text:
# The zero-field superconducting phase transition obscured by finite-size effects in thick 𝐘𝐁𝐚_𝟐𝐂𝐮_𝟑𝐎_{𝟕-𝛿} films

## Abstract

We report on the normal-superconducting phase transition in thick $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{7\delta }`$ films in zero magnetic field. We find significant finite-size effects at low currents even in our thickest films ($`d=3200`$ Å). Using data at higher currents, we can unambiguously find $`T_c`$ and $`z`$, and show $`z=2.1\pm 0.15`$, as expected for the three-dimensional XY model with diffusive dynamics. The crossover to two-dimensional behavior, seen by other researchers in thinner films ($`d500`$ Å), obscures the three-dimensional transition in both zero field and the vortex-glass transition in field, leading to incorrect values of $`T_c`$ (or $`T_g`$), $`\nu `$, and $`z`$. The finite-size effects, usually ignored in thick films, are an explanation for the wide range of critical exponents found in the literature.

Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductors and the realization that their higher critical temperatures and smaller coherence lengths create an experimentally accessible critical region chris , researchers have looked at these superconductors in an effort to determine the model that governs the phase transition. Fisher, Fisher and Huse ffh  codified the scaling approach to the normal-superconducting (N-S) phase transition and predicted the existence of an N-S phase transition in field, called the vortex-glass transition. This phase transition in field has been extensively studied using current-voltage ($`IV`$) isotherms, and although a consensus has emerged that a vortex-glass transition exists, there is little consensus in the values of the critical exponents $`\nu `$ and $`z`$consensus0 ; consensus1 ; consensus2 . Moreover, some have claimed that scaling data collapse does not prove the existence of a phase transitionagainst  and that screening can create a non-zero resistancescreening , destroying the transition. Recent work has questioned the existence of a phase transition, showing that data collapse alone is too flexible, and proposing a criterion to determine whether or not a phase transition has occurreddoug .

In zero magnetic field the existence of an N-S phase transition is not in doubt. Very close to $`T_c`$ ($`|TT_c|2`$ K)chris , the transition is expected to obey the three-dimensional (3D) XY model, with $`\nu 0.67`$ and $`z=2.0`$ for diffusive dynamics ffh . Although specific heat and penetration depth measurements have found mean-field values of $`\nu 0.5`$gauss , others have fit specific heat and penetration depth data using critical models with smaller residuals than for mean-field modelscrit , and recent thermal expansivity data is more consistent with 3D-XY scaling, ($`\nu 0.67`$)thermex . Transport measurements can determine both $`\nu `$ and $`z`$, but data in zero field is inconsistent: Researchers have found vortex-glass like exponents ($`\nu =1.1`$, $`z=8.3`$) in small fields ($`<`$ 10 mT)lowfields , others finding 3D-XY-like exponents when extrapolating to zero field from higher fieldsmoloni  and in crystalsyeh1 .

Researchers have shown that, in thin films ($`d500`$ Å), the fluctuation dynamics can cross over from $`D=3`$ to $`D=2`$, and that this crossover occurs at a well-defined current density, $`J_{min}`$ finitesizes ; ffh . In this work we present a systematic study of $`J_{min}`$ in films of different thicknesses. We find that even in our thickest film ($`d=3200`$ Å) the crossover to $`D=2`$ obscures the phase transition, causing incorrect choices for $`T_c`$, $`\nu `$, and $`z`$. However, at currents greater than $`J_{min}`$, we see behavior as predicted by scaling which gives reliable values for $`T_c`$ and $`z`$.

We examined the zero-field $`IV`$ curves of $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{7\delta }`$ (YBCO) films deposited via pulsed laser deposition onto $`\mathrm{SrTiO}_3`$ (100) substrates. X-ray diffraction verified that our films are of predominately c-axis orientation, and ac susceptibility measurements showed transition widths $`0.25`$ K. $`R(T)`$ measurements (inset to Fig. 1) show $`T_c91.5`$ K and transition widths of about 0.7 K. AFM and SEM images show featureless surfaces with a roughness of $`12`$ nm. Our films also have a high critical current ($`J_c(77\mathrm{K})2\times 10^{10}\mathrm{A}/\mathrm{m}^2`$). These films are of similar or better quality than most YBCO films reported in the literature.

Our films were photolithographically patterned into 4-probe bridges of varying widths (8 - 200 $`\mu \mathrm{m}`$) and lengths (40 - 1000 $`\mu `$m) and etched with a dilute solution of phosphoric acid without noticeable degradation of $`R(T)`$. We surround our cryostat with $`\mu `$-metal shields to reduce the ambient field to $`2\times 10^7`$ T inside. To reduce external noise, the cryostat is placed inside a screen room with low-pass T filters at the screen room wall and low-pass $`\pi `$ filters at the cold end of the probe.

Figure 1 shows $`IV`$ curves taken on a 2100 Å thick film on a bridge of dimensions $`20\times 100\mu \mathrm{m}^2`$. Scaling predictsffh

$$V\xi ^{2+zD}/I=\chi _\pm (I\xi ^{D1}/T),$$
(1)
where $`D`$ is the dimension, $`z`$ is the dynamic critical exponent, $`\xi `$ is the coherence length, and $`\chi _\pm `$ are the scaling functions for above and below the transition temperature $`T_c`$. Fluctuations are expected to have a typical size $`\xi `$ which diverges near $`T_c`$ as $`\xi |T/T_c1|^\nu `$, defining the static critical exponent $`\nu `$.

Above $`T_c`$ at low currents, the $`IV`$ curves are expected to be ohmic (represented in Fig. 1 as a dashed line with slope 1), whereas at higher currents the isotherms are expected to show non-linear, power law behavior (slope greater than 1). Exactly at $`T_c`$, the coherence length diverges while the voltage remains finite, which is true only if $`VI^{(z+1)/2}`$ (for $`D=3`$), i.e. a straight line on a log-log plot ffh ; consensus0 . Conventionally, $`T_c`$ is chosen as the first isotherm without an ohmic tail, the isotherm at 91.26 K in Fig. 1. Data at higher currents and voltages are typically excluded from fits because it is assumed that the system is being driven out of thermal equilibrium. The thick solid line at 91.26 K is a fit to a power-law at lower voltages, and gives a dynamic exponent $`z=5.5`$, similar to exponents found elsewherelowfields , but clearly not the expected $`z=2`$.

We have suggesteddoug  that a better way to determine the critical isotherm is to examine the derivatives of log$`E`$ vs. log$`J`$ isotherms. On such a graph, the critical isotherm would be obvious as a horizontal line with intercept $`(z+1)/2`$, separating isotherms with positive and negative slope (corresponding to concave up and down in Fig. 1). Our opposite concavity criteriondoug  states that isotherms at equal temperatures away from $`T_c`$ should show opposite concavity at the same current level.

The derivative plot for the $`IV`$ curves in Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 2. There is no isotherm which is horizontal over the entire range of currents, contrary to theoretical expectations. The opposite concavity criterion is also not satisfied, and isotherms below 91.44 K have unexpected behavior: they are concave down at higher currents before displaying ohmic behavior at lower currents. If we consider only the higher currents ($`I>40\mu `$A), we can see behavior as predicted by scaling which also satisfies the opposite concavity criterion: the isotherm at 91.44 K is horizontal, lower isotherms are concave up, and higher isotherms are concave down. This allows an unambiguous choice for $`T_c`$, $`91.44`$ K. If we fit the high-current data to a horizontal line, then $`z=2.1\pm 0.15`$, which agrees with diffusive dynamics. Below we will justify analyzing only $`I>40\mu `$A, ignoring the low-current linear behavior in these $`IV`$ curves (the ohmic “tails”).

