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# Gödel-type Universes and the Landau problem

## 1 Introduction.

Renewed interest in spacetimes with closed timelike curves has been sparked in part by the work of Gauntlett et al. , who describe all SUSY solutions of $`𝒩=1`$ 5d supergravity with a timelike Killing vector, and note that the generic solution has closed timelike curves (CTCs). One of the surprises of this analysis was the discovery of a maximally supersymmetric 5d relative of the original 4d Gödel solution . Similar techniques have been applied to the classification of SUSY solutions of 11d supergravity  with a timelike Killing vector, and again, solutions with closed timelike curves are commonplace. In particular, SUSY Gödel type metrics were also found.

The existence of Gödel type solutions of 10d and 11d supergravity raises the issue of whether these are valid backgrounds in string/M theory222To the best of our knowledge, the first appearance of a Gödel type solution in the string theory literature was in , as the KK reduction of a 5d chiral model, although the interpretation as a Gödel-type metric was not explicitly mentioned there., a question addressed in a number of recent works . The validity of other supergravity solutions with closed timelike curves has been discussed in .

In particular, in our previous work , we argued that a class of Gödel type solutions of type II supergravity are not, despite $`g_s=0`$ appearances, valid backgrounds in string theory. We argued for this by showing that a specific D-brane probe, a supertube , develops negative mass modes in this background, following a similar computation performed in . Since the worldvolume dynamics of D-branes captures the spacetime where they live, we interpreted this sickness as a problem of the spacetime itself, not just of the probe.

Nevertheless, there are many questions unanswered concerning Gödel-type universes. In this respect, the authors of  made an intriguing observation for these spacetimes: If one applies Bousso’s prescription  for constructing holographic screens (see  for a review) to these solutions, one finds that starting at any point in spacetime, the screen is inside the corresponding chronologically safe region. The precise meaning of these holographic screens when they are not at asymptotia has yet to be fully clarified, but the take of  seems to be that in a fully quantum gravity theory on these backgrounds, any individual observer has a unitary description of the physics, encoded in the holographic screen.

For the reasons mentioned above, the Gödel type metric is not a valid solution of string theory; however, the question of holography for this background can be rephrased as follows: in , we presented a new solution that locally is a Gödel type space, but at the radius where closed timelike curves would start to appear, we placed a domain wall made out of supertubes, such that the overall solution is free of CTCs. This domain wall clearly breaks the translation invariance of the original solution. Bousso’s prescription still yields the same holographic screen as in  for an observer at the origin of this new solution, and the question of which are the degrees of freedom at the holographic screen, still remains.

The possibility of having holographic screens that are not at asymptotia raises many questions that were not present in the more familiar case of $`AdS`$/CFT holography. A very first question is what are the bulk (string/gravity) degrees of freedom that one should associate to a particular screen. It is worth noting that even when the metric can be embedded in a string theory solution, and the string spectrum computed at $`g_s=0`$ , the free string spectrum shows no immediate hint of a holographic description, or the possibility of a compact holographic screen. For relevant spacetimes as de Sitter and FRW cosmologies, Bousso’s prescription yields observer dependent holographic screens (although in the case of de Sitter it is also possible to place the screen at asymptotia ), so it would be clearly desirable to obtain concrete examples of observer dependent holography.

In the present work we will be interested in a family of solutions of 3+1 General Relativity, that extend Gödel’s original solution . That solution corresponds to a homogeneous spacetime, with rigid rotation, negative cosmological constant and a perfect fluid as source. Gödel’s original solution was generalized, among others, by Rebouças and Tiomno , who found all the spacetime homogeneous solutions of General Relativity with rigid rotation. Their solutions typically have non-zero cosmological constant and non-vanishing stress energy tensor, and the metric in polar coordinates can be written as

$`ds^2=\left(dt+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{l^2}}\mathrm{sinh}^2lrd\varphi \right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}^2\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}lr}{4l^2}}d\varphi ^2+dr^2+dx_3^2.`$ (1)
The main observation of the present paper is that the physics in these metrics have a close relationship with the problem of a charged particle in $`\text{}_2`$, $`\text{}^2`$ or $`S^2`$—depending on the sign of $`l^2`$—coupled to a magnetic field of strength given by $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and an effective charge given by the energy (the conserved quantity associated to the time isometry). For the $`l^20`$ case, this similarity was independently noticed and discussed in . As we will see, the presence of closed timelike curves in these metrics translates into the absence of non-periodic orbits in the analogous particle problem. G. Gibbons has suggested  that this might be a more general phenomenon.

At the classical level, the analogy between the Gödel-type solutions and the Landau problem has a first manifestation in the fact, shown in section 2, that all the geodesics project to circles, in the surface with constant $`t`$ and constant $`x_3`$. In particular, the projection of some spacelike geodesics are closed timelike curves. These projections of course are reminiscent of the Larmor orbits for an electron moving in a magnetic field. At the quantum level, we analyze in section 3 the solutions to the Klein-Gordon equation in these backgrounds (first studied in ), and note that the wavefunctions closely resemble those of the Quantum Hall Effect (QHE) on $`S^2,\text{}^2`$ and $`\text{}_2`$ respectively. The main difference is that there is a rescaling in the wavefunctions, that causes a particular subset of them to have most of their support within a region free of closed timelike curves. This leads to the suggestion, discussed in section 4, that when we restrict to a single chronologically safe region (e.g. by considering our solution  with a domain wall) the relevant modes should be similar to the wavefunctions supported mostly inside it. We further argue that taking into account gravity imposes a high energy cut-off in the bulk spectrum. We then assume the existence of a holographic description of this single chronologically safe region, and deduce that the number of boundary degrees of freedom scales linearly with the cut-off in the energy level. We conclude presenting a simple model—based on considering a fuzzy version of the holographic screen—that reproduces this scaling.

Note added: As this manuscript was near completion, we learned from G. Gibbons that some of the results presented in sections 2 and 3 were independently obtained by himself and C. Herdeiro in unpublished work, as mentioned in .

