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# Non-commutative inflation and the CMB

## I Introduction

General relativity will break down at very high energies in the early Universe when quantum effects are expected to become important. If the very early Universe is described by a period of inflation Guth , as in the current paradigm of cosmology, and if the period of inflation lasts sufficiently long (as it does in most current scalar field-driven inflationary models), then, since the wavelength of perturbations which are observed today emerged from the Planck region in the early stages of inflation, in principle the quantum theory of gravity should leave an imprint on the primordial spectrum of perturbations (see initial  for the first discussion of this effect; see review  for a recent review containing a comprehensive list of references, and recent  for some of the latest papers on this issue). The nature of these imprints will remain an open question as long as we lack a complete theory of quantum gravity. If we assume that string theory is a promising framework for quantum gravity, it is of interest to explore specific stringy corrections to the spectrum of fluctuations.

The standard concordance $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model, which can arise from an inflationary background cosmology in which the quasi-exponential expansion of space is driven by a scalar field, provides a good fit to the recent WMAP Spergel:2003cb ; Kogut:2003et ; Verde:2003ey ; Peiris:2003ff  and earlier observations. This implies, in particular, that any stringy corrections to general relativity will be constrained by the properties of the observed cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. Although there is no signature in CMB data of statistically significant deviations from the predictions of the standard paradigm, the unexpectedly low quadrupole and octopole Spergel:2003cb  are intriguing, in particular since a similar deficit of power on these large angular scales was also seen in the earlier COBE maps. Thus, although the lack of power on the largest scales may simply be a statistical effect (and different approaches to statistical analysis yield differing results concerning the statistical significance of the lack of power ge ), early Universe explanations of this lack of power are not ruled out and are worth exploring, provided that the explanations are not ad hoc.

Recent papers low1 ; low2 ; Contaldi ; Cline ; Feng  have attempted to explain the low quadrupole and octopole, typically via a finely-tuned inflationary potential or an ad hoc cut-off in the spectrum (see Ref. Yokoyama  for the earlier work about this suppression). In Ref. KYY , supergravity inflation is shown to lead to a possible running of the power spectrum which tends to be blue on large scales. In Ref. bfm , some corrections to general relativity inflation motivated by brane-world scenarios (correction terms in the Friedmann equations and velocity-dependent potentials) were studied, and it was shown that they may account for the suppression of power. Here, we investigate consequences of a more basic stringy effect, namely the space-time uncertainty relation uncpr

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t\mathrm{\Delta }x_{\mathrm{phys}}L_s^2,$$
(1)
where $`t,x_{\mathrm{phys}}`$ are the physical space-time coordinates and $`L_s`$ is the string scale. In Alexander:2001dr , it was shown that this principle may yield inflation from pure radiation. A more modest approach was pioneered in Brandenberger:2002nq , where the consequences were studied of imposing Eq. (1) on the action for cosmological perturbations on an inflationary background (generated in the usual way).

Space-time non-commutativity excep  at high energies in the early Universe leads to a coupling between the fluctuations generated in inflation and the background Friedmann model that is nonlocal in time. In addition, the uncertainty relation is saturated for a particular comoving wavelength when the corresponding physical wavelength is equal to the string length. Thus, fluctuation modes must be considered to emerge at this time (a time denoted by $`\tau _k`$ later in the text), and the most conservative assumption is to start the modes in the state which minimizes the canonical Hamiltonian at that time. In a background space-time with power-law inflation, these modifications lead to a suppression of power for large-wavelength modes (those created when the Hubble constant is largest), compared to the predictions of standard general relativity inflation com1 . It may appear counter-intuitive that high-energy stringy effects modify the large-scale perturbations rather than those on small scales. But the point is that large-scale modes, which correspond to higher energies earlier in inflation, are created outside the Hubble radius due to stringy effects, and thus experience less growth than the small-scale modes, which are created inside the Hubble radius at lower energies, and evolve as in the standard case. There is a critical wavenumber $`k_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ such that for $`k<k_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ the mode is created on super-Hubble scales, and thus undergoes less squeezing during the subsequent evolution than it does for $`L_s=0`$. This critical wavenumber depends on the string scale and on the exponent $`p`$ appearing in the formula for the time-dependence of the scale factor \[see Eq. (5)\]. The spectrum is blue-tilted for $`kk_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ rather than red-tilted as it is in the power-law inflation scenario with $`L_s=0`$.

Here we calculate the spectrum of CMB anisotropies predicted by the model of Brandenberger:2002nq , and thus quantify the prediction of loss of power for infrared modes. In addition, we perform a likelihood analysis to find the best-fit values to the WMAP data of the cosmological parameters, including the power-law exponent $`p`$ which gives the time dependence of the scale factor, and the critical wavenumber $`k_{}`$ (to a first approximation the same as $`k_{\mathrm{crit}}`$) when stringy effects become important. Thus we are able to constrain the non-commutative model and place limits on the string scale. These results expand on the previous work of Huang:2003zp , where the parameters of the model of Brandenberger:2002nq  were fitted to the WMAP data at two specific angular scales.

## II Non-commutative modifications to the primordial power spectrum

The stringy space-time uncertainty relation is compatible with an unchanged homogeneous background, but it leads to changes in the action for the metric fluctuations. The action for scalar metric fluctuations can be reduced to the action of a real scalar field $`\varphi `$ with a specific time-dependent mass which depends on the background cosmology (see e.g. MFB  for a comprehensive review). For simplicity, we will assume that matter is described by a single real scalar field $`\phi `$. In this case, the stringy space-time uncertainty relation leads to the following modified action for the field $`\varphi `$ Brandenberger:2002nq

$$S=V_T𝑑\eta d^3kz_k^2(\eta )\left[\varphi _k^{}\varphi _k^{}k^2\varphi _k\varphi _k\right],$$
(2)
where $`V_T`$ is the total spatial coordinate volume, a prime denotes the derivative with respect to conformal time $`\eta `$, $`k`$ is the comoving wave number, and

$`z_k^2=z^2\left(\beta _k^+\beta _k^{}\right)^{1/2},z={\displaystyle \frac{a\dot{\phi }}{H}},`$ (3)
$`\beta _k^\pm ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[a^{\pm 2}(\tau +kL_s^2)+a^{\pm 2}(\tau kL_s^2)\right],`$ (4)
where $`a`$ and $`H=\dot{a}/a`$ are the scale factor and the Hubble rate, respectively, and $`\tau `$ denotes a new time variable (related to the conformal time $`\eta `$ via $`d\tau =a^2d\eta `$) in terms of which the stringy uncertainty principle takes the simple form $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau \mathrm{\Delta }xL_s^2`$, using comoving coordinates $`x`$. The case of general relativity corresponds to $`L_s=0`$. The nonlocal coupling in time between the background and the fluctuations is manifest in Eq. (4).

This stringy modification is complicated, and computing the power spectrum will in general require numerical evaluation. However, the spectrum can be evaluated analytically in power-law inflation, and thus we assume for simplicity that

$$a(t)=a_0t^p,$$
(5)
with suitable exponent $`p>1`$, is a reasonable approximation to the background dynamics around the time when large-scale fluctuations are generated. Such a background can be obtained if inflation is driven by a single scalar field with an exponential potential, $`V=V_0\mathrm{exp}(\sqrt{2/p}\phi /M_{pl})`$. In this case, $`\dot{\phi }=\sqrt{2p}M_{pl}/t`$, $`H=p/t`$ and $`z=a\sqrt{2/p}M_{pl}`$ (here $`M_{pl}`$ is the reduced Planck mass, $`M_{pl}=2.4\times 10^{18}\mathrm{GeV}`$).

The power spectrum of the curvature perturbation, $`\mathrm{\Phi }+H\delta \phi /\dot{\phi }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is the scalar metric perturbation in longitudinal gauge, is Brandenberger:2002nq

$$𝒫_{}=\frac{k^2}{4\pi ^2z_k^2(\tau _k)},$$
(6)
where $`\tau _k`$ is the time where the fluctuations are generated.

For $`L_s0`$, the power spectrum will have a different slope for small values of $`k`$ than for large values. For large values, one obtains the usual power spectrum with index $`2/(p1)`$, whereas for very small values of $`k`$, the spectrum is blue. We have calculated approximations to the power spectrum which become exact either for very large or very small scales.

