text:
# The Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample

## 1 Introduction

This is the second paper in a series of three describing the results of a program to search for high-redshift quasars and study the evolution of the flat-spectrum radio-loud quasar population. The first paper (Paper 1, Jackson et al. 2002) set out the sample, discussing its selection and the identification and re-confirmation programme to determine the optical counterparts to the radio sources. This paper, Paper 2, presents new spectroscopic observations and redshift determinations. Paper 3 (Wall et al. 2002) considers the quasar space distribution, the luminosity function and its epoch dependence. Because the sample is radio selected, the completeness of the sample is unaffected by obscuration from dust. An earlier version of this sample was used by Shaver et al. (1996b) to show that the space density of quasars declines at redshifts greater than 3.

In addition to the primary goal of this work (the study of quasar evolution), the sample can be used for several other statistical studies. It has provided the basis for a study of damped Lyman-$`\alpha `$ absorption systems along the lines of sight to the quasars (Ellison et al. 2001, 2002). In this paper we also consider some properties of the quasar spectra themselves, in particular the equivalent width distributions of the emission lines, and the flux decrement across the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ line at high redshift.

## 2 Definition of the spectroscopic sample

We have defined a sample of flat-spectrum radio sources from the PKSCAT90 catalogue (Wright & Otrupeck 1990) as described in Jackson et al. (2002). The sample of 878 sources was selected based on the following criteria: $`\alpha _{2.7\mathrm{GHz}}^{5.0\mathrm{GHz}}>0.4`$, where $`S\nu ^\alpha `$, $`80^{}<\delta <+2.5^{}`$, $`|b|10^{}`$. The optical identification procedure, including new radio positions that were obtained as part of this study, is described in Jackson et al. (2002) and a full set of finding charts is given there. The majority of identifications were made using COSMOS scans of UKST $`B_J`$ plates, and CCD identifications were obtained for those sources not identified on the plates. We refer to this sample as the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample.

Since the primary aim of this project was to study the evolution of the quasar population using a complete sample, we then selected for spectroscopic follow up all those stellar sources (as determined from COSMOS or CCD identifications) with $`\mathrm{S}_{2.7\mathrm{GHz}}0.25\mathrm{Jy}`$ in the zone north of $`45^{}`$ that did not have previous redshift measurements in the literature. In addition, a few sources south of declination $`45^{}`$ were also observed and their spectra are included in this paper, although the sample was not intended to be complete in that region.

## 3 Spectroscopic Observations

The spectroscopic observations were carried out at the ESO 3.6m at La Silla, Chile during observing runs in November 1993, May 1994, October 1994, April 1995, October 1995, May 1997 and October 1997. Observations were made of a total of 178 sources, the majority during the last two of these runs. Low resolution spectra were obtained using the EFOSC spectrograph with a 1.5” slit width. Most sources were observed at a sky position angle of 270, i.e. not necessarily at the parallactic angle. In most cases the B300 grism (wavelength range 3750-6950Å, dispersion 6.35Å per pixel) was used, but a few sources were observed with the R300 grism (wavelength range 6000-9910Å, dispersion 7.7Å per pixel) either because the object was clearly red based on CCD identifications, or because the blue spectrum was ambiguous.

## 4 Results

As a result of the spectroscopic observations described above, the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample has highly complete redshift information (see Jackson et al. 2002). In summary, there are 677 objects classified as quasars or BLs in the original sample of 878. A total of 174 of the objects classified as ’Q’ (and none of the BLs) do not have spectroscopic confirmation. Note that in the analysis of the quasar space density in Paper 3, only the near-complete sub-sample with $`\delta >40\mathrm{deg}`$ is considered.

Of the 178 objects that we observed, 126 show strong, broad emission lines and were therefore classified as quasars. 37 objects showed featureless spectra or very weak lines on a strong continuum, and we classified these as BL Lac objects. The remaining 15 objects were classified as galaxies based on the presence of galaxy absorption lines, narrow emission lines or a strong 4000Å break.

Mean redshifts were calculated from the emission lines (or absorption lines in a few cases). The rest frame wavelengths used for the quasar emission lines were those given in Tytler & Fan (1992), which have been corrected for small ($`0.1\%`$) systematic shifts between UV emission lines and the true systemic velocity. Since the Ly-$`\alpha `$ line is usually affected by Ly-$`\alpha `$ forest absorption it was not used to calculate the redshift unless there were no other clean lines in the spectrum.

The new spectra are plotted in Figure 1 and the redshifts are given in Table 2. The redshift distribution for the new quasar spectra is shown in Figure 2. The flux density distribution for these objects is also plotted as a function of redshift in Figure 3.

The vast majority (109 from 126) of the quasars for which we have obtained spectra have flux densities in the range $`0.25\mathrm{Jy}<\mathrm{S}_{2.7}<0.5\mathrm{Jy}`$ (almost all sources stronger than this had redshifts from the literature). A K-S test shows that the distribution of these 109 new quasar redshifts is indistinguishable from that that of all quasars in the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample with $`0.25\mathrm{Jy}<\mathrm{S}_{2.7}<0.5\mathrm{Jy}`$. In the remainder of this paper we take this sample of 109 new quasar spectra as representative of the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum quasar sample in this flux range, and we term this sample the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample.

### 4.1 Notes on Individual Objects

B0039$``$407 Iovino, Clowes & Shaver (1996) estimated the redshift as $`z=2.37`$ from an objective prism measurement. We now measure $`z=2.478`$.

B0138$``$097 Stocke & Rector (1997) give $`z=0.733`$ for this BL source. Despite high signal-to-noise in the range $`40007000\AA `$, our spectrum does not confirm their MgII emission-line redshift of $`z=0.733`$. We classify this source as a BL with undetermined redshift.

B0357$``$264 Drinkwater et al. (1997) give “$`z`$=1.47?” for this source. Their spectrum does not show any strong features and it is not clear from their paper which features this redshift is based on. Our spectrum covers a similar wavelength range to that of the Drinkwater et al. spectrum but does not show sufficient features to measure a redshift. We therefore classify this source as a BL.

B0646$``$306 Veron-Cetty & Veron (1993) give $`z`$=0.455 for this object whereas we find $`z=1.153`$. It is likely that the previous redshift determination was the result of misidentifying the CIII\] line at $`4100\mathrm{\AA }`$ with MgII.

B1136$``$156 The emission lines of CIV and Ly$`\alpha `$ are affected by absorption.

B1251$``$407 The previously published redshift of 4.458 (Shaver at al 1996a) was derived using different assumptions for the rest-frame wavelengths of the emission-lines. Using values corrected for systematic shifts (Tytler & Fan 1992) we derive a redshift of 4.464.

B2303$``$656 PKSCAT90 lists this object at a redshift of $`z=0.47`$. Our spectrum, which starts at $`6000\mathrm{\AA }`$, does not show any clear features to confirm this.

B2224$`+`$006 The emission lines of CIV and Ly$`\alpha `$ are affected by absorption.

## 5 A Composite radio-selected QSO spectrum

### 5.1 Method for producing the composite spectrum

We have derived a composite spectrum from 109 of the quasar spectra shown in Figure 1 (i.e. those that lie in the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample) with the aim of comparing emission line strengths for radio and optically selected QSOs.

The B300 spectra were clipped to cover $`3750<\lambda <6830`$Å and those spectra taken with the R300 grism were clipped to $`\lambda <9300`$Å. The region from $`75957645`$Å in the R300 spectra, which is strongly affected by the sky absorption feature (A-band), was cut out of the spectra.

The spectra were then sorted by redshift, shifted to the rest frame and interpolated onto a common rest-frame wavelength grid. The composite was built up iteratively by including one more spectrum at each iteration. A scale factor was calculated for each spectrum by normalising it to the current composite (since the spectra were sorted in redshift, there is a large region of overlap in the rest frame between each new spectrum and the most recent iteration of the composite). Each iteration of the composite was formed by adding all the contributing points at that wavelength, scaled by the appropriate scale factor for that spectrum, and divided by sum of scale factors. Thus each spectrum has an equal weight in the composite. Figure 4 shows the number of spectra contributing to each rest wavelength bin.

Figure 5 shows the comparison of the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite with that for radio-quiet QSOs from the Large Bright Quasar Survey (LBQS; Hewett, Folz & Chaffee 1995 and references therin). This second composite was compiled and provided by P. Francis (private communication) and is similar to the radio-quiet composite presented by Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993) but has been updated to include a factor $`3`$ more QSOs, having made use of radio information from the FIRST survey (Becker, White & Helfand 1995) to distinguish between radio-loud and radio quiet QSOs in the LBQS. We refer to this new composite as the “LBQS radio-quiet composite.”

The continua of the two composites were found to have somewhat different slopes, the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite having a redder UV/optical continuum spectral index of $`\alpha =1.0`$ compared to $`\alpha =0.32`$ for the LBQS composite ($`F(\nu )\nu ^\alpha `$). However this may be at least in part an artefact caused by several systematic effects, as described in Francis et al. (1991). For example, the individual spectra that make up the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite were taken with a fairly narrow slit (typically $`1.5^{\prime \prime }`$ wide) and therefore flux may be lost at the ends of the spectra due to atmospheric dispersion. No attempt was made to correct for this. Because the composite was built up by including spectra in redshift sequence, these relative flux calibration errors may have the effect of producing a gradual gradient in the overall spectral shape of the composite.

For the purposes of plotting the two composites together, both were normalised by low-order polynomial fits to their continua (avoiding regions with strong lines for the continuum fit). There are some clear qualitative differences between the composite spectra shown in Figure 5. The main differences are that the Ly-$`\alpha `$(1216Å) and CIV(1549Å) lines are stronger in the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite. Below we make a quantitative comparison of the emission line strengths relative to the local continuum.

### 5.2 Rest-frame equivalent width measurements

We have measured the rest-frame equivalent width (EW) of emission lines from the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite (Figure 5) and from an electronic version of the LBQS radio-quiet composite. This was done following the algorithm in Francis (1993) but using slightly different continuum and line wavelength ranges. The wavelength regions used were as follows: Ly$`\alpha `$ line $`12161230`$Å (i.e. the red side of the line only, since the blue side is affected by Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption); Ly$`\alpha `$ continuum $`12751295`$Å and $`14401480`$Å; CIV line $`14801590`$Å; CIV continuum $`14501480`$Å and $`16801700`$Å; CIII\] line $`18501940`$Å; CIII\] continuum $`17701820`$Å and $`19702030`$Å; Fe II line complex $`23002600`$Å; FeII continuum $`22302260`$Å and $`26502670`$Å; MgII line $`26802900`$Å; MgII continuum $`26402670`$Å and $`30103060`$Å.

The ratios of the EWs are given in Table 1. For the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample we also measured the EWs of the lines from the individual spectra, and their distributions are shown in Figure 6. These distributions were used to estimate the dispersion of EW measurements. The mean deviation from the median, divided by $`\sqrt{\mathrm{N}}`$ (where N is the number of measurements of that line) was taken as an estimate of the uncertainty of the EW measured from the composite. For the LBQS composite the uncertainty in the EW measurements was derived using the mean and uncertainties given in Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993). Since those values correspond to a previous version of their LBQS radio-quiet composite, we have scaled the uncertainties by the inverse square root of the relative numbers of QSOs contributing to each line (which typically reduces the uncertainty by a factor $`2`$). The fractional uncertainty in the EW ratio was taken as the quadratic sum of the fractional uncertainties determined above.