Note added: After the first version of this work appeared, we learned from S.J. Rey that the analogy between Gödel type metrics with $`l^2=0`$ with the Landau problem in the plane, was already noticed and discussed in a recent paper by Y. Hikida and S.J. Rey . Furthermore, the authors of  consider supergravity solutions with $`l^2=0`$ Gödel type metrics and background field strengths turned on, which allows them to discuss also the geodesics and wavefunctions of particles charged under those fields. This introduces a qualitatively new phenomenon, as compared to the discussion in the present paper, since some of these charged geodesics can go beyond the radius of the chronologically safe region. We briefly consider the possible implications of this observation in the last section.

## 2 A family of Gödel-type solutions

We will study a family of 3+1 metrics discussed by Rebouças and Tiomno  that generalizes the original solution due to Gödel. These are spacetime homogeneous metrics, with rigid rotation, and are characterized by two parameters $`(l,\mathrm{\Omega })`$, both with the dimensions of inverse length. As in the original Gödel solution, these spacetimes are of the form $`_\mathcal{3}\times \text{}`$, where $``$ has signature $`(2,1)`$ and  is a spatial direction that mostly plays no role in the discussion. These solutions in general have non-zero cosmological constant and stress-energy tensor; if we use as sources a combination of perfect fluid, $`U(1)`$ gauge fields and/or a massless scalar, one can cover the range  $`\mathrm{}<l^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$. The solutions with $`l^2>\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ can be realized , if we allow for solutions with torsion; we will touch upon these metrics only briefly.

It is useful to write the solution in different coordinate systems. The cylindrical symmetry of this family of solutions is manifest in polar coordinates

$`ds^2=\left(dt+\mathrm{\Omega }{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}^2lr}{l^2}}d\varphi \right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}^2\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}lr}{4l^2}}d\varphi ^2+dr^2+dx_3^2,`$ (2)
which will also be convenient when discussing the causal structure of these solutions, and the location of the holographic screens. We can also rewrite the metric in Cartesian coordinates

$`ds^2=\left(dt+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\sqrt{2}l}}e^{2lx}dy\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}e^{4lx}dy^2+dx^2+dx_3^2.`$ (3)
Finally, for $`l^2>0`$, if we further make the change of coordinates

$`2lx=\mathrm{ln}2lY,y=\sqrt{2}X,`$ (4)
we obtain the metric in hyperbolic coordinates

$`ds^2=\left(dt+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2l^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{dX}{Y}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2lY)^2}}\left(dX^2+dY^2\right)+dx_3^2.`$ (5)
For some particular values of the parameters, this solution reduces to well-known ones. For $`l^2=\mathrm{\Omega }^2/2`$ we recover the Gödel solution. For $`l^2=\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ we get $`AdS_3\times \text{}`$ .

A relevant feature of these metrics is that they have closed timelike curves. This is easiest to establish in polar coordinates, by considering curves of constant $`t,r,x_3`$. The metric component $`g_{\varphi \varphi }`$ is

$`g_{\varphi \varphi }={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}^22lr}{4l^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{l^4}}\mathrm{sinh}^4lr,`$ (6)
and changes sign at the radius

$`\mathrm{tanh}lr_c={\displaystyle \frac{l}{\mathrm{\Omega }}}.`$ (7)
Outside this radius $`r_c`$, there are closed timelike curves around the origin. Therefore there are closed timelike curves for the range $`l^2<\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$. We call the region of $`rr_c`$ the chronologically safe cavity. Although for this discussion we fixed the origin, by the homogeneity of the metric it is clear that exactly the same picture must hold at any point in space-time: there is a chronologically safe cylinder of radius $`r_c`$ and closed timelike curves outside it.

As we will see below, certain features of the solutions depend markedly on the sign of $`l^2`$, so we briefly outline the different possibilities.

#### Sphere $`(l^2<0)`$:

It is convenient to introduce the new coordinates $`R=i/2l`$ and $`\theta =r/R`$. The metric (1) becomes

$`ds^2=\left(dt+4\mathrm{\Omega }R^2\mathrm{sin}^2{\displaystyle \frac{\theta }{2}}d\varphi \right)^2+R^2\left(d\theta ^2+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2\right)+dx_3^2.`$ (8)
Therefore, the 2+1 manifold $``$ is a real line bundle over $`S^2`$.

#### Flat plane $`(l^2=0)`$:

If we take the limit $`l0`$ in the metric (1), we get a geometry originally obtained by Som and Raychaudhuri , in which $``$ is now a real bundle over $`\text{}^2`$

$`ds^2=\left(dt+\mathrm{\Omega }r^2d\varphi \right)^2+r^2d\varphi ^2+dr^2+dx_3^2.`$ (9)
This metric has appeared a number of times in solutions of string theory  and more recently in , where it was reinterpreted as a Gödel-type solution in string theory.

#### Hyperbolic plane $`(l^2>0)`$:

In this case, the manifold $``$ is a real line bundle over $`\text{}_2`$. The range $`0<l^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2/2`$ can be realized with the stress energy tensor of a perfect fluid and/or a $`U(1)`$ gauge field, whereas the range $`\mathrm{\Omega }^2/2<l^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ can be realized by adding a scalar field to the sources .

After these preliminary remarks, we come to an important observation: all those metrics are of the generic form

$`ds^2=(dt+A_i(x)dx^i)^2+h_{ij}(x)dx^idx^j,`$ (10)
where $`x^i`$ denote all the coordinates that are not $`t`$. For these $`D`$ dimensional metrics (10) the geodesic equation, in affine parametrization, is identical to the equations of motion of a charged particle moving in a $`D1`$ surface with metric $`h_{ij}`$ coupled to a magnetic field with gauge potential one-form given by $`A(x)=A_i(x)dx^i`$. Furthermore, the charge of the particle (or coupling) in this analogous system, is given by $`\mathrm{\Pi }_t`$, the conjugate momentum to the timelike coordinate $`t`$. The metrics (1) considered above correspond to the particular cases when, apart from the trivial extra direction $`x_3`$, the aforementioned surfaces have constant curvature ($`S^2,\text{}^2`$ and $`\text{}_2`$) and the magnetic field is constant, i.e. proportional to the volume form. In light of this remark, we anticipate that there will be many similarities between physics in these spacetimes and the Landau problem in surfaces of constant curvature, which is reviewed briefly in the appendix.