In Huang:2003zp , the power spectrum was calculated (up to the normalization coefficient) by evaluating the time when the fluctuations are generated. We have repeated the analysis in order to compute the coefficient of the resulting spectrum (which yields important information for placing limits on the string scale $`L_s`$) in terms of $`p`$ and $`k_0a_0^{1/p}`$. (This was not done in Huang:2003zp .) We obtain

$$𝒫_{}A_1\left(\frac{k}{k_0}\right)^{2/(p1)}\left[1\left(\frac{k_{s1}}{k}\right)^{4/(p1)}\right],$$
(7)
where

$`A_1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{p(2p^2p)^{p/(p1)}}{8\pi ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{k_0}{M_{pl}}}\right)^2,`$ (8)
$`k_{s1}`$ $`=`$ $`p^{(3p1)/4}\sqrt{2p1}`$ (9)
$`\times [4(p2)(2p+1)]^{(p1)/4}(k_0L_s)^pL_s^1.`$
In deriving the relation (7), we made the assumption that $`k_{s1}k`$, and expanded everything in terms of $`k_{s1}/k`$. Thus, the above power spectrum ceases to be valid as $`k`$ approaches $`k_{s1}`$. For modes satisfying $`k<k_{s1}`$, we can obtain the power spectrum by considering the fluctuations outside the Hubble radius starting in a vacuum Brandenberger:2002nq . According to the stringy space-time uncertainty principle, we have an upper bound for the comoving momentum,

$$k_{\mathrm{max}}(\tau )=\left(\frac{\beta _k^+}{\beta _k^{}}\right)^{1/4}L_s^1.$$
(10)
By solving this equation one can find the initial time $`\tau _k`$ at which the perturbation with comoving wavenumber $`k`$ is generated, which yields Brandenberger:2002nq

$$\tau _k=\left[k^2L_s^4+\frac{(kL_s)^{2(p+1)/p}}{k_0^2(p+1)^2}\right]^{1/2}.$$
(11)
The power spectrum of the curvature perturbation is derived by inserting the time (11) into Eq. (6), but the general form of $`𝒫_{}`$ is very complicated. When $`\tau _kkL_s^2`$, which is the same approximation used to derive Eq. (7), the power spectrum is given by

$$𝒫_{}A_2\left[1\left(\frac{k_{s2}}{k}\right)^{2/p}\right],$$
(12)
where

$`A_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{p}{8\pi ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{L_{pl}}{L_s}}\right)^2,`$ (13)
$`k_{s2}`$ $`=`$ $`[p(3p+1)]^{p/2}(k_0L_s)^pL_s^1,`$ (14)
with $`L_{pl}M_{pl}^1`$. Note that the spectrum (12) is scale-invariant for $`kk_{s2}`$.

Using Eqs. (9) and (14), one can easily show that $`k_{s2}`$ is much smaller than $`k_{s1}`$ as long as the power-law exponent $`p`$ satisfies $`p1`$. The two spectra, Eqs. (7) and (12), are joined at a value of $`k_{}`$ satisfying $`k_{}k_{s1}`$. Since $`k_{s2}k_{s1}`$, the second term on the right hand side of Eq. (12) is practically negligible on scales $`kk_{s1}`$.

The two cut-off scales, where the power spectra (7) and (12) formally vanish, satisfy $`k_{s1}k_{s2}`$ for $`p1`$. For example, when $`p=20`$ we have $`k_{s1}10^6k_{s2}`$. We are interested in cosmologically relevant scales, which lie in the range $`10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1<k<10^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. When the power spectrum is mainly characterized by Eq. (7) on these scales, the spectral index, $`n=1+\mathrm{d}\mathrm{ln}𝒫_{}/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{ln}k`$, is given by

$$n=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\frac{2}{p1}\left[12\left(\frac{k_{s1}}{k}\right)^{4/(p1)}\right].$$
(15)
Then, the critical scale at which the spectrum becomes scale-invariant is

$$k_{n=1}=2^{(p1)/4}k_{s1}.$$
(16)
The second term in the square bracket of Eq. (7) is $`1/2`$ for $`k=k_{n=1}`$. Therefore, the spectrum (7) is not reliable for $`k<k_{n=1}`$ (corresponding to $`n>1`$), due to the breakdown of the approximation, $`(k_{s1}/k)^{4/(p1)}1`$. This means that $`k_{n=1}`$ is not a suitable scale for joining the spectral formulas (7) and (12). Instead, we need to join them at a scale $`k_{}>k_{n=1}`$.

In Huang:2003zp , the likelihood values of $`k_{s1}`$ and $`p`$ are derived by using recent WMAP data on only two scales, namely $`n=0.93_{0.03}^{+0.03}`$, $`\mathrm{d}n/\mathrm{dln}k=0.031_{0.017}^{+0.016}`$ at $`k=0.05\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ and $`n=1.10_{0.06}^{+0.07}`$, $`\mathrm{d}n/\mathrm{dln}k=0.042_{0.020}^{+0.021}`$ at $`k=0.002\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. However, we cannot trust the spectrum (7) at the scale $`k=0.002\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, since it is in the range where the spectrum has a blue tilt ($`n>1`$). In addition, the analysis in Huang:2003zp  makes use of the information only at the above two scales, but it is not clear whether the fit will be good on all scales.

## III Non-commutative effects on the CMB, and likelihood analysis

In order to compare the theoretical predictions of our class of models with the recent WMAP results, we ran the CosmoMc (Cosmological Monte Carlo) code (which makes use of the CAMB program CAMB ), developed in antony . This program uses a Markov-chain Monte Carlo method to derive the likelihood values of model parameters. The method produces a large set of sample spectra associated with given values of the model parameters and of the usual cosmological parameters, and compares them with the recent WMAP Kogut:2003et ; Spergel:2003cb  data files from WMAP  of temperature (TT) and temperature-polarization cross-correlation (TE) anisotropy spectra, by evaluating the $`\chi ^2`$-distribution. We also include the band-powers on smaller scales corresponding to $`800<l<2000`$, from the CBI CBI , VSA VSA  and ACBAR ACBAR  experiments. The contribution of gravitational waves is also taken into account, since it can be important for low multipoles. Tensor perturbations can be obtained by replacing $`z`$ by $`a`$ in the first of equations (3). Taking into account the two polarization states, we obtain the spectrum of gravitational waves as

$$𝒫_T=\frac{4}{p}𝒫_{}.$$
(17)
Our results are summarized in Figs. 1 and 2. When only the spectrum (7) is used, the value of the cut-off wavenumber with the highest likelihood is found to be $`k_{s1}10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ . In Fig. 1 we show the best-fit plot of the CMB temperature angular power spectrum \[see the case (a)\]. In the absence of non-commutativity, i.e. for $`k_{s1}=0`$, the best-fit value of $`p`$ is found to be $`p35`$, thereby yielding a constant, red-tilted spectral index, $`n0.94`$. In this context, it is difficult to explain the suppressed power on large scales. On the other hand, space-time non-commutativity can naturally lead to an effective running of the spectral index. In fact, as seen in Fig. 1, a better fit for the quadrupole and octopole moments can be obtained by taking into account the non-commutative effect.

However, the spectrum (7) is reliable only for scales satisfying $`kk_{s1}`$, implying that the prediction of the curve (a) in Fig. 1 will have some theoretical error for values of $`l`$ in the range $`2l10`$. In order for the spectrum (7) to be valid for the cosmologically relevant scales, $`10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1<k<10^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, one needs to choose a smaller cut-off scale, $`k_{s1}10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. In this case, the deviation of the CMB angular spectrum from what is obtained without a cut-off is not significant ($`k_{s1}=0`$, results shown in (c) of Fig. 1). Still, an analysis taking into account a spectrum which on large scales is modified as compared to (7), is required in order to avoid the problem of negative values of $`𝒫_{}`$ for $`k<k_{s1}`$, which occurs if we use the spectrum (7) only.

To obtain a more complete analysis, it is necessary to match the two spectra (7) and (12). Since $`n=1`$ at $`k=k_{n=1}`$, it seems natural to consider that the spectrum (7) is connected to (12) at $`k_{}=k_{n=1}`$. However, the approximation $`(k_{s1}/k)^{4/(p1)}1`$ already breaks down at $`k=k_{n=1}`$. In order to avoid this problem, we choose $`k_{}10^2k_{s1}`$, and try to find the likelihood distribution of various values of $`k_{}`$. We also vary $`k_{s1}`$ and $`p`$ in addition to other cosmological parameters. The best fit angular power spectrum in this case is given in curve (b) of Fig. 1.

The probability distribution of the likelihood values of $`k_{}`$ and $`p`$ are shown in Fig. 2. This corresponds to the mean likelihood analysis where the probability distribution of $`\chi ^2`$ is assumed to be Gaussian, as $`P=e^{(\chi \chi _m)^2/2}`$ (here $`\chi _m`$ is the minimum value of $`\chi `$). The best-fit critical scale corresponds to

$$k_{}=2.3\times 10^2\mathrm{Mpc}^1,$$
(18)
in which case the spectrum changes from (7) to (12) around $`100l200`$. The distribution of $`p`$ is consistent with the result of Huang:2003zp , obtained by using the WMAP data at the scale $`k=0.05\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. Other best-fit values are found to be

$$k_{s1}=3.24\times 10^6\mathrm{Mpc}^1,$$
(19)
$`A_1=1.77\times 10^9`$, and

$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.745,\mathrm{\Omega }_bh^2=0.0209,\mathrm{\Omega }_ch^2=0.108,`$
$`\tau =0.0121,h=0.732.`$ (20)
Since $`𝒫_{}`$ changes to scale-invariant for $`kk_{}`$, the angular power spectrum exhibits a better fit compared to the standard case \[compare curves (b) and (c) in Fig. 1\]. This is an advantage of non-commutative inflation, which allows for the running of the spectral index, due to the existence of a cut-off momentum that arises from the stringy uncertainty relation. Note that using only the formula (7) leads to a power spectrum which is even more suppressed for low multipoles, as seen in Fig. 1 (a), but this is ruled out since $`𝒫_{}`$ becomes negative.

