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# Evidence for Dynamic Charge Stripes in the Phonons of Optimally Doped YBCO

## Abstract

Inelastic neutron scattering investigations on optimally doped YBCO revealed a very pronounced temperature dependence in the Cu-O in-plane bond-stretching vibrations along the (010) direction: a shift of spectral weight by at least 10 meV has been observed in a narrow range of wave vectors halfway to the zone boundary. The temperature evolution starts at about 200 K, well above the superconducting transition temperature. The displacement pattern of the anomalous phonons indicates a dynamic one-dimensional charge-density modulation within the planes, but excludes a direct contribution from the Cu-O chains.

There is widespread belief that the electronic structure of high temperature superconductors is characterized by an inhomogeneous distribution of charge and spin in which the spins on the copper atoms form antiferromagnetic stripes, separated by domain walls carrying the charge. Although theory Zaanen ; Loew  suggests that stripe formation should be a universal property of the cuprates, solid experimental evidence for stripes has been found so far only for a particular compound, i.e. La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4 Tranquada , in which the stripes are static and apparently detrimental to superconductivity. In superconducting compounds, the stripes are expected to be dynamic in nature, but dynamic stripes are much more difficult to detect and so the experimental basis in favor of dynamic stripes is far from being solid. Inelastic neutron scattering can be used to observe the dynamic spin structure by the interaction between the neutron spin and the electron spin. Magnetic fluctuations consistent with the stripe phase picture have indeed been observed in the system La2-xSrxCuO4 Cheong ; Yamada  whereas the interpretation of the results for YBa2Cu3O7-x remains controversial Mook ; Bourges . Inelastic neutron scattering can be used to look for fingerprints of dynamic charge stripes as well, but in this case, evidence for stripes is obtained only indirectly by searching for effects of the dynamic charge structure on the atomic vibrations. That is to say, phonons with a displacement pattern closely related to that resulting from the inhomogeneous charge distribution are expected to show an anomalous behavior somewhat reminiscent of the phonon anomalies observed in one-dimensional conductors at temperatures above the Peierls transition, i.e. as a precursor phenomenon to charge-density-wave formation Pini2 .

In this Letter, we report observations by inelastic neutron scattering on optimally doped YBa2Cu37O6.95 which fit nicely to the predictions of recent theoretical work Kaneshita ; Park  as to phonon anomalies resulting from an interaction with low-lying collective charge excitations. We show that a pronounced downward shift of spectral weight occurs for Cu-O in-plane bond-stretching vibrations propagating along the b-direction within a narrow range of wave vectors on cooling below room temperature. This result appears to be difficult to explain other than with the development of dynamic charge stripe correlations. We note that first results on an unusual temperature dependence of phonons in optimally doped YBCO were already reported in Chung . An important step for achieving a better understanding of these effects note  has been to study the phonon branches of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_4`$-symmetry instead of those of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$-symmetry : these branches differ from each other in that the elongations in the Cu-O bi-layer are in-phase for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$-symmetry and out-of-phase for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_4`$-symmetry. We found that the behavior of the two types of bond-stretching branches is in principle very similar. However, anticrossings of the in-plane-polarized bond-stretching branch with c-axis- polarized branches leads to a formidable complication in the case of the branches of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$-symmetry Pini ; Reznik .

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed on a composite sample of optimally doped YBa2Cu3O6.95 (Tc = 93 K) consisting of three twinned single crystals with a total volume of 1.5 cm3 . Details of the sample are given elsewhere Reznik . The neutron experiments were carried out on the 1T triple-axis spectrometer at the ORPHEE reactor of the Laboratoire L$`\stackrel{´}{e}`$on Brillouin at Saclay, France. The (220) reflection of a Cu crystal was used to monochromatize the incident neutrons in order to achieve high resolution. Pyrolytic graphite (PG) (002) was used as analyzer crystal. Both crystals were horizontally and vertically focusing. A PG filter was placed into the final beam to suppress higher order contaminations. The measurements were performed at various temperatures between T=10 K and 300 K. The experiments focused on the Cu-O in-plane bond-stretching vibrations in the (100) and in the (010) directions because it was known from previous investigations Pini ; Reznik ; Reichardt  that these branches show an anomalous dispersion at low temperatures.

The twinning of our sample was, of course, a difficulty for the assignment of the neutron peaks to the a or the b direction. This problem was overcome by the technique described in refs. 9,15, i.e. by exploiting the fact the dispersion relation for phonons propagating along (100) is shifted in reciprocal space against that of phonons propagating along (010) due to the difference in lattice constants of nearly 2% (see Fig. 1). A further strong support for our assignment came from previous measurements on a detwinned sample Pini ; Reznik . Unfortunately, this sample cleaved after the first cooling cycle and could therefore not be used for the temperature dependent measurements. As can be inferred from Fig. 1, measurements made for momentum transfers Q=(3,0,2)+q or Q=(3,0,2)-q, respectively, have both their pros and cons: for Q=(3,0,2)-q, focusing leads to relatively narrow phonon lines, but the peaks for the a\* and the b\* directions are rather close in energy, whereas the opposite is true for Q=(3,0,2)+q. Therefore, both configurations have been tried to elucidate the behavior of the bond-stretching phonons.

A major result of our study is that strong temperature effects were observed only for b-axis polarized phonons and only in the vicinity of the wave vector q=(0,0.27,0). This led us to carry out a detailed temperature study for this particular Q. We found a pronounced shift of spectral weight from energies around 59 meV to energies around 49 meV when lowering the temperature from 300 K to 10 K (Fig. 2a,b). The intensity loss at E$``$59 meV appears to be not fully compensated by the gain at E$``$49 meV. Therefore, we made further scans covering a larger energy interval to search for the missing intensity. The data suggest that some spectral weight is shifted down to E$``$37 meV (Fig. 2c) with the caveat that it is difficult to correct for the temperature dependence of the background for such wide energy intervals.

Fig. 2b shows that the temperature evolution starts at temperatures far above Tc and also continues on further cooling below Tc. The question as to whether there is a subtle influence of Tc on the temperature dependence of the phonon under discussion will have to be addressed in a future investigation using finer steps in temperature. Fig. 2b further suggests that the phonon softening proceeds by a shift of spectral weight and not a peak shift, i.e. a gradual depletion of the phonon intensity observed around 59 meV at T=300 K and a simultaneous build-up of intensity at much lower energies. This issue was further explored by scans at the nominal wave vector Q=(2.7,0,2), corresponding to the same q along b\* as at Q=(3.25,0,2) because focusing leads here to a better energy resolution. Unfortunately, the contributions from the a\* and the b\* directions show up at nearly the same energy at T=200 K. On cooling, a pronounced loss in intensity is observed which corresponds very well to that observed at Q=(3.25,0,2). However, no peak broadening was seen at any temperature demonstrating that all the lost intensity is shifted out of the energy window of these scans except for a modest intensity gain at the lowest end of the window (50 meV) (Fig. 3b). We note that this intensity loss rapidly disappears when going to smaller q (Fig. 3a). On the high q side, the temperature effect becomes rapidly weaker as well and leads to a softening of the bond-stretching phonon peak of a few meV only. At the zone boundary, there was no discernible temperature dependence of the bond-stretching mode (Fig. 3c).

The phonon anomaly described above bears certainly some resemblance to the Kohn anomalies observed in one-dimensional conductors Renker , i.e. precursor phenomena to a charge-density-wave transition occurring at low temperatures. Therefore, one might conjecture that it is related to flat parts of the Fermi surface related to the oxygen chains Pickett . However, we emphasize that the phonon anomaly is observed in a branch of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_4`$-symmetry for which the chain O elongations are zero. This fact excludes a trivial relationship of the anomaly with chain O related electronic states. Having ruled out a direct association with the Cu-O chains, we conclude that the observed anomaly is evidence for a significant electronic anisotropy, consistent with nematic behavior Kivelson .

Could the phonon anomaly be the result of Fermi surface nesting within the Cu-O planes ? A check of this possibility is provided by recent results of density functional theory Bohnen . These calculations indeed predict a local frequency minimum in a branch with bond-stretching character at q$``$(0,0.25,0); however, this branch is of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$-symmetry and involves primarily chain O elongations. This feature is not unexpected in view of the one-dimensional nature of the Cu-O chains and may well be related to static charge modulations detected within the Cu-O chains by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) Derro ; Maki . On the other hand, the calculations do not predict a similar anomaly in a branch of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_4`$-symmetry. Rather the theoretical results are in surprisingly good agreement with the 200 K data (Fig. 4). The authors of that study were concerned that the high effective electron temperature (0.2 eV) used in their calculations to improve convergence might have suppressed the anomalous softening at q=0.25. Therefore, additional calculations were made using a much smaller effective electron temperature (0.02 eV). However, this had barely any influence on the calculated phonon frequencies Bohnenprivate . Apparently, the anomalous low-temperature dispersion of the in-plane bond-stretching phonons cannot be understood within the framework of such a theory. For this reason, it seems unlikely that the observed anomaly can be attributed to a Fermi surface nesting effect.

A better candidate to explain the observed anomalies is the coupling of the phonons to charge stripes, similar to what has been proposed in recent theoretical work Kaneshita ; Park . As indicated in Fig. 5, the displacement pattern of the anomalous phonons is such as to favor dynamic charge accumulation on (approximately) every fourth row of atoms along b. The idea of charge stripe formation motivated us to search for elastic superlattice peaks related to static charge density wave formation, but we found none Derro . This means that if our interpretation of the phonon anomaly is correct, the charge stripes in optimally doped YBCO are really dynamic in nature.

The above reasoning assumes that the charge modulation is along b, which means that the stripes must run parallel to a, an orientation that would be orthogonal to that implied by studies of magnetic fluctuations in underdoped YBCO MookNature ; Stock . On the other hand, a charge-density-wave instability (CDW) along charge stripes has been discussed theoretically in Kivelson : formation of metallic stripes would make the electronic properties of a cuprate similar to that of one-dimensional conductors and hence could lead to the same type of transition which is typically observed in such materials. Of course, this argument tacitly assumes that the onset temperature for stripe correlations is quite high which is an unresolved issue.

Comparing the data for optimally doped YBCO (O7) with those of underdoped O6.6 Pini  we find that the low T dispersion of O6.6 definitely shows an anomaly similar to that observed in O7 although not quite as clearly. Re-inspection of temperature-dependent data also revealed a significant temperature effect which was overlooked in Pini3  because it does not show up as a peak shift but again as a shift of spectral weight. This indicates that the phonon anomaly reported in this paper is not restricted to optimally doped samples.

