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# The wave nature of biomolecules and fluorofullerenes

(August 29, 2003)

## Abstract

We demonstrate quantum interference for tetraphenylporphyrin, the first biomolecule exhibiting wave nature, and for the fluorofullerene $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ using a near-field Talbot-Lau interferometer. For the porphyrins, which are distinguished by their low symmetry and their abundant occurence in organic systems, we find the theoretically expected maximal interference contrast and its expected dependence on the de Broglie wavelength. For $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ the observed fringe visibility is below the expected value, but the high contrast still provides good evidence for the quantum character of the observed fringe pattern. The fluorofullerenes therefore set the new mark in complexity and mass (1632 amu) for de Broglie wave experiments, exceeding the previous mass record by a factor of two.

The wave-particle duality of massive objects is one of the corner stones of quantum physics. Nonetheless this quantum property is never observed in our everyday world. The current experiments are aiming at exploring the limits to which one can still observe the quantum wave nature of massive objects and to understand the role of the internal molecular structure and symmetry.

Coherent molecule optics was already initiated as early as in 1930 when Estermann and Stern confirmed de Broglie’s wave hypothesis de Broglie (1923) in a diffraction experiment with He atoms and H2 molecules Estermann and Stern (1930). In contrast to the rapidly evolving field of electron and neutron optics, atom optics became only feasible about twenty years ago and has led from experiments with thermal atoms to coherent ensembles of ultra-cold atoms forming Bose-Einstein condensates. Molecule interferometry was only taken up again in 1994 with the first observation of Ramsey-Bordé interferences for I2 Bordé et al. (1994) and with the proof of the existence of the weakly bound He2 in a far-field diffraction experiment Schöllkopf and Toennies (1994). Experiments with alkali dimers in the far-field Chapman et al. (1995) and in near-field Clauser and Li (1997) interferometers followed. Recent interest in molecule optics has been stimulated by the quest for demonstrations of fundamental quantum mechanical effects with mesoscopic objects Arndt et al. (1999, 2002); Bruch et al. (2002).

In the present letter, we report the first demonstration of the wave nature of both tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) and of fluorinated fullerenes using near-field interference. The porphyrin structure is at the heart of many complex biomolecules, serving as a color center for instance in chlorophyll and in hemoglobin. The fluorofullerene $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ is the most massive (1632 amu) and most complex (composed of 108 atoms) molecule for which the de Broglie wave-nature has been shown so far (see fig.1).

In order to demonstrate the wave property of a massive object with a short de Broglie wavelength it is advisable to use a near-field diffraction scheme. In particular a Talbot-Lau-interferometer (TLI, for details see Patorski (1989); Clauser and Li (1994); Brezger et al. (2002, 2003 (in press)) is compact and rugged, has favorable scaling properties, permits to work with acceptable grating constants even for large molecules and allows one to work with an initially uncollimated and spatially incoherent beam. The basic structure of our interferometer has been described elsewhere Brezger et al. (2002). The experiment is set up in a vacuum chamber at a base pressure of $`2\times 10^8`$mbar, which is sufficient to avoid molecule loss or decoherence by residual gas scattering in the interferometer Hornberger et al. (2003). The molecular beam is created by sublimation in an oven. TPP was heated to 690 K corresponding to a vapor pressure of 46 Pa Perlovich et al. (2000). $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ was sublimated at 560 K with a vapor pressure of 2.3 Pa Boltalina et al. (1999).

The initial thermal velocity distribution is rather broad (full width at half maximum $`50`$ %), both for TPP and for C60F48. We therefore apply a gravitational $`v`$-selection scheme: three horizontal slits restrict the beam to a well-defined free-flight parabola. The first slit is given by the orifice of the oven ($`200\mu `$m high). The central height limiter is situated at 138 cm (for TPP) and 126 cm respectively (for C60F48) behind the oven. Its opening is set to $`150\mu `$m. The third horizontal slit ($`100\mu `$m) is positioned in 10 cm distance from the molecule detector. For porphyrin we achieve a velocity resolution between $`\mathrm{\Delta }v/v_m=30`$ % (full width at half maximum) at a mean velocity of vm=160 m/s and $`\mathrm{\Delta }v/v_m=40`$ % at vm=235 m/s. For $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ the value is $`\mathrm{\Delta }v/v_m=20\%`$ at vm=105 m/s. The velocities can be varied by changing the vertical position of the source and they are measured using a time-of-flight method.

The interferometer itself consists of three identical gold gratings with a grating period of $`g=991.3\pm 0.3`$nm, a nominal open fraction of $`f=0.48\pm 0.02`$ and a thickness of b = 500 nm (Heidenhain, Traunreut). The first grating prepares the transverse coherence of the molecular beam. The second grating is responsible for the diffraction and interference. The third grating is used to mask the molecular interference pattern and is therefore already part of the detection scheme, providing high spatial resolution. The distance $`L`$ between the first and the second grating and that between the second and the third grating are equalized to within 100 $`\mu `$m and are of the order of the Talbot-length $`L_T=g^2/\lambda _{\mathrm{dB}}`$ for the most probable wavelength of the thermal molecular beam. They are set to 0.22 m for the porphyrins and to 0.38 m for $`C_{60}F_{48}`$. The alignment and distance of the gratings have been carefully set in a calibration experiment using $`C_{70}`$. To record the molecular interferogram the third grating is scanned across the molecule beam using a piezo-electric translation stage. The number of transmitted molecules as a function of the third grating position is then the measure for the spatial molecular distribution.

The quantum wave nature of the resulting molecule pattern is reflected in the strong wavelength dependence of the fringe visibility.

A previous Talbot-Lau setup had proven successful before Brezger et al. (2002) but the detector was limited to the special case of fullerenes since it employed a thermal laser ionization scheme which cannot be applied to those molecules which have an ionization energy exceeding the binding energy. In contrast to these earlier experiments, all results presented here were obtained using electron-impact ionization. Although this ionization mechanism has a much lower efficiency than the optical scheme it is more universal and can be applied to virtually any molecule up to a mass of about 2000 amu. The universality of electron impact ionization is important but it also implies the necessity of a mass selection stage to prevent the residual gases in the vacuum chamber from contributing to the signal. In our experiment this selection is done using a quadrupole mass spectrometer (ABB Extrel, 2000 amu).

The first set of experiments reported here were done with meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), $`C_{44}H_{30}N_4`$, with a purity of 98 % as purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (fig. 1, left). It has a diameter of $``$ 20 Å, which is about twice the size of C60. The flat geometry of TPP (aspect ratio $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}7}`$) is rather different from the highly symmetric structure of the fullerenes which were used in previous studies. One might imagine two possible effects of the asymmetric structure which can influence the interference contrast. First, there could be an orientation-dependent coupling between the molecules and the gratings. Molecules with an anisotropic polarizability will experience an angle dependent phase shift due to the van der Waals interaction with the grating walls. This may change the interference contrast considerably (see e.g. Brezger et al. (2002)). However, at several hundred Kelvins the molecules rotate at a frequency of about $`10^{13}s^1`$ which should lead to an effective averaging of orientation dependent effects. Second, the structure might give rise to ’internal’ decoherence. This could be the case if one molecular axis acted as the hand of a pointer showing finally in different directions depending on which path the molecule took through the interferometer. If stray field gradients vary on the scale of the molecular path separation, as for instance caused by patch fields in the grating slits, they might encode which-path information in the internal (e.g. rotational) state. The electric or magnetic moments required for the coupling to the local fields usually grow with increasing size and decreasing symmetry of the molecules.

To confirm the absence of any effect of the molecular geometry on the de Broglie interference it is important to reach experimentally the fringe contrast which is predicted from the description of the center of mass motion and the scalar molecular properties alone.

Fig. 2 now shows the TPP interference fringes obtained for a mean velocity of vm=160 m/s as the third grating is shifted in steps of 100 nm across the molecular density profile. At each step the intensity was recorded over a period of 2 seconds. This figure is the average of 20 scans. For our particular grating design quantum mechanics predicts a nearly sinusoidal molecule intensity as a function of the grating displacement Brezger et al. (2003 (in press). We therefore fit a sine function on top of a mean count rate and a fixed, measured background to the data. The fringe visibility is then determined as the ratio of the amplitude to the mean count rate of this fit. The observed contrast is very close to the theoretically predicted value of $`34\%`$, and differs significantly from the classically expected value of $`14\%`$ (see discussion below).