To determine whether the ohmic tails are a bulk intrinsic effect, we patterned bridges of different widths on the same film. The inset to Fig. 2 shows the 91.26 K isotherm for three bridges on the same 2100 Å film from Figs. 1 and 2. Each bridge was measured simultaneously to insure identical temperatures. It is clear that the isotherms do not agree as a function of $`I`$. In Figure 3, we plot $`d`$log$`E/d`$log$`J`$ as a function of $`J`$ rather than $`I`$. All three bridges have similar behavior in $`J`$, showing that we are measuring a bulk effect as opposed to an edge effectedge . It is also clear that each isotherm turns over towards ohmic behavior at a certain applied current density rather than current. This is significant, because at an applied current density $`J`$ one probes fluctuations of typical sizeffh ; finitesizes  $`L_J=(ck_BT/\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{o}J)^{1/2}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{o}=h/2e`$ is the magnetic flux quantum and $`c`$ is a constant expected to be of the same order as the YBCO anisotropy parameter, $`\gamma 0.2`$. Thus, as $`J`$ decreases, $`L_J`$ increases and will eventually reach the thickness of the film. At this point a crossover to 2D behavior is expected, as the size of the fluctuations is limited along the c-axis. Thus, for a film of thickness $`d`$, there is a minimum current density, such that smaller current densities probe 2D fluctuations:

$$J_{min}=ck_BT/\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{o}d^2.$$
(2)
Because $`J_{min}`$ does not depend on the exponents $`\nu `$ and $`z`$, this minimum current density applies for both the vortex-glass transition and the transition in zero field.

We examined the ohmic tails generated in seven films of different thicknesses to determine how $`J_{min}`$ varies as a function of thickness. We measured seven films with similar properties ($`T_c`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_c`$) which varied in thickness from 950 Å to 3200 Å anote . To choose $`IV`$ curves to compare between films, we have taken the isotherm which, from high-current data, most seems like $`T_c`$, i.e. horizontal on the $`d`$log$`E/d`$log$`J`$ vs. $`J`$ plot. For $`J_{min}`$ we have chosen a similar criterion as Ref.theysawittoo , when $`d`$log$`E/d`$log$`J=1.2`$anothernote . If the ohmic tails are caused by finite-size effects, then we expect $`1/\sqrt{J_{min}}`$ vs. $`d`$ to be a line with slope $`(\mathrm{\Phi }_\mathrm{o}/ck_BT)^{1/2}`$, which will give a value for the undetermined constant $`c`$. The temperature $`T`$ of the different isotherms only varies from 91.4 K \- 92.5 K, a total change of about 1%.

The results are plotted in Figure 4. Each value for $`1/\sqrt{J_{min}}`$ incorporates error in $`I_{min}`$, bridge width and thickness, leading to error bars of about $`\pm 22\%`$. Nonetheless, the trend is clear: as $`d`$ increases, $`J_{min}`$ decreases. The solid line in Fig. 4 is a weighted least-squares linear fit to the data with a reduced chi-squared of $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }^2=0.41`$ fudging . From the slope we determine $`c=0.60\pm 0.17`$, the same order of magnitude as $`\gamma 0.2`$, as expected.

These finite-size effects have been seen by other researchers in thinner films. Dekker et al.theysawittoo  found $`z=2.2\pm 0.4`$ from high-current data in a 500 Å thick YBCO film in zero field, and saw ohmic tails at low currents. Using an equation nearly identical to Eq. 2, Dekker et al. noted that the fluctuation size along the c-axis saturated at $``$ 470 Å, as expected.

Finite size effects have also been seen in single crystals, both in a field and in zero field. Yeh et al.yeh1  found ohmic deviations from their data collapse at low currents and attributed them to finite size effects. The length derived from Eq. 2 agreed well with the distance between twin boundaries, and they suggested these boundaries limited the size of the fluctuations. Although they found good agreement between theory and experiment, the deviations were determined after the data collapse. We have shown that $`IV`$ curves can be made to scale with different choices of $`T_g`$, $`\nu `$, and $`z`$doug , thus apparent agreement with scaling via a data collapse is not conclusive evidence that a phase transition occurs, or that one’s choice of critical parameters is the correct one.

Wöltgens et al.finitesizes  found deviations from 3D-scaling which appeared as ohmic tails in films with $`d500`$ Å, as compared to a 3000 Å film. Wöltgens et al. assume that the finite-size effects in thin films do not extend to the 3000 Å film because the $`IV`$ curves for the 3000 Å film scale with typical vortex-glass exponents, despite the fact that Yeh et al. found finite size effects in crystals, where the distance between twin boundaries were $`2\mu `$m, nearly an order of magnitude thicker than Wöltgens et al.’s thickest films. Moreover, a simple data collapse is not conclusive evidence that the 3000 Å thick films are unaffected by the finite-size effects they see in thinner films. For $`T=83`$ K, $`J_{min}1\times 10^6\mathrm{A}/\mathrm{m}^2`$, and data below $`J_{min}`$ were included in their analysis of the 3D transition, and included in the scaling collapse, possibly affecting their choice of $`T_g`$. This indicates that assuming a data collapse a priori and analyzing deviations from this collapse is not the correct method to determine finite size effects.

Because the crossover to $`D=2`$ can affect the choice for $`T_c`$, it is an explanation for the wide range of critical exponents found in the literature. $`IV`$ curves are expected to be ohmic at low currents for $`T>T_c`$ (or $`T_g`$), thus it is possible to confuse ohmic tails generated by finite-size effects with ohmic tails generated by the 3D phase transition. This changes the conventional choice for $`T_c`$ (or $`T_g`$) (the first isotherm without an ohmic tail), and because the ohmic tails are used to determine $`\nu `$ (as $`R(T/T_c1)^{\nu (z1)}`$ at low currents), then values for $`\nu `$ and $`z`$ will also be affected. For example, Sawa et al.japan  scaled $`IV`$ curves for films as thin as 180 Å and as thick as 10,000 Å in a 2 T applied field by systematically changing $`T_g`$, $`\nu `$ and $`z`$, citing this as evidence for the need for an anisotropic 3D-XY model. We suggest that the crossover to $`D=2`$, occurring at different current densities, required them to vary $`\nu `$ and $`z`$ in order to scale their data.

Our results indicate that low-current ohmic tails are due to finite-size effects. Failure to account for this leads to significant underestimates of $`T_c`$ (or $`T_g`$) and incorrect values of $`\nu `$ and $`z`$. We show in the derivative plot that the high current data agree with the opposite concavity criterion and lead to unambiguous choices of $`T_c`$ and $`z`$. Because the source of the low-current ohmic tails is in question, this leaves only the data collapse to find $`\nu `$, but using data collapse to find the critical exponents is perilous doug . We can collapse the data using $`T_c`$ and $`z`$ found from the high-current data, which yields $`\nu 1.2`$, similar to values found elsewhere lowfields ; dickhead , but this value for $`\nu `$ is clearly not 3D-XY, and other values of $`T_c`$, $`\nu `$, and $`z`$ can collapse the data also. It is also unclear how the ohmic tails affect data at higher currents, especially when $`T`$ is far from $`T_c`$ and the critical region is small.

It is also interesting to note that as $`d`$ increases, $`I_{min}`$ does not decrease without limit. Because $`I=J(wd)`$, $`I_{min}=(w/d)(ck_BT/\mathrm{\Phi }_o)`$, using Eq. 2. The smallest $`I_{min}`$ can be is when $`w=d`$, or $`I_{min}1\times 10^7`$ A ($`T=90`$ K). Thus any applied current below 0.1 $`\mu `$A will probe fluctuations limited by the thickness of the sample, independent of whether the sample is a thin film, thick film, or single crystal.

In conclusion, we have looked at YBCO microbridges of various widths (8-200 $`\mu `$m) in seven films of different thicknesses (950-3200 Å) whose zero-field $`IV`$ curves are consistent with low-current ohmic tails created by finite-size effects, even in the thickest films. In contrast, the behavior at currents greater than $`J_{min}`$ ($`I>40\mu `$A in our film) agrees with the opposite concavity criterion as predicted by scaling, and gives the expected 3D-XY dynamic exponent of $`z=2.1\pm 0.15`$. Because finite-size effects are usually ignored in thicker films, we suggest that the low-current ohmic tails thought to be the expected behavior for $`T>T_c`$ are actually generated by finite-size effects at temperatures $`T>T_c`$ and $`T<T_c`$. This effect will obscure the phase transition in all films, both in zero and non-zero magnetic field, leading to incorrect results for the critical exponents and temperatures.

The authors thank J. S. Higgins, A. J. Berkley, Y. Dagan, M. M. Qazilbash, C. P. Hill, Amlan Biswas, Hamza Balci, R. A. Headley and R. L. Greene for their help and discussions on this work. We especially thank N.-C. Yeh for her insights on current-dependent length scales, and D. Tobias for suggesting we try bridges of different widths on the same film. We acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through Grant No. DMR-0302596.


format: text

text:
# GEMS Imaging of Red Sequence Galaxies at 𝑧∼0.7: Dusty or Old?