We can constrain the string length scale, $`L_s`$, by using the above best-fit values. Since the two spectra (7) and (12) are interpolated at $`k_{}`$, we have

$$\frac{L_s^1}{M_{pl}}2\pi \sqrt{\frac{2A_1}{p}}\left(\frac{k_{}}{k_0}\right)^{1/(p1)},$$
(21)
where we used the fact $`k_{s1}k_{}`$. The scale $`k_0`$ is chosen as $`k_0=0.05\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ in the numerical calculation of CAMB. Substituting the most likely values of $`k_{}`$, $`p`$ and $`A_1`$ in Eq. (21), one gets

$$L_s^110^4M_{pl}10^{14}\mathrm{GeV},$$
(22)
which corresponds to a string length scale, $`L_s10^{28}\mathrm{cm}`$. This result must be interpreted with care. It means that in the context of our postulated theoretical framework, the best fit value of $`L_s`$ is the above one. From Fig. 2 it is also clear that this value of $`L_s`$ is more likely only by a modest amount than the value $`L_s=0`$.

We also considered the case where the cosmologically relevant scales are dominated by the spectrum (7), and obtained a similar constraint to (22) by utilizing the likelihood values of $`k_{s1}`$, $`p`$ and $`A_1`$. Since $`|1/(p1)|1`$ in Eq. (21), the change of $`k_{}`$ around the scale $`k_{}10^2\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ does not lead to any significant modification for the estimation of $`L_s`$. The string length scale is mainly determined by the ratio $`A_1/p`$. It is quite intriguing that space-time non-commutativity opens up the possibility to constrain the string scale by using the observational CMB data sets.

The largest scales correspond to the initial time with $`\tau _kkL_s^2`$. Expanding the exact solution (11) around $`\tau _kkL_s^2`$, we get

$$𝒫_{}A_3\left(\frac{k}{k_{s3}}\right)^{4/(p+1)}\left[1+\left(\frac{k}{k_{s3}}\right)^{2/p}\right]^1,$$
(23)
where

$`A_3`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{p}{4\pi ^2}}[{\displaystyle \frac{(k_0L_s)^4}{5p(p+1)}}]^{p/(p+1)}({\displaystyle \frac{k_{s3}}{k_0}})^{2/(p+1)}({\displaystyle \frac{k_0}{M_{pl}}})^2`$ (24)
$`k_{s3}`$ $`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{4(p+1)^3}{5p}}\right]^{p/2}(k_0L_s)^pL_s^1.`$ (25)
This is a blue tilted spectrum for $`kk_{s3}`$. The critical scale $`k_{s3}`$ is much less than $`k_{s2}`$; e.g., for $`p=20`$, $`k_{s3}10^5k_{s2}10^{11}k_{s1}`$. As long as the spectra are characterized by (7) and (12) on the scales $`10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1k10^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, Eq. (23) is not important, since it applies only well beyond $`H_0^1`$, with $`k10^4\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. While the case (b) in Fig. 1 exhibits good agreement with the WMAP data, the scale-invariant spectrum (12) is not sufficient to explain significant loss of power around $`l=2,3`$. The amplitude of the fluctuations tends to grow toward smaller multipoles due to the Sachs-Wolfe effect even in the scale-invariant case.

Instead we can consider a case where the spectrum around $`2l10`$ is characterized by (23). When $`kk_{s3}`$, Eq. (23) can be written in the form

$$𝒫_{}A_3\left\{1\mathrm{exp}\left[\left(\frac{k}{k_{s3}}\right)^\alpha \right]\right\},$$
(26)
with $`\alpha =4/(p+1)`$. This corresponds to the case of an exponential cut-off in the spectrum analyzed in Contaldi ; Cline ; bfm , except for the absence of the tilted term, $`k^{n_s1}`$. In Contaldi ; Cline , the value $`\alpha =3.35`$ is chosen, and the TT spectrum is shown to be suppressed for low multipoles. It is clear that $`\alpha >1`$ is required for strong suppression on large scales (for example, see Fig. 1 in bfm  for $`\alpha =1`$ and $`n_s=0.99`$). Since $`p`$ is larger than unity in our case, $`\alpha `$ for non-commutative inflation is restricted to be smaller than 1. Therefore, we do not have a significant suppression only around $`l=2,3`$ as long as we use the spectrum (23) with $`kk_{s3}`$. Note, however, that the spectrum can be better fitted than the standard $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model in power-law inflation.

## IV Discussion

In this work we have found the best-fit parameters of a model of inflation based on space-time non-commutativity Brandenberger:2002nq  when comparing to the recent WMAP spectrum of CMB anisotropies. The advantage of this approach is that one uses stringy phenomenology to modify inflationary perturbations, rather than imposing ad hoc modifications. The stringy corrections ensure that the model is not subject to the trans-Planckian problem of general inflationary models, since the physical wavenumbers of modes have an upper bound. At the same time, this feature means that high-energy stringy effects modify the large-scale perturbations rather than those on small scales, since large-scale modes are generated outside the Hubble radius and thus experience growth due to squeezing for less time than they do for $`L_s=0`$. This model automatically predicts that at large angular scales the spectrum will be blue, thus providing a possible explanation for the observed lack of power at the quadrupole and octopole. Roughly speaking, requiring the correct location of the transition between blue and red spectrum in our model determines the string length scale, whereas the spectrum on smaller angular scales determines the best fit value of the power-law exponent $`p`$.

Given that there are now a large number of possible explanations of the observed deficit of power on large angular scales, it would be of interest to look for special signals in our model not present in the other proposed theoretical explanations. Work on this subject is in progress. Note that our “determination” of the length scale $`L_s`$ assumes that our class of models is in fact correct, and that no secondary effects cause any deviations of the spectrum. The first point, in particular, is a major assumption to be justified.

We have for simplicity assumed power-law inflation. In this case $`z=a\dot{\phi }/H`$ is proportional to $`a`$ due to the time-independence of the small parameter, $`ϵ\dot{\phi }/H`$. Therefore, the spectrum of curvature perturbations is similar to that of gravitational waves, except for their amplitudes. The spectrum changes in general inflation models because of the time variation of $`ϵ`$. In particular, the running of the spectral index can be different from the one in power-law inflation. Although it may be in general difficult to obtain the spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations analytically, it will be interesting to extend our analysis to other inflationary models by using a numerical approach. This would allow the exciting possibility to place more generally applicable limits on the string length scale, in addition to limits on the value of more general inflationary model parameters.

Recently Cremonini , it was shown that a quantum deformation of the wave equation on a cosmological background yields a modified power spectrum analogous but not identical to Eq. (7). It would be of interest to constrain the region of parameter space in those models through a likelihood analysis similar to what we have done here, since this can provide a powerful tool to pick up a possible trans-Planckian effect and to distinguish between different string inspired cosmological models.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Antony Lewis for crucial advice and support in implementing and interpreting the likelihood analysis. S.T. is grateful to Bruce Bassett, Rob Crittenden and David Parkinson for useful discussions. R.B. thanks George Efstathiou for important advice. We also wish to acknowledge discussions with Stephon Alexander at the beginning of this project. S.T. acknowledges financial support from JSPS (No. 04942). R.M. is supported by PPARC. R.B. is supported in part by the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-FG02-91ER40688, TASK A.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is an international mission that will study the high-energy phenomena in gamma-rays universe . GLAST is scheduled for launch in 2006.

GLAST is instrumented with a hodoscope of Silicon planes with slabs of converter, followed by a calorimeter; the hodoscope is surrounded by an anticoincidence (ACD). This instrument, called the Large Area Telescope LAT, is sensitive to gamma rays in the energy range between 30 MeV and 300 GeV. The energy range, the field of view and the angular resolution of the GLAST LAT are vastly improved in comparison with those of its predecessor EGRET (operating in 1991-2000), so that the LAT will provide a factor of 30 or more advance in sensitivity. This improvement should enable the detection of several thousands of new high-energy sources and allow the study of gamma-ray bursts and other transients, the resolution of the gamma-ray sky and diffuse emission, the search for evidence of dark matter and the detection of AGNs, pulsars and SNRs. One can find a detailed description of the scientific goals of GLAST mission and an introduction to the experiment in .

GLAST is a complex system, and detailed computer simulations are required to design the instrument, to construct the response function and to predict the background in the orbit. To accomplish these tasks an object-oriented C++ framework called Gleam (GLAST LAT Event Analysis Machine) was adopted and implemented.

The main components Gleam are the subject of this paper.

## 2 The GLAST Offline Software Framework

The structure of the GLAST offline software is described in figure 1. Most packages has been developed explicitely by the GLAST collaboration for the specific items required by the simulation of a high energy gamma-ray telescope. An important characteristics is the saparation of the packages according to their responsibilities.