Table 1 and Figure 6 show that the Ly$`\alpha `$ and CIV lines are significantly stronger in the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample than in the LBQS radio-quiet sample at greater than the $`3\sigma `$ level. This difference is unlikely to be a result of the Baldwin effect since the optical magnitude distribution of the LBQS, $`m_{\mathrm{B}_\mathrm{J}}18.85`$, and the redshift distribution (Hewett, Foltz & Chaffee 1995) are similar to those of the sample of quasars used to make our PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite (see solid lines in Figures 2 and 7).

Previous authors have compared EW distributions of radio-loud and radio-quiet QSOs but found no significant differences (e.g. Steidel & Sargent 1991, Corbin 1992). However, as pointed out by Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993), this is generally because of small sample sizes and in fact these studies are consistent with the measurements of Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993) and with those in this paper to within 1$`\sigma `$. The more recent measurement of the CIV equivalent width ratio from Corbin & Francis (1994) of 1.21$`\pm `$0.21 is also consistent with our work, although our measurements have lower uncertainties than these samples individually or combined.

The MgII line, CIII\] line and the region dominated by iron lines (FeII) around 2400Å-2600Å do not show significant differences in equivalent width distribution between the PKS radio-loud and LBQS radio-quiet samples, in agreement with Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993).

We have also carried out a similar comparison using the combined LBQS composite of Francis et al. (1991), which contains a small fraction ($`10\%`$) of radio-loud quasars. As would be expected the results were very similar to those shown in Table 1 since the combined LBQS composite is dominated by radio-quiet QSOs. When considering the ratios of EWs relative to the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample, as in column (c) of Table 1, only the ratio of Ly$`\alpha `$ EWs changed by more than $`1\sigma `$. Using the combined composite the ratio was $`2.12\pm 0.17`$ compared to $`2.73\pm 0.19`$.

Although the optical magnitudes of the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample and the LBQS sample are similar, the PKS sample is radio-selected and hence contains more extreme radio-loud objects than the radio-loud LBQS sub-sample in Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993). Almost all the LBQS sample members, including the radio-loud quasars, have radio flux densities well below the 0.25Jy flux limit of our sample (Hooper et al. 1995). As a result we might expect to see more pronounced differences between the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite spectrum and the LBQS radio-quiet composite than were seen between the radio-loud and radio quiet subsets of the LBQS sample. However we in fact find very similar ratios of EWs as were found by Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993) for all the lines considered except Ly$`\alpha `$, which appears to be significantly stronger in the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample.

Brotherton et al. (2001) saw no significant difference in the Ly$`\alpha `$ line (or indeed any of the UV lines that we have studied) when they considered composite spectra of radio-loud and radio-quiet objects from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS). That sample is radio-selected but the faint flux density limit ($`\mathrm{S}_{1.4\mathrm{GHz}}1\mathrm{m}\mathrm{J}\mathrm{y}`$) and bright optical limit ($`\mathrm{E}<17.8`$) means it is still sensitive to quasars that are formally radio-quiet, although as they point out, the extreme radio-quiet and “radio-silent” QSOs are not represented. It is possible that their result, that of Francis, Hooper & Impey (1993) and our result represent a trend of Ly$`\alpha `$ EW becoming progressively stronger with increased radio loudness. However, as Brotherton et al. (2001) also point out, their radio-quiet sub-sample has rather limited statistics - only $`12`$ quasars contribute to the Ly$`\alpha `$ line in their radio-quiet composite. Because of the difference in optical magnitude distributions of the FBQS and our sample, and hence the possible complication of the Baldwin effect, we have not carried out a detailed comparison with the FBQS composites.

We also note that the EWs of Ly$`\alpha `$ and CIV in classical radio galaxies are comparable but somewhat stronger than those found for the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sample: values of EW=919Å for Ly$`\alpha `$ and 74Å for CIV are reported by McCarthy (1993), measured from a composite of high-redshift 3CR and 1Jy class radio galaxies. This, along with the appearance of HeII1640 and stronger forbidden lines (see Figure 5), puts the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy sources on a smooth trend from radio-quiet to flat-spectrum quasar to steep-spectrum quasar to radio galaxy. This trend, at least among radio-loud quasars, has been interpreted by previous authors in the context of unified schemes of AGN. For example Baker & Hunstead (1995) found that the EW of narrow lines in radio-loud quasars from the Molonglo sample increases as the ratio of core-to-lobe flux (R) decreases, i.e. as the implied viewing angle to the radio jet axis increases.

The EW ratios from composite spectra given in Table 1 are relative measurements using the same method on each composite and are therefore largely independent of the details of the continuum fitting and flux integration method used to determine the EWs. The absolute EW measurements shown in Figure 6 were only used to estimate the uncertainty in the value measured from the PKS 0.25-0.5Jy composite.

We note that Francis et al. (2002) have measured rest-frame EWs from the stronger, flat spectrum radio sources ($`\mathrm{S}_{2.7\mathrm{GHz}}0.5\mathrm{Jy}`$) in the PKS sample. We have used the the electronic table from that paper to derive median EWs of $`40.13\pm 3.40`$, $`20.61\pm 1.75`$ and $`29.61\pm 1.13`$ for CIV, CIII\] and MgII respectively (this combines the data from their red and blue sub-samples, which showed no significant differences in these lines). The value for CIII\] is similar to ours for weaker PKS 0.25-0.5Jy radio sources, but the median values for CIV and MgII are lower than ours at the $`23\sigma `$ level and closer to the values we derive for the LBQS composite. However, since this comparison involves absolute EW measurements made by different groups and hence may be affected by systematic measurement effects, we do not consider the differences to be significant.

## 6 The Lyman-$`\alpha `$ flux decrement as a function of Redshift

Our spectra can also be used to measure the mean flux decrement shortward of the Ly$`\alpha `$ emission line as a function of redshift. We used the same method as previous authors (e.g. Oke & Korycansky 1982, Schneider et al. 1991b), namely to calculate

$$D_A=1\frac{f(observed)}{f(continuum)}$$
(1)
where f(observed) is the observed flux averaged over the rest-frame region $`10501170`$Å and f(continuum) is the expected continuum flux in the same region, which is estimated by extrapolating the continuum redward of the Ly$`\alpha `$ emission line into the blue.

There were 22 quasars in our sample for which we obtained a spectrum and which have sufficiently high redshift ($`z2.4`$) for the region around the Ly-$`\alpha `$ line to be covered. (Note that the full 1050-1170Å region is not covered in all cases but enough of the region is covered to give a good measurement of $`D_A`$.) The $`D_A`$ values are plotted against redshift for the PKS QSOs in Figure 8. For comparison, values are plotted for optically selected QSOs taken from Schneider, Schmidt and Gunn (1991a, 1991b). Also plotted are other values from the literature (Oke & Korycansky 1982, Steidel & Sargent 1987). Only optically-selected QSOs from these papers are plotted.

In the lower panel of Figure 8 the same data are plotted in bins of 0.5 in redshift. Points are plotted at the median redshift and $`D_A`$ values within each bin. The errors in the median were estimated by taking the standard deviation in each bin and dividing by $`\sqrt{N}`$ (the bins containing only one point have undefined error bars). The plot shows that there is no significant difference between the two sets of points. This indicates that neither sample is significantly biased towards or against QSOs with a large amount of Ly-$`\alpha `$ absorption.

## 7 Conclusions

We have presented spectra and redshift measurements for a large sample of radio-selected quasars which, when combined with data from the literature, forms a complete sample of radio-loud quasars. We have studied statistical properties of the new spectra, in particular the rest-frame equivalent width distribution of the rest-frame UV spectral lines and the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ decrement at high redshift. We find that the spectra we have obtained show significantly stronger Ly$`\alpha `$ and CIV emission lines than radio-quiet quasars from the LBQS, which has a similar optical magnitude distribution to our sample. We find no major difference in the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ decrement measured from our spectra compared to those of optically-selected QSOs at similar redshifts.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to Paul Francis for generating and making available a new version of the composite spectrum of LBQS radio-quiet QSOs. We also thank the helpful support staff at the ESO 3.6m, where the majority of our spectroscopic observations were carried out. This paper has benefited from helpful comments from the referee, Dr. P. J. P. McCarthy.

## Appendix A Tables


format: text

text:
# The Rotational Velocity of Helium-rich Pre-White Dwarfs

## References

Heap S. 1975, ApJ 196, 195

Heber U., Napiwotzki R., Reid I.N., 1997, A&A 323, 819

Köper S., Rauch T., Dreizler S., Heber U., Reid I.N., Werner K. 2001, in: White Dwarfs, eds. H.L. Shipman et al. The ASP Conference Series, Vol. 226, p. 65

Koester D., Dreizler S., Weidemann V., Allard N. 1998, A&A 338, 612

Rauch T., Werner K. 1997, in: The Third Conference on Faint Blue Stars, eds. A.G.D. Philip, J. Liebert, R.A. Saffer, L. Davis Press, Schenectady, NY, p. 217

Silvotti P., Dreizler S., Handler G., Jiang X.J. 1999, A&A 342, 745

Vauclair G., Moskalik P., Pfeiffer B., et al. 2002, A&A 381,122

Werner K., Dreizler S., Heber U., Kappelmann N., Kruk J., Rauch T., Wolff B. 1997, in: Reviews in Modern Astronomy 10 (AG, Hamburg), p. 219

Winget D.E., Nather R.E., Clemens J.C., et al. 1991, ApJ 378, 326

Wood P.R., Faulkner D.J. 1986, ApJ 307, 659


text:
# Low-Temperature Conductance Measurements On Single Molecules

## Abstract

An experimental protocol which allows to perform conductance spectroscopy on organic molecules at low temperatures ($`T30`$ K) has been developed. This extends the method of mechanically controlled break junctions which has recently demonstrated to be suitable to contact single molecules at room temperature. The conductance data obtained at low $`T`$ with a conjugated sample molecule show a highly improved data quality with a higher stability, narrower linewidth and substantially reduced noise. Thus the comparability of experimental data with other measurements as well as with theoretical simulations is considerably improved.

Molecular electronics employing single molecules as active functional units is a promising new technological concept of fast-growing interest. With molecule-based systems it may, for example, be possible to achieve higher storage densities in conjunction with a simplified production technology . Our research is dedicated to understand the fundamental processes of electron conduction through individual molecules. This is a crucial requirement for the purposeful design of molecules for electronic functionalities. Here we present a method to perform low-temperature conductance measurements (T$``$30 K) of single-molecule contacts with the mechanically controlled break-junction (MCB) technique. While only few such measurements exist at room temperature (RT) , low-$`T`$ measurements are desirable for several reasons: First, the physics is then considerably simpler (e.g. no vibrations). Further, at low $`T`$ it should be possible to reduce atomic-scale rearrangements on the electrode surface which strongly affect the measurements at RT . Another complementary method has also been used for single-molecule contacts at low $`T`$ . In contrast to the MCB technique discussed here, this electromigration method allows for a field-effect transistor setup, but does not provide well-controlled distance control between the contacts.