In order to further support the interpretation of our data as being due to the molecular wave-nature we show in fig. 3 (full dots) the wavelength (i.e. velocity) dependence of the fringe contrast. Four different velocity distributions were selected from the initial thermal distribution. For each of them the contrast was determined by averaging 10 scans as described above. The quantum mechanical calculation (continuous line) - which includes the molecule/wall interaction Brezger et al. (2003 (in press) \- fits the experimental data rather well within the experimental errors. The error bars in fig. 3 give the measured statistical standard deviation within a series of 10 scans Error .

However, one might argue that a periodic density pattern behind grating three could in principle also result from classical dynamics. Simple shadow images of two gratings are commonly known as moiré fringes. They also depend slightly on the velocity of the passing object if we take into account the molecule-wall interaction. But the classically predicted contrast differs significantly from the measured visibility both in magnitude and in velocity dependence (fig.3, dashed line).

Having proven the perfect contrast for a molecule of low symmetry it is encouraging to investigate a more complex object. $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ is among the heaviest objects that can be thermally vaporized and detected in our mass spectrometer. It was purchased from L. Sidorov (State University Moscow) and had a specified purity of 95 %. The fluorofullerenes are present in several isomers with D3 and S6 symmetry. Typical count rates were only about 100 counts per second (cps) including a spectrometer background of 70 cps with a noise of 30 %. In addition the background increased up to 130 cps towards the last recording. The much reduced signal-to-noise ratio (with respect to TPP), the extended measuring time and the correspondingly larger drifts require a very careful data evaluation:

The total intensity is recorded as a function of the position of the third grating, which was shifted in steps of 40 nm over a distance of $`3\mu `$m. In total a series of 68 scans were recorded over 5 hours. Every second scan was a background scan, where the source was blocked. Repeated background measurements were necessary since the dark count rate was changing over time. The single scans are shifted with respect to each other due to thermal drifts of the gratings of up to a few 100 nm between subsequent scans. Therefore a simple average of all data is not reasonable.

The best fitting sine curve of each single interference pattern was evaluated using a Fourier transformation and each pattern was shifted to a common origin according to its phase. Averaging over all recorded scans, regardless of their individual quality, yields an interference contrast of 13 %, which would still be explicable in classical terms. However, this includes scans with high background noise which show no interference at all and which lower the resulting contrast considerably. In order to eliminate the noisy graphs without introducing an additional bias by the selection, all scans were sorted according to their $`\chi ^2`$-value obtained from the Fourier transformation. The $`\chi ^2`$-value is here a measure for the distribution of spatial frequencies in the molecular density pattern. A large $`\chi ^2`$ occurs if there is more than a single relevant spatial frequency, i.e. it is increasing with increasing deviation from the expected sine wave shape of the interferogram.

It is important to note that this procedure selects recordings with a clear period, but it explicitly avoids any restrictions on the particular value of this period. Taking only the fraction $`R`$ of all scans with the lowest $`\chi ^2`$-value we find an increasing interference contrast for decreasing $`R`$. A maximal contrast of about $`27\%`$ is observed for $`R=0.1\mathrm{}0.5`$, while single scans are too noisy to reach this value. We estimate the error of the visibility for the selected set to $`\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3}\%`$. It is also significant and important that the only high contrast variation in the molecular density pattern is found at the expected spatial period of $`1\mu `$m. Figure 4 shows three periods of the interference fringes of $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ selected with $`R=0.4`$.

It is important to note that this procedure selects recordings with a clear period but it explicitly avoids any restrictions on the particular value of this period. Taking only those 40 % of all scans with the lowest $`\chi ^2`$-value we find an interference contrast of $`27\%`$. The statistical error of the selected set amounts to $`\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3}\%`$. It is also significant and important that the only observed high contrast variation in the molecular density pattern is found at the expected spatial period of $`1\mu `$m. Figure 4 shows three periods of the thus selected interference fringes of $`C_{60}F_{48}`$.

This high visibility is good evidence for the quantum wave character of the interference fringes since it lies significantly above the classically expected contrast of 12 %. However, the expected quantum mechanical value of $`36\pm 3\%`$ is still higher than the experimental contrast. Some information on the origin of this discrepancy is provided by the fact that pure C70, which can be detected using cw-laser ionization and which does not suffer from any significant detector noise, exhibits perfect interference in the same Talbot-Lau setup at a velocity of 200 m/s but it shows a contrast reduction by up to 40 % with respect to the numerical calculations for molecules as slow as the fluorofullerenes, i.e. with v $`100`$ m/s.

We are therefore led to assume that the reason for the difference between model and experiment is independent of the molecular species. While we cannot exclude unexpected contributions to the molecule-wall interaction or more fundamental phenomena, it is certain that mechanical vibrations of the setup become more relevant for longer transit times. The strong influence of floor vibrations was already recognized in earlier fullerene interferograms and could be drastically reduced by the pneumatic vibration isolation of the optical table which supports the experiment. But one has to note that grating motions around 100 nm are already detrimental to the interference contrast and slow relative motions can not be excluded with our available vibration sensors. Further investigations are required to clarify this point.

Concluding, we have demonstrated the wave nature of both the biomolecule TPP and the fluorofullerene $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ in a near-field interferometer. The experimental visibilities of the interference fringes have been compared to a quantum and a classical model, both taking into account the grating/wall interaction. For the porphyrin experiment the visibility is in full agreement with predictions by quantum mechanics and in clear disagreement with the classical model. This is also the case for the velocity dependence, i.e. wavelength dependence, of the contrast. For $`C_{60}F_{48}`$ the measured interference contrast is somewhat below the maximally expected quantum visibility but it is still significantly above the classical value. This result provides very good evidence for the wave nature of fluorofullerenes which are therefore currently the largest and most complex molecules to show quantum interference.

This work has been supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF), within the projects START Y177 (M.A.) and SFB F1505, by the DFG Emmy Noether program (K.H.), as well as by the European Community under contract HPRN-CT-2000-00125 (E.R.) and HPMF-CT-2000-00797 (B.B.). We thank O. Boltalina for the preparation of $`C_{60}F_{36}`$ for preliminary studies.


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# Novel Families of Fractional Quantum Hall States: Pairing of Composite Fermions

## Abstract

Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states have recently been observed at unexpected values of the filling factor $`\nu `$. Here we interpret these states as a novel family of FQH states involving pairing correlations rather than Laughlin correlations among the quasiparticles (QP’s). The correlations depend upon the behavior of the QP–QP pseudopotential $`V_{\mathrm{QP}}(L^{})`$, the interaction energy of a pair as a function of the pair angular momentum $`L^{}`$. This behavior, known from numerical studies of small systems, is used to demonstrate that pairing correlations give rise to FQH states at the experimentally observed values of $`\nu `$.

fractional quantum Hall states, pairing of composite Fermions, quasiparticles, pseudopotentials

Recently Pan et al. pan  observed fractional quantum Hall minima in $`\rho _{xx}`$ at unexpected values of the Landau level filling factor $`\nu `$ outside the Jain sequence of states with $`\nu =n(2pn\pm 1)^1`$, where $`n`$ and $`p`$ are positive integers. The composite Fermion hierarchy sitko1 ; haldane , in which the reapplication of the Chern–Simons (CS) mean field approximation attaches additional flux quanta to the quasiparticles (QP’s) in a partially filled composite Fermion (CF) shell, has been suggested pan ; smet  as a possible explanation of some of these states. However, the form of the residual interactions sitko2 ; wojs1 ; quinn1 ; lee  between QP’s sometimes precludes Laughlin correlations and the realization of certain daughter states of the CF hierarchy quinn2 ; wojs2 . Among these states are the $`\nu =4/11`$ and 4/13 daughter states observed experimentally pan , which correspond to quasielectron (QE) and quasihole (QH) filling factors $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=1/3`$ and $`\nu _{\mathrm{QH}}=1/5`$, respectively. In addition, the observed even denominator fractional fillings cannot arise within the CF hierarchy. Here, we show that instead of having Laughlin correlations, the QP’s form pairs, and that these pair excitations cause the novel incompressible daughter states at the unexpected values of $`\nu `$ observed experimentally.

By Laughlin correlations laughlin  among interacting Fermions confined to a spherical surface we mean that pair states with the largest values of the pair angular momentum $`L^{}`$ (or smallest values of the relative angular momentum $`=2lL^{}`$, where $`l`$ is the single Fermion angular momentum) are maximally avoided. Laughlin correlations occur if and only if the pseudopotential $`V(L^{})`$ is “superharmonic,” that is, rises with increasing $`L^{}`$ faster than $`L^{}(L^{}+1)`$ as the avoided value of $`L^{}`$ is approached wojs1 ; quinn1 ; quinn2 ; wojs3 . Here $`V(L^{})`$ is the interaction energy of a pair of Fermions as a function of $`L^{}`$. The pseudopotential for electrons in the lowest Landau level ($`n=0`$) is superharmonic at all values of $`L^{}`$. However, for the first excited Landau level ($`n=1`$) it is not superharmonic at the largest value of $`L^{}`$, namely $`L^{}=2l1`$. This is known to result in pairing of the electrons wojs3 ; wojs4  at filling factors $`\nu =7/3`$, $`5/2`$, and $`8/3`$.