In summary, we observed a pronounced temperature effect in the Cu-O in-plane bond-stretching vibrations strongly indicative of dynamic charge stripe formation in optimally doped YBCO. This result certainly adds credence to long-held theoretical expectations that the cuprates should form a charge-inhomogeneous state. On the other hand, several questions remain to be answered: Why is the effect, if present at all, much less pronounced along the a direction ? Why is the effect not seen in optimally doped LSCO Braden  ? Last but not least, how does one reconcile the magnetic response of optimally doped YBCO with the idea of a dynamic stripe phase ? As will be discussed in a separate paper Reznik2  antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations have indeed been observed on the same sample, but their dispersive nature and their apparent in-plane isotropy do not fit to the naive expectations of the classical stripe picture Bourges2 .

This work was partially supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as Collaborative Research and Development of Fundamental Technologies for Superconductivity Applications. Work at Brookhaven is supported the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.


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# Near-Infrared Colors of Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows and Cosmic Reionization History

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The evolutionary study of the intergalactic medium (IGM) is now one of the most active fields in astrophysics. Especially, the cosmic reionization history of the IGM attracts many researchers in recent years (see Loeb & Barkana 2001 for a review). Gunn–Peterson trough shortward of the Ly$`\alpha `$ resonance (Gunn & Peterson, 1965) in the spectrum of quasars with redshift $`z6`$ indicates that the end of the reionization epoch is $`z6`$ (Becker et al., 2001; White et al., 2003). On the other hand, the recent observation of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by WMAP suggests that the beginning of the reionization is $`z20`$ (Spergel et al., 2003; Kogut et al., 2003). One might think that there is a discrepancy between both observations.

The detailed simulation of the six-dimensional radiative transfer shows that the reionization process proceeds slowly in an inhomogeneous universe (e.g., Nakamoto, Umemura, & Susa, 2001). If the reionization began at $`z20`$, the neutral fraction in the universe decreased gradually, and the universe was ionized almost completely at $`z6`$, the apparent discrepancy can be resolved (Wyithe & Loeb, 2003a; Haiman & Holder, 2003; Ciardi, Ferrara, & White, 2003; Chiu, Fan, & Ostricker, 2003; Sokasian et al., 2003; Onken & Miralda-Escudé, 2003). The scenario that the initial partially ionized epoch was simply followed by the complete ionization can explain the large Thomson scattering opacity observed from the CMB polarization and also is consistent with the previous picture in which the end of the reionization is $`z6`$.

Cen (2003a, b) and Wyithe & Loeb (2003b) recently proposed a new scenario of the reionization; the universe was reionized twice. Even in an inhomogeneous universe, enough strong intensity of the ultra-violet (UV) background radiation can ionize the universe quickly. At $`z20`$, the first reionization was made by the Population III (Pop III) stars (metal-free stars) with a top-heavy initial mass function (IMF) which yields a much higher UV emissivity than that of normal Pop I and II stars. Then, the universe was partially recombined at $`z15`$ when the transition from the Pop III to II was occurred and the UV emissivity was suddenly suppressed because of the different IMF. Finally, the UV photons from the Pop II stars increased gradually and ionized the universe again at $`z6`$.

Cen’s scenario can also resolve the discrepancy, but it is different from others in the history of the cosmic reionization; the first complete ionization was followed by the partially ionized epoch and then the second complete ionization. We should assess whether Cen’s scenario is favored by using other observations. In this paper, an assessment by using the afterglows of the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is discussed.

The usefulness of GRBs to investigate the high-$`z`$ universe is pointed out by many authors (e.g., Lamb & Reichart, 2000; Ciardi & Loeb, 2000; Barkana & Loeb, 2003). It is strongly suggested that the long duration GRBs arise from the collapse of a massive star (Galama et al., 1998; Uemura et al., 2003; Hjorth et al., 2003; Price et al., 2003; Stanek et al., 2003; Matheson et al., 2003). Hence, the GRBs can occur at very high-$`z`$ once the massive stars are formed. For example, the Swift satellite111http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/ is expected to detect $`10`$ GRBs per year occurring at $`z10`$ (Lamb & Reichart, 2000). Furthermore, if we fix an observing time from the prompt emission, the observed afterglow flux does not become so faint even for the extremely high-$`z`$ GRBs because the earlier phase of the afterglow is observed in the cosmological rest frame (Ciardi & Loeb, 2000).

In this paper, we show that the near-infrared (NIR) photometric follow-ups of the GRB afterglows are very useful to investigate how many times the cosmic reionization occurred. Although many techniques to prove the reionization history have been proposed so far, for example, hydrogen 21 cm line tomography (Madau, Meiksin, & Rees, 1997; Carilli, Gnedin, & Owen, 2002; Furlanetto & Loeb, 2002), Ly$`\alpha `$ damping wing measurement (Miralda-Escudé, 1998; Barkana & Loeb, 2003), metal absorption lines (Oh, 2002; Furlanetto & Loeb, 2003), CMB polarization anisotropy (Haiman & Holder, 2003), and dispersion measure in GRB radio afterglows (Ioka, 2003; Inoue, 2003), the NIR photometric colors may be the most promising technique using the current facilities.

In order to investigate the reionization history using our photometric method, we need to determine redshifts of GRBs by other ways, e.g., detections of iron lines in X-ray afterglow spectra (Mészáros & Rees, 2003) and of the Ly$`\alpha `$ break in NIR spectra, or empirical methods by using only the $`\gamma `$-ray data (Fenimore & Ramirez-Ruiz, 2000; Norris et al., 2000; Ioka & Nakamura, 2001; Amati et al., 2002; Atteia, 2003; Murakami et al., 2003; Yonetoku et al., 2003). Even if redshifts of GRBs are unknown prior to follow-up observations, it is worth performing NIR photometry as early phase as possible since $`10`$% of GRBs are expected to be located at $`z10`$ (Bromm & Loeb, 2002). In practice, such follow-up observations against every GRB are possible. Even after the early NIR follow-up, we will be able to determine the redshifts. In this paper, we show that the near-infrared (NIR) photometric follow-ups of the GRB afterglows provide a significantly important information on the cosmic reionization history.

The structure of this paper is as follows: we start from a brief summary of the IGM opacity by the neutral hydrogen in section 2. In section 3, the possible scenario of a very low neutral fraction at very high-$`z`$ is discussed. Then, we examine the NIR spectra and colors of the GRB afterglows in section 4 and 5, respectively. Finally, we discuss a way to obtain the cosmic reionization history and advantage/disadvantage of our method in section 6.

We adopt a standard set of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM cosmology throughout the paper: $`H_0=70`$ km s-1 Mpc-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{b}=0.04`$.

## 2 IGM OPACITY

Suppose an observer at $`z=0`$ who observes a source with $`z=z_\mathrm{S}`$ at the observer’s frequency $`\nu _0`$. The radiation from the source is absorbed by the Lyman series lines and the photoionization of the intervening neutral hydrogen (Gunn & Peterson, 1965). The hydrogen cross section at the rest frame frequency $`\nu `$ is

$$\sigma _{\mathrm{HI}}(\nu )=\sigma _{\mathrm{LC}}(\nu )+\underset{i}{}\sigma _i(\nu ),$$
(1)
where $`\sigma _{\mathrm{LC}}(\nu )`$ is the cross section for the Lyman continuum photons ($`h\nu `$ 13.6 eV) and $`\sigma _i(\nu )`$ is the cross section for the $`i`$-th line of the Lyman series, i.e., $`i=`$ Ly$`\alpha `$, Ly$`\beta `$, Ly$`\gamma `$, etc. Here we consider the lines up to $`i=40`$. The optical depth for the observer’s frequency $`\nu _0`$ is given by

$$\tau _{\nu _0}(z_\mathrm{S})=\tau _{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{LC}}(z_\mathrm{S})+\underset{i}{}\tau _{\nu _0}^i(z_\mathrm{S}),$$
(2)
$$\tau _{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{LC}}(z_\mathrm{S})=_0^{z_\mathrm{S}}\sigma _{\mathrm{LC}}(\nu _0[1+z])n_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)\frac{cdz}{(1+z)H(z)},$$
(3)
and

$$\tau _{\nu _0}^i(z_\mathrm{S})=_0^{z_\mathrm{S}}\sigma _i(\nu _0[1+z])n_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)\frac{cdz}{(1+z)H(z)},$$
(4)
where $`n_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)`$ is the number density of the neutral hydrogen at the redshift $`z`$, $`H(z)`$ is the Hubble constant at the redshift $`z`$, and $`c`$ is the light speed.

The cross section for the Lyman continuum photons is given by $`\sigma _{\mathrm{LC}}(\nu )=\sigma _\mathrm{L}(\nu /\nu _\mathrm{L})^3`$, where $`\sigma _\mathrm{L}=6.30\times 10^{18}`$ cm2 and the Lyman limit frequency $`\nu _\mathrm{L}=3.29\times 10^{15}`$ Hz (Osterbrock, 1989). Thus, we obtain

$$\tau _{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{LC}}(z_\mathrm{S})=\sigma _\mathrm{L}\left(\frac{\nu _\mathrm{L}}{\nu _0}\right)^3n_{\mathrm{H},0}c_{z_{\mathrm{min}}}^{z_\mathrm{S}}\frac{x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)dz}{(1+z)H(z)},$$
(5)
where $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)`$ is the neutral fraction at the redshift $`z`$ and $`z_{\mathrm{min}}=\mathrm{max}[0,(\nu _\mathrm{L}/\nu _0)1]`$. The neutral fraction $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)`$ is defined as $`n_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)/n_\mathrm{H}(z)`$, where $`n_\mathrm{H}(z)=n_{\mathrm{H},0}(1+z)^3`$ is the cosmic mean number density of hydrogen atom at the redshift $`z`$ with $`n_{\mathrm{H},0}`$ being the present one. The effect of the inhomogeneity of the universe can be expressed in the definition of $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ (see section 3 below). Since we need the condition $`z_{\mathrm{min}}<z_\mathrm{S}`$ to integrate Eq. (5), $`\tau _{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{LC}}(z_\mathrm{S})=0`$ when $`\nu _0\nu _\mathrm{L}/(1+z_\mathrm{S})`$.

The line cross section $`\sigma _i(\nu )`$ has a very sharp peak at the line center frequency. The width is well characterized by the Doppler width, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{D}`$. That is, $`\sigma _i(\nu )\sigma _i`$ for $`|\nu \nu _i|\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{D}`$, and $`\sigma _i(\nu )0`$ for $`|\nu \nu _i|>\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{D}`$, where $`\sigma _i`$ and $`\nu _i`$ are the cross section and the frequency of the $`i`$-th line center, respectively. Since $`\nu =\nu _0(1+z)`$, we integrate the rhs of equation (4) over a narrow redshift width of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(1+z)=2(\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{D}/\nu _i)(1+z_i)`$ around $`1+z_i=\nu _i/\nu _0`$. Therefore, we obtain

$$\tau _{\nu _0}^i(z_\mathrm{S})2\left[\frac{\sqrt{\pi }e^2f_i}{m_ec\nu _i}\right]\left[\frac{cn_{\mathrm{HI}}(z_i)}{H(z_i)}\right],$$
(6)
where we have substituted $`\sigma _i=\sqrt{\pi }e^2f_i/m_ec\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{D}`$, in which $`e`$ is the electric charge, $`f_i`$ is the absorption oscillator strength of the $`i`$-th line, and $`m_e`$ is the electron mass. The values of $`f_i`$ and $`\nu _i`$ are taken from Wiese, Smith, & Glennon (1966). This time also we are restricted by $`z_iz_\mathrm{S}`$. Thus, the above equation is valid only when $`\nu _0\nu _i/(1+z_\mathrm{S})`$, otherwise $`\tau _{\nu _0}^i(z_\mathrm{S})=0`$.