## 1 Introduction

A key discriminant between hierarchical galaxy formation in a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) Universe and monolithic galaxy formation scenarios is the evolution of the number of spheroid-dominated galaxies (e.g., Kauffmann et al., 1996; Aragón-Salamanca, Baugh, & Kauffmann, 1998). Yet, it is impossible to identify distant spheroid-dominated galaxies reliably and measure this evolution without sub-arcsecond resolution imaging of large numbers of galaxies with known redshifts. The largest representative sample of morphologically early-type galaxies studied to date was a HST study of 150 galaxies (Im et al., 2002), which was too small to differentiate strongly between hierarchical and monolithic formation of the early-type population. To collect larger samples, workers have instead photometrically selected the reddest galaxies, noting that morphologically early-type galaxies in the local Universe and distant clusters populate a well-defined red sequence (e.g., Bower, Lucey, & Ellis, 1992; Schweizer & Seitzer, 1992; Hogg et al., 2002; Kodama & Arimoto, 1997). In this Letter, we explore the HST rest-frame optical $`V`$-band morphologies of 1492 galaxies in the thin redshift slice $`0.65z0.75`$ to understand how well the evolution of red galaxies reflects that of the early-type galaxy population.

Careful study of color-selected galaxies has yielded impressive results111Other groups have chosen to study the evolution of distant massive $`K`$-band selected galaxies. This is a roughly equivalent test, as the most massive galaxies are red at redshifts out to at least one (Bell et al., 2003b). In common with the more recent color-selected surveys, they find mild departures from passive evolution, conceptually consistent with galaxy formation in a hierarchical Universe (e.g., Kauffmann & Charlot, 1998; Drory et al., 2001; Somerville et al., 2003).. Previous work (e.g., Lilly et al., 1995; Lin et al., 1999; Pozzetti et al., 2003) found little evolution in the number density of red galaxies, but with error bars large enough to be consistent with both monolithic and hierarchical evolution of the red galaxy population. Recently, Chen et al. (2003) and Bell et al. (2003b) have used samples of 5000 and 25000 galaxies with high-quality photometric redshifts to show that the total stellar mass in the red galaxy population has increased monotonically since $`z1`$. In the latter case, the sample size was large enough to rule out purely passive evolution with high significance, favoring instead a factor of two stellar mass evolution, in excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with hierarchical models of galaxy formation.

Nevertheless, a significant or even dominant fraction of distant $`z0.5`$ red galaxies may be red owing to their dust contents, rather than because their stellar populations are old. In the local Universe, typically $`3/4`$ of the galaxies on the red sequence are morphologically early-type (E, S0 or Sa; Strateva et al., 2001; Hogg et al., 2002). We illustrate this in panel a) of Fig. 1, where we show evolution and $`k`$-corrected $`UV`$ colors as a function of absolute magnitude for a $`1/V_{\mathrm{max}}`$ selected222 Where $`V_{\mathrm{max}}`$ is the volume within which one could observe each galaxy, making this sample essentially volume-limited down to a limiting magnitude. sample of 1500 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) selected to have $`M_V5\mathrm{log}_{10}h<18`$ (Bell et al., 2003a, b). Open blue symbols show morphologically late-type galaxies, and solid red symbols show morphologically early-type galaxies. We find that 82% of the combined $`V`$-band luminosity density from red sequence galaxies in the local Universe comes from morphologically early-type galaxies. Yet, extremely red objects (EROs), galaxies with colors characteristic of early-type galaxies at $`1z2`$, seem to be a mix of dusty star-forming galaxies, edge-on spiral galaxies and early-type galaxies, with perhaps as little as 30% of the ERO population being red by virtue of their old stellar populations (e.g., Yan & Thompson, 2003; Moustakas et al., 2003). Therefore, color-selected samples may not give a true picture of the evolution of early-type galaxies.

To better connect between these new large studies of the redshift evolution of the red galaxy population and the evolution of morphologically early-type galaxies, it is necessary to explore the rest-frame optical morphology of red galaxies at redshifts closer to unity. In this Letter, we explore the rest-frame $`V`$-band morphologies of nearly 1500 galaxies with both deep F850LP HST data from the Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs (gems) survey (Rix et al., in prep.) and accurate photometric redshifts in the thin redshift slice $`0.65z0.75`$ from the combo-17 survey (‘Classifying Objects by Medium-Band Observations in 17 Filters’; Wolf et al., 2003). Throughout, we assume $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$, and $`H_0=100h`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 (where $`h=0.7`$) following Spergel et al. (2003).

## 2 The Data

To date, combo-17 has surveyed three disjoint $`34^{}\times 33^{}`$ southern and equatorial fields to deep limits (complete to $`m_R24`$, with integration times of $`180`$ ksec/field) in 5 broad and 12 medium passbands. Using these deep data in conjunction with non-evolving galaxy, star, and AGN template spectra, objects are classified and redshifts assigned for $`99`$% of the objects. Typical galaxy redshift accuracy is $`\delta z/(1+z)0.02`$ (Wolf et al., in preparation; Wolf et al., 2003), allowing construction of $`0.1`$ mag accurate rest-frame colors and absolute magnitudes.

To explore galaxy morphology in the rest-frame optical from a single observed passband, we study galaxies in one thin redshift slice. Here, we select galaxies from combo-17 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS) for morphological classification in the narrow interval $`0.65z0.75`$ (corresponding to $`\mathrm{\Delta }t0.5`$ Gyr, minimizing galaxy evolution across this slice). At this redshift, F850LP samples rest-frame $`V`$-band, allowing comparison with local samples. Furthermore, the sample size is maximized by being at the peak of the combo-17 number counts and through our inclusion of the only two major large-scale structures in the E-CDFS, both at $`z0.7`$ (Gilli et al., 2003).

We use F850LP imaging from the gems survey (Rix et al., in prep.) to provide sub-arcsecond resolution rest-frame $`V`$-band data for our sample of $`0.65z0.75`$ galaxies. gems surveys a $`30^{}\times 30^{}`$ portion of the E-CDFS in the F606W and F850LP passbands to deep limits using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (Ford et al., 2003) on the HST. The gems area is covered by a multiple, overlapping image mosaic that includes the smaller but deeper goods area (Giavalisco et al., 2003). One orbit per pointing was spent on each passband (63 gems tiles and 15 goods tiles), allowing galaxy detection to a limiting surface brightness of $`\mu _{\mathrm{F850LP},\mathrm{AB}}24`$ mag arcsec-2 (Häußler et al., in prep). At $`z=0.7`$, the ACS resolution of $`0.05^{\prime \prime }`$ corresponds to $`350`$ pc resolution, roughly equivalent to $`1^{\prime \prime }`$ resolution at Coma cluster distances.

Galaxy classification was carried out both by-eye and automatically on our final sample of 1492 galaxies at $`0.65z0.75`$. We adopt by-eye classification bins of E/S0, Sa, Sb–Sdm, Peculiar/Strong Interaction, Irregular/Weak Interaction, and unclassifiable (typically because of small galaxy size). Galaxies were classified on the basis of both central light concentration and smoothness. In particular, the difference between S0 and Sa is largely a difference in smoothness, whereas the distinction between Sa and Sb is largely driven by central concentration333Note, however, that our qualitative conclusions remain unchanged whether or not we class the Sa galaxies with the spirals or E/S0s.. The Peculiar/Strong Interaction designation includes galaxies with what appeared to be tidal tails and/or multiple nuclei; below a certain magnitude cut, these features will be too faint to readily recognize, and the galaxies will be classified as Irregular/Weak Interaction. For automated galaxy classification, we fit single-component Sérsic models to all 1492 galaxies using the galfit (Peng et al., 2002) and gim2d (Simard et al., 2002) software packages. The Sérsic (1968) model has a profile with surface brightness $`\mathrm{\Sigma }e^{r^{1/n}}`$, where $`r`$ is the radius and $`n`$ is an index denoting how concentrated the light distribution of a given galaxy is: $`n=1`$ corresponds to an exponential light distribution, and $`n=4`$ corresponds to the well-known de Vaucouleurs profile. Typical uncertainties are $`\delta n/n0.2`$ for $`90\%`$ of galaxies, as estimated using simulations and galfit/gim2d inter-comparisons. In what follows, we adopt $`n`$ values from galfit, using gim2d to fill in values for galaxies without successful galfit fits. Less than 2% of galaxies were not successfully fit by either code; in panel b) of Fig. 1 these galaxies are denoted by black crosses.