For QP’s of the Laughlin $`\nu =1/3`$ state, $`V_{\mathrm{QP}}(L^{})`$ has been obtained from exact numerical diagonalization studies of small systems sitko2 ; wojs1 ; quinn1 ; lee ; wojs2  (with particle number $`N12`$). This is illustrated for QE’s in Fig. 1a. When plotted as a function of $`N^1`$, $`V_{\mathrm{QE}}()`$ converges to a rather well defined limit as shown in Fig. 1b for $`=1`$, 3, and 5. The results are quite accurate up to an overall constant (which does not affect the correlations). Because the short-range interactions (i.e., at small values of $``$ or small QE separation) determine the nature of the ground state, numerical results for small systems describe the essential correlations quite well for systems of any size. Furthermore, the subharmonic character of $`V_{\mathrm{QP}}`$ at certain values of $``$ ($`=1`$ for QE’s and $`=3`$ for QH’s) makes it impossible for $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=1/3`$ and $`\nu _{\mathrm{QH}}=1/5`$ to lead to incompressible daughter states of the CF hierarchy. By this we mean that for a spin polarized state in which QP’s of the Laughlin $`\nu =1/3`$ state yield filling factors $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=1/3`$ (or $`\nu _{\mathrm{QH}}=1/5`$), Laughlin correlations among the QP’s, giving rise to incompressible daughter states at $`\nu =4/11`$ (or $`\nu =4/13`$), cannot occur wojs1 ; quinn1 ; quinn2 ; wojs2 .

How then can we understand the novel states observed at $`\nu =5/13`$, 3/8, 4/11, etc.? To illustrate, we use the case of QE’s (the application to QH’s is straightforward and will be given elsewhere). It is apparent that $`V_{\mathrm{QE}}()`$ is not superharmonic at $`=1`$. In fact, its maximum repulsion occurs at $`=3`$. In this case, the QE’s do not display Laughlin correlations by avoiding the pair state with $`=1`$ (or, in the planar geometry, by having the Laughlin–Jastrow factor $`_{i<j}(z_iz_j)^2`$ in the ground state wavefunction where $`z_j=x_jiy_j`$ is the position of the $`j^{th}`$ QE). Instead, they tend to form pairs with $`=1`$ in order to minimize the pair amplitude wojs3 ; wojs4  with $`=3`$. Pairing at filling factor $`\nu =5/2`$ has been considered by others moore ; greiter  based on the observation of an unexpected incompressible ground state.

The pairs can be thought of either as Bosons or Fermions with pair angular momentum $`l_\mathrm{P}=2l1`$, since in two-dimensional systems Bosons (Fermions) can be transformed into Fermions (Bosons) by a CS transformation quinn3 ; wilczek . For a system containing more than a single pair, the allowed values of the total angular momentum of two pairs must be chosen in such a way that the Pauli principle is not violated when accounting for identical constituent Fermions belonging to different pairs. This can be accomplished if different pairs are not allowed to approach too closely by requiring that the largest allowed value of the total angular momentum of two pairs (treated as Fermions) to be given by $`\stackrel{~}{L}^{}=2l_{\mathrm{FP}}`$, where

$$2l_{\mathrm{FP}}=2(2l1)\gamma _\mathrm{F}(N_\mathrm{P}1).$$
(1)
Here the simplest assumption of complete pairing is made, so that $`N_\mathrm{P}=N/2`$ is the number of Fermion pairs (FP’s), and $`\gamma _\mathrm{F}`$ will be an odd integer (if the pairs were treated as Bosons $`\gamma _\mathrm{B}`$ would equal $`\gamma _\mathrm{F}1`$). $`\gamma _\mathrm{F}`$ is chosen so that the Fermion pair filling factor $`\nu _{\mathrm{FP}}=(N_\mathrm{P}1)/2l_{\mathrm{FP}}`$ is equal to unity when the QE filling factor $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=(N1)/2l`$ is also equal to unity. This condition gives $`l_{\mathrm{FP}}=2l1\frac{3}{2}(N_\mathrm{P}1)`$ for the “effective” angular momentum of one FP and

$$\nu _{\mathrm{FP}}^1=4\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}^13$$
(2)
for large systems. This CS transformation automatically forbids states of two FP’s with the smallest separation. The larger pair–pair separation causes the constituent QE’s to avoid the largest repulsion at $`=3`$. In addition, the transformation selects from $`𝒟_L(N,l)`$, the number of multiplets of total angular momentum $`L`$ formed from $`N`$ Fermions each with angular momentum $`l`$, a subset $`𝒟_L(N_\mathrm{P},l_{\mathrm{FP}})`$.

We expect pair formation for QE filling factor satisfying $`2/3\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}1/3`$, where Laughlin–Jain states laughlin ; jain  that avoid $`=1`$ would normally occur for a superharmonic potential. If we assume the FP’s support Laughlin correlations, when their separations are large, then incompressible ground states would be expected at the Laughlin filling factors $`\nu _{\mathrm{FP}}=1/5`$, 1/7, and 1/9. From Eq.(2), these correspond to values of $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}`$ given by 1/2, 2/5, and 1/3. For $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}1/2`$ we make use of QE–QH symmetry and think of Fermion pairs of QH’s giving $`\nu _{\mathrm{QH}}=1/2`$, 2/5, 1/3 and $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=1/2`$, 3/5, and 2/3. Only at these values of $`\nu _{\mathrm{FP}}`$ do we have Laughlin states of the Fermion pairs with $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}`$ in the required range. In the hierarchy scheme sitko1  describing partially filled CF levels, the original electron filling factor is given by

$$\nu ^1=2+(1+\nu _{\mathrm{QE}})^1.$$
(3)
Here the 2 on the right hand side comes from the addition of two flux quanta per electron in the original CS transformation on the electrons, and $`(1+\nu _{\mathrm{QE}})`$ is the CF filling factor. Hence, we find new incompressible states at $`\nu =5/13`$, 8/21, 3/8, 7/19, and 4/11. All except the 7/19 and 8/21 states have been observed. We are uncertain whether there is some reason why these two states do not occur, or if, because they have such large denominators, they are simply difficult to see and might be observed in future experiments. It could be that our simple model, which assumes complete pairing of all QP’s, is not valid at every value of $`\nu _{\mathrm{QP}}`$ (alternatively, partially paired states could be considered), or that a spin unpolarized state preempts pair formation.

As an illustration we have performed an exact diagonalization on a system containing $`N=10`$ QE’s at $`l=17/2`$. This corresponds to $`\nu _{\mathrm{QE}}=1/2`$. The energy spectrum (Fig. 2a) obtained using the QE–QE pseudopotential given in Fig. 1 shows a robust $`L=0`$ ground state and an excitation gap. The coefficient $`𝒢()=_{L^{}\alpha ^{}}|G_{L^{}\alpha ^{}}()|^2`$ appropriate for the $`L=0`$ ground state is shown in Fig. 2b for the allowed values of $``$. $`G_{L^{}\alpha ^{}}()`$ is the coefficient of fractional grandparentage sitko2 ; wojs1 ; quinn1 ; shalit , and $`𝒢()`$ is a measure of the amplitude associated with pair states of relative pair angular momentum $``$. For the purpose of comparison, the same results are shown for the $`L=0`$ state of a ten-electron system in the lowest Landau level, also at $`l=17/2`$. The large decrease in $`𝒢()`$ at $`=3`$ and increase at $`=1`$ in going from $`V_e()`$ to $`V_{\mathrm{QE}}()`$ is clear evidence of the avoidance of pair states with $`=3`$ and the formation of pairs with $`=1`$ in the case of QE’s.