The GLAST off-line software is based manly on Gaudi, a C++ framework, originally developed at CERN . Gaudi is an open project aimed to provide the necessary interfaces and services for building the framework of event data processing applications for High Energy Physics experiments. A generic application framework should be usable for implementing the full range of offline computing tasks: generation of events, simulation of the detector, event reconstruction, testbeam data analysis, detector alignment, visualisation, etc. The framework gives the possibility to develop such tasks in a unified and coherent way. Tasks such as physics analysis and event reconstruction consist of the manipulation of mathematical or physical quantities (points, vectors, matrices, hits, momenta, etc.) by algorithms which are generally specified in terms of equations and natural language. As a consequence, the Gaudi application framework makes a clear distinction between “data” objects and “algorithm” objects.

In the GLAST framework, Gaudi manages the loop of particles to be simulated, then a series of algorithms are applied to each of them to get the result of the complete simulation and reconstruction chain. The figure 2 shows the flux of simulated events within the Gleam framework based on Gaudi.

The output from the simulation is in the same format as the real data, and can be processed by the reconstruction package.

## 3 The Source Generation package

The Source Generation is the first algorithm called within the particle loop. Its task is to generate particles according to certain characteristcs. This algorithm must store the information on the temporal and spectral behaviour of the source, as well as on the orbital characteristics of GLAST. It provides a user interface to produce additional incoming particles and is responsible for setting the current time, the particle energy, direction, and type. Within this package a series of default sources are implemented. They include source for testing purposes as well as the description of astrophysical spectra and the expected particle and albedo gamma backgrounds.

An extension of this framework has been implemented for simulating transient sources such as Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB). It can be used for studying the capability of GLAST for the observation of rapid transient fluxes in general. The physics adopted is based on the fireball model of Gamma Ray Burst, for which a series of shells is injected in the circumburst medium with different Lorentz factor . When a faster shell reaches a slower one a shock occours, and an accelerated electron distribution is obtained due to the shock acceleration process. Some of the energy dissipated during the shock is converted into a randomly oriented magnetic field. The electrons can loose their energy via synchrotron emission. The caratheristic synchrotron spectrum is boosted (and bemed) thancks to the Lorentz factor of the emittin matherial. The higher energy part of a GRB spectrum can be obtained keeping into account the possibility of Compton scattering of the synchrotron photons against the electron accelerated by the shock (Inverse Compton Scattering) . Figure 3 shows a light curve generated with this package.

The information on the particles generated in the Source Generation package is put in the data store, so that every other piece of code in the framework can use it.

## 4 The Simulation package

The algorithm which is responsible for generating the interactions of particles with the detector is based on the Geant4 MonteCarlo toolkit  which is an Object Oriented (OO) simulator of the passage of particles through matter. Its application areas include high energy physics and nuclear experiments, medical science, accelerator and space physics.

Geant4 (G4) provides a complete set of tools for all the domains of detector simulation: Geometry, Tracking, Detector Response, Run, Event and Track management, Visualisation and User Interface. A large set of Physics Processes handle the diverse interactions of particles with matter across a wide energy range, as required by G4 multi-disciplinary nature; for many physics processes a choice of different models is available. In addition a large set of utilities, including a powerful set of random number generators, physics units and constants, a management of particles compliant with the Particle Data Group, as well as interfaces to event generators and to object persistency solutions, complete the toolkit. G4 exploits advanced Software Engineering techniques and OO technology to achieve the transparency of the physics implementation and hence provide the possibility of validating the physics results. The OO design allows the user to understand, customise or extend the toolkit in all the domains. At the same time, the modular architecture of G4 allows the user to load and use only the components needed. To build a specific application the user-physicist chooses among these options and implements code in user action classes supplied by the toolkit .

Within the Gleam framework the simulation is managed by the Gaudi algorithm G4Generator . The main simulation is controlled by a customized and version of the G4 standard RunManager. Since the GLAST main event loop is driven by Gaudi and it will not use any graphics or data persistency features of Geant4, we have included in the RunManager only the real necessary parts for setup and run the generator. RunManager itself uses the following classes:

* DetectorConstruction: this class provides the list of materials and the geometry of the detector. In our case this information is stored in XML files; to access them the DetectorConstruction class uses methods of a Gaudi service. The Geometry class implements methods to traverse the geometry of GLAST and build a concrete Geant4 representation of it; the Material class does the same for the materials definitions.
* PhysicsList: this class is the access point to the physics processes selection and customization. It uses other classes (GeneralPhysics, EMPhysics, HadronPhysics, MuonPhysics, IonPhysics) to set up particular physics processes. Since the Geant4 toolkit is open to new physics processes (along with new description of already present processes), this will be the access point for further development in the physics selection.
* PrimaryGeneratorAction: this class is in charge of production and injection of primary particles in the detector simulation. In our cases it is linked to the Gaudi algorithm that is responsable to generate the incoming fluxes of particles.
* DetectorManager: this class manages the setup and working of the sensitive detectors of the simulation and their interaction with the GAUDI Data Store. It is concretely implemented in the two subclasses PosDetectorManager and IntDetectorManager; the first one is associated with detector that saves hits information in the Si planes of the LAT tracker (TRK), while the second one is used for Anticoincidence (ACD) tiles and Calorimeter (CAL) cells.

Figure 4 shows an event generated using Geant4 within the GLAST LAT experiment.

## 5 The Digitization package

To implement a detailed digitization of the Tracker system a full simulation code has been developed. It takes into account all the main physical processes that take place in a silicon strip detector (SSD) when it is crossed by an ionizing particle . The first version of the code has been written in FORTRAN and uses the HEED package for simulating the energy loss of charged particles in silicon. The present version of the code has been written in C++ and the process of energy loss is simulated by Geant4.

The input parameters of the code are the entry and exit points of the particle in a silicon ladder and the energy deposited by the particle, provided by the simulation package. Starting from these parameters, the e-h pairs are generated along the track and are propagated towards the electrodes. The current signals induced on each strip are evaluated and are converted into voltage signals using the transfer function associated to the detector electronics, taking into account the detector noise as well as the noise associated to the electronics. The fired strips and the time over threshold (TOT) are then determined after imposing a threshold on the voltage signals. Figure 5 shows some results of this package, concerning the signal generated in a silicon ladder equipped with the GLAST LAT electronics.

Simplified version for the digitization of the signals are provided for the Calorimeter and the Anticoincidence panels.

## 6 The Reconstruction package

This package contains the code that reconstructs tracks from hit strips in the LAT tracker. It’s organized as a series of algorithms that act successively . Starting from digits generated by the Digitization package, it generates a series of clusters, that are used to find and fit the best track candidates. This last procedure is done using alternative pattern recognition algorithms and a Kalman Filter based algorithm. Finally, using the best track found, another algorithm finds the best vertex candidate for gamma events.

Figure 6 shows a photon track reconstructed in the GLAST LAT.

## 7 Geometry database access library

The geometrical information of the detector and its materials are stored in an unique repository written using the XML language. A series of methods has been implemented to retrieve this information and make it available to the other packages. Interfaces have been implemented to visualize the geometrical information with different graphical outputs. Figure 7 shows the external appearance of GLAST visualized with a VRML browser.

## 8 Event Display and GUI

Although it is not part of the simulation, the visualization package is essential for the use of the simulation itself.

The Gleam event display GUI provides access to several kinds of controls. It includes controls on level of detail in detector display, rendering (or suppression) of digi products, recon products, choice of view, etc. It manages the Event generation with the possibility of choosing among many possible sources, ranging from simple test sources to simulation of albedo and galactic sources.

A new version  of the event display based on the HepRep  protocol has been developed and will be soon integrated within the framework.

## 9 Conclusions

The Gleam simulation program has been developed in the last few years and now it’s ready for simulating the full GLAST satellite and will be used for deriving the final instrumental parameter and for generating a full set of events for the developing of scientific analysis software.


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# M Dwarfs from Hubble Space Telescope Star Counts. V. The 𝐼-band Luminosity FunctionBased on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555.

## 1. Introduction

The stellar luminosity function (LF) measures the number density of stars as a function of luminosity. It is traditionally expressed in the $`V`$-band. However, sometimes it is more convenient to use the $`I`$-band LF for planning and modeling observations. Here we present the $`I`$-band LF of disk M dwarfs from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) star counts.

Zheng et al. (2001) studied a sample of about 1400 disk M dwarfs found in 148 fields observed with the Wide Field Camera 2 (WFC2) on the HST and 162 fields observed with pre-repair Planetary Camera 1 (PC1). The $`V`$-band LF and the Galactic disk parameters were derived simultaneously using the method of maximum likelihood. If the luminosity of M dwarfs depended only on their color, as is the case for example for the solar neighborhood color-magnitude relation (CMR) determined by Reid (1991), the conversion from the $`V`$-band LF to the $`I`$-band LF would be straightforward. However, since many stars in their sample lie far from the Galactic plane, Zheng et al. (2001) introduced a more realistic CMR \[CMR (2) in that paper\], which makes a first-order correction for the metallicity effect: the luminosity then depends not only on the color but also on the height, $`z`$, above the Galactic plane. With this more complex CMR, the transformation from the $`V`$-band LF to the $`I`$-band LF is not trivial.