We compare the automated and visual classifications in the inset panel of panel b) of Fig. 1, where we show the $`n`$ distribution of Sb–Sm galaxies as the blue histogram, and the $`n`$ distribution of E/S0 galaxies as the red histogram. One can immediately see that visually-classified spiral galaxies prefer $`n1`$, whereas visually-classified early-type galaxies have higher $`n`$ values, broadly distributed around $`n4`$. In particular, we find that roughly 80% of the visually-classified early-type galaxies have $`n2.5`$, with less than 25% contamination from later types. This success rate is very similar to the success rate achieved by the Sloan collaboration using a $`r`$-band concentration parameter cut.

## 3 The Morphologies of $`z0.7`$ red sequence galaxies

In panels b) and c) of Fig. 1, we show the automatically and visually-determined morphological types of $`0.65z0.75`$ galaxies as a function of their rest-frame $`V`$-band absolute magnitude and rest-frame $`UV`$ color. These particular passbands are chosen for consistency with classic studies of the colors of galaxies in the local Universe (e.g., Sandage & Visvanathan, 1978; Bower, Lucey, & Ellis, 1992), and with the color-based study of Bell et al. (2003b).

Focusing on the red sequence galaxies (those redder than the blue line) at $`z0.7`$, it is immediately clear that the majority of these galaxies are morphologically early-type (see also the color postage stamps of example red-sequence galaxies)444We defer a study of the nature of blue, morphologically-compact galaxies to a later date.. Down to $`M_V5\mathrm{log}_{10}h19.5`$, we find that 74% of the rest-frame $`V`$-band luminosity density on the red sequence is from E/S0 galaxies, rising to 85% if Sa galaxies are included as morphologically early-type. Automatic classification gives similar results, with 78% of the $`V`$-band luminosity density coming from galaxies with Sersic indices $`n2.5`$. These fractions are very similar to the local Universe (82% of the $`V`$-band luminosity density; see §1) and with an E/S0 fraction of $`60`$% for the $`z>0.6`$ red galaxy subsample from Im et al. (2002). The remaining $`z0.7`$ red sequence luminosity density comes from spiral galaxies (10%), which are primarily highly inclined, and interacting/peculiar galaxies (5%).

Furthermore, under the reasonable assumption that galaxies that are red owing to their dust content will have peculiar (5% of the total rest-frame $`V`$-band luminosity density) and/or highly-inclined disk (8% of the total luminosity density) morphologies, we place an upper limit of 13% on the fraction of rest-frame $`V`$-band luminosity density that is from galaxies that are dust-reddened rather than old. Interestingly, most dust-reddened galaxies at $`z0.7`$ are edge-on spiral galaxies rather than dust-enshrouded starbursts.

The comoving volume probed by this sample is only $`5\times 10^4h^3`$ comoving Mpc-3. Furthermore, this redshift range contains the only significant large-scale structure in the CDFS; therefore, owing to the morphology-density relation (e.g., Dressler et al., 1997), it is possible that the relative fraction of early-type galaxies to the red galaxy population would be somewhat lower in a cosmologically-representative volume. To check this, we explored the F850LP visual morphologies of an unbiased sample of 51 $`0.8z0.9`$ galaxies with $`M_V5\mathrm{log}_{10}h20`$ and $`UV1.0`$. We found that 66% of the red-sequence galaxies were E/S0, 12% were edge-on disks, 14% were less inclined disks (Sa–Sb), and 8% were possible interactions. Not withstanding the small number statistics, this suggests that the environmental bias in the fraction of $`0.65z0.75`$ red galaxies that are morphologically early-type is $`10`$% (74% E/S0 at $`z0.7`$ vs. 66% E/S0 at $`z0.85`$).

## 4 Comparison with EROs

Morphologically early-type galaxies form less than 40% of the ERO (galaxies with the colors of passively-evolving stellar populations with $`1z2`$) population; the rest consists of edge-on disks and dusty starbursting galaxies (Yan & Thompson, 2003; Moustakas et al., 2003). Nevertheless, we find that in complete samples with well-defined redshift ranges $`80`$% of red sequence galaxies with $`M_V5\mathrm{log}_{10}h19.5`$ are morphologically early-type over the last half of the Universe’s evolution. While we cannot rule out strong evolution of the red galaxy population in the 3 Gyr between $`z1.5`$ and $`z0.7`$, it is possible that the main difference between our and the ERO results is sample selection. EROs are selected to have observed frame red optical–near-infrared colors, and are therefore an inhomogeneous mix of intrinsically red galaxies at a variety of different redshifts. For example, intrinsically very red but relatively faint and numerous edge-on galaxies at lower redshifts may have the same apparent $`K`$-band magnitudes as rather less intrinsically red but more luminous and rare early-type galaxies at higher redshifts, boosting the observed fraction of edge-on galaxies. A detailed census of a large sample of EROs with morphological and redshift information should help to definitively disentangle the roles of dust and old stellar populations in driving the colors of red galaxies at $`z1`$.

## 5 Monolithic or hierarchical formation of spheroids?

We find that the dominant portion of the rest-frame $`V`$-band light from red-sequence galaxies at all redshifts $`0<z<0.75`$ comes from morphologically early-type galaxies. At first sight, this result cannot distinguish between a monolithic, early origin for spheroids or a hierarchical, extended build up. Yet, taken together with the clear detection of stellar mass increase in the red sequence over the last $`10`$ Gyr (Bell et al., 2003b; Chen et al., 2003), a hierarchical origin of spheroids is favored at this stage. A more detailed investigation of morphologically-selected spheroids, decomposing galaxies into both bulge and disk components, is clearly required to make further progress towards this important goal.

We wish to thank Myungshin Im and the referee, Alan Dressler for their constructive comments. Based on observations taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under NASA contract NAS5-26555. E. F. B. acknowledges the financial support provided through the European Community’s Human Potential Program under contract HPRN-CT-2002-00316, SISCO. D. H. M. acknowledges support by JPL/NASA through the 2MASS core science projects. C. W. was supported by the PPARC rolling grant in Observational Cosmology at the University of Oxford. S. F. S. is supported by the Euro3D European RTN, under contract HPRN-CT-2002-00305. This publication makes use of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (http://www.sdss.org/).


text:
# Unifying Entanglement and Nonlocality as a Single Concept: Quantum Wholeness

thanks: To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: zbchen@ustc.edu.cn

## Abstract

Although entanglement is widely recognized as one of the most fascinating characteristics of quantum mechanics, nonlocality remains to be a big labyrinth. The proof of existence of nonlocality is as yet not much convincing because of its strong reliance on Bell’s theorem where the assumption of realism weakens the proof. We demonstrate that entanglement and quantum nonlocality are two equivalent aspects of the same quantum wholeness for spacelike separated quantum systems. This result implies that quantum mechanics is indeed a nonlocal theory and lays foundation of understanding quantum nonlocality beyond Bell’s theorem.

Since the classic works of EPR (Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen EPR ) and Bell Bell ; Bell-book , quantum nonlocality and entanglement have been recognized as two crucial notions in modern understanding of quantum phenomena. As entanglement is an essential “resource” in practical applications of quantum information QIT , various aspects QIT ; Vedral ; Horodecki-e ; PhysToday  of it have been extensively studied in recent years. However, our current understanding Barrett  of nonlocality is heavily based on Bell’s theorem CS-exp ; Peres-book ; Werner-rev ; Laloe . Since Werner’s seminal work Werner , many elegant ideas Popescu ; Gisin-hidden ; Zuk-Horo ; Peres-coll ; Werner-rev ; Horodecki-e ; Barrett-POVM  have been proposed to understand nonlocality of mixed states. Yet, the relationship between nonlocality and entanglement for mixed states is still unclear Horodecki-e ; Werner-rev ; Barrett-POVM  and remains one of the most challenging problems in the field. Here we first give a generic locality condition (i.e., a condition that should be satisfied by any local theory and can thus be regarded as a proper definition of locality) for any multipartite system (with its subsystems being spacelike separated). We then prove that the locality condition, also underlying Bell’s inequalities, is satisfied if and only if the states of any spacelike separated quantum system are non-entangled. As such, any entangled state is quantum mechanically nonlocal, i.e., entanglement and quantum nonlocality are two side of the same attribute of entangled systems. It is anticipated that the result may be a starting point for penetrating the mystery of nonlocality of nature in general and quantum nonlocality in particular.