### 2.1 Isometries

The spacetimes considered in this paper are homogeneous and have five independent Killing vectors . In Cartesian coordinates, these are given by

$$\begin{array}{c}K_0=\frac{}{t},K_1=\frac{}{x_3},K_2=\frac{}{y},\\ K_3=2ly\frac{}{y}+\frac{}{x},\\ K_4=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\sqrt{2}l^2}e^{2lx}\frac{}{t}y\frac{}{x}+\left(ly^2\frac{1}{2l}e^{4lx}\right)\frac{}{y}.\end{array}$$
(11)
They satisfy the commutation relations

$`[K_0,K_r]=[K_1,K_r]=0,r=0,\mathrm{},4,`$ (12)
$`[K_2,K_3]=2lK_2,[K_2,K_4]=K_3,[K_3,K_4]=2lK_4.`$ (13)
Notice that the subset $`\{K_2,K_3,K_4\}`$ form an $`su(2),h_2,sl(2,R)`$ subalgebra depending on the sign of $`l^2`$. It was checked in  that when (1) describes $`AdS_3\times \text{}`$, that is when $`l^2=\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$, the isometry group contains a second $`\mathrm{SL}(2,\text{})`$ factor, thus matching $`\mathrm{SO}(2,2)`$.

### 2.2 Geodesics

The connection of the physics in these spaces with the Landau problem has a first manifestation when we consider the classical geodesics. As we will show, the projection of any geodesic on the $`(r,\varphi )`$ plane is a circle, which is of course reminiscent of the Larmor orbits of an electron in a constant magnetic field. This fact was noted for the original Gödel solution in , and for the Som-Raychaudhuri solution in . The geodesics of higher dimensional versions of the $`l^2=0`$ case were discussed recently in  where the analogy with Larmor orbits of the Landau problem is also pointed out. For the full family of solutions we are considering, the geodesics were qualitatively studied in , using polar coordinates. However, in that choice of coordinates, it is not manifest that the geodesics project to circles with arbitrary centers in the $`(r,\varphi )`$ plane. We shall prove this statement in hyperbolic coordinates.

#### Flat plane $`(l^2=0)`$:

The analysis of geodesics is easiest if we rewrite the metric in Cartesian coordinates

$`ds^2=\left(dt+\mathrm{\Omega }(ydxxdy)\right)^2+dx^2+dy^2+dx_3^2.`$ (14)
Let’s denote by $`\mathrm{\Pi }_t`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_3`$ the conserved quantities associated to the $`_t`$ and $`_3`$ isometries. The geodesics satisfy the differential equations

$`\ddot{x}=2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\dot{y},\ddot{y}=2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\dot{x},`$ (15)
with general solutions

$`x(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`A\mathrm{cos}\left(2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\lambda \right)B\mathrm{sin}\left(2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\lambda \right)+x_0,`$ (16)
$`y(\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`A\mathrm{sin}\left(2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\lambda \right)+B\mathrm{cos}\left(2\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t\lambda \right)+y_0.`$ (17)
Therefore, the projection of all geodesics on the (x,y) plane are circles with arbitrary origin $`(x_0,y_0)`$, and radius

$`r^2=A^2+B^2={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Pi }_t^2m^2\mathrm{\Pi }_3^2}{4\mathrm{\Omega }^2\mathrm{\Pi }_t^2}}.`$ (18)
All null ($`m^2=0`$) or timelike ($`m^2>0`$) geodesics project on circles in the $`(x,y)`$ plane with radii smaller than $`1/2\mathrm{\Omega }`$. For $`\mathrm{\Pi }_3=0`$, all null geodesics have $`r_g=1/2\mathrm{\Omega }`$, independently of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_t`$, and all spacelike ($`m^2<0`$) geodesics project to circles with $`r>r_g`$. Furthermore, when $`r>r_c`$ the projections of these spacelike geodesics are closed timelike curves.

After presenting the geodesics in Cartesian coordinates, it is easy to make contact with the discussion in polar coordinates of . As a consequence of homogeneity, it is obvious that all geodesics with the same values of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_t,m^2,\mathrm{\Pi }_3`$ are just copies of a single one, only shifted in the $`(r,\varphi )`$ plane. For instance, the geodesics centered at the origin have angular momentum $`L=\left(\mathrm{\Pi }_t^2m^2\mathrm{\Pi }_3^2\right)/4\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t`$, and as we shift their center away from the origin, their angular momentum increases, becoming $`L=0`$ when they go through the origin. Furthermore, one can prove that as we shift the geodesics from being centered at the origin, they touch the chronologically safe region for $`L=\mathrm{\Pi }_t\left(1\sqrt{1m^2/\mathrm{\Pi }_t^2}\right)/\mathrm{\Omega }`$. This is the range of classical geodesics contained inside the chronologically safe region; note in particular that for null geodesics ($`m^2=0`$), the geodesic with $`L=0`$, goes both through the origin and the boundary of the chronologically safe region (see figure 1).

It is worth noting that the $`l^2=0`$ metrics appear in supergravity solutions where other background fields are turned on . This opens up the possibility of having particles charged under those fields, whose motion is determined by the combined effects of the metric and their coupling to the rest of the background. In this broader context, our discussion applies to neutral particles only, since we concentrate in solutions of General Relativity, with no further fields turned on. On the other hand, the geodesics of charged particles in supergravity backgrounds have been discussed in , and quite remarkably, it is possible to find causal charged geodesics with $`L=0`$ that leave the chronologically safe region.

#### Hyperbolic plane $`(l^2>0)`$:

The analysis of the geodesics is easiest in hyperbolic coordinates. Taking advantage of the isometries of the metric, we derive that the geodesics satisfy

$`\begin{array}{c}\dot{t}={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2l^2}{l^2}}\mathrm{\Pi }_t2\mathrm{\Omega }Y\mathrm{\Pi }_x,\\ \dot{X}=2\mathrm{\Omega }Y\mathrm{\Pi }_t+4l^2Y^2\mathrm{\Pi }_x,\\ \dot{Y}=4l^2Y\mathrm{\Pi }_x(XX_0),\\ \dot{X}_3=\mathrm{\Pi }_3,\end{array}`$ (23)
where $`\mathrm{\Pi }_t,\mathrm{\Pi }_x,\mathrm{\Pi }_3`$ are conserved quantities associated to the respective isometries and $`X_0`$ is an arbitrary constant. From this and the “on-shell” condition it follows that the projections of the geodesics on the plane are circles

