0\mathrm{GeV},\chi _i^0=(76.5,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}141.5},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}337.0},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}367.0})\mathrm{GeV},`$
$`\mathrm{Set}\mathrm{II}:`$ $`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_L}`$ $`=210.5\mathrm{GeV},m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_R}=104.5\mathrm{GeV},\chi _i^0=(110.5,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}209.6},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}322.5},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}324.0})\mathrm{GeV},`$
where $`\chi _i^0`$ with $`i=1,4`$ corresponds to the four mixed neutralino states. The first set of parameters yields a bino-like state for the lightest neutralino, whereas the second set results in a Higgsino-like state for $`\chi _1^0`$. These input parameters were selected in order to obtain a sparticle spectrum which is kinematically accessible to the Linear Collider; our results are essentially insensitive to the exact details of the spectrum.

Figure 1 shows the angular distributions with $`100\%`$ electron beam polarization for each helicity configuration listed in Table 1 for the two sets of parameters discussed above, with and without the contributions from supersymmetric extra dimensions. In each case, the solid curve corresponds to the bino-like case and the dashed curve represents the Higgsino-like scenario. The top set of curves are those for a supersymmetric bulk with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c=1.5`$ TeV, while the bottom set corresponds to our two $`D=4`$ supersymmetric models, i.e., without the graviton and gravitino KK contributions. We note that the $`D=4`$ results (i.e. MSSM) agree with those in the literature Baer:1988kx . We see from the figure that in the process where the gravitino contributions are dominant, $`e_{L,R}^{}e^+\stackrel{~}{e}_L^\pm \stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$, there is little difference in the shape or magnitude between the two $`\chi _1^0`$ compositions. The use of selectron pair production in polarized $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions as a means of determining the composition of the lightest neutralino is thus made more difficult in the scenario with supersymmetric large extra dimensions. In what follows, we present results only for the bino-like $`\chi _1^0`$ as a sample case; our conclusions will not be dependent on the assumptions of the composition of the lightest neutralino.

Figure 2 shows the angular distribution for the process $`e_R^{}e^+\stackrel{~}{e}_R^+\stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$ with $`\sqrt{s}=500`$ GeV assuming 100% polarization of the electron beam, detailing the effects of each class of contributions to selectron pair production. The bottom curve represents the full contributions (s- and t-channel) from the 4-dimensional standard gauge-mediated supersymmetric model discussed above in the case where the $`\chi _1^0`$ is bino-like, corresponding to parameter set I. The middle curve displays the effects of adding only the s-channel contributions of the bulk graviton KK tower in the scenario of a non-supersymmetric bulk with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c=1.5`$ TeV. We see that there is little difference in the distribution between the $`D=4`$ supersymmetric case and with the addition of the graviton KK tower, in either shape or magnitude. It would hence be difficult to disentangle the effects of graviton exchange from an accurate measurement of the underlying supersymmetric parameters using this process alone. The top curve corresponds to the full set of contributions from a supersymmetric bulk, i.e., our standard supersymmetric model plus KK graviton and KK gravitino tower exchange for the case of six extra dimensions with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c=1.5`$ TeV. Here we see that the exchange of bulk gravitino KK states yields a large enhancement in the cross section and a substantial shift in the shape of the angular distribution, particularly at forward angles, even for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c=3\sqrt{s}`$. This provides a dramatic signal for a supersymmetric bulk!