The concept of entanglement is well justified in the sense that one, at least, has a definition of entangled states Werner . Quantification Vedral  and manipulation PhysToday  of entanglement are hot topics of fundamental interest in the fields of quantum mechanics and quantum information theory; various separability criteria Horodecki-e  have been found to classify quantum states into entangled and separable ones. By contrast, quantum nonlocality still remains, to a large extend, an intuitive notion. Roughly spoken, it usually means the impossibility of simulating certain quantum predictions by local realistic theories Barrett . As is well known, local realism represents a world view CS-exp  which states that a physical system has local objective properties, independent of any observations on other spacelike separated systems. By assuming locality and realism, the celebrated Bell inequalities (as well as their various generalizations CS-exp ; Werner-rev ; Gisin-Peres ; Collins ; Chen ) can be derived and impose an upper bound on correlations of the results of the “Bell experiments”. Astonishingly, the upper bound is violated quantum mechanically by a large class of entangled states CS-exp ; Werner-rev ; Gisin-Peres ; Collins ; Chen , as confirmed by many experiments CS-exp ; Aspect ; Pan-GHZ . To Bell Bell-book , the quantum violations of Bell’s inequalities imply that quantum mechanics is a nonlocal theory. This attitude is largely accepted in literature and serves as the basis of our current understanding of nonlocality.

However, the attitude is not unquestionable. Anyway, Bell’s inequalities are derived from two underlying assumptions: locality and realism. Thus, the experimentally confirmed conflict between quantum mechanics and local realism could be equally interpreted as implying that quantum mechanics is a local non-realistic theory. On the one hand, it is natural for some authors (see, e.g., Ref. Braunstein ) to refute realism, rather than locality, in quantum mechanics. On the other hand, there are also attempts Stapp  to prove the nonlocality of quantum mechanics without explicitly assuming realism. Yet, the proof is based on some counterfactual reasonings that are controversial (see Ref. Vaidman  and references therein). Currently, whether quantum mechanics is indeed a nonlocal theory remains an open question, whose answer can be approached only when we have a solid foundation of nonlocality.

Now it is a well established fact that biparticle Gisin-Peres ; Collins ; Chen  and multiparticle Popescu-PLA  entangled pure states always lead to certain violation of Bell-like inequalities. This convincingly indicates that there may exist a close and direct relationship between entanglement and nonlocality. Yet, for mixed states the situation is very puzzling Werner ; Popescu ; Gisin-hidden ; Zuk-Horo ; Peres-coll ; Werner-rev ; Horodecki-e ; Barrett-POVM . Werner Werner  first demonstrated that there are entangled states (the Werner states) that do not violate any Bell inequality. Subsequent works show that the Werner states possess “hidden nonlocality” Popescu ; Gisin-hidden , which, however, can be uncovered only by invoking generalized measurements Popescu ; Zuk-Horo ; Peres-coll ; Barrett-POVM  instead of the standard von Neumann measurement. Despite of many elegant efforts Popescu ; Gisin-hidden ; Zuk-Horo ; Peres-coll ; Werner-rev ; Horodecki-e ; Barrett-POVM  along the line of the “Bell paradigm”, there are still some open problems Horodecki-e ; Werner-rev ; Barrett-POVM  on the relationship between nonlocality and entanglement. The difficulty encountered in our current understanding of nonlocality might suggest that Bell’s theorem is not sufficient for uncovering nonlocality of quantum mechanics. Then a fundamental problem arises here: In what sense we classify quantum states into local and nonlocal ones?

In this work we provide answers to the above-mentioned open questions. This is achieved by understanding quantum nonlocality at a deeper level going beyong Bell’s theorem. As one might intuitively envision, nonlocality inherent in entanglement is a purely quantum phenomenon. Meanwhile, realism underlying Bell’s theorem is a world view that logically has nothing to do with quantum mechanics. Thus, in order to reveal nonlocality as a fundamental feature of nature, it is necessary to discard the premise of realism; what concerns us first is the condition that any local theory must satisfy.

Local causality (or simply, locality) means that the experimental results obtained from a physical system at one location should be independent of any observations or actions made at any other spacelike separated locations. Unfortunately, the locality condition Bell ; Bell-book ; Werner-rev ; Shimony ; assume  was previously given in company with realism. Since here one needs a locality condition without any pre-assumption other than locality, the condition must be expressed by quantities that are experimentally observable for localists.

In order to obtain the desired locality condition in mathematical terms, let us consider two particles A and B in the spacetime diagram shown in Fig. 1. They are located, respectively, in two spacetime regions denoted by 1 and 2, which are spacelike separated. According to local causality, events occurring in the backward light core of a particle (e.g., particle A or B) may affect the events (e.g., detecting measurement results) occurring on the particle. Thus, events in the overlap $`W`$ of the backward light cores of the two particles may be “common causes” Bell-book  of the events in regions 1 and 2, though events in region 1 should not be causes of events in region 2 (and vice versa) as required again by local causality.

Without loss of generality, one can assume that the observables of A and B have only a finite number of outcomes. Then consider local measurements on the two particles. By the standard rule of probability, the requirement of locality can be mathematically expressed as

$$P(a_i,b_j|C)=P(a_i|C)P(b_j|C)$$
(1)
for all observed results in the spacelike separated regions 1 and 2 and for any common causes $`C`$ in $`W`$. Here $`P(a_i,b_j|C)`$ ($`i,j=1`$, $`2`$, $`3`$,…) is a joint probability of measuring any observables in region 1 (with outcome $`a_i`$) and in region 2 (with outcome $`b_j`$) conditioned on a given element in the set $`C`$ of all common causes in $`W`$; $`P(a_i|C)`$ \[$`P(b_j|C)`$\] is the local probability of getting the outcome $`a_i`$ ($`b_j`$) when measuring the observable in region 1 (region 2) conditioned on the given common cause in $`C`$. Thus, equation (1) has a physically apparent interpretation in accord with locality: The given common cause can affect the probabilities with regard to particles A and B; conditioned on the same cause, measurements in region 1 and region 2 must be mutually independent effects. Importantly, the common causes in our analysis represent physically a set of certain individual events whose occurrences can be assigned corresponding probabilities.

Denoting the joint probability of getting outcomes $`a_i`$ and $`b_j`$ as $`P(a_i,b_j)`$ and the probability of common causes in $`W`$ as $`P(C)`$ (see Fig. $`1`$), then the rule of conditional probability gives

$$P(a_i,b_j)=\underset{C}{}P(a_i,b_j|C)P(C)$$
(2)
where the summation may also mean integration, if necessary. Let us denote the set of common causes in $`W`$ by $`C=\{\mu |\mu =1,2,3,\mathrm{}\}`$, with $`\lambda _\mu 0`$ being the probability for the cause $`\mu `$ to occur and $`_\mu \lambda _\mu =1`$. Thus, for a given cause $`\mu `$, equation (1) becomes $`P(a_i,b_j|\mu )=P(a_i|\mu )P(b_j|\mu )`$.

Obviously, equation (2) can be assigned an operational meaning. Namely, one can either measure directly $`P(a_i,b_j)`$, or monitor the common causes first. Conditioned on a specific common cause ($`\mu `$, say) being detected, $`P(a_i,b_j|C)`$ is then measured. Theory of probability insures that the two procedures are equivalent. Of course, for a localist, equation (1) should be right.

Some further comments in support of the locality condition (1) are noteworthy. First of all, for localists the probabilities in the locality condition are all measurable quantities and can be measured, in principle, with an arbitrary accuracy. Given a statistical ensemble, experimenters can always observe the relative frequencies among all the outcomes; After the number of the observations tends to infinity, the relative frequencies will tend to the true probabilities of the corresponding outcomes. Moreover and more importantly, the locality condition given in a probabilistic terms is presented without resorting to any specific theory (realistic or quantum) as it only involves observable quantities; theory enters the picture when one predicts the probability of each outcome. This feature of the locality condition enables one to test locality versus any specific theory, i.e., to test whether nature is local Chen-test . For instance, when one uses hidden-variable theories to assign the probabilities in equation (1), the locality condition (1) reduces exactly to Bell’s locality condition Bell ; Bell-book ; Werner-rev ; Shimony ; assume . Then following Bell’s reasoning yields the usual Bell inequalities which must be satisfied by any local realistic theory Bell ; Bell-book . Bell’s locality condition Bell-book  has been well justified in various aspects in the context of Bell’s inequalities Werner-rev ; Shimony ; assume  and is now widely accepted.