$`(XX_0)^2+\left(Y{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t}{2l^2\mathrm{\Pi }_x}}\right)^2={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Pi }_t^2m^2\mathrm{\Pi }_3^2}{4l^2\mathrm{\Pi }_x^2}},`$ (24)
Let us concentrate on $`m=\mathrm{\Pi }_3=0`$. Compared to the $`l^2=0`$ case, there is a new feature. Since in hyperbolic coordinates $`Y0`$, the geodesic projects into a full circle only if the radius is smaller than $`Y_0=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Pi }_t}{2l^2\mathrm{\Pi }_x}`$. For null geodesics this condition implies $`l<\mathrm{\Omega }`$, which precisely coincides with the range where there are closed timelike curves. So, if $`l\mathrm{\Omega }`$, all null or timelike geodesic project to full circles, while only some of the spacelike geodesics do; among these, the ones with $`r>r_c`$ project to the closed timelike curves. On the other hand, if we consider $`l>\mathrm{\Omega }`$, some timelike geodesics will still project to circles, but no null or spacelike geodesics will, and there are no closed timelike curves.

In the Landau problem on $`\text{}_2`$, this can be phrased  as saying that the magnetic field has to be strong enough, in order to force the electrons to follow closed orbits.

Going back to polar coordinates, one can show that the radius of the projection of a null geodesic satisfies $`\mathrm{tanh}2lr_g=l/\mathrm{\Omega }`$, and again we have the relation $`r_g=r_c/2`$. This relation is easy to understand geometrically. The radius $`r_g`$ is that of null geodesics centered at a given point. On the other hand, the chronologically safe cavity is constructed by considering the family of null geodesics going through that same point. By homogeneity, all these null geodesics, project to circles or radii $`r_g`$, so as illustrated in figure 1, they form a cavity or radius $`r_c=2r_g`$.

## 3 The Klein-Gordon equation

After analyzing the classical geodesics in these backgrounds, and comparing them with the classical orbits for the Landau problem, we turn in this section to the quantum version of the relation between Gödel type metrics and the Landau problem, by studying the solutions to the Klein Gordon equation in these backgrounds, first considered in . For the $`l^2=0`$ case, the solutions to the massless Klein-Gordon equation were also discussed in . For the different signs of $`l^2`$, we will see many similarities, but also important differences, with the respective Landau problems. The reason for the difference is that there is a coupling between energy and angular momentum for probes in these backgrounds, so in the Landau analogy, the energy plays the role of effective charge (this was already observed in ).

#### Flat plane $`(l^2=0)`$:

The Laplacian on this space is given in polar coordinates by

$`\mathrm{\Delta }={\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}_r(r_r)+\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}_\varphi \mathrm{\Omega }r_t\right)^2_t^2+_3^2.`$ (25)
Taking the ansatz

$`\mathrm{\Psi }=\mathrm{\Phi }(r)e^{i\omega t+im\varphi +ik_3x_3},m\text{}w>0,`$ (26)
results in the following radial equation for a field of mass $`M`$

$$\frac{1}{r}_r(r_r)\mathrm{\Phi }\left(\frac{m^2}{r^2}+\mathrm{\Omega }^2\omega ^2r^2\right)\mathrm{\Phi }+\left(\omega ^2+2m\mathrm{\Omega }\omega M^2k_3^2\right)\mathrm{\Phi }=0.$$
(27)
The $`r`$ dependent terms are (twice) the Schrödinger operator of a two dimensional harmonic oscillator with angular momentum $`m`$ and frequency $`\widehat{\omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }\omega `$. One can thus use the information regarding the solution to the Schrödinger equation for a two dimensional harmonic oscillator in polar coordinates. The wave functions can be written as

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_{n_r,m}(r)=C_{n_r,m}r^{|m|}e_1^{\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2/2}F_1(n_r,|m|+1;\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2).$$
(28)
If we require regularity of the wave functions at the origin and normalizability at infinity, it forces the first two arguments of the confluent series to be integers; in this case the confluent series truncates to a polynomial, which turns out to be proportional to the associated Laguerre polynomial. The boundary conditions would be modified if we take the domain wall  into account, but we still expect this to be a good approximation. All in all, our wave functions can be written as follows:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_{n_r,m}(t,\varphi ,r)=C_{n_r,m}r^{|m|}e^{\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2/2}L_{n_r}^{|m|}(\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2)e^{im\varphi }e^{i\omega t}e^{ik_3x_3}.$$
(29)
The energy is quantized, and it depends on the angular momentum $`m`$ and the radial quantum number $`n_r`$

$$E=\widehat{\omega }\left(|m|+2n_r+1\right),n_r=0,1,\mathrm{}$$
(30)
The degeneracy at level $`N|m|+2n_r`$ is $`N+1`$.

The wavefunctions of (29) are the same as those of the single particle states of the QHE on the plane. To make contact with the Landau problem, we define $`n=(Nm)/2`$, which equals $`n_r`$ for $`m>0`$ and $`Nn_r`$ for $`m<0`$. This quantum number $`n`$ is the ordinary Landau level, and at each level $`n`$ we have infinite degeneracy, with $`m=n,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$. Note however that the previous wavefunctions have a level dependent rescaling compared to the ordinary wavefunctions of the QHE, since they depend on $`\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2`$, rather than just $`r^2`$. We comment below on the consequences of this rescaling.

The frequency $`w`$ of a given level $`n`$ is determined by equating the constant term in the Laplacian with twice the energy eigenvalues of the 2d harmonic oscillator

$$\omega ^2+2m\mathrm{\Omega }\omega M^2k_3^2=2\mathrm{\Omega }\omega (N+1),$$
(31)
which determines the set of allowed frequencies to be

$$w=(2n+1)\mathrm{\Omega }\pm \sqrt{(2n+1)^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2+M^2+k_3^2},n=0,1,\mathrm{}$$
(32)
In what follows, we restrict to solutions with the positive sign of the square root, and focus on the sector $`M^2=k_3^2=0`$. The allowed frequencies are

$`w=2\mathrm{\Omega }(2n+1),n=0,1,\mathrm{}`$ (33)
and the levels are equally spaced.