For the Ly$`\alpha `$ line, the opacity becomes

$$\tau ^{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }2.6\times 10^6x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)\left(\frac{1+z}{20}\right)^{3/2},$$
(7)
where we approximate $`H(z)H_0\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}^{1/2}(1+z)^{3/2}`$ and adopt $`n_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)=x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)n_{\mathrm{H},0}(1+z)^3`$. This is the Gunn-Peterson optical depth (Gunn & Peterson, 1965; Peebles, 1993). From this equation, we realize that if $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$, the IGM is opaque for the photon bluer than the source Ly$`\alpha `$ line. Conversely, we can estimate $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ if $`\tau ^{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }`$ is determined observationally (e.g., Becker et al. 2001; White et al. 2003).

## 3 NEUTRAL FRACTION AND STAR FORMATION RATE

In the following sections, we will assume a neutral fraction of hydrogen, $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ at $`z20`$ for calculations of spectra and colors of GRB afterglows. Before such calculations, we show, here, that $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ is possible at a very high-$`z`$ universe.222In Figure 9 of Cen (2003a), the neutral fraction decreases up to $`10^4`$. However, it is an artificial limit in his calculation (Cen 2003, private communication).

In general, the neutral fraction, $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}(z)`$, is spatially variable. However, we discuss only its mean value for simplicity. The averaged $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ is determined by the UV intensity of the background radiation and the inhomogeneity of the hydrogen number density at the redshift $`z`$. Even at very high-$`z`$ universe, the recombination time-scale is much less than the Hubble time-scale. Thus, we assume the ionization equilibrium. In that case, the mean neutral fraction for a highly ionized medium (i.e. $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}1`$) is given by $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}Cn_\mathrm{H}\alpha /\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{HI}}`$, where $`C=n_\mathrm{H}^2/n_\mathrm{H}^2`$ is the clumping factor, $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ is the number density of hydrogen nuclei, $`\alpha `$ is the recombination coefficient, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{HI}}=\sigma _{\mathrm{LC}}(\nu )cn_\nu 𝑑\nu `$ is the HI photoionization rate where $`n_\nu `$ is the photon number density per frequency. Therefore, the UV background intensity is required to estimate $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ even if we know the clumping factor from the model of the cosmological structure formation.

How much photons are required to control the hydrogen neutral fraction in a very low level? Approximately, the HI photoionization rate is estimated to be $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{HI}}\sigma _\mathrm{L}cn_{\mathrm{ion}}`$ with $`n_{\mathrm{ion}}`$ being the number density of ionizing photons. Hence, we find

$$\frac{n_{\mathrm{ion}}}{n_\mathrm{H}}\frac{C\alpha }{\sigma _\mathrm{L}cx_{\mathrm{HI}}}C\left(\frac{10^6}{x_{\mathrm{HI}}}\right),$$
(8)
where the case B recombination rate $`\alpha =2.73\times 10^{13}`$ cm3 s-1 is adopted (Osterbrock, 1989). Now, we are interested in a very high redshift universe ($`z20`$). In there, the clumping factor is an order of unity. Therefore, we find that only one photon per a hydrogen nuclei is sufficient to keep $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$.

Then, we examine how much stars are required to maintain the photon density. Since a proton recombines with an electron in a certain time-scale, continuous supply of ionizing photons is needed to keep $`n_{\mathrm{ion}}n_\mathrm{H}`$. Since the recombination time-scale is $`1/n_\mathrm{H}\alpha `$ for $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}1`$, the required photon emissivity per unit volume is estimated to be $`ϵ_{\mathrm{ion}}n_{\mathrm{ion}}n_\mathrm{H}\alpha Cn_\mathrm{H}^2\alpha ^2/x_{\mathrm{HI}}\sigma _\mathrm{L}c`$. On the other hand, the emissivity is given by $`ϵ_{\mathrm{ion}}=f_{\mathrm{esc}}ϵ_{\mathrm{LC}}\rho _{\mathrm{SFR}}(1+z)^3`$, where $`f_{\mathrm{esc}}`$ is the escape fraction of Lyman continuum from primordial galaxies, $`ϵ_{\mathrm{LC}}`$ is the Lyman continuum photon emissivity per unit stellar mass, and $`\rho _{\mathrm{SFR}}`$ is the star formation density per unit time per unit comoving volume. Therefore, the required star formation density is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _{\mathrm{SFR}}}{M_{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{yr}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3}}`$ $``$ $`0.1C\left({\displaystyle \frac{0.1}{f_{\mathrm{esc}}}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{10^{61}\mathrm{ph}M_{\mathrm{}}^{}{}_{}{}^{1}}{ϵ_{\mathrm{LC}}}}\right)`$ (9)
$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{10^6}{x_{\mathrm{HI}}}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+z}{20}}\right)^3.`$
Although the photon emissivity at high-$`z`$ is very uncertain because we don’t know the stellar mass distribution, we estimate the emissivity by Starburst 99 model (Leitherer et al., 1999)333http://www.stsci.edu/science/starburst99/ by assuming the Salpeter mass function with various mass ranges. The estimated values of $`ϵ_{\mathrm{LC}}`$ are summarized in Table 1. The Pop III stars are likely to have a top-heavy mass function (e.g., Nakamura & Umemura, 2001). Hence, the case of 10–100 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ in Table 1 may be suitable. In this case, the required star formation density to maintain $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ is $`0.05`$ $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ yr-1 Mpc-3 (comoving) when $`f_{\mathrm{esc}}=0.1`$ and $`C=1`$.

Is this star formation density possible? The latest observations suggest that the star formation density retains a level of $`0.1`$ $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ yr-1 Mpc-3 from $`z1`$ to $`z6`$ (Giavalisco et al., 2003). Such a level of star formation may be kept toward more high-$`z`$ universe. Moreover, a semianalytic model shows 0.01–0.1 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ yr-1 Mpc-3 at $`z20`$ depending on the assumed star formation efficiency (Somerville & Livio, 2003). Thus, we can sufficiently expect $`0.05`$ $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ yr-1 Mpc-3, and then, $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ at $`z20`$. In addition, we note that the escape fraction may be much larger than 0.1 assumed above if the Pop III stars are formed in low-mass halos.

## 4 NEAR INFRARED SPECTRA

Let us discuss the observed spectra of the GRB afterglows in the NIR bands. To do so, an afterglow spectral model is required. We adopt a simple afterglow model; the synchrotron radiation from the relativistic shock (Sari, Piran, & Narayan, 1998). More specifically, we adopt equations (1)–(5) in Ciardi & Loeb (2000) who take into account the effect of the cosmological redshift. The adopted parameters are the magnetic energy fraction of $`ϵ_\mathrm{B}=0.1`$, the electron energy fraction of $`ϵ_\mathrm{e}=0.2`$, the spherical shock energy of $`E=10^{52}`$ erg, the ambient gas number density of $`n=10`$ cm-3, and the power-law index of the electron energy distribution $`p=2.5`$.

First we consider the observed afterglow spectra in the hypothetical perfectly neutral universe for comparison. In Figure 1, we show the expected afterglow spectra in the neutral universe observed 1 hour after the burst in the observer’s frame. Due to the Ly$`\alpha `$ line absorption, the continuum bluer than the Ly$`\alpha `$ line in the source frame (the observed wavelength 0.1216\[$`1+z_\mathrm{S}`$\] µm) is completely damped. Thus, we can find the Ly$`\alpha `$ break clearly. From the observed wavelength of the Ly$`\alpha `$ break, we can determine the redshift of the GRBs. If we observe the afterglow through a filter, the radiation from the source with the redshift higher than the characteristic redshift of the filter cannot be detected because of the Ly$`\alpha `$ break. For example, the effect starts from $`z_\mathrm{S}8`$ for the $`J`$-band and the source with $`z_\mathrm{S}11`$ cannot be seen through the filter, i.e. $`J`$ drop-out. These characteristic redshifts are summarized in Table 2. However, we have a chance to see the source beyond the drop-out redshift if the universe is highly ionized as we will show later.

Next we examine what is observed if the very high-$`z`$ universe is ionized completely as proposed by Cen (2003a, b). Let us set the neutral fraction, $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$, of the universe in the redshift range $`15z<20`$ to be very small and $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}1`$ for $`z<15`$ and $`z20`$. That is, we assume that the Pop III stars ionized the universe at $`z=20`$ and the sudden change of the IMF due to the transition from the Pop III to II was occurred at $`z=15`$. The neutral fraction is determined by the background UV intensity produced by the Pop III stars. However, the intensity is quite uncertain, so that we choose two cases as $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}=10^6`$ and $`10^7`$ for instance (see also Fig.5 in section 5). We will present a way to constrain $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ from the observations later.

In Figure 2, we show the expected spectra of the GRB afterglows. The solid, short-dashed, long-dashed, dot-dashed, and dotted curves are the expected afterglow spectra of the GRB at $`z_\mathrm{S}=22`$, 20, 18, 15, and 13, respectively. The observing time is assumed to be 1 hour after the prompt emission in the observer’s frame. We find the clear Ly$`\alpha `$ breaks in the spectra. Since $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}=10^6`$ (or $`10^7`$) at $`15z<20`$ is assumed in the panel (a) (or (b)), the IGM opacity is an order of unity (or 0.1) in the redshift range (see eq.). Thus, the continuum bluer than the Ly$`\alpha `$ break of the GRBs with $`z_S>15`$ still remains of the order of $`10`$ $`\mu `$Jy (or 100 $`\mu `$Jy) in $`2`$–2.5 µm, i.e.,in $`K`$-band (see the thin solid curve indicated as $`K`$; we adopt the filter system of Bessell & Brett 1988). The spectral break at 1.94(=0.1216\[1+15\]) µm is due to the neutral hydrogen below $`z=15`$. Thus, the continuum less than the break wavelength in the observer’s frame from the $`z_\mathrm{S}15`$ source is completely extinguished. The spectra of the source with $`z_\mathrm{S}<15`$ are the same as those shown in Figure 1. For $`z_\mathrm{S}=22`$ case, the spectrum shows the second break at 2.36(=0.1026\[1+22\]) µm. This is the Ly$`\beta `$ break due to the neutral hydrogen near the GRB. Here we have assumed $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}1`$ for $`z20`$.