Earlier experiments have demonstrated that the conductance of single-molecule junctions can be determined at RT by means of MCBs , which provide a tunable-distance electrode pair. It consists of a metallic wire structured on a flexible substrate with a narrow bridge-like constriction , serving as a predetermined fracture point. If the substrate is bent, the bridge on top stretches, until it finally tears apart, yielding a nanoscopic pair of electrodes facing each other. Due to the ultra-low transmission ratio between the inflection of the substrate and the expansion at the surface the electrode distance is controllable with sub-Ångstrom precision and possesses a high mechanical stability. However, cooling down a given contact is barely possible because of the different thermal expansion coefficients of the materials used which result in a badly controlled drift of the electrode spacing ($`1`$ nm in our experiments upon cooling from RT to 30 K). An electronic adjustment (feedback control) of the electrode gap during cooling would require the knowledge of the absolute distance during this process which is not easily accessible experimentally. The molecules investigated in this experiment are rigid rod-like organic molecules with a length of approximately 2 nm (Fig. 1). The molecules possess a $`\pi `$-electron system between the acetyl-protected sulfur functional groups at their ends, which are designed to split off when the molecules bind covalently to the gold electrode surface. This procedure, however, is expected to work only at RT, because at low $`T`$ there is not enough energy available for the deprotection reaction. Hence, we have to find an experimental protocol which yields low-$`T`$ contacts, but avoids temperature sweeps of a given junction as well as surface reactions at low $`T`$.

This protocol starts with the procedure for RT measurements . When applying a solution of acetate-protected thiol-functionalized molecules (Fig. 1) on a freshly opened pair of electrodes, a molecular layer on the gold surface is formed. The molecules split off their acetate protection group upon contact and bind covalently with one end to the gold surface. At this point, the other side of the molecule remains protected . Due to the short application times ($`60`$ s) we do not expect a cohesive monolayer in our experiments . The high surface mobility of the polarisable molecules allows to draw them into the contact region between the electrodes by means of a dc electric field which is provided by a finite bias voltage. Hence we decrease the electrode distance while $`U=11.5`$ V is applied and we monitor the current until the first molecule touches the opposite electrode, splits off its protection group and binds covalently to the counter electrode. At this moment a sharp increase in current is recorded. Often, a molecular junction is now established which allows to record stable current-voltage characteristics (IVs) in a voltage window of \[-1.2 V,1.2 V\] for the given molecules. More details about the RT measurements can be found in . It is expected that all bonds in the molecule are more stable than a Au-Au bond, an assumption which has been confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations . There, it has been shown that when a thiol-ended molecule is pulled off the gold surface, the molecule rather picks one or more Au atoms out of the surface than breaking the Au-S bond. Consequently, the new protocol is based on the idea of terminating the molecules in the junction with a Au atom (or possibly a few Au atoms) by closing and reopening the junction (see Fig. 2). Then, the junction can be cooled down while it is open and reestablished at low $`T`$ without involving any further organic chemical reactions (the formation of a Au-Au bond is considered to have a negligible activation barrier).

The experiment was made in a UHV-compatible chamber. The break-junction setup was mounted on a continuous-gas-flow cryostat inset which allows to cool down the sample to $`30`$ K$`\pm 10`$ K (The large error bar is due to insufficient thermal equilibrium in our setup where rather quick measurements are required. We did not perform in situ thermometry on the chip, the difference between the sample’s temperature and that of the thermometer was determined in a separate calibration experiment). After applying the molecules from solution the junction was established in vacuum at RT until a resistance of the order of 10 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ was observed. This corresponds to numerous molecules which close the gap. Then the usual procedure was pursued until a single-molecule signature was found. After that the junction was reopened and then cooled down to $`30`$ K within $`15`$ minutes. It is crucial to pump the chamber thoroughly to the best available base pressure (in our case 3$`10^8`$ mbar) prior to cooling down. Otherwise, adsorbates will condense on the electrode surface and will prevent the reestablishment of a molecular junction at low $`T`$. In addition to turbomolecular pumps and ion getter pumps, we further used a cup-like shield at cryogenic temperatures to provide a cold trap close to the electrode pair. At $`T30`$ K, the junction was reapproached. Similarly to RT, first a tunnel current and then a sudden increase of the current was observed. At this stage, stable IVs could be recorded which will be discussed below. For comparison, we first show previously published data from RT measurements: Fig. 3 shows nine IVs as well as the differential conductance $`dI/dV`$ of the molecule in a stable configuration. Rounded step-like features are visible in the IV (red lines) which appear as broadened peaks in $`dI/dV`$ (blue lines). The peak structure can qualitatively be explained within a coherent transport scenario : As soon as a molecular orbital gets in resonance with the Fermi level of one of the electrodes, transport through this molecular orbital may be enabled resulting in a step-like increase of the current. After observing a stable spectrum for several minutes as shown in Fig. 3, the IV often spontaneously changes into a new characteristics which may be also reproducible for several minutes. This jump-like switching is attributed to microscopic atomic or molecular rearrangements in the junction which are typical for a single-molecule junction. Note also the considerable noise in the data which is not created by the measurement electronics but by the molecular junction itself, as verified in control experiments.

Low-$`T`$ data taken at $`T=30`$ K are shown in Fig. 4a. The low-bias region displays a strongly suppressed conductance ($`1`$nS). The linewidth of the peaks in $`dI/dV`$ is much smaller compared to RT measurements (of the order of 250 meV FWHM at RT, 30 meV at 30 K) and the overall data quality has substantially improved (less noise). Due to the narrower linewidth smaller peaks which cannot be seen at RT appear. For example, the peak at $`U=0.53`$ V has a substantially reduced counterpart at opposite bias ($`U=0.38`$ V), which is not visible in the RT data.

The data observed for this spatially asymmetric molecule are always asymmetric with respect to voltage inversion, as discussed in detail in . This indicates that only very few molecules (most likely a single one) contribute to the conductance, because a large number of molecules, randomly oriented, would result in symmetric IVs. The conductance pattern at Fig. 4b was obtained only minutes after the pattern in Fig. 4a, after opening and closing the junction. The two spectra appear roughly as mirror images of each other with respect to voltage inversion. Apparently, another oppositely oriented molecule has replaced the one shown in Fig. 4a. While the absolute value of the current, taken at $`U=1`$ V, varies for different junctions from $`0.1\mu `$A to $`1\mu `$A at RT, the current in the present junction is $`I60100`$ nA for the two junctions shown here. Whether this reduction stems from different microscopic arrangements, from reduced molecular motion or from suppressed thermal activation can not be deduced from the data. We do not see signs that adsorbates influence the measurements (e.g. Ohmic behaviour at low voltages) as was observed in previous experiments with insufficient vacuum. Another improvement of the low-$`T`$ measurements is the smaller range of different IVs. For the RT measurements a rather broad range of sample-to-sample fluctuations was attributed to different microscopic realizations . In particular microscopically different thiol-gold junctions were found to strongly affect the energetic level as well as the charge distribution of the HOMO. The difference of the bonding energies of these different realizations are, however, only small  and thus no configuration is clearly statistically preferred. The smaller number of variations in the recorded low-T spectra might indicate that here energetically favourable configurations occur more frequently. The presented method improves the investigation of single-molecule junctions, contributing to both, the comparability with theory as well as with other experiments. Finally, genuine low-$`T`$ experiments, for example with superconducting electrodes are now possible.

e-mail:heiko.weber@int.fzk.de; marcel.mayor@int.fzk.de


text:
# Proper Motions and CCD-photometry of Stars in the Region of the Open Cluster NGC 1513

## 1 Introduction

The open cluster NGC 1513 is located in the Perseus constellation. Its equatorial and galactic coordinates are:

$`\alpha =4^\mathrm{h}09^\mathrm{m}98^\mathrm{s}`$, $`\delta =+49\mathrm{°}31\mathrm{}`$; $`\mathrm{}=152\stackrel{}{.}6`$, $`b=1\stackrel{}{.}57`$ $`(2000.0)`$.
In the Trümpler(1930) catalogue it is classified as II 2m a moderately rich cluster with little central concentration. It was investigated astrometrically by Bronnikova(1958a) who determined the proper motions (PM) using a single pair of plates with an epoch difference of 55 years. Barhatova and Drjahlushina(1960) published photographic and photovisual magnitudes of 49 stars from Bronnikova’s (1958b) list. Del Rio and Huestamendia(1988) (RH) obtained photoelectric $`UBV`$ magnitudes of 31 stars and photographic $`RGU`$ magnitudes for 116 stars in the cluster region. Spectra and radial velocities of stars in this area have not been investigated. As the epoch difference has increased significantly since the time of the last and only attempt to investigate proper motions of the stars in the region of the open cluster NGC 1513 we decided to study it using the material available at present.

## 2 Astrometry

The observational material belongs to the Normal astrograph collection of the Pulkovo observatory and dates from 1899 to 2000 (Table 1). The cluster region from the USNO-A 2.0 catalogue was used as an additional plate (epoch 1954.8). The scale of the Normal astrograph plates is $`60\mathrm{}\mathrm{mm}^1`$. The positions of 383 stars in an area $`60\mathrm{}\times 60\mathrm{}`$ centered on the cluster NGC 1513 were measured. For the first time our plates were scanned by means of the automated measuring complex ”Fantasy”. As there is no description of the complex in English we present it in the Appendix.

The proper motions were determined by the line-method (the star positions tranferred to one system and arranged in chronological order of the epochs of observation were compared). The details of the method are presented in the paper of Jilinski et al.(2000). The plate 5017 with the faintest images was used as the central plate. It was orientated using 64 stars in common with stars in the ”TYCHO” catalogue stars so that the $`Y`$-axis was parallel to the sky meridian. The reference stars for the reduction were selected by several approximations. Each step consists of two successive parts. At the first step all the stars of the region were considered as reference stars. For each star graphs were considered where the epochs of the plates were plotted as abscissa and the coordinate $`X`$ or $`Y`$ of the stars as ordinates. Two straight lines were drawn by a least square fitting. Their inclinations correspond to the proper motion components $`\mu _x`$ and $`\mu _y`$ of the star. After this preliminary determination of PM the first rough selection of cluster members was made. Those of the stars that were located on the vector point diagram (VPD) in a circle with a radius of three standard deviation from the center of the concentration of points corresponding to the cluster were considered to be members of the cluster. As a result of the first approximation a new list of reference stars was compiled according to the generally accepted rule: that they must be uniformly distributed in the studied region excluding the cluster area, have small proper motions and belong to a chosen range of $`B`$ magnitudes. As the $`UBV`$ magnitude of only a few stars were determined in the investigated area we had to use the considerably less precise values of $`B`$ magnitudes of the USNO-A 2.0 catalogue. Thus 39 stars in the interval between $`13.5`$ and $`14.5`$ mag were selected. The linear method of reduction was used. From the second approximation the selection of cluster members was made according to Sanders method(1971) assuming that the proper motion distributions of the cluster and field stars on the VPD were bivariate Gaussian distributions, circular for the cluster $`\mathrm{\Phi }_c(\mu _x,\mu _y)`$ and elliptical for the field $`\mathrm{\Phi }_f(\mu _x,\mu _y)`$. Modelling of the resulting distribution was fulfilled by the method of maximum likelihood. The values of the parameters of the corresponding system of the non-linear equations were determined by computer iterations. All the formulas are given in Jilinski et al(2000). The individual membership probability of a star was determined by its position on VPD and calculated by the following formula:

$$P(\mu _x,\mu _y)=\frac{N_c\mathrm{\Phi }_c(\mu _x,\mu _y)}{N_c\mathrm{\Phi }_c(\mu _x,\mu _y)+N_f\mathrm{\Phi }_f(\mu _x,\mu _y)}$$
$`(3)`$
$`N_c`$ \- normalized number of cluster stars,

$`N_f`$ \- normalized number of field stars,

$`\mu _{x_i}`$, $`\mu _{y_i}`$ \- proper motion in $`x`$ and $`y`$ for the $`\text{i}^{th}`$ star.