In this paper, we apply the method of maximum likelihood to the same set of HST observations as in Zheng et al. (2001) and incorporate the Galactic-height-dependent CMR to derive the $`I`$-band LF of M dwarfs. This direct method avoids the uncertainty and the difficulty in the transformation from the $`V`$-band LF to the $`I`$-band LF. For details on the observations, the CMR, and the maximum likelihood method, we refer readers to Zheng et al. (2001) and references therein. In § 2, we present our results after a brief description of models.

## 2. Models and Results

The LF of disk M dwarfs is a function of the Galactic position ($`R`$, $`z`$). We parameterize it as the product of a vector of 12 absolute $`I`$-magnitude bins and a Galactic density law,

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(i,z,R)=\mathrm{\Phi }_i\nu (z)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{RR_0}{H}\right),$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$ is the solar neighborhood LF for the ith magnitude bin, $`R_0=8`$ kpc is the Galactocentric distance of the Sun, and $`H`$ is the scale length of the disk. The vertical density profile $`\nu (z)`$ is assumed to have either a “sech2” form,

$$\nu _s(z)=(1\beta )\mathrm{sech}^2\frac{z}{h_1}+\beta \mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{|z|}{h_2}\right),$$
(2)
or a “double-exponential” form,

$$\nu _e(z)=(1\beta )\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{|z|}{h_1}\right)+\beta \mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{|z|}{h_2}\right).$$
(3)
The magnitude bins are centered at $`M_I=`$ 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0, 9.5, 10.0, 10.5, 11.0, 12.0, and 13.5, respectively. The size of each bin is 0.5 mag except the last two (1.5 mag). Given a choice of disk scale length $`H`$, the local LF, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$, and the three disk profile parameters ($`h_1`$, $`h_2`$, $`\beta `$) are found by maximizing the likelihood. The scale length is determined by finding the maximum in the maximized likelihoods of an ensemble of solutions using different values of $`H`$.

As in Zheng et al. (2001), we select stars below $`z=`$ 2400 pc. The absolute $`I`$-magnitude of stars should satisfy $`6.25<M_I<14.25`$. The faint boundary is set to prevent contamination by spheroid giants. When translated into color, the boundary we use here is slightly bluer than that in Zheng et al. (2001), but it is still acceptable since our results show virtually no change if we move the boundary to a higher absolute $`I`$-magnitude. Altogether, 1403 stars satisfy our selection criteria and they constitute our sample. This sample has 30 more stars than the one used by Zheng et al. (2001), which results primarily from the small difference in the blue boundary.

We solve for the LF and disk profile parameters by maximizing the likelihood and find that the resultant disk profile parameters, for either the sech2 model or the double-exponential model, are almost identical to those derived in Zheng et al. (2001). This consistency of the results implies that the disk profile derived from the maximum likelihood method is robust. We therefore decide to fix the disk parameters at the values in Zheng et al. (2001), namely $`h_1=`$ 270 (156) pc, $`h_2=`$ 440 (439) pc, $`\beta =`$ 56.5% (38.1%), and $`H=`$ 2.75 kpc for the sech2 (double-exponential) model.

Similar to the the case in $`V`$-band, due to the lack of local stars in the sample, the best-fit LF for the sech2 model and that for the double-exponential model have nearly the same shape but differ from each other in normalization, and the normalization difference is compensated by the vertical density profile. We adopt a linear combination of the LFs of these two models as our final result, with the same combination coefficient derived by Zheng et al. (2001) by matching the local normalization to the well-established luminous end of the solar neighborhood M-dwarf $`V`$-band LF.

The $`I`$-band LF from our analysis is listed in Table 1 and shown in Figure 1. As expected, the overall shape of the $`I`$-band LF, with a peak at $`M_I9.5`$ and a sharp drop toward $`M_I10.5`$, mimics the $`V`$-band LF in Zheng et al. (2001).

We thank B. Paczyński, whose request for an $`I`$-band LF was the genesis of this paper. Work by Z.Z. and A.G. was supported in part by grant AST 02-01266 from the NSF. Z.Z. received additional support from a Presidential Fellowship from the Graduate School of The Ohio State University. C. F. has been supported by the Academy of Finland through its support of the ANTARES program for space research.


text:
# Legendre Transform, Hessian Conjecture and Tree Formula

## 1 Introduction

The Jacobian conjecture is one of the famous open fundamental problems in mathematics , and is very often stated as

###### Conjecture 1.1 (Jacobian Conjecture).

Let $`f`$: $`^n^n`$ be a polynomial map whose Jacobian is a nonzero constant, then $`f`$ is invertible and the inverse is also a polynomial.

(In fact the field $``$ can be replaced by any field of characteristic zero. But the analogue for a field with characteristic $`p>0`$ is false. See reference .)

Originally called Keller’s problem , the Jacobian Conjecture has a few published faulty proofs . Over a hundred papers have been published, but the conjecture is still open even in dimension two. Like many other famous conjectures, this conjecture is deceptively simple!

Reference  gives an excellent review on the Jacobian Conjecture up to 1982. For a more recent review and references on the Jacobian Conjecture, the reader may consult reference .

It is probably well-known to people working on the Jacobian Conjecture that there are many other conjectures which are equivalent to the Jacobian Conjecture. Here we propose another equivalent conjecture — the Hessian Conjecture. This conjecture grows out of the author’s failed attempt to settle the Jacobian Conjecture and is interesting in its own right; and it looks simpler: instead of dealing with many polynomials, one just needs to deal with a single polynomial.

Our thanks to A. Voronov for introducing us to the one-dimensional tree inversion formula and reference . A discussion of the tree inversion formula of Gurja and Abyankar in terms of Feynman diagrams has recently appeared in , but our discussion has a different perspective and our proof and derivation of the tree formula use somewhat different ideas. Significant work has appeared pertaining to polynomial maps with symmetric Jacobian matrices . In  M. de Bondt and A. van den Essen describe a Hessian conjecture virtually identical to the one we formulate, but which does not involve the Legendre transform. They also show its equivalence to the Jacobian conjecture and prove the reduction theorem of section 1.2 in this paper. We learned of that work only after this paper was originally written. Although the Hessian conjecture has been articulated as such only recently, the first result in this area - the case $`n=2`$ \- was proved in 1991 . This work is supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council under the RGC project HKUST6161/97P.

### 1.1  Hessian Conjecture

Let $`K`$ be a field of characteristic zero, $`\phi `$ a polynomial in $`n`$ variables with coefficients in $`K`$, i.e., $`\phi K[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]`$. The Hessian matrix $`H_\phi (x)`$ is a symmetric matrix whose $`(i,j)`$-entry is $`_i_j\phi (x)`$. By definition, the determinant of $`H_\phi (x)`$ is called the Hessian of $`\phi `$ at $`x`$, denoted by $`h_\phi (x)`$.

Suppose that $`h_\phi 0`$ at $`x=0`$, then $`y=\phi (x):=(_1\phi (x),\mathrm{},_n\phi (x))`$ has a formal inverse $`x=g(y)`$ — a formal power series in $`y`$. Let $`\overline{\phi }(y)`$ be the (formal) Legendre transform of $`\phi `$, i.e., $`\overline{\phi }(y)`$ is a formal power series in $`y`$ defined by equation

$`\overline{\phi }(y)=[xy\phi (x)]|_{x=g(y)}.`$ (1)
It is clear that $`x=\overline{\phi }(y)`$, so $`\overline{\phi }`$ is a potential function for $`g`$. Obviously $`\overline{\phi }`$ is a formal power series in $`y`$; however, we may consider the

###### Conjecture 1.2 (Hessian Conjecture).

Let $`\phi `$ be a polynomial over $`K`$ whose Hessian is a nonzero constant, $`\overline{\phi }`$ the formal Legendre transform of $`\phi `$. Then $`\overline{\phi }`$ is also a polynomial.

###### Theorem 1.3.

The Hessian Conjecture is true when $`K=`$ and the Hessian matrix is definite (either positive or negative) somewhere. Therefore, if

$$\phi (x)=\frac{1}{2}x^2+\text{higher order terms}$$

is a real polynomial with $`h_\phi =1`$ everywhere, then $`\overline{\phi }`$ is also a polynomial.

###### Proof.

Let $`\phi `$ be a real polynomial function on $`^n`$ whose Hessian is conatant. Without the loss of generality we may assume $`h_\phi =1`$ everywhere.

Claim 1: $`H_\phi `$ is non-degenerate everywhere and has constant signature. Therefore, if $`H_\phi `$ is positive (negative) definite somewhere, it is positive (negative) definite everywhere.