The generic locality condition (1) allows one to use quantum mechanics, instead of hidden-variable theories, when predicting the local probabilities \[e.g., $`P(a_i|\mu )`$\] appearing in the locality assumption. As such, the two particles A and B must then be described locally by standard quantum mechanical rules. Whether the events in $`W`$ are described quantum mechanically or not is unimportant in the subsequent consideration. When described quantum mechanically, the events in $`W`$ may be represented by quantum states of an “ancilla” that can be any kind of quantum systems possibly coupled to both A and B. And in this case, the ancilla will be “traced out” as one is concerned only with particles A and B.

Thus in the present context, quantum mechanics can predict these probabilities, namely, it guarantees that Peres-book , for the probabilities $`P(a_i,b_j)`$, $`P(a_i|\mu )`$ and $`P(b_j|\mu )`$, there are corresponding density operators $`\rho _{AB}`$ for the two-particle system, $`\rho _{A\mu }`$ for A and $`\rho _{B\mu }`$ for B such that $`P(a_i,b_j)=Tr(\rho _{AB}\widehat{P}_{Ai}\widehat{P}_{Bj})=_\mu \lambda _\mu P(a_i,b_j|\mu )`$$`P(a_i|\mu )=Tr(\rho _{A\mu }\widehat{P}_{Ai})`$ and $`P(b_j|\mu )=Tr(\rho _{B\mu }\widehat{P}_{Bj})`$. Then equation (2) immediately gives

$$\mathrm{Tr}(\rho _{AB}\widehat{P}_{Ai}\widehat{P}_{Bj})=\underset{\mu }{}\lambda _\mu \mathrm{Tr}(\rho _{A\mu }\rho _{B\mu }\widehat{P}_{Ai}\widehat{P}_{Bj})$$
(3)
Here $`\widehat{P}_{Ai}=|a_ia_i|`$ and $`\widehat{P}_{Bj}=|b_jb_j|`$ are the projection operators corresponding to the outcomes $`a_i`$ and $`b_j`$, respectively. Due to the arbitrariness of $`\widehat{P}_{Ai}`$ and $`\widehat{P}_{Bj}`$, one must have (see also note )

$$\rho _{AB}=\underset{\mu }{}\lambda _\mu \rho _{A\mu }\rho _{B\mu }$$
(4)
which represents the state of the two particles allowed by the locality condition (1). The state $`\rho _{AB}`$ is a convex sum, with weights $`\lambda _\mu `$, of direct products of the local density operators $`\rho _{A\mu }`$ and $`\rho _{B\mu }`$. Different set of common causes leads to different convex sum of the local density operators.

Two remarks are in order here. The state $`\rho _{AB}`$ in equation (4) is called “classically correlated” Werner . Apparently, this classical correlations can only originate from the ‘common history’ of the particles A and B, as can be seen from the spacetime diagram (Fig. $`1`$). In the particular case where the observed results in $`U`$ or/and $`V`$ are independent on $`W`$, then one always has $`\rho _{AB}=\rho _A\rho _B`$. In this case, $`\rho _A`$ and $`\rho _B`$ contain already a complete specification of the states of the corresponding particles; supplementary information from $`W`$ is redundant, similarly to the classical case considered by Bell Bell-book .

Inverting the above reasoning, it is easy to see that any state given in equation (4) satisfies locality. Thus, for the two spacelike separated particles locality is a necessary and sufficient condition for the states having the form specified in equation (4). Consequently, the state (4) is local by definition. On the contrary, any state that cannot be written as equation (4) is nonlocal.

Importantly, since the above reasoning does not require any specification of the particles, it is general enough that it is valid for any biparticle systems. Furthermore, its generalization to multiparticle systems is straightforward, and the resulting states satisfying locality are still given by a convex sum of direct products of the local density operators, similarly to equation (4).

Surprisingly, the form of $`\rho _{AB}`$ in equation (4) is just the “mathematical” definition of separable (i.e., non-entangled) two-particle states, as is suggested by Werner Werner  and now widely accepted. Meanwhile, $`\rho _{AB}`$ is local by definition as it comes from the “physical” criterion of locality, which clarifies the physical content, and justifies Werner’s definition, of separable states from another perspective. Consequently, the two basic notions—entanglement of quantum states and nonlocality of measured results—are equivalent for spacelike separated systems; local measurements performed on entangled (separable) states give nonlocal (local) results. This result is a further support of the viability of the locality condition (1). When the particles A and B are not spacelike separated, the locality condition given in equation (1) can be reasonably called Einstein’s separability condition. In this broader sense, locality is identical to Einstein’s separability when the particles are spacelike separated, and Einstein’s separability is a necessary and sufficient condition for the separability of states for any quantum systems.

This fact may open up an exciting perspective for understanding nonlocality (or more generally, Einstein’s inseparability) and entanglement as a unified concept in quantum mechanics, i.e., quantum wholeness: Entanglement represents the mathematical inseparability of quantum states, while nonlocality physically manifests itself in the correlations of certain measurement results. Thus, one has to accept the existence of a quantum weirdness in nature: Quantum entanglement induces exotic influences for a composite system even when the constituent parts are spacelike separated. Here one is confronted with a situation where an entangled quantum system must be regarded as a holistic entity; any attempt to describe the entangled system locally must fail for certain quantum predictions.

As we proved, locality permits only the classically correlated (i.e., separable) states (4) in quantum mechanics. Or equivalently, whatever the set of common causes is, the locality assumption (1) cannot be fulfilled by any entangled state. However, entanglement is ubiquitous in quantum mechanics as well as in practical quantum information processing as an essential resource. Thus, locality is in conflict with quantum mechanics, namely, quantum mechanics is definitely a nonlocal theory. We believe that we have for the first time proved in simple terms the intrinsic nonlocal feature of quantum mechanics in a clear-cut way, without resorting to the realism assumption Bell ; Bell-book  or other counterfactual reasonings Stapp ; Vaidman . Actually, the realism assumption used in deriving Bell’s inequalities is redundant and even detrimental for the purpose of uncovering quantum nonlocality Chen-test .

One might wonder whether the apparent nonlocality of quantum mechanics could be used for superluminal signaling. If this were the case, then quantum mechanics would violate the relativistic causality which forbids any superluminal causal action. Fortunately, quantum mechanics in its current form is still in a “peaceful co-existence” with relativity Shimony  in the sense that nonlocality does not lead to superluminal information transmitting. To see this, recall that the locality assumption (1), according to Shimony Shimony , consists of two independent factors: (i) the outcome independence and (ii) the parameter independence, which demand that any measurement outcome of particle A should be independent, respectively, on the outcomes and on the experimental settings of the spacelike separated particle B. Explicit calculation shows that quantum mechanics violates the outcome independence, which nevertheless cannot be used for superluminal information transmitting Peres-book ; Shimony . However, violation of the parameter independence may imply superluminal communication assume ; Shimony . To prove the parameter independence (see, e.g., Shimony ; Laloe ) in the two-particle case (the multiparticle generalization is straightforward), it is sufficient to prove assume  $`P(a_i|b)_jP(a_i,b_j)=P(a_i)`$ for any chosen setting $`b`$. Actually, this is always true as $`_jP(a_i,b_j)=Tr(\rho _{AB}\widehat{P}_{Ai}_j\widehat{P}_{Bj})=Tr(\rho _A\widehat{P}_{Ai})=P(a_i)`$. Here we have used the simple fact that $`_j\widehat{P}_{Bj}=\widehat{I}_B`$ ($`\widehat{I}_B`$ is the unit operator for particles B); $`\rho _A=Tr_B(\rho _{AB})`$ is the reduced density operator for particle A. Thus, quantum mechanics respects the parameter independence, implying that quantum nonlocality cannot result in superluminal signaling.

Based on the equivalence between nonlocality/inseparability of measurements and entanglement of states, quantum nonlocality has acquired the same solid basis as quantum entanglement. The two equivalent notions are two distinct aspects of the same quantum wholeness. This fact, being interesting in its own right on fundamental issues of quantum mechanics, might be important in quantum information science, where manipulating entanglement is a vital task for processing information. This practical impulse has greatly enriched our current knowledge on entanglement. We anticipate that future works on entanglement and nonlocality may be mutually promoted to deepen our understanding of the weird quantum wholeness.