The structure corresponding to the reionization history appears in the spectra of the GRB afterglows as shown in Figure 2 (see also Haiman & Loeb 1999). If we could detect the continuum rising at 2.55(=0.1216\[1+20\]) µm in the spectrum of the GRB with $`z_\mathrm{S}=22`$, we would find the starting epoch of the first reionization as $`z=20`$. On the other hand, the end of the first reionization, in other words, the transition epoch from the Pop III to II is realized from the spectral break at 1.94(=0.1216\[1+15\]) µm.

The suitable band to determine the ionization history depends on the redshift of the reionization epoch. From Figure 1 (see also Table 2), we find that the $`I`$, $`J`$, $`H`$, and $`K`$-band spectroscopies are suitable for the reionization epoch at $`z5`$–7, 8–11, 11–14, and 15–20, respectively. In any case, observations to detect the spectral signatures in the NIR afterglow spectra of the GRBs are strongly encouraged. If $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ is smaller than $`10^6`$, we can clearly see the difference from Fig. 1 and confirm the double reionization.

In the above discussion, we assumed $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}=10^6`$ and $`10^7`$. Let us argue what will happen for different values of $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$. If $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$, the remaining flux decreases exponentially because the IGM opacity becomes much larger than unity; for example, the flux is about 1 nJy for $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}=6\times 10^6`$, and about 1 pJy for $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}=10^5`$. It is quite difficult to detect such a low-level flux.

## 5 NEAR INFRARED COLORS

The photometric observations are available easier than the spectroscopy. We examine the expected apparent NIR colors of the GRB afterglows. Although we can discuss the apparent magnitude of the afterglows in one photometric filter, their dispersion is very large because the luminosity of the afterglows depends on many uncertain parameters such as the jet opening angle, the ambient matter density, the magnetic energy fraction and the relativistic electron energy fraction. On the other hand, the dispersion of the apparent colors can be quite small because the color does not depend on the absolute luminosity but only the spectral shape which does not change significantly in the observed NIR bands.

The apparent magnitude444All magnitudes in this paper are the Vega system. in a filter band denoted as $`i`$ is defined by

$$m_i=2.5\mathrm{log}F_i/F_{i,0},$$
(10)
where $`F_{i,0}`$ is the zero point flux density of the filter and $`F_i`$ is the mean flux density through the filter which is

$$F_i=\frac{T_{i,\nu }f_\nu e^{\tau _\nu }𝑑\nu }{T_{i,\nu }𝑑\nu },$$
(11)
where $`T_{i,\nu }`$ is the transmission efficiency of the filter and $`f_\nu e^{\tau _\nu }`$ is the flux density entering the filter. If there is no intervening absorber between the source and the telescope, $`\tau _\nu =0`$.

The observed color between two filter bands, $`i`$ and $`j`$ (the filter $`i`$ is bluer than the filter $`j`$), is given by

$$m_im_j=(m_im_j)^{\mathrm{int}}+(\mathrm{\Delta }m_i\mathrm{\Delta }m_j),$$
(12)
where $`(m_im_j)^{\mathrm{int}}`$ is the intrinsic color of the source, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_j`$ are the absorption amounts in the filters $`i`$ and $`j`$, respectively. When we consider the NIR filter bands and high-$`z`$ GRBs (for example $`z=15`$), the intrinsic afterglow spectrum is predicted to be proportional to $`\nu ^{1/2}`$ from $`1`$ minute to several hours after the burst occurrence and proportional to $`\nu ^{p/2}`$ for later time in the standard afterglow model (Sari, Piran, & Narayan, 1998; Ciardi & Loeb, 2000). Other parameters adopted are described in the beginning of the section 3. In Table 3, we tabulate the intrinsic colors of the sources for the two cases of the spectral shape.

The absorption amount in the filter $`i`$ is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }m_im_im_i^{\mathrm{int}}=2.5\mathrm{log}\frac{T_{i,\nu }f_\nu e^{\tau _\nu }𝑑\nu }{T_{i,\nu }f_\nu 𝑑\nu },$$
(13)
where $`m_i^{\mathrm{int}}=m_i(\tau _\nu =0)`$ is the intrinsic (no absorption) apparent magnitude. In a certain band width $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$, the difference in the optical depth $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ is estimated as $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\tau /\tau |=3/2(1+z)^1|\mathrm{\Delta }(1+z)|(1+z)^1|\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu |`$ from equation (7). Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$ of the filter transmission is smaller than the effective frequency of the filter, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu <1`$, and also $`z5`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau /\tau 1`$, that is, the term $`e^{\tau _\nu }`$ in the integral of the numerator in equation (13) can be regarded as almost constant. Hence, we obtain approximately $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i1.086\tau _{\mathrm{eff}}`$, where $`\tau _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is the effective IGM opacity in the filter $`i`$.

Now we can estimate the observed color by equation (12) if $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ is known. To know $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ is equivalent to know the IGM effective opacity $`\tau _{\mathrm{eff}}`$. This opacity is one between the redshift at which the Ly$`\alpha `$ break comes into the filter band width ($`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^i`$, see Table 2) and the source redshift ($`z_\mathrm{S}`$) because the neutral hydrogen in $`z<z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^i`$ cannot absorb the photons passing through the filter $`i`$. We note that the neutral hydrogen lying beyond the redshift at which the Ly$`\alpha `$ break goes out of the filter band width ($`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$, see Table 2) absorb the photons through the filter $`i`$ because of the higher-order Lyman series lines like Ly$`\beta `$, Ly$`\gamma `$, etc., and the photoionization process. As a result, $`\tau _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is determined by the neutral fraction $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ in the redshift range $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^izz_\mathrm{S}`$. Since $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ at high-$`z`$ is uncertain, we assume that $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ is constant in the above range for simplicity. The real $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ might vary significantly in the redshift range, so that the assumed $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ should be regarded as an effective mean value including such a variation (hereafter $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}`$).

In Figures 3a–3d, we show $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ for the $`I`$, $`J`$, $`H`$, and $`K`$-bands as a function of the source redshift. The continuum in the observer’s $`L`$-band is not absorbed by the IGM neutral hydrogen at all when the source redshift is less than about 25. Although we assumed that the spectral shape is proportional to $`\nu ^{1/2}`$ in the panels, the results are much robust for the change of the spectral shape as noted above. The solid curves in these panels are loci of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ for a given $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ as a function of the source redshift $`z_\mathrm{S}`$. For example, since $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^I=5`$ for $`I`$-band, the IGM absorption in $`I`$-band is about 5 mag for the source at $`z_\mathrm{S}=7`$ if the effective neutral fraction $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ in the redshift range $`5z7`$ is $`10^5`$.

Two dotted vertical lines in each panel of Figure 3 indicate the redshifts when the Ly$`\alpha `$ break enters and goes out of the each band width ($`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^i`$ and $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$, respectively). As seen in Figure 1, if the IGM is significantly neutral, the source with $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$ cannot be detected through the filter $`i`$ (i.e. drop-out). However, we can detect such a source if the universe is highly ionized. This is because the continuum below the Ly$`\alpha `$ break remains as shown in Figure 2.

Suppose we observe a source with $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$ through the $`i`$ and $`j`$ filters and assume that the radiation through $`j`$ filter is not affected by any intervening absorption (i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_j=0`$). From equation (12), the expected magnitude through the $`i`$ filter is

$$m_i=m_j+(m_im_j)^{\mathrm{int}}+\mathrm{\Delta }m_i.$$
(14)
For example, we consider the case of $`i=I`$, $`j=L`$, and $`z_\mathrm{S}=7`$. We find that the apparent $`L`$ magnitude of the afterglow of the GRB at $`z_\mathrm{S}=7`$ for 1 hour after the prompt burst is about 14 mag from Figure 4. Thus, the apparent $`I`$ magnitude is expected to be 22 mag because the intrinsic $`IL=3.1`$ mag for 1 hour (i.e. the case $`\nu ^{1/2}`$ in Table 3) and $`\mathrm{\Delta }I5`$ mag if $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}=10^5`$ in the redshift range $`5z7`$. We can reach 5-$`\sigma `$ detection of the source with $`I=22`$ mag by only three minutes exposure with a 8-m class telescope. Interestingly the assumed $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is similar to the value reported by White et al. (2003) from the Gunn–Peterson trough in the spectra of $`z>6`$ quasars.

Similar argument can be done for other bands. Therefore, in general, the detection of the source with $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$ through the filter $`i`$ is the very good evidence that the universe in the redshift range $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}^izz_\mathrm{S}`$ is highly ionized, i.e. $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}1`$ in that redshift range. Conversely, the detection enables us to estimate $`\tau _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{eff}}`$. Finally, we note here that Figure 3 is also useful for any other sources (e.g., QSOs) because $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_i`$ is almost independent of the source spectrum.

## 6 DISCUSSIONS

### 6.1 Was the universe reionized twice?

Here we discuss how we can confirm or refute Cen’s scenario: the universe was reionized twice. In the scenario, the first complete ionization at $`z20`$ is followed by the partially ionized epoch at $`z10`$. Therefore, we should check whether the neutral fraction at $`z20`$ is very low or not and whether the fraction at $`z10`$ is almost unity or not. To do so, the best observation is the spectroscopy in the NIR bands. As shown in Fig. 2 of section 3, the reionization history is imprinted in the observed continuum. However, the sensitivity of the spectroscopy is in general much less than that of the photometric observations. Hence we discuss the way using the NIR photometries.

In the previous section, we have shown that the detection of the GRB afterglows through a filter $`i`$ beyond the Ly$`\alpha `$ drop-out redshift ($`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$) proves the ionization of the universe around $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^i`$. From the characteristic redshifts for the NIR filters summarized in Table 2, the $`I`$, $`J`$, $`H`$, and $`K`$ filters are the suitable to check the ionization state at $`z5`$–8, 8–11, 11–15, and 15–20, respectively. Thus, the null detection of the GRB afterglows of $`z_\mathrm{S}11`$ in $`J`$-band indicates an high neutral fraction in $`8z11`$. On the other hand, we detect the GRB afterglows of $`z_\mathrm{S}20`$ in $`K`$-band if the IGM in $`15z20`$ is ionized. $`I`$ and $`H`$-band surveys are also very important to assess the reionization history of the universe. We can constrain the latest reionization epoch by observing the GRB afterglows at $`z6`$ through $`I`$-band. In summary, we can examine the reionization history by checking whether the high-$`z`$ GRB afterglows drop out of the NIR filters or not.

In the rest of this subsection, we discuss what is the difference between Cen’s scenario and others. To demonstrate the main feature, we assume two schematic reionization histories; (1) single gradual reionization and (2) double sudden reionizations, which are shown in Figure 5 as the solid and dashed curves, respectively. These histories are based on two observational constraints; (1) the neutral fraction of hydrogen $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^5`$ at $`z6`$ from the Gunn-Peterson trough found in the $`z>6`$ quasars spectra (Becker et al., 2001; White et al., 2003), and (2) the beginning of the reionization is $`z20`$ from the large opacity of the electron scattering suggested by WMAP (Kogut et al., 2003). For the double reionizations, we also consider different values of $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ in the first reionization epoch.