Rather than contradicting the assertion wojs2  that the 4/11 state (or $`\nu =4/13`$ state when $`\nu _{\mathrm{QH}}=1/5`$) cannot occur as an incompressible daughter state in the standard CF hierarchy of Laughlin correlated QP states of a spin polarized system, the results of Pan et al. pan  offer support for the idea of pairing of QP’s at certain values of $`\nu _{\mathrm{QP}}`$. In contrast to the hierarchies of Laughlin correlated QP states, the pairing picture can account for incompressible states in the lowest Landau level with even denominator fractional filling. We emphasize that simple repetition of Laughlin correlations among daughter states sitko1 ; smet ; mani  containing CF QP’s is not always appropriate wojs2  because of the form of $`V_{\mathrm{QP}}()`$. The proposed pairing of CF QP’s gives rise to a new type of QP which in turn leads to a myriad of completely novel hierarchy states.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by Grant DE-FG 02-97ER45657 of the Material Research Program of Basic Energy Sciences–US Department of Energy. AW acknowledges support from Grant 2P03B02424 of the Polish KBN, and KSY acknowledges partial support of the ABRL(R14-2002-029-01002-0) through the KOSEF.


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# Giant vortices in combined harmonic and quartic traps

## I Introduction

The existence and formation of quantized vortices have recently been widely studied in Bose Einstein condensates mal ; MCWD2 ; MCWD ; RK ; AK ; RBD . One type of experiments consists in rotating the magnetic trap confining the atoms. For a harmonic trapping potential $`(1/2)m\omega _{}^2r^2`$, and a rotating frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ close to $`0.7\omega _{}`$, vortices start to appear and arrange themselves into a lattice MCBD . As $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is increased, the number of vortices increases as well. In the case of a harmonic trap, the confinement and the centrifugal force prevent the condensate from rotating at a frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ beyond $`\omega _{}`$. The regime of fast rotation is especially interesting since it provides a setting for a large number of vortices and eventually giant vortices Fi ; E .

Theoretical and numerical studies have considered stiffer potentials than the harmonic one, behaving like $`r^n`$ or $`r^2+r^4`$ F ; L ; K ; Kav . This type of trapping, which eliminates the singular behavior at $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\omega _{}`$, has recently been achieved experimentally by superimposing a blue detuned laser beam to the magnetic trap holding the atoms BD . The resulting potential is

$$V_{trap}(r,z)=V_h(r,z)+U(r),$$
(1)
with

$$V_h=\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2r^2+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _z^2z^2,\text{ and }U(r)=U_0\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2r^2}{w^2}\right).$$
(2)
For $`r/w`$ sufficiently small, the resulting potential can be approximated by :

$$V_{trap}\left[\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2\frac{2U_0}{w^2}\right]r^2+\frac{2U_0}{w^4}r^4+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _z^2z^2.$$
(3)
The purpose of this paper is to find the stable states (vortex lattice, vortex array with hole and giant vortices) of the condensate with this type of trapping potential and to analyze their three-dimensional structure. We consider a case similar to the experiments and previous theoretical settings, where the amplitude $`U_0`$ of the superimposed laser is small, so that the coefficient of the $`r^2`$ term is positive. But we are especially interested in the case where the laser beam has sufficiently large amplitude so that

$$\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2<\frac{2U_0}{w^2}.$$
(4)
This changes the sign of the harmonic part of the potential (3). The point is that, this case of a quartic minus harmonic potential allows to observe giant vortices at lower angular velocities than previously and the structure of vortices is different.

## II Numerical approach

We consider a pure BEC of $`N`$ atoms confined in a trapping potential $`V_{trap}`$, rotating along the $`z`$ axis at angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The equilibrium of the system corresponds to local minima of the Gross-Pitaevskii energy in the rotating frame

$`(\varphi )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _𝒟}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}}|\varphi |^2+\mathrm{}𝛀(i\varphi ,\varphi \times 𝐱)`$ (5)
$`+V_{trap}|\varphi |^2+{\displaystyle \frac{N}{2}}g_{3D}|\varphi |^4`$
where $`g_{3D}=4\pi \mathrm{}^2a/m`$ and the wave function $`\varphi `$ is normalized to unity $`_𝒟|\varphi |^2=1`$.

For numerical purposes, it is convenient to rescale the variables as follows: $`𝐫=𝐱/R`$, $`u(𝐫)=R^{3/2}\varphi (𝐱)`$, where $`R=d/\sqrt{\epsilon }`$ and

$$d=\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{m\omega _{}}\right)^{1/2},\epsilon =\left(\frac{d}{8\pi Na}\right)^{2/5},\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}=\mathrm{\Omega }/(\epsilon \omega _{}).$$
(6)
In this scaling, the trapping potential (3) becomes

$$V=(1\alpha )r^2+\frac{1}{4}kr^4+\beta ^2z^2,$$
(7)
where

$$\alpha =\frac{4U_0}{m\omega _{}^2w^2},k=4\alpha \left(\frac{R}{w}\right)^2,\beta =\frac{\omega _z}{\omega _{}}.$$
(8)
Note that we take $`\omega _{}`$ (which is the frequency of the original harmonic potential $`V_h`$), and not $`\omega _{}\sqrt{|1\alpha |}`$, as a scaling frequency for $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. For numerical applications, we choose $`\epsilon =0.02`$, $`\beta =\omega _z/\omega _{}=1/7`$, $`k/\alpha =0.25`$, which fit the experimental values of Ref. BD . In BD , $`\alpha =0.25`$, but we will take bigger values since our aim is to understand the influence of $`\alpha `$ when it gets bigger than 1.

Then, we use the dimensionless energy introduced in AD

$$E(u)=H(u)\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}L_z(u),$$
(9)
where $`H`$ is the hamiltonian

$$H(u)=\frac{1}{2}|u|^2+\frac{1}{2\epsilon ^2}V|u|^2+\frac{1}{4\epsilon ^2}|u|^4,$$
(10)
and $`L_z`$ the angular momentum axis

$$L_z(u)=i\overline{u}\left(y\frac{u}{x}x\frac{u}{y}\right).$$
(11)
Using a hybrid Runge-Kutta-Crank-Nicolson scheme described in Ref. AD , we compute critical points of $`E(u)`$ by solving the norm-preserving imaginary time propagation of the corresponding equation:

$$\frac{u}{t}\frac{1}{2}^2u+i(\stackrel{~}{𝛀}\times 𝐫).u=\frac{1}{2\epsilon ^2}u(V+|u|^2)+\mu _\epsilon u,$$
(12)
where $`\mu _\epsilon `$ is the Lagrange multiplier for the constraint $`_𝒟|u|^2=1`$ and with $`u=0`$ on $`𝒟`$ and. Here, $`𝒟`$ is a rectangular domain containing the condensate. A typical simulation uses a domain $`(x,y,z)[2,2]\times [2,2]\times [2.8,2.8]`$ with a refined grid of $`200\times 200\times 140`$ nodes, which is sufficient to achieve grid-independence for all considered numerical experiments.

We first compute the steady state corresponding to a nonrotating ($`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$) condensate, using as initial condition $`u=\sqrt{\rho _{\text{TF}}}`$, the Thomas-Fermi profile

$$\rho _{\text{TF}}(𝐫)=\rho _0+(\alpha 1)r^2\frac{1}{4}kr^4\beta ^2z^2.$$
(13)
Depending on the choice of $`\alpha `$, the Thomas-Fermi density profile can display three different shapes, as shown in figure 1.

The corresponding steady solutions obtained for $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ (which will be used as initial conditions for the subsequent runs with $`\mathrm{\Omega }>0`$) are displayed in figure 2.

We can distinguish three cases:

* $`\alpha <1`$ (weak quartic case) is the case closest to the experiments and is strongly influenced by the harmonic part. For $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$, a classical prolate condensate is obtained. As $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ increases, the effective trapping potential $`V^{eff}(𝐫)=V(𝐫)\epsilon ^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2r^2`$ starts to have a mexican hat structure. A vortex lattice appears for intermediate values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and turns into a lattice with a hole for large $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$.
* $`\alpha 1`$ (intermediate quartic case): the density profile has a depletion close to the center at $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ but no hole. The criterion for this case is

$$\xi =\frac{\sqrt{\beta }k^{5/4}}{\pi (\alpha 1)^2}>1.$$
(14)
The density profile starts to have a hole for intermediate values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$.
* $`\alpha >1`$ and $`\xi <1`$ (strong quartic case): the density profile has a hole for all $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$.

## III Description of the results

Depending on the values of $`\alpha `$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, we observe different types of configurations: vortex free configurations where the amplitude of the wave function takes into account the shape of the effective trapping potential, vortex lattices, vortex arrays with hole and giant vortices.

### III.1 Intermediate quartic case ($`\alpha =1.1`$)

The potential $`V`$ has a Mexican hat structure. The isosurface of lowest density of the solution is plotted in figure 3, the top view in figure 4 and in the middle plane $`z=0`$ in figure 5. For $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ small, the density has a depletion close to the center of the condensate but no hole and no vortices. For $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ larger ($`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}0.16`$), vortices are nucleated.