In order to have a fast fit in the solution of the system parameters close to the real initial values of parameters were adopted. In the final calculation of probabilities the following values were used: the relative number of cluster members and field stars $`N_c/N_f=0.5`$;
centers of the distributions on the VPD:
the field $`\mu _{x_0}=1.34`$ , $`\mu _{y_0}=0.45`$ ; the cluster $`\mu _{x_0}=0.9`$, $`\mu _{y_0}=0.44`$ ;
standard deviations: the field $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_x=7.0`$, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_y=5.0`$ ; the cluster $`\sigma _{x,y}=1.5`$.
All the values are in $`\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$. Each iteration ended with plotting the histogram of probabilities. Its analysis permitted an estimation of the minimal value of probability for a star to be considered a cluster member. The final histogram is shown in Fig. 1.

The magnitude equation (ME) or the dependence of the determined proper motions on star magnitudes was investigated at each step of the membership selection. During the first iteration the ME was derived from an investigation of the VPD for assumed field stars with proper motion components corrected for the motion of the Sun towards the solar apex. The values of these components were calculated with the help of the tables published by Zhukov(1966). Then ME was estimated by the selected cluster members anew in each iteration. The direction and inclination of the ME (for $`X`$-axis: $`1.06\pm 0.29\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$, for $`Y`$-axis: $`0.46\pm 0.36\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$) were derived from the field stars in the whole interval of $`B`$ magnitudes from $`10.5`$ to $`15`$ mag. These values were used to correct those of the original catalogue. After the selection of cluster members the estimated ME was : $`X`$: $`1.95\pm 0.42\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$, $`Y`$: $`0.78\pm 0.42\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$. The final catalogue corrected according to these values appeared to be free of ME within the limits of the accuracy of the determination of the PM of the stars. The final VPD is given in Fig. 2.

The rms errors of the proper motion components of the stars are:

$$\sigma _x=\pm 1.8\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1,\sigma _y=\pm 1.9\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1.$$

The astrometric results are given in Table 2. Columns: 1) - the number of a star according to our study (the reference stars are marked by the symbol \*), 2),3) - the rectangular coordinates of a star relative to the star N 197 (N 115 RH) in $`arcmin`$, 4) - $`B`$ magnitudes from the USNO -A 2.0, 5)- the number of plates, 6),7),8),9) - PM $`\mu _x`$,$`\mu _y`$ and the corresponding standard errors in $`\mathrm{mas}\mathrm{yr}^1`$, 10) - membership probabilities in $`\%`$, 11) - ”bl” marks blends, ”bs” - objects whose coordinates were determined with large errors. It also contains the numbers of the stars in the BD, HD and Hipparcos catalogues.

Due to various reasons (blending, wrong identification, etc.) we were not able to determine the PM of 50 stars from the total number of 383 stars. Astrometric cluster members were considered to be stars with a membership probability $`P50\%`$. The total number of such stars is 141 (the probability of 112 of them $`P70\%`$).

## 3 Photometry

The $`B`$ and $`V`$ magnitudes of stars in the central part of the investigated area were obtained with the 320 mm mirror astrograph ZA-320 of the Pulkovo Observatory equipped with the CCD-receiver ST-6 with a fixed TC241 matrix. A detailed description of the telescope and its resources is given in the paper of Bekyashev et al.(1998). The area of the field determined by the scale($`65\mathrm{}mm^1`$) and the dimensions of the matrix is equal to $`9.3\mathrm{}\times 7\mathrm{}`$. Due to the small area of the field the observations of $`B`$ and $`V`$ colours were limited to the area $`17\mathrm{}\times 17\mathrm{}`$ where all stars from the RH paper are located. The $`UBV`$ magnitudes of 31 stars from Table 2 of their paper were used as photoelectric standards. Besides stars marked by RH numbers there are in the same field a considerable amount of stars without any numbers. They are marked by numbers beginning with ”$`a`$”. Some stars that are beyond the limits of the RH map were also measured and are marked by ”$`b`$”. The map of the cluster is given in Fig. 3 and the CCD magnitudes and colours - in Table 3 with the columns: 1) - the RH number of a star, 2),9),14) - the star number according to our study, 3),10),15) - CCD photometry in the $`V`$ band, 4),11),16) - CCD colours ($`BV`$), 5),6)- photoelectric(RH) $`V`$ and $`(BV)`$, 7),12) and 17) - notes.

The external rms errors calculated for the standard stars with zero mean deviations is $`\pm 0.012\mathrm{mag}`$ in the $`B`$ pass-band and $`\pm 0.010\mathrm{mag}`$ in $`V`$. After the reduction of the instrumental values to the standards no residual colour equestion was detected. The internal rms errors increase from the bright to the faint stars. Their mean values in the interval from 9.6 mag to 16.37 mag are $`\sigma _B=\pm 0.07\mathrm{mag},\sigma _V=\pm 0.05\mathrm{mag}`$.

## 4 Analysis and conclusion

All the available $`B,V`$ \- photometry resulted in the $`V`$ & $`BV`$ (CMD) diagram given in Fig. 4. Stars with membership probability $`P50\%`$ are plotted by solid circles. Obviously it is difficult to define the Main sequence (MS) due to contradictions in the published data on selective absorption in the cluster region (estimates of the mean $`E_{BV}`$ vary from 0.52 mag to 0.70 mag). With the absence of U magnitudes of the stars we had to use the ZAMS position from the RH paper. The value of the colour-excess $`E_{BV}`$ = 0.67 was calculated from the formula $`E_{BV}=0.72E_{GR}0.005(E_{BV})^2`$ (Steinlin,1968) with $`E_{GR}=0.94`$ mag and apparent distance modulus $`(VM_V)=12.61`$ using the true modulus $`(VM_V)_0=10.60`$. Stars located on the main sequence within the limits $`\pm 3\sigma `$ are considered to be cluster members according to photometric criterion. In Fig. 5 the cluster members (according to photometric and astrometric criteria) are plotted as solid circles. Open circles mark probable cluster members (only by the photometric criterion) as their magnitudes are fainter than the limiting values of the Normal astrograph old plates. In Fig. 5 there are two stars with high membership probabilities at the late evolution stages: N 175: $`M_V=0.41`$ mag, $`(BV)_0=0.88`$ mag, $`P=93\%`$ and N 299 : $`M_V=1.20`$ mag, $`(BV)_0=1.08`$ mag, $`P=90\%`$; ZAMS - Schmidt-Kaler(1965). The members and probable members are listed in Table 4.

The estimation of the age of the cluster is based on the set of isochrones for stars with mean masses from 0.16 to 7 $`M_{}`$ and different metallicities (Z) published on the website of the Padove research groupe222http://www. pleadi.astro.pd.it and described in the work of Girardi et al. (2000). The superposition of various isochrones on the CMD shows an almost ideal coincidence of the $`2.5410^8`$ yr isochrone for $`Z=0.019`$ with the cluster diagram (Fig. 5). The loop that marks the ending of hydrogen burning in the core, compression of the core and hydrogen burning in the thick layer is well occupied by stars. The star No 175 is located almost at the base of the red giant branch, and the star No 229 -at the stage of helium burning. Corresponding to this isochrone the turn-off point of the MS is $`(BV)_0=0.07`$ mag.

It is also interesting to note that the MS of NGC 1513 on the CMD in absolute coordinates almost completely coinsides with the MS of the nearby cluster NGC 1528. Their ages also coincide. The age and MS position of the latter were discussed in the paper by Mermilliod(1981). Are these facts accidental? It is still possible that Barhatova(1963) who treated them along with NGC 1545 cluster as a triplet related by a common origin was right. RH did not confirm the physical connection of NGC 1513 and NGC 1528 because of the essential difference in their distances. We think that it is worthwhile to obtain data on the membership of stars of NGC 1528 not only by the photometric diagram but also by proper motions of its stars. The Pulkovo observatory collection contains a set of negatives taken with the Normal astrograph from 1959 to the present time.

## 5 Appendix

The automated measuring complex ”Fantasy” is a programmed precision microdensitometer with capabilities determined by the software developed for it. The base of the machine is a massive (1500 kg) metal table with a polished surface on which a carriage on aerostatic bearings moves. The carriage is actuated by two line electric motors and its position is determined by a laser interferometer. The scanning system consists of a cathode ray tube with a program control beam and photoelectronic multiplier with the measured plate between them. The characteristics of the positioning and scanning systems are given in Table 5.

The algorithm of position measurements developed for ”Fantasy” is efficient for measurements in all ranges of stellar images on a plate, from the brightest with a diameter 600-800 microns to very faint hardly discernible images consisting of separate darkened grains. In reality the secondary forms of the images are measured. These forms are constructed during the processing of the images by iterative operations: filtration, contrasting and normalising. This permits the reduction of a wide range of stellar images on a plate to a set of compact objects of the regular form with centres defined as the centres of their photometric weights. A deleting operation was included in the algorithm for measurements of old plates with a Gauthier grid. The developed algorithm for position measurements has high operational and metrological characteristics. It operates accurately in conditions of considerable background density differences, low quality images and in the presence of photographic blemishes and defects. The standard error of measurement depends on the quality of a photographic material and equals 0.14-0.60 microns for the whole range of images.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank Dr. Z.Kadla for many useful comments on the manuscript and investigators of Pulkovo observatory M.Sidorov, A.Devyatkin, I.Grigorjeva and V.Kouprianov for their collaboration in the observations. E.G.Jilinski thanks FAPERJ for the financial support under the contract E-26/152.221/2000.


text:
# 1 Thermofield Dynamics and Horizons

## 1 Thermofield Dynamics and Horizons

An exact formulation of the quantum theory of an accelerating universe appears to be very elusive . Thus far the holographic principle  has not produced a dual description of de Sitter space analogous to the holographic duality between anti–de Sitter space and Super Yang Mills theory

A number of authors  have argued for a de Sitter complementarity principle similar to the black hole version . While differing in the details, all versions agree that physics in a single causal patch of de Sitter space should be described as an isolated quantum system at at finite temperature, and that the thermal entropy of the system should be finite. From previous experience, especially with Matrix theory and the AdS/CFT duality, we can expect that the holographic dual of de Sitter space will not look much like classical relativity. Most likely its degrees of freedom will be very nonlocally connected to to the local semiclassical description of the space. That raises an interesting question: Suppose we were presented with the de Sitter space holographic dual. How would we recognize it as such? The answer for Matrix theory and AdS/CFT was initially through the symmetries, which exactly matched. Supersymmetry, Galilean symmetry, and conformal invariance were especially important. Thus we might try to recognize the de Sitter dual by finding that its symmetries include the $`SO(d,1)`$ symmetry of $`d`$-dimensional de Sitter space. However, most of the group (and the most interesting part of it) involve transformations which take the causal patch to another patch. The manifest symmetries of the causal patch are the $`SO(d1)`$ rotations which preserve the horizon, and the time translations. There are another $`d1`$ compact generators and $`d1`$ noncompact generators which displace the observer to a new patch. These generators do not act on the Hilbert space of a single observer. To understand how they act we have to introduce a bigger space called the thermofield double.