In Figure 6, we show the expected NIR colors as a function of the source redshift for the afterglow spectrum $`f_\nu \nu ^{1/2}`$ case (the observing time less than several hours, see Table 3). We find differences between the single and double reionizations in the $`IJ`$ (panel \[a\]) and $`KL`$ (panel \[d\]) colors. In panel (a), the GRB afterglows up to $`z_\mathrm{S}8`$ can be seen in both of the $`I`$ and $`J`$ bands for the single reionization case, whereas the $`IJ`$ color of $`z_\mathrm{S}>7.1`$ afterglows diverges in the double reionization case, i.e. the sources drop out of the $`I`$-band. This reflects the difference of the increasing rate of the neutral fraction around $`z6`$ in two reionization histories. The drop-out redshift in the double reionization case is determined by $`\lambda _\beta (1+z_{\mathrm{S},\mathrm{drop}})=\lambda _\alpha (1+z_{\mathrm{reion}})`$, where $`\lambda _\alpha `$ and $`\lambda _\beta `$ are the rest-frame wavelength of the Ly$`\alpha `$ and Ly$`\beta `$ lines, and $`z_{\mathrm{reion}}`$ is the sudden reionization redshift (Haiman & Loeb, 1999). In our case, $`z_{\mathrm{reion}}=6`$. It is worth to noting that the GRB afterglows beyond the drop-out redshift of the $`I`$-band ($`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^I=6.6`$) can be seen through the filter in both of reionization histories.

In panel (d) of Figure 6, we find a significant difference between the two reionization scenarios. While the afterglows beyond the drop-out redshift of the $`K`$-band really drop out of the filter for the single reionization, we can see such afterglows in the twice reionized universe. On the other hand, the afterglows with $`z_\mathrm{S}>23`$ drop out of the $`K`$-band even in the double reionization case because the Ly$`\beta `$ break goes out of the filter transmission width, i.e. $`\lambda _\beta (1+z_{\mathrm{S},\mathrm{drop}})=\lambda _{\mathrm{max}}^K[=\lambda _\alpha (1+z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^K)]`$, where $`\lambda _{\mathrm{max}}^K`$ is the maximum wavelength of the $`K`$-band filter. We note here that $`z_{\mathrm{reion}}(=20)>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^K`$ in this time, whereas $`z_{\mathrm{reion}}(=6)<z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^I`$ in the above case.

Any difference between the single and double reionizations cannot be found in the $`JH`$ (panel \[b\]) and the $`HK`$ (panel \[c\]) colors because the neutral fractions in both cases are high enough ($`10^4`$) to extinguish the continuum bluer than the Ly$`\alpha `$ break completely. That is, the GRB afterglows beyond the drop-out redshift cannot be seen in the $`J`$ and $`H`$-bands for both of reionization histories.

Let us summarize how to confirm or refute Cen’s scenario: We can conclude that the universe was reionized twice if (1) the GRB afterglows with $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^K`$ is detected in the $`K`$-band and (2) the afterglows with $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^J`$ or $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^H`$ drop out of the $`J`$ or $`H`$-bands. However, the null detection of the $`z_\mathrm{S}>z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{out}}^K`$ GRB afterglows in the $`K`$-band does not reject Cen’s scenario at once. The null detection only shows the neutral fraction at $`z20`$ larger than $`10^5`$. In any case, the deep and prompt $`K`$-band photometry of the high-$`z`$ GRB afterglows is useful to examine the ionization state at $`z20`$ very much.

### 6.2 Comment on Lyman break technique

In the above discussions, we assumed that the GRB redshifts are known from other methods. Although the spectroscopy of the optical afterglow or the host galaxies is used to determine the redshift of the low-$`z`$ GRBs, it may be difficult for the high-$`z`$ GRBs. The Fe line in the X-ray afterglow (Mészáros & Rees, 2003) or some empirical ways using the $`\gamma `$-ray data alone (e.g., Yonetoku et al., 2003) can be useful for the high-$`z`$ GRBs. In addition, the search for the Ly$`\alpha `$ break is considered to be useful. Indeed, the spectroscopic detection of the sharp Ly$`\alpha `$ cut-off (see Figs.2 and 3) is an accurate method to determine the redshift. However, the color selection technique which is often used to find the $`z3`$ galaxies (Madau, 1995; Steidel et al., 1996) may not be good for the high-$`z`$ GRBs. This is because the GRB afterglows beyond the drop-out redshift of the considered filter can be detectable if the universe is ionized enough.

For example, if we use $`IJ5`$ mag as a criterion to select the high-$`z`$ GRBs, the selected objects have $`z6.5`$ indeed (see Fig.3a and Table 3). However, a number of real $`z6.5`$ objects escape the criterion if the neutral fraction is less than $`10^5`$. Therefore, we cannot use a simple color selection technique for the high-$`z`$ GRBs. Spectroscopic observations to detect the Ly$`\alpha `$ break feature , Fe line (Mészáros & Rees, 2003) or empirical methods by using only the $`\gamma `$-ray data (Fenimore & Ramirez-Ruiz, 2000; Norris et al., 2000; Ioka & Nakamura, 2001; Amati et al., 2002; Atteia, 2003; Murakami et al., 2003; Yonetoku et al., 2003) are required.

### 6.3 Advantage and disadvantage of NIR colors method

The largest advantage of the NIR color method is its easier availability and higher sensitivity than other methods. The limiting magnitude with a high signal-to-noise ratio of the broad-band NIR photometry reaches much deeper than 20 mag by only a few minute exposure with a 8-m class ground based telescope. For example, the IRCS (Infrared Camera and Spectrograph) equipped with the Subaru telescope (Japanese 8-m class telescope555http://subarutelescope.org/) can reach the 2-$`\sigma `$ upper limit of 22 mag by only five minutes exposure in $`K`$-band. This magnitude corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }K5`$ mag based on the expected $`L`$ magnitude of $`16`$ mag for the $`z20`$ GRB afterglows at 1 hour after the burst (Fig.4) and $`KL=1.1`$ (Table 3), and also corresponds to the neutral fraction of $`3\times 10^6`$. Thus, we can put this value as a lower limit of the neutral fraction at $`z20`$ for null detection.

A more strict lower limit can be obtained if we detect the emission from the reverse shock (Sari & Piran, 1999a, b; Gou et al., 2003). Some GRBs show a very bright early afterglow from the reverse shock. Interestingly, the apparent magnitude becomes $`5`$–6 mag brighter than that shown in Figure 4. In this case, we can reach $`\mathrm{\Delta }K10`$ corresponding to $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}6\times 10^6`$. A very early observation is highly desired.

From the detected magnitude or the limiting magnitude for the null detection, the neutral fraction or its lower limit in the corresponding redshift range can be estimated. However, the uncertainty of the obtained neutral fraction may be large if we have only one photometric data. This is because the apparent dispersion of the afterglow luminosities is large. Even in that case, the uncertainty can be controlled in a low level if we use more than two photometric data, i.e. colors, which are independent of the absolute luminosity. This point is one of the important advantages of the NIR color method. Therefore, the NIR multi-colors follow-ups of the GRB afterglows are strongly encouraged.

Miralda-Escudé (1998) and Barkana & Loeb (2003) show that the detailed spectroscopy of the red damping wing of the Ly$`\alpha `$ break provides us with the optical depth for the line, i.e., the neutral hydrogen column density to the source. However, the spectral resolution required is $`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda 5000(10^5/\tau _{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha })`$. For a lower opacity, a much higher resolving power is needed. The limiting magnitude for such observations becomes significantly shallow. That is, the method of damping wing measurement do not have sensitivity for a low opacity case. On the other hand, the NIR colors method is practically sensitive against $`\tau _{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }10`$. Therefore, these two methods are complementary each other; if $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ ($`\tau _{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }1`$), the NIR colors method becomes very useful, whereas the damping wing method is promising when $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}0.1`$ ($`\tau _{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }10^5`$).

Measurement of the CMB polarization anisotropy is also useful. Haiman & Holder (2003) show that we can distinguish how much times the universe is reionized by using EE spectrum with Planck sensitivity in 3$`\sigma `$ level. Since the sensitivity of WMAP is not enough, we must await the launch of Planck666http://astro.estec.esa.nl/SA-general/Projects/Planck/ to reveal the reionization history by the CMB measurement.

Moreover, metal absorption lines like O i $`\lambda 1302`$ can be useful to prove the reionization history (Oh, 2002; Furlanetto & Loeb, 2003). However, the expected equivalent width is very small as $`5`$ Å. We require the spectroscopy with a resolving power $`5000`$. Unfortunately, observations with a ground-based telescope may be difficult because a huge number of Earth’s atmospheric OH lines conceal the metal lines. Only JWST (James Webb Space Telescope)777http://ngst.gsfc.nasa.gov/ will have such a high spectral resolution among the future space telescopes having the NIR spectrograph. Thus, we need to await its launch to discuss the metal absorption lines.

Technique using the hydrogen 21 cm absorption line is also proposed (e.g., Madau et al. 1997). However, the brightness of GRB afterglows is too faint to use them as a background light source for the present and future radio facilities because the absorption line is very weak (Furlanetto & Loeb, 2002). Thus, we need to look for other sources. Although Carilli et al. (2002) proposed luminous high-$`z`$ radio-loud quasars as a candidate of the background source, it is very uncertain that they exist at $`z20`$.

The dispersion measure in GRB radio afterglows may be promising in near future (Ioka, 2003; Inoue, 2003). If we observe the radio afterglow at about 100 MHz within about 1000 s after the burst occurrence, the delay of the arrival time of the low frequency photons may be detectable by the Square Kilometer Array. As well as the measurement of the red damping wing of the Ly$`\alpha `$ line, this technique is sensitive to $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}0.1`$ (i.e., $`\tau _{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }10^5`$). Thus, this technique and our NIR color method are also complementary each other.

The disadvantage of the NIR color method is the coarse redshift resolution. As discussed in section 4, the neutral fraction obtained by the color method is an averaged one in the redshift range of $`z_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha ,\mathrm{in}}zz_\mathrm{S}`$. Thus, we cannot determine the so-called reionization redshift. Only the redshift range in which the reionization occurred is obtained. However, even such a rough redshift resolution is enough to discuss whether the universe was reionized once, twice, or more.

To know the detailed history of the reionization, the spectroscopy is needed. For this purpose, the Japanese astronomical satellite ASTRO-F888http://koala.ir.isas.ac.jp/ASTRO-F/index-e.html can be useful. The satellite will have the spectroscopic sensitivity of $`30`$ $`\mu `$Jy around $`2`$ µm, which can detect the GRB afterglows of $`z_\mathrm{S}20`$ if $`x_{\mathrm{HI}}10^6`$ (see Fig.2a). SIRTF (Spece InfraRed Telescope Facility)999http://sirtf.caltech.edu/ may not be useful because it has the sensitivity only in the wavelength longer than 5 µm. In future, JWST is much promising. Finally, we note that the narrow-band photometry may be useful because its narrow transmission width provides us with a moderate resolution of redshift keeping a higher sensitivity than that of spectroscopy.