For $`0.16\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}<0.24`$, the density of the solution is zero close to the top and bottom of the condensate, but not at the center, which gives rise to a special structure of vortices: the vortices arrange themselves along two concentric circles. The inner circle is made up of vortices which are isolated in the center of the condensate but reconnect towards the top of the condensate (see the details in figure 6). The outer circle is made up of almost straight $`U`$ vortices that reconnect to the inner circle close to the top and bottom of the condensate. As $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ increases, the number of vortices on each circle increases. In figure 4(b), the inner vortices seem to be bigger, but this is just an effect due to the projection and the bending: the view at $`z=0`$ (figure 5) allows to check that all vortices have the same size.

For $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}0.24`$, the density profile of the solution is zero in the center of the condensate, hence this creates a giant vortex: the straight vortices that were close to the center on the inner circle have merged into a giant vortex. There are also isolated vortices regularly scattered on a circle around the giant vortex. As $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ increases, the number of vortices inside and outside the giant vortex increases and the length of the isolated vortices decreases as can be seen in figure 3.

Note that the isolated vortices are $`U`$ vortices that reconnect to the giant vortex at the center, not to the boundary of the condensate, as in the case of the harmonic trapping AD , that is their bending is concave not convex.

For $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}=0.48`$, (see figure 7) the number of vortices has increased and there are 2 outer circles of vortices around the giant vortex: one circle of $`U`$ vortices that reconnect to the giant vortex and one circle of vortices that reconnect to the outer boundary of the condensate. Both have different concavity in their bending as illustrated in figure 7.

### III.2 Strong quartic potential case ($`\alpha =1.2`$)

The effective potential has a Mexican hat structure for all $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and the density profile of the solution always has a hole in the center as illustrated in figure 8.

For small $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, there are no vortices, that is $`L_z=0`$; it is only the modulus of the solution that goes to zero. For larger $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ($`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}0.12`$), the hole contains a giant vortex and $`L_z`$ increases with $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ (see figure 9). We have not found any isolated vortex around the giant vortex: all vortices are included in the central giant vortex because of the strong potential.

The giant vortex phase profiles (figure 10) show that the phase singularities do not completely overlap in the center of the vortex. This feature has already been observed in two-dimensional numerical simulation of a fast rotating condensate by Kasamatsu et al K . They described the giant vortex as the hole containing single quantized vortices with such low density that they are discernible only by the phase defects.

### III.3 Weak quartic case ($`\alpha =0.9`$)

This is the case closest to the experiments BD . The special feature of this case is that one has to achieve larger values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ in order to obtain giant vortices. The density profile of the solutions are shown in figures 11 and 12.

Figure 12 show the three dimensional structure of vortices. There are isolated single quantized vortices, forming a lattice. Increasing $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ leads to a denser lattice (20 vortices for $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}=0.4`$ and 38 for $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}=0.48`$). As a consequence, the angular momentum (figure 9) grows rapidly to high values.

¿From $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}=0.48`$, the vortices near the center of the condensate start to merge, leading to a central structure similar to that displayed in figure 6(a). For $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}0.56`$, the central vortices have merged into a giant vortex. The lattice still exist around. Similarly to the experiments, the hole is obtained for large values of angular velocity ($`\mathrm{\Omega }/\omega _{}0.56`$).

It is interesting to note from the side view of the condensate (figure 12) that most vortices of the lattice are straight, but some bent vortices (U shape) exist. The U vortices are either connected to the outer boundary (bending outwards) of the condensate (figure 12a,c) or to the giant vortex (bending inwards) (figure 12d).

## IV Conclusion

We have studied stable configurations of the Gross Pitaveskii energy when the trapping potential is modified to include a quartic minus a harmonic term.

For weak quartic potentials, the solution evolves from a vortex lattice to a vortex array with hole when the angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is increased. For stronger quartic potentials, giant vortices are obtained for lower $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, at a stage where the lattice is not so dense. The typical structure of vortices is to have a central giant vortex with an outer circle of vortices around. We believe that there should be a criterion depending on the radius of the condensate and the radius of the annulus that should characterize the final structure of the giant vortex: whether there is or not a circle of vortices around the giant vortex and its precise location.

The form of the potential considered in our simulations was inspired from recent experiments BD . We have checked that keeping the exponential part of the potential instead of its quartic minus harmonic approximation does not change the qualitative behaviour of the solutions. This suggests that if this situation could be achieved experimentally, it would allow to observe giant vortices for lower velocities than previously, that is before reaching the fast rotation regime.

Acknowledgements: We would like to acknowledge stimulating discussions with V. Bretin.


text:
# Refraction in a pulsar magnetosphere — the effect of a variable emission height on pulse morphology

## 1 Introduction

Arons & Barnard (1986) have derived the dispersion relation for three wave modes which can propagate through the plasma of a pulsar magnetosphere: the ordinary subluminous mode (subluminous O-mode), the ordinary superluminous mode (superluminous O-mode) and the extraordinary mode (X-mode). The X-mode does not suffer refraction, but refraction of the subluminous O-mode can be considerable in pulsar magnetospheres (Barnard & Arons 1986). The subluminous O-mode cannot escape the pulsar magnetosphere due to Landau damping, so it does not contribute directly to the observed emission. Lyubarskii (1996) has shown that the subluminous O-mode can be converted into the superluminous O-mode – which can escape the magnetosphere – by induced scattering off plasma particles. As pointed out by Barnard & Arons (1986) refraction of the superluminous O-mode is less severe than for the subluminous O-mode. It can, however, be important in the presence of a transverse plasma density gradient.

For the superluminous O-mode Petrova (2000) (hereafter P2000) shows how pulse profiles can be calculated taking into account the transverse plasma density gradient. This model demonstrated that complex profiles can be produced by a “simple” ring shaped emission region (as predicted by Ruderman & Sutherland 1975), and thus that the wealth of observed pulse profile shapes may be due to different magnetospheric conditions rather than more complex emission region shapes. Furthermore it was shown that the observed phenomenon of high frequency core splitting could be an effect of refraction.

The emission height is an important ingredient in calculating pulse profiles. The emission height is frequency dependent; i.e. there is radius-to-frequency mapping (Cordes 1978). Plasma waves with higher frequencies are excited closer to the star. The observed frequency dependence of pulse profiles is often very complex, perhaps more complex than can be expected from just radius-to-frequency mapping. Because refraction itself is a frequency dependent phenomenon, a more complex frequency dependence of pulse profiles can be expected if refraction is important in pulsar magnetospheres. Other effects that can be understood by taking into account refraction are the occurrence of orthogonal polarization modes (Petrova 2001) and the spectral breaks of pulsars (Petrova 2002).

To link the observed pulse profiles to the shape of the emission region, so as to be able to check emission theories, one must know the refractive properties of pulsar magnetospheres. This calls for the development of improved refraction models. As noted by P2000, the emission surface at one observing frequency should be, strictly speaking, an isodensity surface of the plasma distribution. Yet, for simplicity, a constant emission height (CEH) was assumed in P2000, in the expectation that the qualitative features of profile formation would not be sensitive to that assumption. In the present paper we do adopt a surface of constant density as required for self-consistency of the refractive model, and we investigate the effects on the pulse morphology. This ‘variable’ emission height (VEH) appears to introduce a focusing effect which causes the profiles to have unrealistically sharp edges. As a consequence, the VEH model cannot be used to fit multifrequency pulsar observations without relaxing additional restrictive assumptions, a number of which are discussed at the end of the paper.

## 2 Refraction model

### 2.1 The ray equations

The refraction model below is essentially that of P2000, and we refer to that paper for details. The plasma distribution and the magnetic field are assumed to be axisymmetric around the magnetic pole, so the refraction model can be described in two dimensions. A position on a ray trajectory is indicated by the polar coordinates $`r`$ and $`\chi `$, and the direction along the trajectory by $`\theta `$ (see Fig. 1).