Proof of the claim 1. Fix $`x^n`$. Define

$$O(t):=H_\phi (tx).$$

Then $`O`$ is a smooth path in the space of nondegenerate (because of the Hessian condition on $`\phi `$), real symmetric $`n\times n`$ matrices; therefore we have a spectral flow from $`t=0`$ to $`t=1`$. The Hessian condition on $`\phi `$ implies that the signature of $`O(1)=H_\phi (x)`$ must be equal to that of $`O(0)`$; otherwise, there would be a zero eigenvalue somewhere along the path, say at $`t_0`$ ($`0<t_0<1`$), but then we would have the following contradiction:

$`0=detO(t_0)=detH_\phi (t_0x).`$
Claim 2. As a map from $`^n`$ to $`^n`$, $`\phi `$ is one to one.

Proof of claim 2. Suppose that $`\phi (x_1)=\phi (x_2)`$ for some points $`x_1`$ and $`x_2`$ in $`^n`$. Set $`f(t)=(x_2x_1)\phi (x_1+t(x_2x_1))`$ for $`0t1`$. Note that $`f(0)=f(1)`$, so there is a $`t_0(0,1)`$ such that $`f^{}(t_0)=0`$, i.e.,

$$(x_2x_1)^TH_\phi (x_1+t_0(x_2x_1))(x_2x_1)=0.$$

By the assumption on $`\phi `$ and claim 1 above, we know that $`H_\phi (x_1+t_0(x_2x_1))`$ is definite, so $`x_2x_1=0`$, i.e., $`x_2=x_1`$. Since $`\phi `$ is one to one, by Theorem 2.1 of reference , we know $`\phi `$ has a polynomial inverse, so it is clear from equation (1) that $`\overline{\phi }`$ is also a polynomial. ∎

###### Proposition 1.4.

The Hessian Conjecture is equivalent to the Jacobian Conjecture.

###### Proof.

If the Jacobian Conjecture is true, then equation (1) implies that the Hessian Conjecture is also true. On the other hand, assume the Hessian Conjecture is true, then the Jacobian Conjecture is also true, and this can be proved by the following trick: Let $`f`$: $`K^nK^n`$ be a polynomial map whose Jacobian is $`1`$ everywhere. Let $`\phi (v,x)=vf(x)`$, then $`\phi `$ is a polynomial function on $`K^{2n}`$ whose Hessian is $`(1)^n`$ everywhere. Then $`\overline{\phi }`$ is also a polynomial function by the assumption. Now $`\overline{\phi }(w,y)=wf^1(y)`$ where $`f^1(y)`$ is the formal inverse of $`f`$, so $`f^1(y)`$ is also a polynomial. ∎

### 1.2 A Reduction Theorem

In view of the reduction theorem in  and the proof of Proposition (1.4), the following reduction theorem can be easily deduced.

###### Theorem 1.5.

The Hessian Conjecture is true $``$ for each integer $`n1`$ and for each polynomial map $`\phi `$ : $`^{2n}`$ of the form

$$\phi (x)=\frac{1}{2}x^2+\text{a homogeneous quartic polynomial in }x,$$

if the hessian of $`\phi `$ is constant, then $`\overline{\phi }`$ is a polynomial.

In section 2 we shall introduce and prove a tree formula for $`\overline{\phi }`$; as a consequence, we obtain the tree formula of Gurja and Abyankar .

## 2 A Tree Formula

Let $`x=(x^1,\mathrm{},x^n)`$ and

$`\phi (x)={\displaystyle \underset{2Nm2}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{m!}}T_m(x),`$ (2)
where $`N>1`$ is an integer and $`T_m(x)`$ is a degree $`m`$ homogeneous polynomial in $`x`$. Note that $`T_m(x)`$ should be identified with $`T_m=[(T_m)_{i_1\mathrm{}i_m}]`$—a symmetric tensor of $`m`$ indices:

$$T_m(x)=(T_m)_{i_1\mathrm{}i_n}x^{i_1}\mathrm{}x^{i_m}.$$

(Here the repeated indices are summed up.)

Assume that $`T_2`$ is non-degenerate. Then we can introduce the symmetric tensor $`T_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{1}`$: by definition, $`[(T_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{1})^{ij}]`$ is the inverse matrix of $`[(T_2)_{ij}]`$. Under the assumption, we can formally solve equation $`y=(_1\phi (x),\mathrm{},_n\phi (x))`$ for $`x`$, so the Legendre transformation (1) is well-defined. We say $`\phi `$ is non-degenerate if its degree two homogeneous component is non-degenerate.

###### Theorem 2.1 (Tree Formula).

Suppose that $`\phi `$ is non-degenerate, then the formal Legendre transform of $`\phi `$ has the following tree expansion formula:

$`\overline{\phi }(y)={\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left\{\text{connected tree diagrams}\right\}}{}}w(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ (3)
where $`w(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is the contribution from tree diagram $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and is given according to the following rules:

1) to each edge of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, assign $`T_2^1`$,

2) to each external vertex, we assign $`y=(y_1,\mathrm{},y_n)`$,

3) to each internal vertex of degree $`n`$ assign $`T_n`$,

4) multiply all assignments in 1) through 3) and make all necessary contractions and then divided by $`|\mathrm{Aut}\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ to get $`w(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$.

Here $`\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ is the automorphism group of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (see the appendix for its precise meaning) and $`|\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })|`$ is the order of $`\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$.

To help the readers to understand the rules in the theorem, let us present two examples here:

Example 1. ................................................................................................................................................................................$`y`$$`y`$$`T_2^1`$$`=\frac{1}{2}y_iy_j(T_2^1)^{ij},`$

Example 2.

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................$`y`$$`y`$$`y`$$`T_3`$$`T_2^1`$$`T_2^1`$$`T_2^1`$$`=\frac{1}{3!}y_{i_1}y_{i_2}y_{i_3}(T_3)_{j_1j_2j_3}(T_2^1)^{i_1j_1}(T_2^1)^{i_2j_2}(T_2^1)^{i_3j_3}`$,

where the repeated indices are summed up.

Write $`\overline{\phi }(y)=_{m2}\frac{1}{m!}S_m(y)`$ and the right-hand side of (3) as $`_{m2}\frac{1}{m!}\stackrel{~}{S}_m(y)`$, where both $`S_m(y)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{S}_m(y)`$ are degree $`m`$ homogeneous polynomials in $`y`$. It is not hard to see that each coefficient $`C`$ of $`S_m(y)\stackrel{~}{S}_m(y)`$ is a rational function (over the field of rational numbers) in the coefficients of $`T_2`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$. To prove (3), we need to show that each $`C`$ is zero as a rational function in the coefficients of $`T_2`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$, equivalently, we need to show that the zero set of each $`C`$ contains an open subset. Therefore, without the loss of generality, we may assume that $`K=`$; moreover, we just need to show that each $`C`$ has value zero for all $`\phi `$ in a non-empty open set of $`𝒫_N`$—the space all real polynomials without linear and constant terms and having degree at most $`2N`$, i.e., we just need to prove Theorem 2.1 for all $`\phi `$ in an non-empty open set of $`𝒫_N`$. ( $`𝒫_N`$ is a vector space and we can put a metric on it: by definition, if $`f`$, $`g`$ are in $`𝒫_N`$, then the distance between $`f`$ and $`g`$ is defined to be the maximum of the absolute value of the coefficients of $`fg`$.)

###### Lemma 2.2.

There is an non-empty open set $`U_N`$ in $`𝒫_N`$ such that for all $`\phi U_N`$ we have 1) $`\phi (x)>\frac{1}{2}|x|^{2N}`$ if $`|x|`$ is sufficiently large; 2) $`0`$ is the only critical point of $`\phi `$; 3) the quadratic component $`T_2`$ of $`\phi `$ is positive definite.

###### Proof.

Let $`\phi _0(x)=(|x|^2+1)^N1`$. Then $`\phi _0`$ satisfies conditions 1), 2) and 3) in the lemma. It is not hard to see that if $`\phi `$ is sufficiently close to $`\phi _0`$, then $`\phi `$ satisfies conditions 1), 2) and 3) in the lemma, too. So we can take $`U_N`$ to be a sufficiently small ball centered at $`\phi _0`$. ∎

###### Corollary 2.3.

Theorem 2.1 is valid for all $`\phi U_N`$.

###### Proof.

Assume $`\phi U_N`$. Without loss of generality, we may assume $`T_2(x)=|x|^2`$ — that amounts to a rotation of the coordinate system.

The proof is obtained by evaluating

$`\underset{\mathrm{}0}{lim}\mathrm{}\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}\left(yx\phi (x)\right)}{𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2\mathrm{}}T_2(x)\right)}}`$ (4)
in two different ways. (The integrations are done over the whole space $`^n`$.)

On the one hand, assume $`|y|`$ is sufficiently small, using the assumption on $`\phi `$, by the steepest decent , this limit becomes

$`yz\phi (z),`$ (5)
where $`z`$ is the unique solution of equation

$`y\phi (x)=0`$ (6)
for $`x`$, i.e., $`z=(\phi )^1(y)`$. Therefore, this limit is $`\phi ^{}(y)`$—the Legendre Transform of $`\phi `$ as a function (not as a formal power series) in $`y`$ and the coefficients of $`T_3`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$.