Thermofield theory was invented  in the context of many body theory for the purpose of simplifying the calculation of real time correlation functions in finite temperature systems. Its connection with black holes was realized by Israel  and elaborated in the holographic context by Maldacena . Begin with a thermal system characterized by a Hilbert space $``$, a hamiltonian $`H`$ and a temperature $`T=1/\beta `$. The thermal ensemble is described by the Bolzmann density matrix

$$\rho =\frac{1}{Z}\mathrm{exp}(\beta H).$$
(1.1)
Thermal expectation values of real time correlation functions (response functions) contain information not only about equilibrium properties but also non–equilibrium dynamics. A typical response function can be thought of as determining the future behavior of a system that has been kicked out of equilibrium. A typical example has the form

$`A(0)B^{}(t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{Z}}Tre^{\beta H}Ae^{iHt}Be^{iHt}`$ (1.2)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{ij}{}}A_{ij}B_{ji}^{}e^{i(E_iE_j)t\beta E_i}.`$ (1.3)
In fact the full set of thermal real time correlators contains information about physics arbitrarily far from equilibrium.

The thermofield formalism introduces a fictitious system that includes two copies of the original system. The two copies are labeled $`1`$ and $`2`$. Copy $`1`$ is thought of as the real system, while $`2`$ is introduced as a trick. The doubled system is called the thermofield double. The Hilbert space for the thermofield double is $`_{tf}=_1_2`$ where each factor space is identical to the original Hilbert space. The Hamiltonian for the thermofield double is

$$HH_{tf}=H_1H_2.$$
(1.4)
Notice that the energy eigenvalues for subsystem $`2`$ are of opposite sign from those of $`1`$. We now construct the entangled state

$$|\psi =\frac{1}{Z^{\frac{1}{2}}}\underset{i}{}e^{\frac{1}{2}\beta E_i}|E_i,E_i,$$
(1.5)
where the state $`|E_i,E_j`$ means the eigenvector of $`H_1`$ and $`H_2`$ with eigenvalues $`E_i,E_j`$. The state $`|\psi `$ is a particular eigenvector of $`H_{tf}`$ with eigenvalue zero. Obviously $`|\psi `$ has been constructed so that the density matrix for subsystem $`1`$ is just the thermal density matrix $`\rho `$ at temperature $`\beta `$.

Operators which belong to subsystem $`1`$ have the form $`A_1I_2`$, and will be called $`A_1`$. Operators associated with subsystem $`2`$ will be defined in a similar manner except with an additional rule of hermitian conjugation:

$$A_2I_1A_2^{}.$$
(1.6)
The correlation function in 1.3 may be written as an expectation value:

$$\psi |A_1(0)B_1^{}(t)|\psi .$$
(1.7)
Although no physical significance is ordinarily attached to correlators involving $`A_2`$, we may formally define them; for example

$$\psi |A_1(0)B_2(t)|\psi .$$
(1.8)
Note that in both 1.7 and 1.8 the time dependence of the operators can be defined via the Heisenberg picture, using the full thermofield Hamiltonian $`H_{tf}`$. Let us examine expression 1.8 more carefully. It can be written explicitly in the form

$$\psi |A_1(0)B_2(t)|\psi =\underset{ij}{}e^{(\frac{\beta }{2}E_i+\frac{\beta }{2}E_j)}e^{i(E_iE_j)t}A_{ij}B_{ji}^{}.$$
(1.9)
This is similar, but not identical, to 1.3. The similarity between the two can be made more apparent by writing 1.9 as

$`\psi |A_1(0)B_2(t)|\psi `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{ij}{}}e^{\frac{\beta }{2}E_i}e^{i(E_iE_j)(ti\frac{\beta }{2})}A_{ij}B_{ji}^{}`$ (1.10)
$`=`$ $`A(0)B(ti{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{2}}).`$ (1.11)
This demonstrates that correlators involving both copies can be expressed as analytic continuations of ordinary thermal correlators.

We will now consider the relationship between thermofield dynamics and quantum field theory in spaces with horizons. The simplest example involves Rindler space. One plus one dimensional Minkowski space can be divided into four quadrants; I, II, III and IV (see Figure 1). Quadrants I and III consist of points separated from the origin by space–like separation, while II and IV are displaced in by timelike intervals. Quadrant I is Rindler space, and can be described by means of the metric

$$ds^2=r^2dt^2dr^2,$$
(1.12)
where $`r`$ is proper distance from the origin, and $`t`$ is dimensionless Rindler time. The Rindler quadrant may be described by the Unruh thermal state with temperature

$$T_{rind}=\frac{1}{2\pi }=\frac{1}{\beta _{rind}}.$$
(1.13)
Quadrant III is a copy of quadrant I, and can be precisely identified with the thermofield double. To see this we first of all note that the Rindler Hamiltonian is the boost generator. Since the Minkowski vacuum is boost invariant, it is an eigenvector of the boost generator with vanishing eigenvalue. Furthermore, the Minkowski vacuum is an entangled state of the degrees of freedom in the two quadrants I and III. Finally, it is well known that when the density matrix for quadrant I is obtained by tracing over III the result is a thermal state at the Rindler temperature. It is easy to see that correlators between fields in quadrants I and III are related by exactly the same analytic continuations derived from thermofield dynamics. To see this, recall that the usual Minkowski variables $`X^0,X^1`$ are related to the Rindler coordinates by

$`X^0`$ $`=`$ $`r\mathrm{sinh}t`$ (1.14)
$`X^1`$ $`=`$ $`r\mathrm{cosh}t.`$ (1.15)
Since the inverse Rindler temperature 1.13 is $`2\pi `$, the continuation in equation 1.11 is

$$tti\pi ,$$
(1.16)
or, from 1.15, $`X^\mu X^\mu `$. Thus the thermofield continuation takes quadrant I to quadrant III.

The symmetry of Rindler space includes only the Rindler time translations. The choice of origin implicit in the identification of Rindler space breaks the symmetries of Minkowski translations. However, once it is realized that the Minkowski vacuum coincides with the thermofield double $`|\psi `$, it becomes clear that the action of the translations can be represented in the product Hilbert space $`_{tf}=_1_2`$. The full Poincare algebra in $`1+1`$ dimensions is

$`[P_0,H_{rind}]`$ $`=`$ $`iP_1`$ (1.17)
$`[P_1,H_{rind}]`$ $`=`$ $`iP_0`$ (1.18)
$`[P_0,P_1]`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (1.19)
There is one discrete symmetry which acts on the thermofield double; namely, the parity operation $`X^1X^1`$. This transformation as well as the transformations generated by $`P^\mu `$ obviously mix the degrees of freedom of the thermofield double in a non trivial way. The lesson of this section is that the full symmetry of geometries with horizons acts on the thermofield double Hilbert space, and not on the space of available to an observer one one side of the horizon. Moreover the symmetry transformations mix the degrees of freedom of the two copies.

With this in mind let us consider the eternal AdS eternal black hole. Maldacena  has noted that the eternal black hole geometry has two boundaries, one in quadrant I of the Penrose diagram and one in quadrant III. Maldacena argues that the eternal black hole should be described by two copies of the usual boundary conformal field theory, and that the two copies are nothing but the thermofield double 111An extremely interesting program is being pursued by Kraus, Ooguri and Shenker in which thermofield correlators are used to probe physics behind black hole horizons in quadrants II and IV.. Moreover the state $`|\psi `$ is the Hartle Hawking state.

Typically there are symmetries which do not mix the two copies of the thermofield double and symmetries which do mix them. In the case of the eternal AdS black hole the symmetry which preserves the separate boundaries includes time translations and rotations of space. The thermal state describing a single copy is not an eigenvector of either the energy or the angular momentum operators of copy $`1`$. However the Hartle Hawking thermofield double state $`\psi `$ is an eigenvector with vanishing eigenvalue of $`H_{tf}`$ and $`J_{tf}J_1+J_2`$. As in the Rindler case there is also a discrete symmetry which interchanges the copies. The Hartle Hawking state is invariant under this transformation as well.

## 2 de Sitter Space

de Sitter space is another example of a space with a horizon. Its Penrose diagram is identical to that of the AdS black hole. For simplicity we will consider the case of $`2+1`$ dimensional de Sitter space. The space can be globally described by the metric

$$ds^2=R^2\left(dt^2(\mathrm{cosh}t)^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_2^2\right).$$
(2.1)
Quadrant I is now referred to as a causal patch of de Sitter space. Its metric is given by

$$ds^2/R^2=(1r^2)dt^2(1r^2)^1dr^2r^2d\theta ^2$$
(2.2)
As in the black hole case, the properties of the causal patch are described by a thermal density matrix . Unlike the AdS case we do not know the details of the holographic dual that describes the causal patch, but we will assume that such a description exists. The assumption that every causal patch has its own quantum mechanical description as an isolated system is the analog of Black Hole Complementarity (which Parikh, Savonije and Verlinde refer to as Observer Complementarity ). Once again we can introduce the thermofield formalism and introduce a copy of the causal patch representing quadrant III of the de Sitter Penrose diagram.

The symmetry group of $`d`$ dimensional de Sitter space is the group $`SO(d,1)`$, which is simply the Lorentz group of the $`d+1`$ dimensional embedding space of the de Sitter hyperboloid. In the case of $`d=3`$, there are six generators: three boosts and three rotations. One of the rotations and one of the boosts preserves the causal patch; we will refer to these as $`J`$ and $`H`$ respectively. $`J`$ generates spatial rotations $`(\theta \theta +const)`$, and $`H`$ generates time translations. More precisely $`H`$ shifts time forward in quadrant I and backward in quadrant II. The remaining two boosts $`K_1,K_2`$ and rotations $`R_1,R_2`$ do not preserve the causal patch - that is, they mix the two copies of the thermofield double in a way analogous to the action of Minkowski translations on the Rindler wedges. The generators satisfy the algebra

$`[R,J_i]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}J_j`$ (2.3)
$`[J_i,J_j]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}R`$ (2.4)
$`[H,J_i]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}K_j`$ (2.5)
$`[H,K_i]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}J_j`$ (2.6)
$`[K_i,K_j]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}R`$ (2.7)
$`[J_i,K_j]`$ $`=`$ $`iϵ_{ij}H`$ (2.8)
$`[H,R]`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (2.9)
The thermofield formalism requires $`H=H_{tf}=H_1H_2`$, where $`H_1`$ acts on $`_1`$ and $`H_2`$ acts on $`_2`$ independently. The generators $`J_i`$ rotate the static patch to a new patch; a rotation by $`\pi `$ interchanges the thermofield double copies. Since the $`J_i`$ mix the two copies, it is evident that they can not be expressed as a sum or difference of operators in $`_1`$ and $`_2`$. The generators $`K_i`$ are Hamiltonians for static patches which are rotated by a relative angle of $`\pi /2`$. They too mix the degrees of freedom in the original patch.