We thank Kunihito Ioka for valuable comments. This work is supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, No.14047212 (TN) and No.14204024 (TN), and also supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the 21st Century COE ”Center for Diversity and Universality in Physics”. AKI and RY thank the Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.


text:
# High Precision Measurement of the Superallowed 0⁺→0⁺𝛽 Decay of 22Mg

## Abstract

The half-life, 3.8755(12) s, and superallowed branching ratio, 0.5315(12), for 22Mg $`\beta `$-decay have been measured with high precision. The latter depended on $`\gamma `$-ray intensities being measured with an HPGe detector calibrated for relative efficiencies to an unprecedented 0.15%. Previous precise measurements of $`0^+0^+`$ transitions have been restricted to the nine that populate stable daughter nuclei. No more such cases exist, and any improvement in a critical CKM unitarity test must depend on precise measurements of more exotic nuclei. With this branching-ratio measurement, we show those to be possible for $`T_z=1`$ parents. We obtain a corrected $`t`$-value of 3071(9) s, in good agreement with expectations.

Superallowed $`0^+0^+`$ nuclear $`\beta `$-decay is a sensitive probe of the vector part of the weak interaction. Measurement of the $`ft`$-value for such a transition yields a direct determination of the vector coupling constant, $`G_V`$, provided that small radiative corrections are properly accounted for. To date, the $`ft`$-values for nine $`0^+0^+`$ transitions – the decays of 10C, 14O, 26mAl, 34Cl, 38mK, 42Sc, 46V, 50Mn and 54Co – have been measured with $`0.1\%`$ precision or better, and these results yield fully consistent values for $`G_V`$. With $`G_V`$ thus determined, it is possible to establish a very precise value for $`V_{ud}`$, the up-down element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark-mixing matrix. Not only is this the most precise determination of $`V_{ud}`$, it is the most precise result for any element in the CKM matrix. It also leads to the most demanding test available of CKM unitarity, a fundamental tenet of the minimal standard model. Strikingly, the test fails by more than two standard deviations TH02 ; WEIN98 : viz. $`V_{ud}^2+V_{us}^2+V_{ub}^2=0.9968\pm 0.0014`$. Since recent results suggest that the value of $`V_{us}`$ may need to be revised Sh02 , it is even more important that the value of $`V_{ud}`$ be known as precisely as possible.

Since the uncertainty in $`V_{ud}`$ is dominated by the uncertainty in the small ($`1\%`$) calculated correction terms that are applied to the data, any improvement in the statistical definition of the unitarity test must come from improvements in those terms, two of which depend on structure details for the nuclei involved. It has recently been argued TH02  that the best way to validate the structure-dependent correction terms is to measure additional superallowed transitions specifically selected to cover a wider range of correction-term magnitudes, demonstrating whether these transitions also produce consistent $`G_V`$ values. To this end, we focus on the even-even $`T_z=1`$ nuclei with $`18A42`$, selected because their decays are between nuclei described by the same nuclear-model spaces as those used for some of the nine currently well known cases. Since the calculated correction terms are obtained in a completely consistent way, the tests of these terms will have a direct impact on current results for $`V_{ud}`$. The $`T_z=1`$ nuclei, however, are all farther from stability than the currently known cases, have unstable daughters and exhibit multiple decay branches. Their measurement presents real experimental challenges.

The $`ft`$ value that characterizes any $`\beta `$-transition is determined by three measurable parameters: the transition energy, $`Q_{EC}`$, which is used in calculating the statistical rate function $`f`$; the half-life of the $`\beta `$-emitter and the branching ratio for the transition of interest, which together yield the partial half-life, $`t`$. What separates the decay of a $`T_z=1`$ superallowed emitter from one with $`T_z=0`$ is the complexity of its decay. While the latter concentrates $`>99\%`$ of its total decay strength in the superallowed branch, the former includes strong Gamow-Teller branches in addition to the superallowed one. To achieve the $`0.1\%`$ precision required for a meaningful branching-ratio result, all that is required for the latter case is to measure any non-superallowed branches with modest precision ($`10\%`$) and subtract their total from 100%; for the former case, the superallowed branch itself must be measured directly and with the full $`0.1\%`$ precision. With the result reported in this letter, 22Mg becomes the first case of a $`T_z=1`$ parent with an unstable daughter whose branching ratio and half-life have been measured with such high precision. The techniques used in this measurement can be applied in future to other similar decays.

A detailed description of these experiments will appear in a later publication tbp . In summary, we produced 3.9-s 22Mg using a $`28A`$-MeV 23Na beam from the Texas A&M K500 cyclotron to initiate the 1H(23Na, 2n)22Mg reaction on an LN2-cooled hydrogen gas target. The ejectiles entered the MARS spectrometer TR91  where the 23Na beam was stopped and the fully stripped reaction products were spatially separated from one another, leaving a $`>`$$`99.6\%`$ pure 22Mg beam at the extraction slits in the MARS focal plane. This beam, containing $``$$`10^4`$ atoms/s at $`23A`$ MeV, then exited the vacuum system through a 50-$`\mu `$m-thick Kapton window, passed successively through a 0.3-mm-thick BC-104 scintillator and a stack of aluminum degraders, finally stopping in the 75-$`\mu `$m-thick aluminized mylar tape of a tape transport system. Since the few impurities remaining in the beam had different ranges from 22Mg, most were not collected on the tape; residual collected impurities were found to be substantially less than $`0.1`$% of the 22Mg content.

In a typical measurement, we collected 22Mg on the tape for 5 s, then interrupted the accelerator beam in a few $`\mu `$s by shifting off-resonance the phase of one of the cyclotron dees, and triggered the tape-transport system to move the sample in 180 ms to a shielded counting station located 90 cm away. There, data were recorded for a predetermined counting period while the beam remained off. This cycle was clock-controlled and was repeated continuously. For the branching-ratio measurement, each counting period was 5 s, during which the sample was positioned between a $`70\%`$ HPGe $`\gamma `$-ray detector and a 1-mm-thick BC404 plastic scintillator that was used to detect $`\beta ^+`$ particles. The former was located 15 cm from the sample, while the latter was 3 mm away. Time-tagged coincidence (or singles) data were stored event by event.

For the half-life measurement, a completely different arrangement was used at the shielded counting location. In this case, the tape moved the collected sample to the center of a 4$`\pi `$ proportional gas counter, where the $`\beta ^+`$ particles were detected and recorded for 80 s, more than 20 half-lives of 22Mg. The counter signals were amplified and sent to a fast discriminator, which triggered a gate generator. The gate signals were then multiscaled, with the scaler’s channel-advance being provided by a time-base accurate and stable to 5 ppm. A separate decay spectrum was thus recorded for each cycle. The time duration of the non-extendable signal from the gate generator was chosen to be much longer than any dead-time from the up-stream modules. This produced a well defined dominant dead-time, which was monitored continuously during the measurement and later used during analysis to correct the data cycle-by-cycle. Tests with 1.8-s 35Ar implanted under identical conditions demonstrated no leakage of activity from the tape. A similar system has been used previously and proven effective in the measurement of very precise half-lives Ko97 .

Branching ratio: The decay scheme of 22Mg appears in Fig. 1. Apart from the ground state of 22Na – known En90  to have ($`J^\pi ,T`$) = ($`3^+,0`$) – it includes the analog ($`0^+,1`$) state fed by the superallowed $`\beta `$ transition, and two ($`1^+,0`$) states fed by Gamow-Teller branches. The $`\beta `$ transition feeding the ground state must be second-forbidden unique and, being suppressed by some ten orders of magnitude, can be neglected. Thus, branching ratios to the excited states can be obtained from the relative intensities of $`\gamma `$-rays observed following the decay of 22Mg. Fig. 2 shows a portion of the spectrum of these $`\gamma `$-rays, observed in coincidence with $`\beta ^+`$ particles.

The essence of a precise determination of the superallowed branching ratio is an equally precise measurement of the relative intensities of the 74 and 583 keV $`\gamma `$-rays. To be sure, the intensities of the other three $`\gamma `$-rays must be measured carefully too, but much less demanding precision is required. The primary measurement was also complicated by three factors peculiar to this decay: 1) HPGe detector signals from a low energy 74-keV $`\gamma `$-ray have a wide range of rise times, so special care had to be taken to ensure that none were missed; 2) the 583 keV state in 22Na has a half-life of 245 ns, which required us to re-measure this half-life and to use a 2 $`\mu `$s $`\beta `$-$`\gamma `$ coincidence timing window to minimize the correction for losses from the 583-keV peak; and 3) the 511+74 keV coincident-sum peak is unresolved from the 583 keV peak, a detail that demanded special attention in analysis.

The fundamental challenge of this measurement, however, was to calibrate the efficiency of an HPGe detector over a range from 74 to 1937 keV, with the highest possible precision between 74 and 583 keV. We took data from thirteen individual sources of ten radionuclides: 48Cr, 60Co, 88Y, 108mAg, 109Cd, 120mSb, 133Ba, 134Cs, 137Cs and 180mHf. Three of these sources we produced ourselves, 48Cr and 120mSb by using the K500 cyclotron to initiate the 1H(50Cr,p2n)48Cr and 120Sn(p,n)120mSb reactions respectively, and 180mHf by irradiating enriched 179Hf with thermal neutrons from the Texas A&M reactor. Two 60Co sources were specially prepared by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundasanstalt Sc02  with activities certified to 0.06%. All other sources were purchased from commercial suppliers. Sources of greatest importance to a precision calibration are those exhibiting simple $`\gamma `$-ray cascades uncomplicated by large conversion-electron components or by any possible $`\beta `$ side feeding. Except for the calculable effects of electron conversion, the intensities of such cascaded $`\gamma `$-ray transitions are unambiguously equal. In particular, the 22Mg measurement depended most crucially on the following sources (and cascaded $`\gamma `$-ray energies in keV): 48Cr (112.4, 308.3), 108mAg (433.9, 614.28, 722.9), 120mSb (89.8, 197.3, 1023.1, 1171.3) and 180mHf (215.3, 332.3). In our analyses of all spectra – those used for calibration and those taken in the 22Mg measurements – we incorporated corrections for coincidence summing (always $`1\%`$), and included effects from angular correlation between each pair of summing $`\gamma `$-rays.

In addition to acquiring calibration spectra, we also made a number of measurements designed to reveal the physical dimensions and location of the detector’s Ge crystal in its housing. These measurements included a scan of the side of the detector with a tightly collimated 133Ba source, to determine the crystal length; a pair of 57Co spectra recorded at 4- and 20-cm source-detector distances, to locate the front surface of the crystal; and an overall x-ray picture of the crystal in its housing, to establish its exact orientation. This information was then used as input to Monte Carlo calculations performed with the electron and photon transport code CYLTRAN Ha86 . With only the detector’s two dead-layers as adjustable parameters, we achieved excellent agreement ($`\chi ^2/N=0.8`$) between the Monte Carlo efficiency results and our 40 measured data points between 22 and 1836 keV. With these calculations used to interpolate between measured calibration efficiencies, we determine a relative efficiency between 74 and 583 keV of 2.876(4), a precision of $`0.15\%`$. Complete calibration details appear elsewhere Ha02 .