Let us switch to complex coordinates $`z=re^{i\varphi }`$. The metric and Laplacian read

$`ds^2=\left(dt+{\displaystyle \frac{i\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}(zd\overline{z}\overline{z}dz)\right)^2+dzd\overline{z},`$ (34)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }=\left(1+\mathrm{\Omega }^2z\overline{z}\right)_t^2+2i\mathrm{\Omega }\left(\overline{z}\overline{}z\right)_t+4\overline{}.`$ (35)
The wavefunctions of the lowest level $`(n=0)`$ are given by

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n=0,m}=z^me^{\mathrm{\Omega }^2z\overline{z}},`$ (36)
and except for the first ones, they are peaked outside the chronologically safe region. We will also be interested in the states with the minimal value of $`m`$ at each level $`n`$, i.e. the lowest weight states with $`m=n`$. Their eigenfunctions are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n,m=n}=\overline{z}^ne^{\mathrm{\Omega }^2(2n+1)z\overline{z}}.`$ (37)
These are strongly peaked at

$`r=\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{2n}{2n+1}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\mathrm{\Omega }}},`$ (38)
so that these radii approach, for large $`n`$, the classical radius of null geodesics, $`r_g=1/2\mathrm{\Omega }`$. This is to be contrasted with the ordinary Landau problem in the plane, where the lowest weight wavefunctions are strongly peaked at a radius that is unbounded as the level grows. The difference is caused by the fact that the energy of the state plays the role of an effective charge. As a result of the rescaling, all the lowest weight states fit inside the chronologically safe region.

The wave function of the harmonic oscillator is a polynomial of degree $`N`$ times the exponential $`\mathrm{exp}\mathrm{\Omega }\omega r^2/2`$. For a massless field this has a maximum at

$`r=\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{N}{2n+1}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{\Omega }}}.`$ (39)
Beyond that radius, the wave function decays exponentially. Therefore the wavefunction is localized within the chronologically safe region as long as $`N2n+1`$, or $`m0`$. We saw the same phenomenon at the classical level, where all the null geodesics with angular momentum $`L0`$ were fully within the radius $`r_c`$.

We conclude that wavefunctions with $`m0`$, are exponentially suppressed outside the chronologically safe region. On the other hand, wavefunctions with $`m>0`$ may have a large support outside the radius of the chronologically safe region, $`r_c`$.

The $`l^2=0`$ solutions can be embedded in string theory, and the spectrum computed at weak coupling. This metric appears in  as a KK reduction of a 5d metric with a compact direction; this model is exact to all orders in $`\alpha ^{}`$. The spectrum was derived in the bosonic case in  and in the type II and heterotic cases in . An important feature is that in the world-sheet, the vorticity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ only couples to, say, the right-movers, so only the right-moving zero modes appear in the Hamiltonian. The left-moving zero modes don’t appear neither in the Hamiltonian nor the level matching conditions, so at every stringy level, there is infinite discrete degeneracy, just as in the ordinary Landau problem in the plane.

#### Sphere $`(l^2<0)`$:

With the standard change of coordinates $`z=2R\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta }{2}e^{i\varphi }`$, and defining $`K=\left(1+z\overline{z}/4R^2\right)^1`$, the metric and Laplacian read now

$`ds^2=\left(dt+i{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}K(zd\overline{z}\overline{z}dz)\right)^2+K^2dzd\overline{z},`$ (40)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }=(\mathrm{\Omega }^2z\overline{z}1)_t^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2i\mathrm{\Omega }}{K}}(\overline{z}\overline{}z)_t+{\displaystyle \frac{4}{K^2}}\overline{}.`$ (41)
The allowed frequencies are

$`\omega =(2n+1)\mathrm{\Omega }+\sqrt{(2n+1)^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2+{\displaystyle \frac{n(n+1)}{R^2}}+M^2+k_3^2},n=0,1,\mathrm{}`$ (42)
and for each frequency (Landau level), we have finite degeneracy $`nm4\mathrm{\Omega }w(n)R^2`$. At each level, the wavefunctions with the minimal value of $`m`$, i.e. the lowest weight states, are particularly easy to find, and from them one can build in principle all the wavefunctions (see  for expressions). They are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n,m=n}={\displaystyle \frac{\overline{z}^n}{\left(1+\frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}\right)^{2\omega (n)\mathrm{\Omega }R^2+n}}}.`$ (43)
For instance, if $`M^2=k_3^2=0`$, the lowest Landau level has $`\omega =2\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and wavefunctions

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n=0,m}={\displaystyle \frac{z^m}{\left(1+\frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}\right)^{4\mathrm{\Omega }^2R^2}}},m=0,\mathrm{},8\mathrm{\Omega }^2R^2.`$ (44)
The wavefunctions for lowest weight states are strongly peaked at

$`\mathrm{tan}^2{\displaystyle \frac{\theta }{2}}={\displaystyle \frac{n/4R^2}{\omega (n)\mathrm{\Omega }+n/4R^2}},`$ (45)
which again in the large $`n`$ limit reproduce the classical value, $`\mathrm{cot}\theta _g=2\mathrm{\Omega }R`$.

This spectrum shares some common features with the Landau problem on the sphere (reviewed in the appendix): It has an infinite number of levels (labeled by $`n`$), and finite degeneracy for each of them. As in the $`l^2=0`$ case, a first difference is that at higher levels, there is a rescaling of the wavefunctions, such that all the lowest weight states peak over the same classical radius. On top of that, there is another important difference with the spectrum of the Landau problem on the sphere. In that case, the curvature correction is quadratic in the level (compared to the ordinary linear term), while here, for large $`n`$, the frequencies are linear in $`n`$.