The de Sitter group is part of the group of coordinate transformations, which in general relativity is the gauge group. For this reason physical states should be invariant under the action of any of its generators. Note that this refers to the generators in the thermofield double and not to the individual copies. According to the definition 1.5, the generator $`H_{tf}=H_1H_2`$ annihilates $`|\psi `$.

$$H_{tf}|\psi =(H_1H_2)\underset{i}{}e^{\frac{1}{2}\beta E_i}|E_i,E_i=0.$$
(2.10)
A de Sitter invariant state must also satisfy

$$J|\psi =0.$$
(2.11)
This is a highly nontrivial condition but it is part of the definition of a quantum version of de Sitter space. Solutions are known to exist. The Hartle Hawking state for any quantum field theory in a de Sitter background satisfies 2.10 and 2.11. The condition that $`K`$ annihilates $`\psi `$ is of course a consequence of the commutation relations.

## 3 Finite Entropy

There is one more condition that we must satisfy in order to have a quantum dual of de Sitter space; the thermal entropy of one causal patch is finite. The value of the entropy is connected to the size of the de Sitter space by the Gibbons Hawking  formula for de Sitter entropy:

$$S=\frac{HorizonArea}{4G}.$$
(3.1)
For our purposes we can regard 3.1 as defining the size of the de Sitter space through its entropy, which we can compute in terms of the density matrix 1.1:

$$S=Tr(\rho \mathrm{log}\rho ).$$
(3.2)
The only thing we will assume is that the entropy is finite. The consequences of that for the spectrum of $`H_1`$ are very clear: the eigenvalues $`E_i`$ must be discrete. More precisely, the number of eigenvalues with energy less than any specified value must be finite. This condition implies that the spectrum of $`(H_1H_2)`$ must be countable.

In the literature much stronger conditions have been assumed for the spectrum of $`H_1`$. Banks and Fischler have conjectured that the Hilbert space of states $`_1`$ should be finite dimensional. This may be so, but it does not follow from the finiteness of the entropy. The Entropy is only equal to the dimensionality of the space of states when the temperature is infinite. Entropy can certainly be finite even though the Hilbert space of states is infinite dimensional. We are assuming only the weaker condition that the spectrum is discrete.

We are now ready to prove a no–go theorem. The finiteness of the entropy is incompatible with the existence of the symmetry generators $`(H,J_i,K_j)`$, and the requirement that $`H`$ be a hermetian operator. First, define the hermitian operator $`LJ_1+K_2`$. It follows from 2.9 that

$$[H,L]=iL.$$
(3.3)
In general, $`L`$ is not a good operator on the spectrum of $`H`$. If it were, 3.3 would imply that $`L`$ acts as a raising operator on the spectrum of $`H`$ but would raise the energy by $`i`$, which of course is inconsistent with the hermeticity of $`H`$. However, although the generator $`L`$ itself is not bounded, $`\mathrm{exp}(iL)`$ is a group element and a good operator. Using 3.3, it is easy to see that

$$e^{iL}(t)e^{iHt}e^{iL}e^{iHt}=e^{e^{iHt}iLe^{iHt}}=e^{iLe^t}.$$
(3.4)
We will now assume that the spectrum of $`H`$ is countable, and use the assumption to derive a contradiction. We have

$$\left|\alpha |e^{iL}|\alpha \right|=1\delta .$$
(3.5)
Here $`|\alpha `$ is some state in the Hilbert space, and $`\delta >0`$ because $`e^{iL}`$ is unitary and $`L`$ is non-zero. We also have

$$F(t)\alpha |e^{iL(t)}|\alpha =\alpha |e^{iHt}e^{iL}e^{iHt}|\alpha =\alpha |e^{iLe^t}|\alpha .$$
(3.6)
From this, $`F(t)1`$ as $`t\mathrm{}`$, and $`F(0)=1\delta <1`$. We will now prove that $`F(t)`$ is quasiperiodic (see e.g. the appendix of ).

Any sum of the form

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}f_ne^{i\omega _nt}$$
(3.7)
is quasiperiodic if

$$\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left|f_n\right|^2<\mathrm{}.$$
(3.8)
Therefore, it suffices to show that $`F(t)`$ can be written as a sum of this form. But, expanding the state $`|\alpha `$ in the energy basis,

$$F(t)=\underset{n,m}{}f_n^{}f_mn|e^{iL}|me^{i(\omega _n\omega _m)t}.$$
(3.9)
Consider the sum

$$\underset{m,n}{}f_n^{}f_mf_m^{}f_nn|e^{iL}|mm|e^{iL}|n=\underset{n}{}\left|f_n\right|^2\underset{m}{}\left|f_m\right|^2n|e^{iL}|mm|e^{iL}|n.$$
(3.10)
Considering the inner sum, we have (since $`_mn|e^{iL}|mm|e^{iL}|n=1`$, and the terms are real and positive)

$$\underset{m}{}\left|f_m\right|^2n|e^{iL}|mm|e^{iL}|n1,$$
(3.11)
and therefore

$$\underset{m,n}{}f_n^{}f_mf_m^{}f_nn|e^{iL}|mm|e^{iL}|n1.$$
(3.12)
This shows that $`F(t)`$ satisfies the criterion 3.8, and hence $`F(t)`$ is quasiperiodic. Therefore, since $`F(0)<1`$, $`F(t)`$ can not tend to $`1`$ as $`t\mathrm{}`$, and we have a contradiction

This proves that $`H`$ can not have a countable spectrum. and therefore that the $`E_i`$ cannot be discrete and the entropy cannot be finite.

Shenker  has suggested an interesting viewpoint; that of anomalies. It is fairly clear that in ordinary perturbation theory in de Sitter space the symmetry of the space will never break down. Furthermore, in every order the entanglement entropy of I and III will be infinite. This suggests that the same nonperturbative effects which make the spectrum discrete and the entropy finite, also break the de Sitter symmetry. A tantalizing hint is that the size of such a nonperturbative effect would scale as $`\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{area}/4G_N)\mathrm{exp}(S)`$, which is the characteristic energy gap $`\delta E`$ for a system with entropy $`S`$.

The same argument can be applied to Rindler space. Using 1.19 and replacing the operator $`L`$ by $`P_1+P_0`$ the spectrum $`H_{rind}`$ is also proved to be all real numbers. Thus the entropy of Rindler space must be infinite. Obviously if the number of non–compact directions of spacetime is 3 or more, the horizon is infinite and the total entropy does diverge. It is only in the case of $`1+1`$ non–compact directions that the entropy could possibly be finite and conflict with Rindler symmetry. However, at least in the case of string theory it is known that compactification to $`1+1`$ dimensions can not yield a theory with translation invariance . In the appendix we describe as an example the action of a Minkowski space translation on the Rindler thermofield double.

## 4 Conclusions

Finiteness of entropy appears to be incompatible with de Sitter symmetry. What are we to make of this no–go theorem? One possibility is that de Sitter space has infinite entropy. Perhaps only entropy differences are finite. However, this seems to run against the grain of everything we have learnt over the last decade. The horizon of de Sitter space is locally identical to that of a Schwarzschild black hole. It is hard to see why one would have an infinite entropy and the other not .

If the entropy is finite then the symmetry of different causal patches must be broken, the Hamiltonians and energy spectra differing at least slightly. How would these effects manifest themselves? The discreteness of the energy spectrum introduces a new time scale of order $`1/\delta `$, where $`\delta `$ is of order the typical spacing of levels. For a system with entropy $`S`$ the level spacing is of order $`\mathrm{exp}(S)`$ and the time scale is the Poincare recurrence  time $`t_p\mathrm{exp}S`$. This is the time scale on which the discreteness of the spectrum causes significant effects. Thus the violations of de Sitter symmetry should become important for times of order $`t_p`$ and recurrences should not respect the symmetry. We may speculate that no space can behave like idealized de Sitter space for times longer than $`t_p`$. For example, it is possible that eternal de Sitter simply does not exist, because there are always instabilities which cause the space to decay in a time shorter than the recurrence time.222Some time ago, Simeon Hellerman  suggested that there may be a general bound coming from an acceleration–duration relation, which would prohibit arbitrarily long-lived accelerating spacetimes such as de Sitter.

An alternative has been proposed by Bousso , which is simply that because any observer will be destroyed by thermal particles long before $`t_p`$, times longer than $`t_p`$ should be regarded as having no operational meaning. In the same spirit, Banks, Fischler, and Paban  speculate that due to the physical constraints on the measuring process in de Sitter space , no experiment can ever last a time comparable to the recurrence time. Hamiltonians that agree for time scales less than $`t_p`$ should be considered physically equivalent. In terms of the energy levels $`E_i`$ this would mean that the level shifts going from one patch to another should be no bigger than the level spacing $`\mathrm{exp}(S)`$. If this can be made precise and the physical consequences of different Hamiltonians are identical, then the exact choice of Hamiltonian would become part of the gauge redundancy in a single patch. The transformation from one patch to another would include such a gauge transformation. It is not clear to us whether this would mean that Poincare recurrences are meaningless or if it means that there is an additional degree of unpredictability in their occurence.

## 5 Note Added in Revised Version

We have argued on general grounds that de Sitter behavior can not persist for times of order the Poincare recurrence time. In this note we will present an argument based on work by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trivedi  that strongly supports this claim in the context of string theory 333We are especially grateful to Andrei Linde for a very enlightening discussion of this point and for communicating the results of  to us. . Since string theory has supersymmetric ground states with vanishing vacuum energy it is possible to tunnel out of any positive local minimum of the scalar potential. Typically there will be a barrier to the tunneling which may be as high as the string or Planck scale. Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trevedi compute the rate for tunelling over such a barrier and find that it is always less than the recurrence time. The essence of the calculation is simple and can be understood by the following (over)simplified argument:

Obviously it is sufficient to calculate the rate for a fluctuation that takes the static patch to the top of the potential barrier since once that configuration is achieved, there is no further obstacle to rolling down to the vacuum with vanishing energy. Suppose the vacuum energy density (in Planck Units) at the top of the barrier is $`\lambda <1`$. If the barrier is broad and fairly flat, we will have a temporary de Sitter phase with horizon area $`1/\lambda `$ and similar entropy. Now consider the rate for a thermal fluctuation to take take the static patch from the local minimum to the top of the potential. The standard formula for the rate of thermal fluctuations $`\gamma `$ is

$$\gamma \mathrm{exp}(S_1S_0).$$

where $`S_0`$ and $`S_1`$ are the entropies of the equilibrium phase and the fluctuation respectively. Since the recurrence time is $`\mathrm{exp}S_0`$ it is clear that the rate of thermal tunelling is always bigger than the rate of Poincare recurrences. Thus is appears that in string theory, a metastable de Sitter phase can not live for a recurrence time.