The geometrical optics description applies and the time evolution of these quantities is given by the Hamilton equations. For a highly magnetized ultrarelativistic electron-positron plasma, which is cold in the proper restframe, the dispersion relation has been derived by Arons & Barnard (1986) and the associated Hamilton equations by Barnard & Arons (1986). On the condition that the plasma flows with the same velocity for all field lines and when rays are emitted parallel to the local (dipolar) magnetic field, the dispersion law describing the two ordinary wave modes can be written as (P2000)

$$\eta \left(1\frac{4N}{f_0^2\left(1+\eta \right)^2}\right)\frac{9}{4}\chi _0^2\gamma ^2(\theta _\mathrm{n}\chi _\mathrm{n})^2=0,$$
(1)
while from the Hamilton equations one finds

$`r{\displaystyle \frac{d\chi _\mathrm{n}}{dr}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\chi _\mathrm{n}}{2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{(1+\eta )^3\left(\theta _\mathrm{n}\chi _\mathrm{n}\right)}{A_1}}`$
$`r{\displaystyle \frac{d\theta _\mathrm{n}}{dr}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{N}{A_1f_0^2}}\left[6(1\eta )\left(\theta _\mathrm{n}\chi _\mathrm{n}\right)A_2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{ln}N}{\chi _\mathrm{n}}}\right],`$ (2)
where

$`A_1`$ $`=`$ $`(1+\eta )^3{\displaystyle \frac{4(1\eta )N}{f_0^2}}`$
$`A_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\eta (1+\eta )}{3\chi _0^2\gamma ^2}}.`$
The radial plasma density derivative has been omitted, because it can be neglected for the plasma density we will adopt (P2000). The parameter $`\eta `$ is related to the component of the wave vector $`𝒌`$ in the direction of the local magnetic field and is defined as

$$\eta =2\gamma ^2(1n_{})$$
(3)
with $`\gamma 1`$ the Lorentz factor of the outflowing plasma, and $`n_{}=ck_{}/\omega `$ where $`\omega `$ is the frequency of the plasma wave. The refractive index is $`n=(n_{}^2+n_{}^2)^{1/2}`$, where parallel/perpendicular is with respect to the local magnetic field. It is assumed that $`n_{}`$ is such that $`\eta 2\gamma ^2`$. The plasma waves are assumed to be generated close to the local Lorentz-shifted plasma frequency $`\omega _p\sqrt{\gamma }`$,

$$\omega _p=\sqrt{\frac{4\pi N_pe^2}{m}},$$
(4)
with $`e`$ the electron charge, $`m`$ the electron rest mass and $`N_p`$ the particle number density (electrons plus positrons) of the plasma. The ratio

$$f=\frac{\omega }{\omega _p\sqrt{\gamma }}$$
(5)
should then be close to unity.

Eqs. (1) and (2) are normalized, i.e. the coordinates $`r`$, $`\chi _\mathrm{n}`$ and $`\theta _\mathrm{n}`$, as well as the plasma number density distribution $`N`$, are normalized to their values at the emission height (so $`\chi =\chi _0\chi _\mathrm{n}`$ and $`\theta =\theta _0\theta _\mathrm{n}`$). The emission height can be different for different rays as will be discussed in Sect. 2.3, so in this context the emission height is the emission height of the particular ray that is being considered. The values of $`f`$ and $`\chi `$ at the emission height are denoted as $`f_0`$ and $`\chi _0`$ respectively. All angles are assumed to be small compared to $`1`$ throughout this paper, so the propagation direction of the plasma waves should always be nearly parallel to the magnetic axis.

For the superluminous O-mode which is considered here, $`n_{}`$ cannot be larger than 1, therefore $`\eta `$ is required to be positive (or zero). At the emission height (where $`\theta _\mathrm{n}=\chi _\mathrm{n}=N=1`$) the solution of the dispersion relation follows immediately and we have for the superluminous O-mode

$$\eta _0=\{\begin{array}{ccc}2/f_01\hfill & \mathrm{for}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}\hspace{0.33em}\hspace{0.33em}0}<\hfill & f_0<2\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \mathrm{for}\hfill & f_02\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
Note that $`\eta _0`$ is continuous at $`f_0=2`$. The solution of the dispersion relation applicable above the emission height is given by the general solution of the cubic (15).

Eqs. (1) and (2) describe, to first order in $`\chi _n`$ and $`\theta _n`$, the refraction of an ordinary (both the sub- and superluminous) plasma wave. The two differential equations for $`\chi _\mathrm{n}(r)`$ and $`\theta _\mathrm{n}(r)`$ can be solved numerically if $`\eta (r)`$ is known. As noted above, $`\eta `$ can be calculated analytically from the dispersion equation. We use a fourth order Runge-Kutta method with adaptive stepsize control (Press et al. 1986) to solve the set of differential equations. For the plasma density distribution we adopt the hollow cone model (P2000)

$$N_p=\frac{N_{}}{r^3}\mathrm{exp}\left(\epsilon \left(\frac{|\chi |\chi _c\sqrt{r}}{\chi _c\sqrt{r}}\right)^2\right),$$
(7)
where $`N_{}`$ is the particle number density at $`(r=1,\chi =\chi _c)`$. This plasma density is Gaussian shaped around a “characteristic field line” indicated by $`\chi _c`$. The decrease of the plasma density may be different for the inner and outer regions, so we set

$$\epsilon =\{\begin{array}{cc}\epsilon _1\mathrm{for}\hfill & |\chi |\chi _c\sqrt{r}\hfill \\ \epsilon _2\mathrm{for}\hfill & |\chi |\chi _c\sqrt{r}\hfill \end{array}.$$
(8)
Eq. (2) do not contain $`r_0`$, so the whole problem is independent of the scaling of $`r`$. However, in Eq. (7) $`\chi _c`$ is defined at $`r=1`$. The normalized plasma density is given by

$$N(\chi ,r)=\frac{N_p(\chi ,r)}{N_p(\chi _0,r_0)}$$
(9)
and its derivative with respect to $`\chi _\mathrm{n}`$ is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{ln}N}{\chi _\mathrm{n}}}`$ $`=`$ $`2\epsilon \chi _0{\displaystyle \frac{\chi \chi _c\sqrt{r}\mathrm{sign}(\chi )}{(\chi _c\sqrt{r})^2}}.`$ (10)
The parameters required to calculate a single ray trajectory are those of the plasma density distribution ($`\chi _c`$, $`\epsilon _1`$ and $`\epsilon _2`$), the plasma outflow Lorentz factor $`\gamma `$, the frequency of the plasma wave (expressed in $`f_0`$) and the start position $`\chi _0`$ of the ray. Solving Eqs. (1) and (2) with the start condition $`\chi _\mathrm{n}=\theta _\mathrm{n}=1`$ will give the ray trajectory.

Plasma waves are refracted toward lower plasma densities in the magnetosphere until refraction becomes inefficient due to the decreasing plasma density along its trajectory. As can be seen in Fig. 2 refraction results in a redistribution of rays; i.e. the rays are no longer equi-spaced above the emission height and two “conal components” of outer rays and a “core component” of inner rays are formed.

### 2.2 Calculation of the pulse profiles

The effect of refraction is quantified in a plot of the final ray direction (Fig. 3). Here the propagation direction $`\theta _f`$ at a height where refraction has become inefficient is plotted versus $`\chi _s`$. The initial ray position $`(r_0,\chi _0)`$ corresponds to a value of $`\chi _s`$ by tracing back the field line from the emission height to $`r=1`$ (see Fig. 1).

Both inside and outside the characteristic field line cone refraction is toward lower plasma densities, which results in a steepening of the final ray direction plot near $`\chi _s=\chi _c`$. Inside the plasma cone the rays are refracted toward the magnetic axis and the innermost rays may even intersect the magnetic axis; in that case the final ray direction plot crosses the line $`\theta _f=0`$.

For small values of $`\theta _f`$, rays originating from several discrete values of $`\chi _s`$ leave the magnetosphere in the same direction and at the corresponding pulse longitude different parts of the emission ring can be observed simultaneously. Note that the final ray direction curve for the opposite half of the emission ring is found by mirroring the curve with respect to the line $`\theta _f=0`$. If the final ray direction plot crosses this line, some parts of both sides of the emission ring have the same $`\theta _f`$. In that case both sides of the emission ring can be observed simultaneously, if the impact angle $`\beta `$ is small enough.

If the curve in Fig. 3 is horizontal at the $`\theta _f`$ value corresponding to the line of sight $`(\theta _{\mathrm{LOS}})`$, a large part of the emission surface is observed simultaneously while if the curve is steep only a small part is observed. This means that the observed intensity in the pulse profile is proportional to the value of $`d\chi _s/d\theta _f`$ at $`\theta _f=\theta _{\mathrm{LOS}}`$ which is just an energy conservation argument (P2000).