On the other hand, using the assumption on $`\phi `$, we can calculate

$`\mathrm{}\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}\left(yx\phi (x)\right)}{𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2\mathrm{}}T_2(x)\right)}}`$ (7)
in terms of connected Feynman diagrams to get its asymptotic series expansion111For a definition of asymptotic series expansion, see reference . in $`\mathrm{}`$, $`y`$ and the coefficients of $`T_3`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$, see the appendix for more details. Note that the contribution from a connected Feynman diagram with $`m`$ loops is proportional to $`\mathrm{}^m`$, so only the contributions from the tree diagrams survive in limit (4). Since the contributions from the tree diagrams are exactly given by the rules specified in Theorem 2.1, we have the right-hand side of (3) which can be seen to be an asymptotic series expansion for $`\phi ^{}`$ in $`y`$ and the coefficients of $`T_3`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$.

By the definition of $`\overline{\phi }`$ and $`\phi ^{}`$, one can see that $`\overline{\phi }`$ is a convergent power series expansion of $`\phi ^{}`$, hence it is also an asymptotical series expansion for $`\phi ^{}`$ in $`y`$ and the coefficients of $`T_3`$, …, $`T_{2N}`$. By the uniqueness of asymptotical series expansion, we have a proof of Theorem 2.1 for $`\phi U_N`$. ∎

Proof of Theorem 2.1. The proof in the general case follows from the above corollary and the discussion preceding to Lemma 2.2. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Remark 2.4.

Strictly speaking, we should do some estimates to fully justify some of the arguments in the above proof of Lemma 2.2 and its corollary. These estimates are not hard to obtain; however, they would make the paper lengthy and also make the main ideas behind the proof a little bit obscure.

###### Remark 2.5.

Using the trick involved in the proof of Proposition 1.4, it is not hard to see that the tree formula given in this paper and the tree formula of Gurja and Abyankar actually imply each other. While the original proof of the tree formula of Gurja and Abyankar is purely algebraic, the proof given here for our tree formula is both algebraic and analytic.

## Appendix A Feynman Diagrams for Lebesgue integrals

A very good reference for the discussion below is . Let

$$Y(\lambda )=𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{a}{2}x^2\frac{\lambda }{4!}x^4\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{\lambda }{4!}x^4\right)$$
(8)
where $`a>0`$ and $`\lambda >0`$ are parameters and the integration is done over $``$ and the integration measure is normalized so that

$$𝑑x\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{a}{2}x^2\right)=1.$$
(9)
We are interested in the perturbative computation of $`Y(\lambda )`$. Formally, we have

$$Y(\lambda )\underset{n}{}\frac{1}{n!(4!)^n}(\lambda )^n\underset{n}{\underset{}{x^4\mathrm{}x^4}},$$
(10)
where symbol $``$ means the asymptotic series expansion of $`Y(\lambda )`$ as $`\lambda 0`$. We would like to compute

$$\frac{1}{n!(4!)^n}(\lambda )^n\underset{n}{\underset{}{x^4\mathrm{}x^4}},$$

for that purpose we observe that

1) $`e^{Jx}=e^{\frac{J^2}{2a}}`$,

2) $`x^{2m+1}=0`$ for any integer $`m0`$,

3) $`xx=\frac{^2}{J^2}e^{Jx}|_{J=0}=\frac{1}{a}`$,

4) $`\underset{2m}{\underset{}{x\mathrm{}x}}=\frac{^{2m}}{J^{2m}}e^{Jx}|_{J=0}`$ which is equal to the number of complete parings of $`x`$’s in $`\underset{2m}{\underset{}{x\mathrm{}x}}`$ times $`(\frac{1}{a})^m`$.

Viewing $`\underset{n}{\underset{}{x^4\mathrm{}x^4}}`$ as $`𝒳_n`$ \- a collection of $`n`$ identical copies of $`x`$-cross (here $`x`$-cross means a cross with each of its four legs being attached a $`x`$). The topological symmetry group of $`𝒳_n`$ is $`\text{G}_n=(\text{S}_4)^n\text{S}_n`$ \- the semi-product of $`(\text{S}_4)^n`$ with $`\text{S}_n`$. Let $`𝒫_n`$ be the set of all possible complete parings of $`x`$’s in $`𝒳_n`$. Then $`\text{G}_n`$ acts on $`𝒫_n`$. Note that an orbit of this action can be identified with a graph obtained by pairing the $`x`$’s in $`𝒳_n`$ according to any complete pairing in the orbit. Now, if $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is such a orbit or graph (called Feynman diagram), then

$`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|={\displaystyle \frac{|\text{G}_n|}{|\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })|}}`$ (11)
where $`|\text{S}|`$ denotes the number of elements in set S and $`\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ means the subgroup of $`\text{G}_n`$ that fixes an element in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, called the symmetry group of the Feynman diagram $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Therefore,

$$\frac{1}{n!(4!)^n}(\lambda )^n\underset{n}{\underset{}{x^4\mathrm{}x^4}}=\underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left\{\begin{array}{c}4\text{-valent closed graphs}\\ \text{with }n\text{-vertices}\end{array}\right\}}{}\frac{1}{|\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })|}(\lambda )^n(\frac{1}{a})^{2n},$$

where $`\frac{1}{|Aut(\mathrm{\Gamma })|}(\lambda )^n(\frac{1}{a})^{2n}`$ is the contribution from Feynman diagram $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ according to the following Feynman rules:

1) To each vertex of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ we assign $`\lambda `$,

2) To each $`1`$-simplex of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ we assign $`\frac{1}{a}`$ (called the propagator),

3) Multiply the contributions from all vertices and all $`1`$-simplexes and then divided by the order of the symmetry group of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

In summary, we have

$$Y(\lambda )\underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left\{4\text{-valent closed graphs}\right\}}{}\frac{1}{|\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })|}(\lambda )^{v_\mathrm{\Gamma }}(\frac{1}{a})^{e_\mathrm{\Gamma }},$$

where $`v_\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`e_\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ are the number of vertices and $`1`$-simplexes of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Note that the contribution from the empty graph is set to be $`1`$ by convention. And it is tautological that

$`\mathrm{log}Y(\lambda ){\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left\{\begin{array}{c}\text{connected nonempty}\\ 4\text{-valent closed graphs}\end{array}\right\}}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{|\mathrm{Aut}(\mathrm{\Gamma })|}}(\lambda )^{v_\mathrm{\Gamma }}({\displaystyle \frac{1}{a}})^{e_\mathrm{\Gamma }}.`$ (12)
It is not hard to see how to generalize all the above discussion to the general case when other types of vertices (such as $`3`$-valent, $`5`$-valent, …) may also appear.


text:
# Apparent Lorentz violation through spacetime-varying couplings

## 1 Introduction

Originally proposed by Dirac, the idea of spacetime-dependent couplings has remained the subject of a variety of experimental and theoretical investigations. As a result of current claims of observational evidence for a time variation of the electromagnetic coupling and the recent realization that such effects are a natural consequence of many unified theories, this idea has regained considerable interest. Although there has been substantial theoretical progress in the subject, a realistic underlying theory allowing concrete predictions is presently still lacking. For the identification of high-precision tests, it is therefore important to determine generic physical effects caused by spacetime-dependent couplings.

In models with varying couplings, the usual spacetime symmetries described by the Poincaré group can be effected. For example, translational invariance is normally lost in such models. In this talk, we argue that varying couplings can also lead to violations of the remaining spacetime symmetries associated with the Lorentz group, a point not widely appreciated. Intuitively, this can be understood when the effective vacuum is interpreted as a spacetime-varying medium, in which, for example, isotropy can be lost, so that certain rotations, which are contained in the Lorentz group, may no longer be associated with a symmetry transformation.

A partial motivation for this study is provided by the extreme sensitivity of experimental Lorentz tests and by recent progress in the understanding of a general Lorentz- and CPT-violating extension of the Standard Model, a framework that includes all possible coordinate-invariant Lorentz- and CPT-breaking interactions. It describes the low-energy limit of possible Lorentz and CPT violation at a more fundamental level, such as strings, nontrivial spacetime topology, and realistic noncommutative field theories. The Standard-Model Extension (SME) has provided the basis for numerous experimental investigations involving hadrons, protons and neutrons, electrons, photons, muons, and cosmic-ray physics. These studies place tight constraints on possible violations of Lorentz and CPT symmetry. We also remark that in this context, the inverse line of reasoning has already been discussed: certain constant parameters in the SME are equivalent to spacetime-dependent masses.

As part of our analysis, we construct a classical cosmological solution in the framework of the pure $`N=4`$ supergravity in four spacetime dimensions demonstrating how the fine-structure parameter $`\alpha `$ and the electromagnetic $`\theta `$ angle can acquire related spacetime dependences. Although this model is known to be unrealistic in detail, it is a limit of the $`N=1`$ supergravity in 11 dimensions, which is contained in M-theory. It could therefore yield valuable insight into generic features of a promising candidate fundamental theory. Moreover, a smoothly varying $`\theta `$ angle can be associated with a Lorentz-breaking Chern-Simons-type interaction. Our explicit mechanism for a varying $`\theta `$ in the context of a consistent supergravity model therefore sheds some light on the usual theoretical difficulties associated with this term and how they may be avoided.