This instability has implications for the energy spectrum of the metastable de Sitter. Since the lifetime is always shorter than the recurrence time, each energy level must develop a width $`\gamma `$ at least of order $`\mathrm{exp}S`$. In a typical situation of the type studied in , the width of each level is vastly greater than the level spacing, which is reminiscent of a Schwarzschild black hole in flat space.

## 6 Acknowledgements

N. G. would like to thank C.W.Kim and the staff of KIAS for hospitality while this work was in progress, and UCT for supporting her studies at UCT. M. K. is the Mellam Family Graduate Fellow.

M.K. and L.S. are grateful for discussions with Tom Banks, Puneet Batra, Raphael Bousso, Nemanja Kaloper, Andy Albrecht, Simeon Hellerman, Steve Shenker, and especially Ben Freivogel.

## 7 Appendix

In this appendix we illustrate how the group of Minkowski translations acts on the Rindler degrees of freedom. For simplicity we study a 1+1 Minkowski toy model with a free scalar field $`\zeta `$ of mass $`m`$. The Minkowski coordinates are denoted by $`T,X`$ and take values in $`[\mathrm{},\mathrm{}]`$. The Lagrangian density for a free scalar field of mass $`m`$ is given by

$$=\sqrt{g}[g_{\mu \nu }^\mu \zeta ^\nu \zeta m^2\zeta ],$$
(7.1)
Rindler coordinates are defined by

$$r=\sqrt{X^2T^2},\tau =\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}\frac{X+T}{XT}.$$
(7.2)
They are defined on both the right and the left Rindler wedge, but time and radius run in opposite directions in the two wedges. In these coordinates the wave equation takes the form

$$\ddot{\zeta }\frac{^2}{u^2}\zeta +m^2e^{2u}\zeta =0$$
(7.3)
where $`u=\mathrm{ln}r`$ and dot indicates derivative with respect to $`\tau `$. Let us note first that as we discussed earlier, the algebra of the Rindler Hamiltonian and the Minkowski translations can only be consistent if the entropy of Rindler space is infinite. Since the $`u`$ axis is unbounded at both ends it is not surprising that the entropy of the scalar field at finite temperature is infinite. However the important infinity comes from one end as can be seen from the wave equation (7.3): the mass term acts like a wall preventing the field from penetrating to large positive $`u`$. On the other hand the region of large negative $`u`$ is still massless. In this case the divergent entropy comes from the $`u<<0`$. This is of course the region very near the horizon.

Any solution of the wave equation can be expanded in terms of the basis functions

$$f_k=\frac{1}{\sqrt{c_k}}e^{ikui\omega _k\tau }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{c_k}}r^{ik}e^{i\omega _k\tau }$$
(7.4)
where $`c_k=4\pi \omega _k`$ are normalization constants and $`\omega _k=+\sqrt{k^2+r^2m^2}`$.

The two thermofield copies of $`\zeta `$ at $`\tau =0`$ are just the fields on the two half spaces $`X>0`$ and $`X<0`$. Each copy can be expanded in creation and annihilation operators for Rindler excitations. Denoting the operators by $`a,a^{}`$ and $`b,b^{}`$ for $`X>0`$ and $`X<0`$ respectively $`\zeta `$ can be expressed as

$$\zeta (r,\tau )=\frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}[r^{ik}e^{i\omega _k\tau }a(k)+r^{ik}e^{i\omega _k\tau }a^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(X)+\frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}[r^{ik}e^{i\omega _k\tau }b(k)+r^{ik}e^{i\omega _k\tau }b^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(X).$$
(7.5)
The first integral corresponds to the part of the wave equation in the right Rindler wedge while the second integral corresponds to the part in the left Rindler wedge.

To illustrate the action of the Minkowski translations on the Rindler degrees of freedom we consider a translation along the X axis by distance $`a`$. The Rindler coordinates transform as

$$r^{}=\sqrt{(Xa)^2T^2}=\sqrt{r^2+a^22ar\mathrm{cosh}\tau }$$
(7.6)
and

$$\tau ^{}=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}\frac{Xa+T}{XaT}=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}\frac{\pm r\mathrm{cosh}\tau +r\mathrm{sinh}\tau a}{\pm r\mathrm{cosh}\tau r\mathrm{sinh}\tau a}.$$
(7.7)
The upper signs apply in the right Rindler wedge ($`X>0`$), the lower ones in the left Rindler wedge ($`X<0`$).

In the right hand wedge, the shifted fields $`\zeta ,\dot{\zeta }`$ at $`\tau =0`$ have the form

$`\zeta (r)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}[(ra)^{ik}a(k)+(ra)^{ik}a^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(ra)}`$ (7.9)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}[(ar)^{ik}b(k)+(ar)^{ik}b^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(ar)}`$
$`\dot{\zeta }(r)`$ $`=`$ $`i{\displaystyle \frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}\omega _kr[(ra)^{ik1}a(k)(ra)^{ik1}a^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(ra)}`$ (7.11)
$`i{\displaystyle \frac{dk}{\sqrt{c_k}}\omega _kr[(ar)^{ik1}b(k)(ar)^{ik1}b^{}(k)]\mathrm{\Theta }(ar)}.`$
The shifted field can also be to expanded in terms of new (shifted) creation and annihilation operators $`c^{}`$ and $`c`$. Concentrating on the right hand Rindler wedge:

$$\zeta (r,\tau )_{\tau =0}=𝑑k[f_kc(k)+f_k^{}c^{}(k)]$$
(7.12)
where the basis functions $`f_k`$ are defined as above.

The Bogoliubov transformation giving the operators $`c,c^{}`$ is easily obtained. For example we find

$$c^{}(l)=𝑑k[D(l,k)a^{}(k)+E(l,k)a(k)+F(l,k)b^{}(k)+G(l,k)b(k)]$$
(7.13)
with the Bogoliubov coefficients given by

$`D(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi \sqrt{\omega _k\omega _l}}}(\omega _k+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{l}}\omega _l)a^{ilik}B(il+ik,ik)`$ (7.14)
$`E(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi \sqrt{\omega _k\omega _l}}}(\omega _k+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{l}}\omega _l)a^{il+ik}B(ilik,ik)`$ (7.15)
$`F(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi \sqrt{\omega _k\omega _l}}}{\displaystyle \frac{l\omega _kk\omega _l}{lk}}a^{ilik}B(il,ik)`$ (7.16)
$`G(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi \sqrt{\omega _k\omega _l}}}{\displaystyle \frac{l\omega _kk\omega _l}{l+k}}a^{il+ik}B(il,ik),`$ (7.17)
where $`B(a,b)`$ is the Euler $`\beta `$–function:

$$B(a,b)=_0^1y^{a1}(1y)^{b1}𝑑y$$
(7.18)
and we have used the identity $`B(a,b+1)=\frac{b}{a+b}B(a,b)`$. In the massless limit these coefficients simplify to give

$`D(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{k}{l}}}a^{ilik}B(il+ik,ik)\mathrm{\Theta }(kl)`$ (7.19)
$`E(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{k}{l}}}a^{il+ik}B(ilik,ik)\mathrm{\Theta }(kl)`$ (7.20)
$`F(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`(sgn(l)sgn(k)){\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{|kl|}}{4\pi (lk)}}a^{ilik}B(il,ik)`$ (7.21)
$`G(l,k)`$ $`=`$ $`(sgn(l)sgn(k)){\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{|kl|}}{4\pi (l+k)}}a^{il+ik}B(il,ik).`$ (7.22)
Similar equations determine the transformed operators for the left wedge of Rindler space. In this way we explicitly see how the symmetries of Minkowski space mix the two copies of the thermofield double.


text:
# Even-Odd Effect in Spontaneously Coherent Bilayer Quantum Hall Droplets

## Abstract

Using exact diagonalization in the disc geometry we predict a novel even-odd effect in the Coulomb blockade spectra of vertically coupled double quantum dots under an external magnetic field. The even-odd effect in the tunneling conductance is a direct manifestation of spontaneous interlayer phase coherence, and is similar to the even-odd resonance in the Cooper pair box problem in mesoscopic superconducting grains. Coherent fluctuations in the number of Cooper pairs in superconductors is analogous to the fluctuations in the relative number difference between the two layers in quantum Hall droplets.

It is now well accepted  that a bilayer quantum Hall system may spontaneously develop interaction-induced interlayer phase coherence with an associated Goldstone mode. Such an interlayer coherent state is akin to an excitonic condensate, being qualitatively similar to a neutral superfluid ground state. Pioneering experiments  by Eisenstein and collaborators have firmly established the physical reality of such an interlayer coherent phase in high-mobility bilayer GaAs heterostructures around a total Landau level filling factor of unity ($`\nu _T=1`$). One of the most spectacular experimental demonstrations of the superfluidity of this spontaneous coherent phase has been the observation  of a very sharp interlayer tunneling peak which has been interpreted by some (but not all) as the direct analog of the Josephson effect .

Given the considerable significance of the spontaneous quantum Hall interlayer phase coherence as a novel correlation-induced collective phenomenon, it is important to envisage alternative non-trivial properties of the coherent state which have direct analogies to superconducting systems. In this Letter, we theoretically study one such property, namely the precise analogy between bilayer coherent quantum Hall droplets and the “Cooper pair box” problem in small superconducting grains studied in a series of seminal experiments  by Nakamura and collaborators. Our theoretical results presented in this paper shows convincingly that bilayer quantum Hall quantum dot systems could spontaneously (i.e. in the absence of any interlayer tunneling) develop interlayer coherence leading to coherent fluctuations in the number of electrons in each dot (with the total number of electrons in the double dot system being fixed), which in turn will give rise to an experimentally observable even-odd effect analogous to the even-odd resonance (and the corresponding Rabi oscillations) reported in the Cooper pair box experiment . Our predicted even-odd effect in the bilayer quantum Hall quantum dot system has the obvious additional exciting prospect of providing a robust quantum two-level system with the interesting potential of serving as a qubit in a novel quantum-Hall-quantum-dot quantum computer architecture , which is fundamentally different from electron-spin-based quantum dot qubits currently being studied in the literature .

The system of interest is the so-called vertically-coupled double dot system  in a strong, external magnetic field so that the double-dot system is effectively equivalent to a finite bilayer quantum Hall droplet. We also assume that the electron number in each dot can be precisely controlled as has been demonstrated. In particular, we consider the system to have an odd number of electrons, which, to be specific, we take to be 7 without any loss of generality (any other small odd number of electrons such as 5, 9, 11, 13, etc. does not make any difference in our analysis). Due to the large capacitive energy associated with interlayer charge imbalance, the ground state of the system (without any external bias voltages and interlayer tunneling) has double degeneracy: the state with 4 (3) electrons in the top (bottom) layer has exactly the same energy as the state with 3 (4) electrons in the top (bottom) layer. We denote these two degenerate ground states as $`|4,3`$ and $`|3,4`$, respectively.