#### Hyperbolic plane $`(l^2>0)`$:

Finally, in this case we define $`z=\frac{\mathrm{tanh}lr}{l}e^{i\varphi }`$, and the metric is identical to the $`l^2<0`$ case, but now with

$`K={\displaystyle \frac{1}{1l^2z\overline{z}}}.`$ (46)
The frequencies are

$`\omega =(2n+1)\mathrm{\Omega }+\sqrt{(2n+1)^2\mathrm{\Omega }^24l^2n(n+1)+M^2+k_3^2}.`$ (47)
Again, in the regime $`l^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$, the frequencies are linear in $`n`$, for large $`n`$. The wavefunctions for the lowest weight states and the lowest level are very similar to those of the $`l^2<0`$ case. For $`M^2=k_3^2=0`$ they are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n,m=n}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\overline{z}^n}{\left(1l^2z\overline{z}\right)^{\frac{\omega \mathrm{\Omega }}{2l^2}n}}},`$ (48)
$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n=0,m}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{z^m}{\left(1l^2z\overline{z}\right)^{\mathrm{\Omega }^2/l^2}}},`$ (49)
As it happened in the discussion of the classical geodesics, here we have to distinguish again between the $`l<\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and $`l\mathrm{\Omega }`$ regimes. For $`l^2<\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$—the range where the metrics have CTCs—there is no upper bound on $`n`$, and we have again an infinite number of levels. On the other hand, if we allow for $`l^2>\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$, there is an upper bound on the level $`n`$, given by

$`2n+1{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{l}}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{M^2+k_3^2}}{\sqrt{l^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2}}},`$ (50)
and furthermore, above that level, states with a continuous energy spectrum appear. This matches the behavior of classical geodesics discussed in section 2: for $`l\mathrm{\Omega }`$, all timelike or null geodesics project to closed orbits, and that is reflected at the quantum level by a discrete energy spectrum. On the other hand, for $`l>\mathrm{\Omega }`$ some timelike geodesics and all null geodesics project to unbounded orbits in the hyperbolic plane. At the quantum level, these correspond to the states in the continuum of energy. This is completely analogous to the Landau problem on the hyperbolic plane  (see also the appendix), where there is a finite number of discrete levels, and above it, a continuum of energy states.

Note that at the point where the continuum appears, $`l^2=\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$, the metric (1) becomes $`AdS_3\times \text{}`$. For string theory on $`AdS_3`$ the continuous representations of $`sl(2,\text{})`$ correspond to long strings , as explained in . However, the long strings can be understood as coming from the spectral flow of spacelike geodesics , while here the continuous representations correspond to massive particles (and therefore timelike geodesics). It would be nice to understand better the relation, if any, between these two appearances of $`SL(2,\text{})`$ continuous representations.

## 4 Holographic screens.

As mentioned in the introduction, we don’t expect the full Gödel type solutions to be a valid background in string theory. On the other hand, in previous work , we presented a 10d solution that patches a single chronologically safe region to an outside metric, separated by a domain wall made of supertubes. This solution is free of closed timelike curves, and for an observer at the origin, Bousso’s prescription associates a holographic screen with the same radius as in the original solution. This solution with a domain wall allows us to address the existence of a holographic description for a region of the universe that is locally Gödel type, freeing us from all the conceptual troubles associated with closed timelike curves. This holographic screen is presumed to encode the physics localized inside the domain wall, although the precise meaning of “localized” in this context is not completely clear, since the region on the inside of the domain wall is not causally disconnected from the rest.

In the Landau problem analogy, restricting to a single chronologically safe region, bears some resemblance to considering a Hall droplet of finite size , instead of the Quantum Hall effect in the full plane. For instance, in the matrix quantum mechanics description of the QHE for a finite size droplet, due to Polychronakos , one introduces a harmonic potential to confine the electrons into a finite domain, breaking the translation invariance of the system. In the Gödel type solutions, the domain wall has a similar effect.

Bousso’s prescription for constructing holographic screens is completely classical. As such, there is no guarantee that given a classical solution of general relativity, there is a quantum gravity version of that background and much less a holographic description. In what follows, we assume that such a holographic description exists, for a single chronologically safe region of the family of 4d metrics we have been studying, and present some heuristic ideas on what this holographic theory might be. Eventually, it is plausible that these ideas will only make sense when these metrics (or rather, metrics with domain walls surrounding a single chronologically safe region) are embedded in solutions of string/M theory.

First we address the question of which bulk states we expect inside the domain wall. Properly, we should impose boundary conditions consistent with the presence of a domain wall, but we believe that for states inside the cavity, the analysis of the previous section is a good approximation. A natural prescription is to restrict to states whose wavefunctions start decaying exponentially inside the chronologically safe region, or just at the boundary. For instance, in the previous section we saw that for massless states, those wavefunctions have arbitrary $`n`$ and $`m0`$ (they correspond to null geodesics with $`L0`$, which are fully inside the chronologically safe region).

Although the presence of the domain wall naturally suggests a way to restrict the bulk states, a pure QFT analysis misses the effects of gravity. Once we consider the backreation of these states to the metric, we expect a cut-off in the allowed frequencies: the Klein Gordon wavefunctions are extended in $`x_3`$, and localized in the plane of constant $`t,x_3`$, so once the backreaction is taken into account, the new solution will be similar to a cosmic string. In particular, it will introduce a deficit angle, and we should require that this deficit angle is smaller than $`2\pi `$, i.e. we require that $`w`$ is smaller than the mass of a particle that would close the universe in 2+1 dimensions, $`w1/\mathrm{}_P`$. This translates into $`n_{max}r_c/\mathrm{}_P`$.

Having discussed the spectrum of modes we expect inside the domain wall, we address next the boundary degrees of freedom. First, let’s recall where the holographic screen is, according to Bousso’s prescription. If we restrict to the non-trivial 3d part of the metrics, the position of the holographic screen was computed in , and it is best described in polar coordinates. By the symmetries of the problem, it was argued in  that the radius of the screen is determined by $`dg_{\varphi \varphi }(r)/dr=0`$, or

$`\mathrm{sinh}lr_h={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}\sqrt{\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{l^2}1}}}.`$ (51)
This is always smaller than the radius of the cavity $`r_c`$ and bigger than the radius of the null geodesics, $`r_g<r_h<r_c`$. In fact,

$`\mathrm{sinh}lr_h={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}\mathrm{sinh}lr_c.`$ (52)
For the full Gödel type solutions, the holographic screen breaks the isometry of the full solution, as happens in other solutions with observer dependent holographic screens ($`e.g.`$ , the static observer approach to holography for de Sitter space ). In this case, we have $`\text{}\times U(1)`$ associated to time translations times rotations on the plane (plus an additional  if we consider translations in the $`x_3`$ direction). On the other hand, if we start with a solution with a domain wall, the holographic screen breaks no further symmetries.