We thank Jian-Wei Pan and Lu-Ming Duan for useful discussions. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Fundamental Research Program. N.-L.L. is also supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars by the State Education Ministry of China and the USTC Returned Overseas Scholars Foundation.


text:
# Dynamics of F=2 Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates

## Abstract

We experimentally investigate and analyze the rich dynamics in F=2 spinor Bose-Einstein condensates of 87Rb. An interplay between mean-field driven spin dynamics and hyperfine-changing losses in addition to interactions with the thermal component is observed. In particular we measure conversion rates in the range of $`10^{12}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$ for spin changing collisions within the F=2 manifold and spin-dependent loss rates in the range of $`10^{13}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$ for hyperfine-changing collisions. From our data we observe a polar behavior in the F=2 ground state of 87Rb, while we measure the F=1 ground state to be ferromagnetic. Furthermore we see a magnetization for condensates prepared with non-zero total spin.

preprint: APS/123-QED

The investigation of atomic spin systems is central for the understanding of magnetism and a highly active area of research e.g. with respect to magnetic nanosystems, spintronics and magnetic interactions in high Tc superconductors. In addition entangled spin systems in atomic quantum gases show intriguing prospects for quantum optics and quantum computation Pu and Meystre (2000); You and Chapman (2000); Sørensen et al. (2001); Julsgaard et al. (2001); Mandel et al. (2003). Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of ultra-cold atoms offer new regimes for studies of collective spin phenomena Myatt et al. (1997); Hall et al. (1998); Matthews et al. (1998); McGuirk et al. (2002); Stenger et al. (1999); Miesner et al. (1999); Stamper-Kurn et al. (1999); Leanhardt et al. (2003). BECs with spin degree of freedom are special in the sense that their order parameter is a vector in contrast to the “common” BEC where it is a scalar. Recent extensive studies have been made in optically trapped 23Na in the F=1 state Stenger et al. (1999); Miesner et al. (1999); Stamper-Kurn et al. (1999); Leanhardt et al. (2003). In addition evidence of spin dynamics was demonstrated in optically trapped 87Rb in the F=1 state Barrett et al. (2001). There is current interest in extending the systems under investigation to F=2 spinor condensates Görlitz et al. (2003); Ciobanu et al. (2000); Ho and Yin (2000); Koashi and Ueda (2000); Klausen et al. (2001); Ueda and Koashi (2002), which add significant new physics. F=2 spinor condensates offer richer dynamics, an additional magnetic phase, the so-called cyclic phase Koashi and Ueda (2000); Ciobanu et al. (2000), as well as intrinsic connections to d-wave superconductors Mermin (1974).

In this letter we present first studies of optically trapped 87Rb F=2 spinor condensates. We measure rates for spin changing collisions for different channels within the F=2 manifold and discuss the steady state for various initial conditions. Additionally we observe and discuss the thermalization of dynamically populated $`m_F`$ condensates. We also present measurements of spin-dependent hyperfine decay rates of the F=2 state in 87Rb, as a key to further understanding the intensively studied collisional properties of 87Rb van Kempen et al. (2002); Marte et al. (2002).

Our experimental setup consists of a compact double MOT apparatus which produces magnetically trapped 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates containing $`10^6`$ atoms in the F=2, $`m_F=2`$ state. To confine the atoms independently of their spin state they are subsequently transferred into a far detuned optical dipole trap. It is operated at 1064 nm generating trapping frequencies of typically $`2\pi \times 891`$Hz vertically, $`2\pi \times 155`$Hz horizontally and $`2\pi \times 21.1`$Hz along the beam direction. After transfer we further cool the ensemble for $`500`$ms by selective parametric excitation Poli et al. (2002) resulting in approximately $`10^5`$ optically trapped atoms and a condensate fraction well above 60%. We are able to prepare arbitrary spin compositions using rapid adiabatic passage and controlled Landau-Zener crossing techniques Mewes et al. (1997) at an offset field around $`25`$G. After initial state preparation the magnetic field is lowered to a value of typically $`340(\pm 20)`$mG, with a field gradient below $`15`$mG/cm, to ensure a well-defined quantization axis and a good overlap of the different $`m_F`$ states during spin dynamics Not (a). Spin dynamics is subsequently allowed to proceed during a variable hold time: Stored in the optical trap the condensate spin degree of freedom can evolve under well-controlled conditions. Due to interatomic interactions, initially prepared $`m_F`$ components can evolve into other $`m_F`$ components, e.g. by processes like $`|0+|0|+1+|1`$, while - disregarding atomic losses - the total spin is conserved. This process is expected to end in the spinor ground state distribution showing the hyperfine dependent magnetic properties of the atomic species under investigation. Experimentally we detect different spin components by spatially separating them with a Stern-Gerlach method during time of flight (after switching off the trapping potential). Absorption imaging is then used to evaluate the respective spatial density distributions as well as the number of atoms in the condensate and thermal fractions for each spin component. Figure 1 shows typical spinor condensate evolutions for different starting conditions.

These pictures demonstrate a rich spectrum of spin dynamics in F=2 systems, caused by an intriguing interplay of spin component coupling and spin-dependent losses. In the following we will investigate these processes separately.

We analyze the observed spinor evolution following a mean-field approach Ho (1998); Koashi and Ueda (2000); Ciobanu et al. (2000), in which the properties of a spinor condensate are determined by a spin-dependent energy functional. Extending the approach of Koashi and Ueda (2000) by the experimentally relevant quadratic Zeeman energy term we determine the following functional for F=2 systems:

$$K_{spin}=c_1𝑭^2+\frac{4}{5}c_2|s_{}|^2pF_zqF_z^2,$$
(1)
where $`𝑭`$, $`F_z`$ and $`s_{}`$ denote the expectation values for the spin vector, its $`z`$ component and the spin-singlet pair amplitude. The experimentally controllable parameters $`p`$ and $`q`$ span the phase space for the system. Here $`p`$ represents the mean spin of the system while $`q`$ is the quadratic Zeeman energy, representing the magnetic offset field.

The spin-dependent mean-field is characterized by the parameters $`c_1=\frac{4\pi \mathrm{}^2}{m}\frac{a_4a_2}{7}`$ and $`c_2=\frac{4\pi \mathrm{}^2}{m}\frac{7a_010a_2+3a_4}{7}`$, introducing the s-wave scattering length $`a_f`$ for collisions involving a total spin $`f`$ of the colliding pair. In the following the $`F=2,m_F=X`$ state is denoted by $`|X`$. For simplicity relative phases in mixtures are neglected. The $`c_1`$ term includes all couplings of states with $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_F=\pm 1`$, e.g. $`|0+|0|+1+|1`$. The $`c_2`$ term includes the only possible coupling with $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_F=\pm 2`$ : $`|0+|0|+2+|2`$. The magnitude of these terms is connected to the timescales of spin dynamics and their relative strengths indicate the initially dominant channels. Taking the calculated scattering lengths and our initial experimental conditions (offset field $`B=340`$mG, mean density $`n1.1\times 10^{14}\text{cm}^3`$) the energy ranges for the different terms are: spin independent mean-field $`k_B\times 64`$nK, spin-dependent mean-field $`c_1:k_B\times \mathrm{0..12}`$nK, $`c_2:k_B\times \mathrm{0..0.05}`$nK and quadratic Zeeman energy $`q:k_B\times \mathrm{0..1.6}`$nK.

Minimizing the energy functional, Eq. (1) leads to the parameter-dependent ground state spin composition of the system, reflecting its magnetic properties wir . Theory predicts 87Rb in F=2 to be in the polar phase, but close to the border to the so-called cyclic phase Klausen et al. (2001).

Experimentally we find the system dominated by three processes, setting different timescales, in increasing order: spin dynamics, two-body hyperfine losses and three-body recombination. This hierarchy allows us to separately analyze individual interaction processes, which are exemplarily given in Fig. 2.

In a first set of measurements we study the evolution of spinor condensates starting from different initial spin states. Figure 2(a) shows the evolution of the relative occupation of the different $`m_F`$ components of a F=2 spinor condensate initially prepared in the state $`|0`$, also shown in Fig. 1(a). This example clearly demonstrates that spin evolution takes place predominantly between neighboring spin states, as expected from coupling via the dominating $`c_1`$-term discussed above. Thus first the components $`|\pm 1`$ and only afterwards the $`|\pm 2`$ states are populated. Interestingly there is a delay in the occupation of $`|\pm 1`$ and a further delay in the occupation of $`|\pm 2`$ states. The latter delay can be intuitively explained since there must first be some occupation in the $`|\pm 1`$ states before the fully stretched states can be occupied. The origin of the initial delay as well as the ”overshoot” of the $`|\pm 1`$ occupation is still under investigation.