For a range of magnetic fields the two degenerate ground states, $`|4,3`$ and $`|3,4`$, are separated from the excitation spectrum by an energy gap. This is so because the Coulomb interaction energy has a cusp at a particular configuration of states which is usually known as the maximum density droplet (MDD) state . It is important to note that the MDD state in our system is the mesoscopic droplet realization of the bulk bilayer coherent state at $`\nu _T=1`$. The above two MDD states, $`|4,3`$ and $`|3,4`$, compose our two level system for the finite droplet similar to the corresponding Cooper pair box situation.

We begin our quantitative analysis by considering the Hamiltonian for electrons subject to a uniform magnetic field and a parabolic confining potential. In the Fock-Darwin basis, the many-body Hamiltonian for the bilayer quantum dot system can be written as:

$`H`$ $`=`$ $`H_0+\widehat{P}V_{Coul}\widehat{P}+H_t`$ (1)
where $`H_0=\frac{1}{2}\left(\sqrt{\omega _c^2+4\omega _0^2}\omega _c\right)\widehat{L}_z`$, with $`\widehat{L}_z`$ being the total angular momentum in $`z`$-direction. Also, $`\omega _c`$ is the cyclotron frequency and $`\omega _0`$ parameterizes the parabolic confining potential. $`\widehat{P}`$ is the lowest Landau level (LLL) projection operator and $`V_{Coul}`$ represents the usual Coulomb interaction between electrons:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{V_{Coul}}{e^2/ϵa}}={\displaystyle \underset{i<j}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r_{ij}}}+{\displaystyle \underset{k<l}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r_{kl}}}+{\displaystyle \underset{i,k}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{r_{ik}^2+(\frac{d}{a})^2}}},`$ (2)
where $`d`$ is the interlayer spacing, $`ϵ`$ is the GaAs dielectric constant, and $`r_{ij}`$ is the lateral separation between the $`i`$-th and $`j`$-th electron. The natural length unit is the modified magnetic length $`a=l_B(1+4\omega _0^2/\omega _c^2)^{1/4}`$ which reduces to the planar magnetic length, $`l_B=\sqrt{\mathrm{}c/eB}`$, when the cyclotron energy is much larger than the confining potential energy. In the above we have used a pseudo-spin representation to describe the double layer system: $``$ and $``$ distinguish different layers. In general we define the pseudo-spin operator:

$`𝐒{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}c_a^{}(m)\stackrel{}{\sigma }_{ab}c_b(m),`$ (3)
where $`\widehat{S}_z`$ measures the electron number difference between layers, and $`\widehat{S}_x`$ is associated with interlayer tunneling. We take the real spin to be fully polarized either because of the large Zeeman coupling or because of electron-electron repulsion , i.e. Hund’s rule.

The tunneling Hamiltonian $`H_t`$ in the Eq.(1) can be written as:

$`H_t={\displaystyle \frac{t}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}c_a^{}(m)\sigma _{ab}^xc_b(m)t\widehat{S}_x`$ (4)
where $`\sigma `$ is the usual Pauli matrix, $`t`$ is the single particle interlayer tunneling gap, and $`m`$ denotes the LLL angular momentum quantum number. Eq.(4) is valid for general $`t`$. However, we are interested in the limit of zero interlayer tunneling, i.e. $`t/(e^2/ϵa)0`$, which is appropriate when considering *spontaneous* interlayer coherence (note that the $`t0`$ limit is not the same as the $`t=0`$ situation).

We now analyze the Hamiltonian in Eq.(1) via exact diagonalization of finite size systems in the limit of zero tunneling. In this limit, the Hamiltonian is invariant with respect to layer exchange and spatial rotations, i.e. $`[V_{Coul},\widehat{S}_z]=0`$ and $`[V_{Coul},\widehat{L}_z]=0`$. We may therefore restrict the Hilbert space to specific $`S_z`$ and $`M_z`$ sectors, where $`S_z`$ and $`M_z`$ are the eigenvalues of $`\widehat{S}_z`$ and $`\widehat{L}_z`$, respectively. We diagonalize the Coulomb interaction in the basis of LLL single-particle eigenstates. . In particular, we focus our attention on the part of the Hilbert space containing the MDD state which occurs at $`M_z=N(N1)/2`$, where $`N`$ is the total number of particles.

Fig.1 shows the eigenenergy spectrum of the Coulomb interaction as a function of $`S_z`$ for a 7 electron system with $`d/a=1`$ and $`M_z=21`$. Due to the direct electrostatic contribution of the Coulomb interaction, the lowest energy state is obtained for states with the smallest charge imbalance between layers, i.e. $`S_z=+1/2`$ ($`|4,3`$) and $`1/2`$ ($`|3,4`$). In fact, this electrostatic contribution may be viewed as the relative charging energy between layers. As expected, the ground states located at $`S_z=1/2`$ and $`1/2`$ are separated from the lowest energy states of higher $`|S_z|`$ by the relative charging energy cost:

$`V_{Coul}^{direct}={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{N}}\widehat{S}_z^2,`$ (5)
where we find $`\alpha /(e^2/ϵa)0.18+0.35d/a`$ for $`d/a0.5`$. In particular, the lowest energy state of $`S_z=\pm 1/2`$ is separated from that of $`S_z=\pm 3/2`$ by an energy gap of roughly 0.05 $`e^2/ϵa`$. Therefore, as far as excitations lower than this charging energy cost are concerned, we can restrict our attention to the Hilbert space of $`S_z=\pm 1/2`$. Note that the energy spectra of the $`S_z=1/2`$ and $`1/2`$ states are identical because of reflection symmetry between layers. Also, it is important to remember that the relative charging energy, $`V_{Coul}^{direct}`$, is inversely proportional to the number of electrons. Therefore, for large $`N`$, mixing between states with different $`S_z`$ becomes appeciable, in which case our two-level system is ill-defined.

Fig.2 shows the energy spectrum in the $`S_z=1/2`$ Hilbert space as a function of $`M_z`$ for 7 electrons at $`d/a=1`$. The energy in the graph is the sum of the Coulomb interaction energy and the confining potential energy: $`E=V_{Coul}+\gamma M_z`$ where $`\gamma =\frac{\mathrm{}}{2}\left(\sqrt{\omega _c^2+4\omega _0^2}\omega _c\right)`$. By choosing $`\gamma =0.1187e^2/ϵa`$ we obtain the maximum gap. The MDD state is separated from the edge excitation ($`\mathrm{\Delta }M_z=+1`$) and the internal excitation ($`\mathrm{\Delta }M_z=1`$) by roughly $`0.05e^2/ϵa`$ at the interlayer separation $`d/a=1`$. Also, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_z=0`$ excitation is shown to have an energy gap roughly equal to $`0.07e^2/ϵa`$ at $`d/a=1`$. Fig.3 plots the lowest energy gaps as a function of $`d/a`$. As seen from the graph, the energy gap is well developed for $`d/a1`$. We conclude that the MDD state is stabilized in a suitable range of magnetic fields and interlayer distances for small system sizes.

Now that the two degenerate ground states, $`|S_z=+1/2`$ and $`|S_z=1/2`$, are shown to be well separated from other excitations in the limit of zero tunneling, we can reduce the whole Hilbert space into the Hilbert space composed of only these two states. In this limit, the reduced Hamiltonian is written as:

$`H_{red}=\mathrm{\Delta }_x\sigma _x+\mathrm{\Delta }_z\sigma _z,`$ (6)
where $`\sigma _x`$ and $`\sigma _z`$ are the usual Pauli matrices. In the limit of a small single-particle tunneling gap $`t`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x=t+1/2|\widehat{S}_x|1/2`$. Also, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_z`$ is the relative bias voltage between layers. $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x`$ is the renormalized tunneling gap which is greatly enhanced from the single-particle tunneling gap, $`t`$, by the Coulomb interaction. In other words, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x/t`$ is the natural order parameter quantifying spontaneous coherence in bilayer quantum Hall systems. The precise definition of spontaneous phase coherence in our quantum dot system is given by:

$`\underset{t0}{lim}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_x}{t}}=\underset{t0}{lim}+1/2|\widehat{S}_x|1/20.`$ (7)
Fig.4 shows $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x/t`$ for a 7 particle system as a function of $`d/a`$. We see that the interaction-induced coherence effect is sizable for $`d/a1`$. It is important to note that $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x`$ increases with system size, more precisely: $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x\frac{t}{2}(N+1)`$ for small $`d/a`$.

We have established that the bilayer quantum Hall droplet is a natural two level system with intrinsic coherence. Now we predict the even-odd effect in tunneling conductance, which can be used for experimental confirmation of coherence. Tunneling conductance measurements in quantum dot systems in the Coulomb-blockade regime find conductance peaks when the gate voltage $`V_g`$ is tuned so that the total energy of the $`N`$ electron system becomes identical to that of the $`N+1`$ electron system. The total energy of the bilayer quantum Hall quantum dot system includes the total charging energy cost, which is given by:

$`H_{charging}={\displaystyle \frac{e^2}{2C}}\left(N{\displaystyle \frac{CV_g}{e}}\right)^2`$ (8)
where $`C`$ is the total capacitance of the double dot system.

Fig.5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the even-odd effect. Fig.5(a) depicts the case with no interlayer coherence due to either a large interlayer separation or an extremely small single-particle tunneling gap. Fig.5(b) shows that, in the low tunneling limit, due to interlayer coherence, the odd $`N`$ system acquires an energy splitting between the symmetric ($`|\varphi _+`$) and antisymmetric ($`|\varphi _{}`$) superposition of $`|+1/2`$ and $`|1/2`$, which is $`\mathrm{\Delta }_x`$. On the other hand, the ground state energy of the even $`N`$ system decreases by only $`2\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_x^2/E_c`$ for small $`t`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_x=t0|\widehat{S}_x|1`$, and $`E_c`$ is the energy difference between $`|S_z=0`$ and $`|S_z=1`$. As a result, the distance between conductance peaks will oscillate between $`e^2/C+(\mathrm{\Delta }_x2\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_x^2/E_c)`$ and $`e^2/C(\mathrm{\Delta }_x2\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}_x^2/E_c)`$ as a function of $`eV_g`$. A large tunneling gap will eventually destroy the even-odd effect because all electrons will occupy the interlayer-symmetric state. This will mix states with different $`S_z`$, thereby destroying our two-level system. Both large and zero tunneling will therefore lead to evenly spaced Coulomb blockade peaks whereas the even-odd effect will show up for weak (but finite) tunneling.

We emphasize that our predicted even-odd effect is the precise quantum Hall analog of the Josephson effect in the Cooper pair box problem. It is important to note that the number of Cooper pairs in superconductors can be formally mapped to $`S_z`$ in our coherent bilayer quantum Hall system. Therefore, the coherent linear combination of superconducting states with different numbers of Cooper pairs ,which leads to the Josephson effect, is precisely analogous to the linear combination of bilayer quantum Hall states with different $`S_z`$, which is the origin of our even-odd effect.

In conclusion, we have proposed an even-odd effect in tunneling conductance through veritcally coupled double quantum dots in the quantum Hall regime, which is the direct analog of the Josephson effect in mesoscopic superconducting grains.

This work is supported by ARDA and LPS.