On-line data for the decay of 22Mg were taken for four widely differing counting rates, thus providing us with the means to test for any count-rate effects in our results. No statistically significant differences in the relative $`\gamma `$-ray intensities were observed but, to be safe, we eliminated from consideration that quarter of the data with the highest rate. From the remaining $`\beta `$-$`\gamma `$ coincident events, we next removed the effects ($`<1\%`$) of $`\gamma `$-rays detected in the $`\beta `$ detector and projected out $`\gamma `$-ray spectra that corresponded to different ranges of detected $`\beta `$ energies. As expected, no $`\beta `$-energy dependence was evident in the ratio of peak areas for the 74- and 583-keV transitions, since both $`\gamma `$-rays are preceded predominantly by $`\beta `$-transitions of very similar energy. However, relative to these two $`\gamma `$-rays, some $`\beta `$-energy dependence was evident in the intensities of $`\gamma `$-rays emanating from the state at 1937 keV, which is fed by a much lower energy $`\beta `$-decay branch. Consequently, we used only singles $`\gamma `$-ray data, which is unaffected by such systematic effects, to obtain the relative intensity of the 1280-keV transition. Though the effects of room background, negligible in coincidence, had to be incorporated for the singles data, the demands for precision are not nearly so great for the 1280-keV $`\gamma `$-ray as they are for those at 74 and 583 keV.

Our results for the relative intensities of $`\beta `$-delayed $`\gamma `$-rays following the decay of 22Mg are shown on the left side of Table 1. They are generally consistent with, but much more accurate than, previous measurements Ha75 ; the weak 1354-keV crossover transition has never been identified before. Taking account of the calculated conversion coefficient Ba03 , $`\alpha `$ = 0.0036, for the 74-keV M1 transition in 22Na, we used these $`\gamma `$-ray intensities to obtain branching ratios, shown on the right side of the table, for the three 22Mg $`\beta `$ transitions feeding states in 22Na.

Half-life: We recorded a total of more than 54-million multiscaled decay events from the $`4\pi `$ $`\beta `$-detector, comprising some 3000 collect/count cycles in a sequence of 50 individual measurements, each with a different combination of detector high-voltage, discriminator and dominant dead-time settings. The ratio of 22Mg counts to room background was $`10^4`$ at the beginning of each counting cycle. In addition to the 80-s counting periods used for these measurements, we also recorded decay data for a 160-s decay period to identify and characterize any possible impurities of comparable half-life. Only 22.5-s 21Na was observed, with an initial activity $`1.7\times 10^4`$ that of 22Mg, and its effects were incorporated in all analyses.

The data were analyzed with two different fitting procedures to extract the half-life: (i) a maximum-likelihood fit to the sum of all dead-time corrected decay spectra; and (ii) a global fit of individual cycle spectra, with a common half-life but with amplitudes and dead-times correctly matched to each cycle. The second procedure contains no approximation Ko97  but both yielded concordant results. To further consolidate the results, both fitting procedures and all tests were repeated on a parallel set of Monte-Carlo generated spectra, mimicking the trend of the real data, but with known half-life and background. The accurate retrieval of the decay parameters used in the generation of the artificial data validated the fitting procedures and the final half-life result.

No systematic experimental effects were observed, the results from all 50 individual measurements being statistically consistent with one another. A final test for any short-lived impurities was negative as well: we removed all data from the first second of the counting period in each measurement, and re-fitted the remainder; then we repeated the procedure, removing the first two seconds, three seconds and so on. Within statistics, the half-life was stable against these changes too. Our final result for the 22Mg half-life is 3.8755(12) s.

$`Q_{\mathrm{𝐄𝐂}}`$ value: Since 22Na is a long-lived nucleus, its mass-excess is well known to $`\pm 500`$ eV Au95  and the excitation energy of its $`0^+`$ excited state, to $`\pm 140`$ eV En90 . As a result, the quality of the $`Q_{EC}`$-value for the superallowed transition between 22Mg and 22Na depends directly on how well the mass-excess of 22Mg is known. The most up-to-date published mass tables Au95  quote a value obtained from two 30-year-old measurements of the 24Mg(p,t)22Mg $`Q`$-value Ha74 ; No74 , neither of which has been corrected for significant changes that have occurred in their calibration-reaction $`Q`$-values over the years. In one case No74 , the method of calibration was complex enough that it is impossible now to update the result; in the other Ha74 , the measurement was tied directly to the 16O(p,t)14O $`Q`$-value. Incorporating the modern value Au95  for that $`Q`$-value to update the original 24Mg(p,t)22Mg result Ha74 , we obtain a mass excess for 22Mg of $`402(3)`$ keV. This value is supported by a very recent measurement Bi03  of a resonance in the 21Na (p,$`\gamma `$) 22Mg reaction, from which a mass excess of $`403.2(13)`$ keV is inferred. These values combined yield $`Q_{EC}=4122.1(13)`$ keV for the superallowed transition from 22Mg.

With branching-ratio and half-life results from the present measurements, together with the updated $`Q_{EC}`$-value just described, we can now obtain a corrected $`t`$-value for the superallowed transition from 22Mg. We use the structure-dependent correction term ($`0.50\%`$) calculated and tabulated in Ref. TH02  inserted into Eq. (3) of that reference. The result is $`t=3071(9)`$ s, in excellent agreement with 3072.2(8) s, the average $`t`$-value for the nine well known cases studied to date. This agreement provides important confirmation of the structure-dependent calculations TH02 , which are used in all cases to extract $`G_V`$. Furthermore, a mass measurement of 22Mg with sub-keV precision would reduce the $`t`$-value uncertainty to $`\pm 7`$ s or $`0.2\%`$, thus constituting an even more demanding test. Such precision is possible today with on-line Penning-trap mass spectrometers and, considering the unfortunate history of the 22Mg mass, we would urge that such a measurement be made.

We have demonstrated for the first time that a high-precision branching ratio can be measured for the superallowed transition from a $`T_z=1`$ parent to an unstable daughter. Our technique is extendable to other superallowed emitters of the same type, even those with a strong ground-state branch, since we directly measure the number of collected nuclei in the counting sample and can thus determine an absolute branching ratio for each observed transition regardless of whether all are observed.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG03-93ER40773 and by the Robert A. Welch Foundation. JCH thanks the Institute for Nuclear Theory at the University of Washington for its hospitality and support during part of this work.


text:
# Nucleon electromagnetic form factors from lattice QCD

## 1 Introduction

The electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon provide a fundamental constraint for any theoretical description of the structure of the nucleon Thomas:kw . Even though they have been studied experimentally for more than 50 years, recent experiments at Jefferson Lab Jones:1999rz  have revealed surprising new behaviour in the ratio $`G_E/G_M`$ for the proton. In addition, there are a range of other new results on the neutron electric and magnetic form factors Gao:2003ag  – this is an exciting and rapidly developing field.

In this context it is vital that lattice QCD, our only rigorous method of solving non-perturbative QCD, be used to inform our understanding of this data and the various models of hadron structure that are used to describe it. There was a relatively long hiatus in calculations of nucleon form factors in lattice QCD after the pioneering work of Leinweber and collaborators in the early 90’s Leinweber:1990dv ; Leinweber:1991vc ; Draper:uu . However, the activity has intensified in the last few years Gockeler:2003ay ; LATT02 ; Dong:1998tj . In spite of this activity, limitations in computer speed mean that we are currently limited to lattice simulations at quark masses a factor 5-10 higher than the physical values and these calculations are currently made in quenched approximation (QQCD).

If one is to compare these state of the art simulations with experiment, it is necessary to make an extrapolation as a function of quark mass to the physical region Thomas:2002sj ; Bernard:2002yk . This extrapolation is made non-trivial by the non-analytic behaviour as a function of $`m_q`$ which follows from the fact that chiral symmetry is dynamically broken in QCD. Until recently the absence of data has meant that efforts at chiral extrapolation of form factors has been focussed on baryon magnetic moments Cloet:2003jm ; Hackett-Jones:2000qk ; Leinweber:1998ej ; Hemmert:2002uh  and charge radii Hackett-Jones:2000js ; Dunne:2001ip . The focus on non-analyticity Leinweber:2001ui  of hadron electromagnetic properties has inspired considerable investigation of the formal constraints in both full QCD and QQCD Arndt:2003ww ; Arndt:2001ye ; Savage:2001dy ; Beane:2002vq ; Chen:2001eg .

The practical issue is then how to incorporate these formal chiral constraints into a practical chiral extrapolation, given that the radius of convergence of the formal expansion dictated by chiral perturbation theory is rather small Young:2002ib . In the case of the nucleon mass, where there is extremely accurate data in full QCD from the CP-PACS Collaboration AliKhan:2001tx , one can formally demonstrate the model independence of the extrapolation procedure Young:2002ib ; Leinweber:1999ig ; Leinweber:2003dg . For the magnetic moments the data is only now improving to the point where the model independence of the choice of finite range regulator Donoghue:1998bs  can be examined Cloet:2003jm . In the case of the form factors this is not yet possible.

The procedure employed in this paper is to draw on the earlier phenomenological experience with chiral extrapolations of the magnetic moments and charge radii, taking simple phenomenological functional forms which build in the correct non-analytic behaviour and any other asymptotic constraints that are known Panic02 . For the present the accuracy of the lattice data is not such that it could discriminate between different functional forms for the $`Q^2`$-dependence of the nucleon form factors. In particular, it cannot yet address the JLab issue of whether $`G_E/G_M`$ decreases as $`Q^2`$ increases. We therefore parametrize separately the isoscalar and isovector lattice data, at a given value of $`m_q`$, or $`m_\pi `$, as a dipole and then extrapolate the dipole mass as a function of $`m_\pi `$, building in the appropriate chiral constraints. Clearly this simple approach can be systematically improved as the lattice simulations become capable of making a better discrimination between possible functional forms. For the present we shall see that our relatively simple approach already produces quite impressive results.

## 2 Extrapolations

It is well known Thomas:kw  that the $`Q^2`$-dependence of the nucleon Sachs electromagnetic form factors (with the exception of the neutron electric form factor $`G_E^n`$) are described in first approximation by a dipole form

$$G(Q^2)=\frac{G(0)}{(1+Q^2/\mathrm{\Lambda }^2)^2}.$$
(1)
Here $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the dipole mass and the charge form factor of the proton satisfies $`G_E^p(0)=1`$, while $`G_M^p(0)=\mu _p`$ and $`G_M^n(0)=\mu _n`$ are the proton and neutron magnetic moments. As explained in the Introduction, we will use this phenomenological fact to construct a simple but effective extrapolation formula.