Apart from refraction effects the pulse profile will depend on the intensity distribution at the emission height. If the pair production is somehow related to the observed coherent microwave radiation (Ruderman & Sutherland 1975), then similar distributions for the plasma density and the intensity at the emission height can be expected such as (P2000)

$$W_{r_0}=\mathrm{exp}\left(\epsilon \mathrm{{\rm Y}}\left(\frac{|\chi _s|\chi _c}{\chi _c}\right)^2\right).$$
(11)
This corresponds to an emission ring which peaks at the characteristic field lines and its thickness is set by $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$. For $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}=1`$ the intensity distribution follows exactly the plasma density distribution. The shape is Gaussian as a function of the field line parameter $`\chi _s`$, but the choice of another parameter (such as the length along the emission surface) is also conceivable. However for simplicity the parameter $`\chi _s`$ is used. As will be discussed later on, the conclusions do not depend on this choice.

The refraction model is axisymmetric around the magnetic axis, so the beam-pattern of the pulsar is also axisymmetric around the same axis. The shape of observed pulse profiles depends on how the line of sight cuts the magnetic pole of the star. We only consider the most simple geometry; i.e. the magnetic axis is orthogonal to the rotation axis ($`\alpha =90^{}`$) and the line of sight cuts the magnetic pole centrally (impact angle $`\beta =90^{}`$). For this geometry the pulse longitude $`\varphi `$ is equal to the final ray direction $`\theta _f`$. Because of this choice of geometry and the axisymmetry, all the information of the beam-pattern is in the calculated pulse profiles. The model itself is independent of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$, only the mapping between $`\varphi `$ and $`\theta _f`$ changes.

### 2.3 Variable emission height model

The model described above may be applied with both a constant (CEH) and a variable emission height (VEH), but (as we will argue) a VEH is needed to make the model self-consistent. The requirement of a VEH was not met in P2000; it is the basic conceptual difference between the model presented here and the P2000 model. Its effect on the pulse profiles turns out to be appreciable, as discussed below.

The emission height can be derived when a plasma density distribution has been specified. The plasma density decreases as $`r^3`$, so the local plasma frequency decreases away from the star resulting in the excitation of plasma waves with higher frequencies closer to the star. This results in rays propagating in a direction which is more aligned with the magnetic axis at the emission height. But there is another effect involved in the frequency dependence of the pulse profile morphology: refraction becomes more prominent.

The assumption that both $`f_0`$ and $`\gamma `$ are constant implies that plasma waves of one particular frequency are generated at one particular equi-plasma density surface (Eqs. 4 and 5). Because a transverse plasma density gradient is needed for refraction, the emission height of a given frequency varies with polar angle $`\chi _0`$. If the magnetic field is dipolar, we have

$$\chi _0=\chi _s\sqrt{r_0},$$
(12)
where $`\chi _s`$ is shown in Fig. 1. Combining the plasma density (Eq. 7) with Eqs. (4) and (5) at the emission height, and using Eq. (12) leads to the following expression for the emission height

$`r_0^3`$ $`=`$ $`R^3\mathrm{exp}\left(\epsilon \left({\displaystyle \frac{|\chi _s|\chi _c}{\chi _c}}\right)^2\right)`$
$`R^3`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\pi \gamma e^2f_0^2N_{}}{m\omega ^2}}.`$ (13)
Because $`\gamma `$ and $`f_0`$ are assumed to be constant, $`R`$ should be constant and $`r_0`$ is not constant. As noted earlier, the whole problem is independent of the scale of $`r`$, so $`R`$ can be set equal to 1. The frequency dependence of the pulse profiles is then in the parameter $`\chi _c`$ (P2000)

$`\chi _c\omega ^{1/3}.`$ (14)
The ray trajectory is solved as a function of the distance to the star, expressed in units of the emission height and different $`\chi _c`$ correspond to relative observing frequencies. The physical emission height can be calculated from Eq. (13) when $`N_{}`$ and $`\omega `$ are specified.

The emission surface specified by Eq. (13) corresponds to an isodensity surface, so the plasma density distribution has a more prominent role in this VEH model than in the CEH model. Apart from causing refraction, it also determines the shape of the emission surface.

Refraction becomes more severe for the inner and outer rays in the VEH model, because the plasma gradients are larger at lower emission heights. Moreover a lower emission height implies that the rays are emitted closer to, and are initially propagating more aligned with the magnetic axis. For the inner rays this means that the rays can intersect the magnetic axis more easily. For the outer rays there are two counteracting effects. A lower emission height implies that the rays are refracted in a more outward direction, but at the same time the rays are also emitted more aligned to the magnetic axis.

## 3 Results

Model calculations of pulse profiles for both a VEH and a CEH are presented in Fig. 4 for the most simple geometry ($`\beta =0^{}`$ and $`\alpha =90^{}`$). For this geometry the pulse longitude $`\varphi `$ is equal to the final ray direction $`\theta _f`$.

Observationally the core component behaves differently from conal components, both in the frequency dependence of its morphology and in its polarization properties. This is what can be expected from refraction (P2000), because the core component consists of “mixed” rays; i.e. the order of the beams changes. This is true for both a VEH and a CEH.

In Fig. 2 one can see that refraction becomes more prominent for higher frequencies (lower $`\chi _c`$). This can also be seen in Fig. 3 where the final propagation direction of rays versus $`\chi _s`$ is plotted. The curve becomes more complex for lower $`\chi _c`$. Besides this refractive effect, a lower emission height implies smaller propagation angles $`\theta `$ at the emission height, resulting in narrower pulse profiles with increasing frequency (decreasing $`\chi _c`$) in Fig. 4. This is again true for both a VEH and a CEH.

The pulse profiles in Fig. 4 for a CEH are more spiky than the pulse profiles presented in P2000. The main reason for this is the higher resolution of the calculations presented here.

There are three reasons why the profiles, for both a VEH and a CEH, are spiky. First of all, if the intensity distribution at the emission height is flat, the emission ring has sharp edges resulting in sharp edges in the pulse profile. This effect can be reduced by making $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ larger (see Eq. 11), as is seen in the bottom row of Fig. 4. Making the parameter $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ larger results in the edge of the intensity distribution becoming Gaussian blurred.

The second effect is caused by rays crossing the magnetic axis, so this applies especially to the core component. This means that at certain pulse longitude both sides of the emission ring can be seen simultaneously. When the number of sides visible changes at a particular pulse longitude, a step in intensity appears in the pulse profile. This effect can again be reduced by increasing $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ as can be seen in the bottom row of 4.

The last effect contributing to the spikiness of the profiles is a focusing effect. If a large patch of the emission ring is focused at one pulse longitude, a peak is observed. This focusing effect corresponds to a horizontal part in the final ray direction curve; rays emitted at a range of $`\chi _s`$ are focused to a single $`\theta _f`$. At high frequencies this can be seen for the innermost rays (Fig. 3), causing peaks in the core component.

By comparing the pulse profiles for the VEH and the CEH model in Fig. 4, the most striking difference is the conal components. The edges of the VEH profiles are very sharp, and introducing a large $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ will not reduce their sharpness. The reason can be found in Fig. 3. The curves for the VEH model show a global maximum at $`\chi _s1.5`$. Because it is a maximum, there is focusing and because the maximum is global, the peaks occur at the edges of the profile.

As discussed in Sect. 2.3, there are two counteracting effects for the outer rays in the VEH model. A lower emission height makes the outward directed refraction stronger, but the propagation angle is more aligned with the magnetic axis at the emission height. The reason for the global maximum is that the latter effect dominates for the outermost rays.

This focusing effect due to the variable emission height is also visible in the pulse profiles of Fig. 5, which were calculated without using refraction. The focusing is caused by the geometry of the emission surface, not by the intensity distribution at the emission height (Eq. 11). This means that this focusing is independent of the precise form of Eq. (11), and therefore also of the choice to use the field line parameter $`\chi _s`$ instead of for example the length along the emission surface in this equation.

The edges of the profiles are produced by rays emitted from $`\chi _s1.5`$ and the rays are focused, so there should be only very little radiation produced at $`\chi _s1.5`$ to avoid the sharp edge. This means that the emission ring should be very thin, so $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ should be large. At high frequencies $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ should be at least $`5`$ and at the lowest frequencies ($`\chi _c=0.03`$) $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ should be at least $`15`$. A large $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ physically means that only the middle part of the emission ring is producing coherent microwave radiation, although the whole ring is producing streams of particles. Such a scenario is in conflict with the expectation that pair production and coherent emission are related.

A VEH leads to stronger refraction. Besides introducing a VEH refraction can also be increased by changing the values of $`\epsilon _1`$, $`\epsilon _2`$, $`f_0`$ or $`\gamma `$ in the CEH model. Experimenting with a range of values of these parameters did not lead to the formation of the sharp edge of the profiles with a CEH. Therefore the focusing effect is a typical property of the VEH model.