## 2 Cosmology

When only one graviphoton, $`F_{\mu \nu }`$, is excited and Planck units are adopted, the bosonic lagrangian for the pure $`N=4`$ supergravity in four dimensions is

$$=\sqrt{g}\left(\frac{1}{2}R\frac{1}{4}MF_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{4}NF_{\mu \nu }\stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu }+\frac{_\mu A^\mu A+_\mu B^\mu B}{4B^2}\right),$$
(1)
where $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ represents the metric, $`\stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu }=\epsilon ^{\mu \nu \rho \sigma }F_{\rho \sigma }/2`$, and

$$M=\frac{B(A^2+B^2+1)}{(1+A^2+B^2)^24A^2},N=\frac{A(A^2+B^21)}{(1+A^2+B^2)^24A^2}.$$
(2)
The conventional complex scalar denoted by $`Z`$, which contains an axion and a dilaton, is related to $`A`$ and $`B`$ via a canonical transformation, such that $`B`$ can be identified with the string-theory dilaton.

Within this model, one can determine a simple classical solution. To this end, we set $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ to zero for the moment and assume a flat ($`k=0`$), homogeneous and isotropic Universe. In comoving coordinates, the associated metric has the usual Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) line element

$$ds^2=dt^2a^2(t)(dx^2+dy^2+dz^2),$$
(3)
where $`a(t)`$ denotes the cosmological scale factor. The above assumptions also imply that $`A`$ and $`B`$ can depend on $`t`$ only. For a more realistic situation, the known matter content of the Universe needs to be modeled. An often employed approach is to include the energy-momentum tensor of dust, $`T_{\mu \nu }`$. If $`u^\mu `$ is the unit timelike vector orthogonal to the spatial surfaces and $`\rho (t)`$ is the energy density of the dust, it follows that $`T_{\mu \nu }=\rho u_\mu u_\nu `$, as usual. In the present context, this type of matter arises from the fermionic sector of our supergravity model. Since the scalars $`A`$ and $`B`$ do not couple to the fermion kinetic terms, we will take $`T_{\mu \nu }`$ as conserved separately.

In this model, the dependences of $`A`$ and $`B`$ on a parameter time defined by $`\tau =\sqrt{3}/4\mathrm{arcoth}(\sqrt{3c_n/4c_1}t+1)`$ are given by

$$A=\pm \lambda \mathrm{tanh}\left(\frac{1}{\tau }\frac{1}{\tau _0}\right)+A_0,B=\lambda sech\left(\frac{1}{\tau }\frac{1}{\tau _0}\right),$$
(4)
where $`\sqrt{3c_n/4c_1}`$, $`\lambda `$, $`1/\tau _0`$, and $`A_0`$ are integration constants. It can be verified that both $`A`$ and $`B`$ tend to constant values as $`t\mathrm{}`$. It follows that in our supergravity cosmology the axion $`A`$ and the dilaton $`B`$ become fixed despite the absence of a dilaton potential. This essentially results from the conservation of energy.

## 3 Spacetime-varying couplings

We proceed by considering localized excitations of $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ in the scalar background given by (4). Since experimental investigations are often performed in spacetime regions small on a cosmological scale, it is appropriate to work in local inertial frames.

In the presence of a nontrivial $`\theta `$-angle, the conventional electrodynamics lagrangian in inertial coordinates can be taken as

$$_{\mathrm{em}}=\frac{1}{4e^2}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\frac{\theta }{16\pi ^2}F_{\mu \nu }\stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu },$$
(5)
where $`e`$ is the electromagnetic coupling. Comparison with our supergravity model shows that $`e^21/M`$ and $`\theta 4\pi ^2N`$. Note that $`M`$ and $`N`$ are functions of the axion-dilaton background (4), so that $`e`$ and $`\theta `$ acquire related spacetime dependences in an arbitrary local inertial frame.

The spacetime dependence of both $`\alpha =e^2/4\pi `$ and $`\theta `$ can be relatively complicated and can vary qualitatively with the choice of model parameters. Figure (1) depicts relative variations of $`\alpha `$ in comoving coordinates for $`1/\tau _0=0`$. The fractional look-back time to the big bang is defined by $`1t/t_n`$, where $`t_n`$ denotes the present age of the Universe. The solid line corresponds to no time variation. Each broken line is associated with a set of nontrivial choices for $`\lambda `$, $`\sqrt{3c_n/4c_1}t_n`$, and $`A_0`$. Parameter sets consistent with the Oklo constraints are marked with an asterisk. Note the qualitative differences in the various plots, the nonlinear features, and the sign change for $`\dot{\alpha }`$ in the two cases with positive $`A_0`$. Also shown in Fig. (1) are the recent experimental results obtained from measurements of high-redshift spectra over periods of approximately $`0.6t_n`$ to $`0.8t_n`$ assuming $`H_0=65`$ km/s/Mpc and $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_m,\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda })=(0.3,0.7)`$.

## 4 Lorentz violation

In the presence of charged matter described by a 4-current $`j^\nu `$, the equations of motion for $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ become

$$\frac{1}{e^2}_\mu F^{\mu \nu }\frac{2}{e^3}(_\mu e)F^{\mu \nu }+\frac{1}{4\pi ^2}(_\mu \theta )\stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu }=j^\nu .$$
(6)
Note that in the limit of spacetime-independent $`e`$ and $`\theta `$, the usual inhomogeneous Maxwell equations are recovered. In the present context, however, the last two terms on the left-hand side of Eq. (6) lead to apparent Lorentz violation despite being coordinate invariant. This fact becomes particular transparent on small cosmological scales, where $`_\mu M`$ and $`_\mu N`$ are approximately constant, and hence, select a direction in the local inertial frame. As a consequence, particle Lorentz covariance is violated. It is important to note that this is not a feature of the particular coordinate system chosen. Once $`_\mu M`$, for example, is nonzero in one local inertial frame associated with a small spacetime region, it is nonzero in all local inertial frames associated with that region.

By contrast, such Lorentz-violating effects are absent in conventional FRW cosmologies that fail to generate spacetime-dependent scalars. Although global Lorentz symmetry is usually broken, local Lorentz-symmetric inertial frames always exist. It is also important to note that the above mechanism for generating Lorentz-breaking effects is not a unique feature of our supergravity model. Equation (6) shows that any similarly implemented smooth spacetime dependence of $`e`$ and $`\theta `$ on cosmological scales can lead to such effects. This suggests that this type of apparent Lorentz breaking could be a common feature of models incorporating spacetime-varying couplings. We remark in passing that the present type of Lorentz violation differs conceptually from attempts to deform Lorentz symmetry.

An equivalent form of the electrodynamics lagrangian (5) in a local inertial frame can be obtained via an integration by parts:

$$_{\mathrm{em}}^{}=\frac{1}{4e^2}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+\frac{1}{8\pi ^2}(_\mu \theta )A_\nu \stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu }.$$
(7)
The the second term on right-hand side of Eq. (7) gives a Chern-Simons-type contribution to the action. Such gradient-photon couplings have been studied previously in various contexts. A Chern-Simons-type term is also contained in the SME, and one can identify $`(k_{AF})_\mu e^2_\mu \theta /8\pi ^2`$. The presence of a nonzero $`(k_{AF})_\mu `$ in (7) shows explicitly Lorentz and CPT violation at the lagrangian level. The situation in which $`e`$ and $`(k_{AF})_\mu `$ are constant has been discussed extensively in the literature. In this limit, lagrangian (7) becomes translationally invariant. However, the associated conserved energy fails to be positive definite, which usually leads to instabilities in the theory. The question arises how this problem is avoided in the present context of a positive-definite supergravity model.

Although in most models a Chern-Simons-type term is assumed to arise in an underlying framework, its treatment at low energies usually involves a constant nondynamical $`(k_{AF})_\mu `$. In the present context, however, $`(k_{AF})_\mu `$ is associated with the dynamical degrees of freedom $`A`$ and $`B`$. Excitations of $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ therefore lead to perturbations $`\delta A`$ and $`\delta B`$ in the axion-dilaton background (4). As a result, the energy-momentum tensor $`(T^\mathrm{b})^{\mu \nu }`$ of the background receives an additional contribution, $`(T^\mathrm{b})^{\mu \nu }(T^\mathrm{b})^{\mu \nu }+\delta (T^\mathrm{b})^{\mu \nu }`$. It can be demonstrated that this contribution does indeed compensate the negative-energy ones associated with a nonzero $`(k_{AF})_\mu `$.

## 5 Summary

Our analysis suggests that couplings varying on cosmological scales can be obtained as simple solutions of theories beyond the Standard Model and that such couplings may generically lead to local particle Lorentz violation. As an illustration, we have constructed a classical cosmological solution within the pure $`N=4`$ supergravity in four dimensions that exhibits spacetime-varying electromagnetic couplings $`\alpha `$ and $`\theta `$ and establishes the resulting Lorentz and CPT breaking. In this model, a Chern-Simons-type term is generated but the usual associated stability difficulties are circumvented.