We now compute the potential sensitivity to the cut-off scale from selectron pair production using our sample case with a bino-like lightest neutralino state. We employ the usual $`\chi ^2`$ procedure, including statistical errors only. We sum over both initial left- and right-handed electron polarization states, assuming $`P_e^{}=80\%`$. The resulting 95% C.L. search for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c`$ from each final state, $`\stackrel{~}{e}_L^+\stackrel{~}{e}_L^{},\stackrel{~}{e}_R^+\stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$, and $`\stackrel{~}{e}_L^\pm \stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$, is given as a function of integrated luminosity in Fig. 3 for $`\sqrt{s}=0.5`$ and 1.0 TeV. We see that for 500 $`\mathrm{fb}^1`$ of integrated luminosity, corresponding to design values, the search reach in the left- and right-handed selectron pair production channels is given roughly by $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c610\times \sqrt{s}`$, which is essentially what is achievable for bulk graviton KK exchange in the reaction $`e^+e^{}f\overline{f}`$ Hewett:1998sn . However, the $`\stackrel{~}{e}_L^\pm \stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$ production channel yields an enormous search capability with a 95% C.L. sensitivity to $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_c`$ of order $`25\times \sqrt{s}`$ for design luminosity. This process thus has the potential to either discover a supersymmetric bulk, or eliminate the possibility of supersymmetric large extra dimensions as being relevant to the hierarchy problem. We stress that there is nothing special about our choice of supersymmetric parameters; our results will hold as long as selectrons are kinematically accessible to high energy $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders. We conclude that selectron pair production provides a very powerful tool in searching for a supersymmetric bulk.

In summary, we have examined the phenomenological consequences of a supersymmetric bulk in the scenario of large extra dimensions. We assumed that supersymmetry is unbroken in the bulk, with gravitons and gravitinos being free to propagate throughout the higher dimensional space, and that the SM and MSSM gauge and matter fields are confined to a 3-brane. Motivated by string theory, we worked in the framework of $`D=10`$ supergravity, and found that the KK reduction of the bulk gravitinos yields four Majorana spinors in four dimensions. We then assumed that the residual $`N=4`$ supersymmetry is broken near the fundamental scale $`M_D`$, with only $`N=1`$ supersymmetry surviving at the electroweak scale.

Starting with the $`D=10`$ action for this scenario, we expanded the bulk gravitino into a KK tower of states, and determined the 4-d action for the spin-3/2 KK excitations. We then presented the coupling of the bulk gravitino KK states to fermions and their scalar partners on the brane. We applied these results to a phenomenological analysis by examining the effects of virtual exchange of the gravitino KK tower in superparticle pair production. We focused on the reaction $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}^+\stackrel{~}{e}^{}`$ as this process is a benchmark for collider supersymmetry studies. Our numerical analysis was performed in the framework of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking as it naturally affords a light zero-mode gravitino. However, our results do not depend on the specifics of this particular model, with the exception of the existence of a light zero-mode gravitino state.

Performing the sum over the KK propagators, we found that the leading order contribution to this process arises from a dimension-6 operator, and is independent of the zero-mode mass. This is in stark contrast to the virtual exchange of spin-2 graviton KK states, which yields a dimension-8 operator at leading order. We thus found that the gravitino KK contributions substantially alter the production rates and angular distributions for selectron pair production, and may essentially be isolated in the $`\stackrel{~}{e}_L^\pm \stackrel{~}{e}_R^{}`$ channel. The resulting sensitivity to the cut-off scale is tremendous, being of order $`2025\times \sqrt{s}`$.

We expect that the virtual exchange of gravitino KK states in hadronic collisions will have somewhat less of an effect in squark and gluino pair production than what we have found here. The reason is that these processes are initiated by both quark annihilation and gluon fusion sub-processes, only one of which will be sensitive to tree-level gravitino exchange for a given production channel. The sensitivity to the cut-off scale will then depend on the relative weighting of the quark and gluon initial states. In addition, t-channel gravitino contributions will only be numerically relevant for up- and down-squark production due to flavor conservation; hence their effect will be diluted by the production of the other degenerate squark flavors and the relative weighting of the parton densities.

We note also that virtual exchange of gravitino KK states may also have a large effect on selectron pair production in $`e^{}e^{}`$ collisions, which are tailor-made for t-channel Majorana exchanges. High energy Linear Colliders thus provide an excellent probe for the existence of supersymmetric large extra dimensions, and have the capability of discovering this possibility or eliminating it as being relevant to the hierarchy problem.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors are supported by the US Department of Energy, Contract DE-AC03-76SF00515.