## 4 Discussion

Contrary to the expectation expressed in P2000, the qualitative features of profile formation turn out to be different for the VEH and the CEH refraction models. Although the VEH is a physical improvement in the sense that it makes the emission model self-consistent, the profiles obtained are less realistic. The model, therefore, needs further improvements before it can serve as a tool to fit (typical) multifrequency pulsar observations.

The most pronounced difference between the CEH and the VEH model is that for the VEH model the rays emitted at the outside of the emission surface do not form the edges of the pulse profile. The edges of the pulse profiles in the VEH model are generated by a focusing effect causing the edges to be sharp. If the thickness of the emission ring at the emission height were much thinner than the thickness of the plasma cone at the emission height the sharp edges would disappear, but this seems physically unrealistic.

It must be noted that the results depend strongly on the plasma distribution adopted. The density profile not only causes refraction, but it also determines the shape of the emission surface. If the plasma density falls off more slowly than the Gaussian distribution assumed here, the results may be more realistic although in that case refraction will be less prominent.

Several other effects could contribute to smoother pulse profiles. There are probably more frequencies generated at one point in the magnetosphere, so there would be a $`f_0`$ range rather than a fixed $`f_0`$ value. Also the rays are not emitted strictly aligned with the magnetic field lines, rather there will be an elementary beam pattern of finite angular width. A beam pattern with a width of $`\gamma ^1`$ can be considerable compared with the pulse width (for a plasma outflow Lorentz factor $`\gamma 30`$ the beam is about $`2^{}`$ wide). If the outflow Lorentz factor is different for different field lines, the shape of the emission surface is changed. Moreover refraction becomes more complex, because it depends on gradients of the $`\gamma `$ factor as well as gradients in the plasma density (Barnard & Arons 1986).

## Appendix A Analytical solution of the normalized dispersion relation

The normalized dispersion relation (1) is of the third degree in $`\eta `$, so the analytical solution of $`\eta `$ is given by the cubic. The solution for the superluminous O-mode (the solution with positive $`\eta `$ at the emission height) is

$$\eta =s_++s_{}\frac{a_2}{3},$$
(15)
where

$`\begin{array}{ccccc}s_\pm \hfill & =\hfill & \left(r\pm \sqrt{q^3+r^2}\right)^{1/3}\hfill & & \\ q\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{a_1}{3}\frac{a_2^2}{9}\hfill & & \\ r\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{6}(a_1a_23a_0)\frac{a_2^3}{27}\hfill & & \end{array}`$ (19)
and

$`a_2`$ $`=`$ $`2+a_0`$
$`a_1`$ $`=`$ $`14{\displaystyle \frac{N}{f_0^2}}+2a_0`$ (20)
$`a_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{9}{4}}\chi _0^2\gamma ^2(\theta _\mathrm{n}\chi _\mathrm{n})^2.`$
###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Svetlana Petrova for making available her code and for her valuable comments as referee of this article. We also thank her as well as Joeri van Leeuwen, Ramachandran and John Barnard for constructive discussions.


text:
# Some kinetic properties of the two-band superconductors

## Abstract

In the comment of M.E. Palistrant (arXiv: cond-mat /0305496 ) the main results of the theory of superconductors with overlapping energy bands are formulated. The comment provides a list of references to the classical papers of the author of this theory, Prof. V.A.Moskalenko, and coworkers. This theory has been generalized by Prof. M.E.Palistrant and coworkers to the case of a reduced density of charge carriers. Respective references are also included in the comment.

In our opinion, it would be useful to provide in addition to the above comment the references covering our research of the kinetic properties of superconductors with overlapping energy bands. In particular, we mention some important results obtained many years ago: the Ginsburg-Landau (GL)equations for the two-band superconductors doped with impurities and the influence of impurities on the energy gap, as well as those concerning dynamical properties of the two-band superconductors.

Institute of Applied Physics, Chishinau, Moldova

The discovery and experimental investigation of superconducting properties of MgB2 have attracted a special interest to the model with overlapping energy bands. In some cases, this model is extended to take into account different anisotropies of the order parameters, as well as the strong electron-lattice coupling. The two-band model is used to interpret experimental data on tunneling, specific heat, electronic Raman scattering, thermal conductivity, penetration depth of the magnetic field and other properties of MgB2.

Prof. V.A. Moskalenko and his coworkers from the Institute of Applied Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova have studied most of these properties on the basis of the above model. The equilibrium problem is described by the two-band Hamiltonian . This Hamiltonian has been extended to consider the scattering of electrons by non-magnetic impurities . The results for pure and doped systems are valid for arbitrary values of the two-band parameters.

We present here only some qualitatively new kinetic properties, which have been obtained for the model with overlapping energy bands.

1. The GL system of equations for the two-band model has been formulated to cover the whole range of parameters from pristine to the dirty limit. On this basis, the magnetic penetration depth of a superconductor, the jump of the specific heat per unit cell at the critical temperature, and other properties have been investigated in ,,.

For a high concentration of non-magnetic impurities, the system of GL equations for the two-band model is similar to the GL system of the one-band model. However, the critical temperature Tc and the dimensionless GL-parameter $`\kappa `$ in the equations are determined by the two-band model. In this case the expression for the relative jump of the specific heat at Tc coincides with the corresponding expression for the pristine one-band model, with density of states being the sum of densities of the two bands and the dependence of T$`_c`$on impurities specified by the two band model. The effect of magnetic impurities is to decrease the relative specific heat jump and to increase considerably both the parameter $`\kappa `$and the magnetic field penetration depth in the superconducting phase.

2. The influence of impurities (non-magnetic and paramagnetic) on the thermodynamic properties of the two- band superconductors at zero, close to zero and at the critical temperatures has been considered in ,,. It has been found that due to interband scattering of electrons on impurities, the superconducting state of the two-band model is described by a single energy gap. Thus, when one of the densities of states be comes zero, the other density vanishes too. In particular, the energy gap in the ”dirty” limit for a non-magnetic impurity decouples in a product of averages of the order parameters of individual bands with their densities serving as weight factors.

3. The non-equilibrium process of charge imbalance in a two-band superconductor has been investigated by employing of the Keldysh Green functions technique. The kinetic equation, the penetration depth of the longitudinal electric field and the distribution of this field in the superconductor are given in .

A new mechanism of relaxation of the charge imbalance in non-equilibrium two-band superconductors has been revealed. This mechanism is due to interband electron-impurity scattering and leads to a decrease of the penetration depth of the longitudinal electric field into the superconductor.

4. A model of a superconductor with two dielectric gaps and two superconducting order parameters corresponding to the two parts of the Fermi surface has been formulated. The phase diagram obtained for this model contains an area of coexistence of structural, antiferromagnetic and superconducting phase transitions versus the non-magnetic impurity concentration that agrees qualitatively with the experimental data on high-temperature supercondactors .

5. In  the electronic Raman scattering in superconductors, taking into account the collective oscillations, Coulomb screening, and scattering of electrons by non-magnetic impurities has been studied in the framework of the two-band model.

Two contributions to the intensity of the scattered light have been singledout: an additive contribution from each of the two bands, and a term caused by the interband transitions of Cooper pairs which exists for an arbitrary light polarization. Experimentally, this means that the lowest gap should beactive for any light polarization.

6. The propagation of longitudinal ultrasound in the one- and two-band models of superconductors at arbitrary temperatures has been investigated by taking into account the collective oscillations in the presence of non-magnetic impurities for an arbitrary mean free path. The effect of superconductivity and impurity on the relative shift of the sound velocity turned out to depend strongly on the choice of the model ,.

In particular, we have predicted a more efficient suppression by impurities of fluctuations of the superconducting gaps for the two-band model, than for the one-band model. The two-band model has also allowed us to explain such aspectacular feature of high-Tc superconductors as the increase of sound velocity for all the temperature interval below Tc.

7. For a two-band superconductor the amplitude of multiple electron scattering by non-magnetic impurities does not have electron-hole symmetry with respect to the Fermi surface, and this may be the cause of an increase in the thermoelectric effect in superconductors. As a result, the temperature dependence of the additional contribution to thermoelectric coefficient reaches a maximum in the region of temperatures $`T<T_c`$

8. The collective modes related to phase fluctuations near Tc have been investigated by assuming the existence of a two-component neutral superfluid. The equation for collective modes describes interference of the two processes: small fluctuations of relative density of the condensate of electrons (Leggett-type)and small fluctuations of the charge imbalance of the electron-hole branches. This equation is analogous to the well-known type of equation in solid state physics describing, e.g., the collective modes of polaritons .

The amplitude collective modes of the two-band model have also been studied. We mention that these modes in the case of non-identical traditional two-band superconductors do not occur