As an interesting feature Fig. 2(a) shows evidence of spinor oscillations on a 100 ms timescale around equipartition. This indicates a coherent evolution between the different $`m_F`$ components, with only minor influence of the thermal cloud on this timescale.

In fact we always observe that spin dynamics is significantly quicker than thermalization. Spin dynamics thus leads to the formation of pure condensate wavefunctions in new spin states, which subsequently thermalize on a much longer timescale. This opens a new way to study thermalization effects with an independently tunable heat bath. In Fig. 2(b) the condensate and thermal fractions of the newly created $`|+2`$ state, starting with a mixture of the states $`|+1`$ and $`|0`$ are plotted. At first the condensate in the $`|+2`$ state is almost pure. This can be intuitively understood, as spin dynamics predominantly occurs in the high density condensate fraction on a timescale of the order of 25 ms. The subsequent buildup of a thermal cloud in the newly populated spin states takes place within a significantly longer time, of the order of 100 ms. Dominant effects contributing to the thermalization of the new spin state are the interaction of the new spin condensate with the parent thermal cloud (”melting”), and spin dynamics of the parent condensate fraction with the parent thermal cloud leading to a direct occupation of the new component thermal cloud. In this respect spinor condensates are a possible new tool for investigations of finite temperature effects.

In order to draw a more complete picture of spin dynamics in F=2 systems we now investigate the evolution of a variety of initial states as summarized in Table 1. In this table we give estimates for the initial spin dynamics rates for different channels as well as the experimentally observed ”final” distribution.

The rates are intended for comparison with loss rates and between the different spin channel rates. They were obtained using the total ensemble density, number of BEC atoms in the prepared $`m_F`$ components and the initial slope of a phenomenological exponential fit to the respective spin component population curves:

$`G_{|X}=\frac{dN_{|X}}{dt}\frac{N_{initial}}{n_{initial}}`$.

At short timescales we find the rate for $`|0|\pm 1`$ similar to the rate $`|\pm 1|0`$ as one would expect for a reversible or coherent process. In contrast, at longer timescales the system evolves as expected into a time-independent distribution of $`m_F`$ states. As a main result our measurements show the stability of a mixture of $`|\pm 2`$ (see Table 1 and Fig. 1(d)), for which we also find no spatial separation of the two components in the trapping volume. This is clear evidence of polar behavior as predicted for F=2 spinor condensates of 87Rb.

Some initial preparations with zero total spin end up with all $`m_F`$ components equally populated (see also Fig. 1(a,c)). This is in fact one of several degenerate ground states of the polar phase in the case of zero magnetic field Ueda and Koashi (2002), but the quadratic Zeeman energy lifts this degeneracy. For our experimental parameters a mixture of all $`m_F`$ components is not a ground state for any phase in the mean-field description. The observed behavior might be due to a lack of time to reach the ground state, as spin-dependent losses depopulate the condensate before thermal equilibrium is reached.

Remarkably, if the atoms are prepared in superpositions which are ground states for the cyclic phase we observe very slow dynamics. First the mixture of $`|+2+|0+|2`$, which is the ground state of the cyclic phase with total spin zero Ueda and Koashi (2002) shows nearly no spin dynamics. If starting with $`|+2+|1`$ as a ground state for the cyclic phase at $`B>0`$ wir  with non-zero spin we do not observe any spin dynamics. These cases are particularly surprising, as the states $`|0`$ alone as well as $`|+1`$ alone show fast spin dynamics as can be seen in Fig. 1(a,b). In the mixtures however, we observe only a faster decay of the $`|0`$ and $`|1`$ component compared to $`|\pm 2`$. Concluding this, the stability of the $`|\pm 2`$ mixture demontrates polar behavior of F=2 87Rb atoms, and in addition the slow dynamics of prepared cyclic ground states shows the F=2 state to be close to the cyclic phase Not (b).

An important point in the dynamics of spinor condensates is total spin conservation. This is directly observed in the rates for all spin preparations (see rates Table 1) except in the case starting with $`|+1`$. Here we observe a much higher rate for the production of the $`|+2`$ atoms than for the ones in $`|0`$. This can be understood as follows: Imagine the $`|0`$ atoms favor to change their spin into $`|1`$ while interacting with an atom in the initial spin state which then changes into $`|+2`$. Then the correct rates are determind by the measured values $`G_{|+2}G_{|1}`$ and $`G_{|0}+G_{|1}`$. These two values are $`17.7\times 10^{13}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$ and $`16.9\times 10^{13}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$, respectively, and agree within the expected precision.

Investigating spinor condensates with initial spin $`0`$ one finds that the combination of spin dynamics and spin-dependent hyperfine losses (see below) leads to a loss induced magnetization during the evolution to the final state (Fig. 1(b),2(c)). The remaining condensate always ends up in the fully stretched state if the initial state was prepared with non-zero total spin or in any other non-symmetric mixture. This is due to the fact that only the fully stretched component is immune to hyperfine-changing collisions. The magnetization process is only inhibited for a symmetric initial state having total spin zero.

Next we focus on hyperfine-changing collisions (i.e. involving transitions F=2$``$F=1) as a special case of spin relaxation dynamics. The release of hyperfine energy in these collisions leads to immediate loss of the collision partners from the trap. This loss process usually takes place on very short timescales, prohibiting the observation of spin dynamics in the upper hyperfine level, e.g. of 23Na Görlitz et al. (2003). The relatively low hyperfine loss rates we find for 87Rb are due to a coincidental destructive interference of decay paths Julienne et al. (1997); Myatt et al. (1997). Fig. 2(d) shows the decay of Bose-Einstein condensates of 87Rb prepared in different $`m_F`$ states/mixtures. The decay of the stretched state $`|+2`$ is dominated by three-body recombination and was measured by Söding et al. (1999) to be $`L=1.8\times 10^{29}\text{cm}^6\text{s}^1`$, a value which also fits to our data. The equal superposition of the $`|+2`$ and $`|2`$ states is special in the sense that we observe no spin dynamics in this case. The hyperfine-changing collisions can thus only occur via collisions of the type $`|2,+2+|2,2|1,m_1+|F,m_2(F=1,2)`$. We deduce the two-body rate $`G=6.6(\pm 0.9)\times 10^{14}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$, which leads to a much faster decay than three-body losses for the pure $`|+2`$ state (Fig. 2(d)). The dependence of the hyperfine-changing collision rate on the number of decay channels involved becomes obvious observing the decay of a condensate initially prepared in the state $`|0`$ (see Fig. 2(d)). It is important to note that in this case spin dynamics more rapidly ($`25`$ms) distributes the population almost equally over all $`m_F`$ states. The decay curve (of initially $`|0`$) thus effectively represents the loss of a spin state equipartition, which has access to all possible channels. We determine the mean two-body decay rate for this case to be $`G=10.2(\pm 1.3)\times 10^{14}\text{cm}^3\text{s}^1`$.

Finally we have also studied spinor condensates in the F=1 state where we observe slow spin dynamics on a timescale of seconds like in the case of 23Na in F=1 Stenger et al. (1999). Starting in the superposition state $`|1,\pm 1`$ we observe the creation of the $`|1,0`$ component. The final state with all $`m_F`$ components populated and spacially mixed is reached after about seven seconds. According to the phase diagrams of Stenger et al. (1999) we have thus shown that 87Rb in the F=1 state is ferromagnetic as predicted by Klausen et al. (2001).

In conclusion we have presented studies of various aspects of F=2 spinor condensates in 87Rb. In particular we have discussed rates for spin dynamics as well as the evolution into the magnetic ground state. Furthermore we have investigated spin-dependent hyperfine-changing collisions and thermalization effects in newly created spin components during spinor evolution. These studies have demonstrated the feasibility of 87Rb condensates as a model for F=2 spin systems, added data to the collisional properties of 87Rb and opened a new path for finite temperature studies. As a key result we measure 87Rb in the F=1 state to be ferromagnetic and observe polar behavior for the F=2 state.

We acknowledge stimulating contributions by W. Ertmer and support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the SFB 407 and the SPP 1116.