Next, we are going to relate the number of boundary degrees of freedom with the Landau level structure of the bulk spectrum. In general, the number of degrees of freedom in the holographic screen scales with the area $`A`$ of the screen, $`NA/\mathrm{}_P^2`$, and since the screen extends indefinitely in the $`x_3`$ direction, the area—and the number of degrees of freedom—is infinite. We instead consider a screen with a cut-off length $`h`$ in its height, and concern ourselves on how the different quantities scale with $`r_c`$, for fixed $`h`$. The area goes like $`Ar_ch`$ and $`Nr_ch/\mathrm{}_P^2`$, so the expected number of degrees of freedom (for fixed $`h`$) grows linearly with $`r_c`$.

Now we use this relation $`Nr_c`$ and $`n_{max}r_c/\mathrm{}_P`$ to conclude that $`N_{dof}n_{max}`$. Namely, we roughly get a boundary degree of freedom per level per field333Although in the previous section we only discussed the Klein Gordon equation for a scalar field, in string theory realization of the $`l^2=0`$ case, all fields (graviton, NS form) also display a Landau level type spectrum .. This can be realized at least in a couple of ways: The independent degrees of freedom map to the states with $`n=n_{max}`$, or alternatively, for each level there is an independent boundary degree of freedom.

We would like to conclude by presenting a simple model of a holographic description that captures this scaling, although clearly leaves many things out. Simply put, we want to substitute the classical holographic screen by a fuzzy version of it, a non-commutative cylinder in the case at hand, with the scale of non-commutativity given by the Planck area, $`\mathrm{}_P^2`$. Our chief motivation is that in general, when the classical screens given by Bousso’s prescription have finite proper area, the covariant version of the holographic principle assigns them a finite number of degrees of freedom at the quantum level, and a natural way to assign a finite number of degrees of freedom to a surface is by considering a matrix regularization. Similar ideas have been proposed in , in the context of the static observer approach to holography in de Sitter space , by replacing the classical spherical horizon with a fuzzy sphere.

In the context of the matrix model for M-theory, non-commutative cylinders were constructed in  providing a matrix realization of supertubes. Recall that in the 10d solution of , the domain wall separating the Gödel type region from the exterior metric is made out of supertubes; however, the matrix theory of  doesn’t quite describe this domain wall, since the latter was constructed with smeared supertubes. It would be interesting to construct the matrix model of the IIA solution of , with a $`l^2=0`$ Gödel type region inside the supertube domain wall; alternatively, one could consider the matrix model formulation for the full $`l^2=0`$ solution, and try to extract from it the physics of a single chronologically safe region.

The non-commutative cylinder is a solution of the matrix regularized version of membrane theory, with three time independent non-zero matrices satisfying

$`[X_1,X_2]=0,[X_1,X_3]=iaX_2,[X_2,X_3]=iaX_1,`$ (53)
where $`a`$ is a length scale. Moreover, $`X_1^2+X_2^2`$ is a Casimir of this algebra, and we consider representations with a fixed value $`X_1^2+X_2^2=R^2`$. These matrices correspond to a non-commutative cylinder of radius $`R`$ and non-commutativity scale $`a`$ in the $`x_3`$ direction. The quantum of area of this non-commutative cylinder is $`2\pi aR`$, and we set $`aR\mathrm{}_P^2`$. Note that the two sides of this quantum of area are very different, if $`R\mathrm{}_P`$.

As already noticed in , the scalar fluctuations around this matrix configuration are also similar to the Landau problem on the plane. This is intuitively clear, since a supertube is supported against collapse by an electric field along the tube, and a magnetic field transverse to it. The equation that describes fluctuations of a massless scalar is

$`\left(_t{\displaystyle \frac{a}{\mathrm{}_P^2}}_\theta \right)^2\mathrm{\Phi }{\displaystyle \frac{a^2}{\mathrm{}_P^4}}_\theta ^2\mathrm{\Phi }{\displaystyle \frac{a^2}{\mathrm{}_P^4}}R^2_3^2\mathrm{\Phi }=0.`$ (54)
The ansatz $`\mathrm{\Phi }=e^{iwt}e^{im\theta }e^{ik_3x_3}`$ yields the frequencies

$`w=m{\displaystyle \frac{a}{\mathrm{}_P^2}}+\sqrt{\left(m{\displaystyle \frac{a}{\mathrm{}_P^2}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{a^2R^2}{\mathrm{}_P^4}}k_3^2},`$ (55)
which reproduce the spectrum of frequencies for $`l^2=0`$, (32), if we identify

$`a/\mathrm{}_P^2\mathrm{\Omega }.`$ (56)
The difference is that now the spectrum has no degeneracy for a given frequency, which agrees with the scaling we deduced previously, roughly one boundary degree of freedom per Landau level. Note however, that at this level of discussion, we don’t see the existence of a cut-off, $`n_{max}`$.

Using $`aR\mathrm{}_P^2`$, the previous identification leads to $`R1/\mathrm{\Omega }`$. These preliminary considerations are clearly not enough to reproduce Bousso’s prescription for the position of the holographic screen in the $`l^2=0`$ case, $`r_h=1/\sqrt{2}\mathrm{\Omega }`$.

To sum up, in the full homogeneous Gödel type solutions, the Klein Gordon equation gives a degeneracy of solutions at each frequency, given by the quantization of momentum, characteristic of the Landau problem. The states of a given frequency form full representations of $`SU(2)`$, $`H_2`$ or $`SL(2,\text{})`$. Once we restrict to a single chronologically safe region, it is natural to consider a truncation of the spectrum at each level, keeping states that are localized inside the region. These states clearly no longer form full representations of the corresponding groups. So far, everything we said refers to quantum field theory in these backgrounds.

Finally, on a more speculative note, we tried to relate the boundary degrees of freedom of a possible dual description with the states that are localized inside a single chronologically safe region.

We seem to be a long way from understanding holography when the holographic screens are not at asymptotia, assuming such a thing makes sense. Making more precise the speculations presented in this last section will hopefully provide some of the much needed insight.

## 5 Discussion

We have pointed out the close relation between a family of 3+1 Gödel type solutions and the Landau problem of a charged particle moving on a surface, in the presence of a constant magnetic field, a relation discussed in a particular case in . This analogy has allowed us to suggest a heuristic picture of a potential holographic description for a single chronologically safe region.