To isolate the chiral behaviour of the form factors we rearrange them into isovector and isoscalar combinations:

$$G^v=G^pG^n$$
(2)
and

$$G^s=G^p+G^n,$$
(3)
respectively. These also display a dipole-like $`Q^2`$-dependence but with different dipole masses and magnetic moments.

To extrapolate lattice QCD results for the electromagnetic form factors from the large pion masses at which they are calculated to the physical regime, we extract dipole masses and magnetic moments from the lattice data and then extrapolate these as a function of $`m_\pi `$.

Following Refs. Hackett-Jones:2000qk ; Leinweber:1998ej , one can use a Padé approximant which builds in both the correct chiral non-analytic behaviour as $`m_\pi 0`$ and the correct asymptotic behaviour as $`m_q\mathrm{}`$ to extrapolate the neutron and proton magnetic moments

$$\mu _i(m_\pi )=\frac{\mu _0}{1\frac{\chi _i}{\mu _0}m_\pi +cm_\pi ^2}.$$
(4)
The chiral coefficients for the isovector and isoscalar moments are $`\chi _v=8.82`$ and $`\chi _s=0`$ respectively and $`\mu _0`$ and $`c`$ are fitting parameters, to be determined by the lattice data.

In order to build a suitable extrapolating function for the $`Q^2`$-dependence of the form factors, we use the connection between the mass parameter in a dipole form factor and the corresponding mean-square radius. For the isovector magnetic form factor the mean square radius is

$$r^2_M^v=\frac{6}{G_M^v(0)}\frac{dG_M^v}{dQ^2}|_{Q^2=0}.$$
(5)
Comparing this to the dipole of Eq. (1), we find an expression relating the dipole mass to $`r^2_M^v`$,

$$(\mathrm{\Lambda }_M^v)^2=\frac{12}{r^2_M^v}.$$
(6)
The chiral behaviour of the magnetic mean squared radius is known from chiral perturbation theory Bernard:1995dp

$$r^2_M^v\frac{\chi _1}{m_\pi }+\chi _2\mathrm{ln}(\frac{m_\pi }{\mu }).$$
(7)
The constants $`\chi _1`$ and $`\chi _2`$ are given by

$`\chi _1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{g_A^2m_N}{8\pi f_\pi ^2\kappa _v}},`$ (8)
$`\chi _2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{5g_A^2+1}{8\pi ^2f_\pi ^2}},`$ (9)
where $`g_A=1.27`$ is the axial coupling constant and $`f_\pi =93`$ MeV is the pion decay constant, $`m_N=940`$ MeV is the nucleon mass and $`\kappa _v4.2`$ is the isovector anomalous magnetic moment of the nucleon (in the chiral limit).

Earlier experience with nucleon properties as a function of quark mass has suggested that, as a consequence of the finite size of the source of the pion field, chiral loops are strongly suppressed for $`m_\pi >0.4`$ GeV Detmold:2001hq . Thus in order to build an effective chiral extrapolation formula one needs to modify the non-analytic terms given above so that they are suppressed above this mass. For guidance as to an appropriate parametrization of this suppression we have evaluated the pion loops that give rise to the non-analytic chiral terms using the Cloudy Bag Model (CBM) Thomas:1982kv ; Theberge:1981pu ; Lu:1997sd . The results led us to replace Eq. (7) with the expression

$$r^2_M^v\frac{\chi _1}{m_\pi }\frac{2}{\pi }\mathrm{arctan}(\mu /m_\pi )+\frac{\chi _2}{2}\mathrm{ln}(\frac{m_\pi ^2}{m_\pi ^2+\mu ^2}),$$
(10)
which ensures the correct chiral behaviour at low-$`m_\pi `$ but suppresses it at values larger than $`\mu `$.

Substituting this functional form into Eq. (6) and introducing a linear dependence on $`m_\pi ^2`$ to give the expected behaviour at large quark mass, we get the following expression for the dipole mass associated with the isovector magnetic form factor

$$(\mathrm{\Lambda }_M^v)^2=\frac{12(1+A_1m_\pi ^2)}{A_0+\frac{\chi _1}{m_\pi }\frac{2}{\pi }\mathrm{arctan}(\mu /m_\pi )+\frac{\chi _2}{2}\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{m_\pi ^2}{m_\pi ^2+\mu ^2}\right)}.$$
(11)
Here $`A_0`$ and $`A_1`$ are unknown parameters, adjusted to fit the lattice data.

We can perform a similar analysis to find an expression for the isovector electric form factor dipole mass $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_E^v`$, combining the non-analytic chiral behaviour predicted by $`\chi `$PT at low $`m_\pi ^2`$ with the slowly varying behaviour observed in lattice QCD at large masses. Using the equivalent of Eq. (5) for the electric form factor, we can relate the dipole mass to the mean charge radius by

$$(\mathrm{\Lambda }_E^v)^2=\frac{12}{r^2_E^v}.$$
(12)
The chiral behaviour of the isovector mean charge radius is like that of the magnetic radius but with no $`1/m_\pi `$ term Bernard:1995dp ,

$$r^2_E^v\chi _2\mathrm{ln}(\frac{m_\pi }{\mu }).$$
(13)
Combining this chiral behavior with a linear dependence on $`m_\pi ^2`$ produces the following predicted form for the isovector electric form factor dipole mass,

$$(\mathrm{\Lambda }_E^v)^2=\frac{12(1+B_1m_\pi ^2)}{B_0+\frac{\chi _2}{2}\mathrm{ln}(\frac{m_\pi ^2}{m_\pi ^2+\mu ^2})},$$
(14)
where $`B_0`$ and $`B_1`$ are general fitting parameters.

Having isolated the chiral non-analytic behaviour to the isovector form factors, we expect that the isoscalar dipole masses should be roughly linear in $`m_\pi ^2`$ – as observed in CBM results.

The forms chosen to represent the dipole masses as a function of $`m_\pi `$ are able to reproduce the predictions of the CBM Lu:1997sd  very well.

## 3 Results

The QCDSF Collaboration Gockeler:2003ay  has recently reported QQCD results for the isovector and isoscalar nucleon electric and magnetic form factors calculated at different $`Q^2`$ values and pion masses and for three different lattice spacings ($`\beta =6.0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}6.2}`$ and 6.4). Using this data, with the scale set using the Sommer method ($`r_0=0.5`$fm Guagnelli:1998ud ), we have plotted the form factors $`G_M^v`$, $`G_M^s`$, $`G_E^v`$ and $`G_E^s`$, calculated on the lattice as a function of $`Q^2`$, at each pion mass and lattice spacing, and fit each graph with a dipole form, finding a best-fit dipole mass and magnetic moment. Plots of these best-fit dipole masses and magnetic moments against $`m_\pi ^2`$ for the lattice spacing $`a=0.051`$ fm are shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The electric and magnetic isovector dipole masses are fitted with functions of the form Eq. (11) and Eq. (14), respectively. The scale $`\mu =0.41`$ GeV was chosen to give the best simultaneous fit to the lattice data for both the electric and magnetic isovector form factors at all three lattice spacings. We observe that the curves fit the data well and predict physical results significantly different from those obtained by a naive linear extrapolation. In both cases, the form of the fitting functions greatly restricts the physical value, resulting in a small error. Finally, we note that the electric and magnetic isoscalar dipole mass plots are fitted with linear functions in $`m_\pi ^2`$, because of the absence of any leading non-analytic behaviour in this case.

The magnetic moment plots are extrapolated using the Padé approximant, Eq. (4). The resulting errors in the physical magnetic moments dominate over errors in the dipole mass and are the main source of error in our results for the physical magnetic form factors. Similar fits were produced for lattice results at lattice spacings $`a=0.068`$ fm and $`a=0.093`$ fm.

Using the extrapolated physical values for the dipole masses and magnetic moments, we reconstruct the electric and magnetic form factors for the proton and neutron as a sum of two dipoles in $`Q^2`$. Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 show the electric and magnetic form factors for the proton and neutron extrapolated from that lattice data at each of the three lattice spacings ($`a=0.093`$ fm, $`a=0.068`$ fm and $`a=0.051`$ fm) compared to the experimental data from Refs. DATA .

Except for the case of the neutron electric form factor (which is very sensitive because it is the result of a cancellation between $`G_E^v`$ and $`G_E^s`$ which yields a relatively small result) our extrapolated curves match the experimental points very well, particularly for $`G_E^p`$ and $`G_M^p`$. Although our curve for $`G_E^n`$ is almost twice as big as the experimental values, it does describe the correct shape but peaks at slightly too high a value of $`Q^2`$.

## 4 Conclusion

We have proposed a relatively simple approach to the extrapolation of lattice QCD data for the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. The data from QCDSF has been parametrized by a simple dipole form, with the dipole mass parameter taken to be a function of $`m_\pi `$ which incorporates the leading non-analytic behaviour of chiral perturbation theory. For the isoscalar case, where there is no leading non-analytic behaviour, the extrapolation is a simple linear function of $`m_\pi ^2`$, while for the isovector case we have used a functional form suggested by studies based on the cloudy bag model, which suppress the chiral behaviour for pion masses larger than 400 MeV.

The level of agreement between the empirical $`Q^2`$ dependence of the proton electric form factor and the proton and neutron magnetic form factors is impressive. This is quite remarkable when one considers that the data is based on quenched approximation and is extrapolated from a light quark mass a factor of twenty above the physical mass. This is only possible because of the remarkable fact that pion loops are suppressed by finite size effects once the pion Compton wavelength is smaller than the size of the source – empirically, $`m_\pi >0.4`$ GeV. The extrapolation of the data has, of course, been performed using chiral coefficients appropriate to full QCD.

One of the main open questions in the analysis concerns the neutron electric form factor, which will always be a challenge given that it vanishes at $`Q^2=0`$ – as a result of the cancellation between the isoscalar and isovector contributions. In addition, we observe that there appears to be some residual $`\beta `$ dependence in the value of the nucleon magnetic moments and this is the major ambiguity in the current reconstruction of the proton and neutron magnetic form factors. It is encouraging that the results for $`\beta =6.4`$, corresponding to the smallest lattice spacing, is in the best agreement with the experimental data. Future lattice simulations will undoubtedly clarify this issue and also give us data at lower values of the quark mass. It would also be valuable to have full QCD simulations (rather than QQCD) to ensure that there is no unanticipated systematic difference. Most importantly, as the accuracy of the data and the range of $`Q^2`$ covered increases, we can extend the present analysis by employing more complicated fitting functions which should allow us to test the behaviour of properties such as $`G_E/G_M`$ against experiment.

## Acknowledgements

We would like to thank G. Schierholz for helpful communications concerning the lattice data from QCDSF and J. Kelly, R. Madey and A. Semenov for providing a compilation of the experimental data on the nucleon form factors. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and the University of Adelaide.