Our discussion generalizes immediately to other solutions. For instance, the 5d Gödel solution found in  would be related to a charged particle moving in $`\text{}^4`$ with magnetic fields transverse to two planes. This system was considered recently in . Going in the opposite direction, a system that has received a great amount of interest is a 4+1d generalization of the QHE . In light of our discussion, we can ask whether there is any (higher dimensional) GR solution related to this model. Since the 4+1d QHE is based on the second Hopf map (in the same way the ordinary QHE is based on the first Hopf map), natural candidates are metrics of $`SU(2)`$ bundles over $`S^4`$, but to obtain a Lorentzian signature, it seems more natural to consider the reformulation of this higher dimensional QHE as a $`U(1)`$ fibration over $`\text{}\text{}^3`$  444We would like to thank D. Karabali and V.P. Nair for pointing out this possibility..

Our suggestions about a holographic description of these backgrounds are far from conclusive. Another approach to holography for general backgrounds, has been suggested by Banks , who put forward the idea that there is an approximation to quantum gravity, dubbed asymptotic darkness, where the possible black holes in that background are stable, and the microstates of all possible black holes in that background provide a basis of the Hilbert space of the quantum theory. In the case of the supersymmetric 5d Gödel solution , there has been some work on the possible black holes . On the other hand, one might hope to identify the string states that become black holes, once the interactions are taken into account. This would require making precise the bound on frequencies mentioned in section 4. The 5d Gödel solution (or more properly, a single chronologically safe cavity of it) might be a candidate to make more concrete the idea of asymptotic darkness.

An important point is that in the present work we considered only solutions to General Relativity. In Bousso’s prescription, the position of the holographic screen is determined by the metric alone, or in other words, by the geodesics of neutral particles. Once we consider solutions in extended theories, like supergravity, we face the possibility of having solutions with the same metric but differing in the rest of the fields turned on, and Bousso’s prescription is insensitive to that difference. Since the holographic principle refers only to the number of degrees of freedom, but not their nature, we see not immediate contradiction: the putative holographic descriptions of these backgrounds could be two different theories, with the same number of degrees of freedom. On the other hand, as the results of  nicely illustrate, the geodesics of charged objects can have dramatically new behavior compared to the neutral ones, and it seems important to understand their relevance for holography in spacetimes with closed timelike curves , and the holographic principle in general.

In the present work, we suggested that if there is a holographic description of a single chronologically safe region for Gödel type universes, it will involve the quantum mechanics of the matrix regularization of the classical holographic screen, $`i.e.`$ a non-commutative cylinder. The obvious generalization of this idea is that whenever Bousso’s prescription yields a classical holographic screen with finite proper area, the quantum holographic description involves a matrix regularization of the classical screen.

### Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ofer Aharony, Micha Berkooz, Raphael Bousso, Jorge Russo and especially Tom Banks and Gary Gibbons for useful discussions. BF would like to thank the Institute for Particle Physics at the University of California at Santa Cruz for hospitality at early stages of this project. ND and BF would like to thank the organizers of the Benasque workshop on string theory for inviting them, and for a stimulating atmosphere. JS would like to thank the Aspen Center for Physics for hospitality during the last stages of this project. BF is supported through a European Community Marie Curie Fellowship, and also by the Israel-U.S. Binational Science Foundation, the IRF Centers of Excellence program, the European RTN network HPRN-CT-2000-00122 and by Minerva. JS was partially supported by the Phil Zaccharia fellowship and is currently supported by the United States Department of Energy grant number DE-FG02-95ER40893.

## Appendix A The Landau problem in surfaces of constant curvature.

In this appendix we review the Landau problem of a charged particle moving under the presence of a constant magnetic field, perpendicular to a surface of constant curvature, following . We consider the sphere, the plane, and the hyperbolic plane. The spectrum is related to representations of $`SU(2)`$, $`H_2`$ and $`SL(2,\text{})`$ respectively.

In each case, we will have a set of discrete energy levels. For the sphere, the degeneracy of each level is finite, while for the plane and the hyperbolic plane, each level has infinite degeneracy. On the other hand, the number of discrete levels is infinite for the sphere and the plane, but finite for the hyperbolic plane. Finally, in the hyperbolic plane, there is a continuum of states, above the finite range of discrete levels.

We have a surface with metric

$`ds^2=g_{z\overline{z}}dzd\overline{z}.`$ (57)
The volume form is

$`dv={\displaystyle \frac{ig_{z\overline{z}}}{2}}dzd\overline{z}.`$ (58)
The natural definition of constant magnetic field is $`F=Bdv`$, and the Hamiltonian for a charged particle moving in this surface is

$`H={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{g}}}(PA)g^{z\overline{z}}\sqrt{g}(PA).`$ (59)
We start considering the 2d surface to be $`S^2`$. In this case, $`N2BR^2`$ has to be an integer, $`g_{z\overline{z}}=1/\left(1+z\overline{z}/4R^2\right)^2`$, and with the gauge choice

$`A_z={\displaystyle \frac{iB}{4}}{\displaystyle \frac{\overline{z}}{1+\frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}}},`$ (60)
the Hamiltonian reads

$`H={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R^2}}\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}}^2\overline{}+{\displaystyle \frac{B}{4}}\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}}\right)(\overline{z}\overline{}z)+{\displaystyle \frac{B^2}{16}}z\overline{z}\right).`$ (61)
We introduce

$`\begin{array}{cc}\hfill L_+& ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R}}z^22R\overline{}+{\displaystyle \frac{BR}{2}}z,\hfill \\ \hfill L_{}& ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R}}\overline{z}^2\overline{}+2R+{\displaystyle \frac{BR}{2}}\overline{z},\hfill \\ \hfill L_3& =z\overline{z}\overline{}BR^2,\hfill \end{array}`$ (62)
which form an $`SU(2)`$ algebra. In terms of these operators, the Hamiltonian can be rewritten as

$`H={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(L_+L_{}+L_{}L_+)+L_3^2B^2R^4\right)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R^2}}\left(C_2B^2R^4\right),`$ (63)
where $`C_2`$ is the second Casimir of $`SU(2)`$. This allows for a purely algebraic deduction of the spectrum. The energy spectrum is

$`E_n=B\left(n+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{n(n+1)}{2R^2}}.`$ (64)
There is the familiar linear term, plus a quadratic correction due to the curvature. The unnormalized lowest Landau level wavefunctions are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n=0,m}={\displaystyle \frac{z^m}{\left(1+\frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}\right)^{\frac{N}{2}}}},`$ (65)
i.e. the wavefunctions are the wavefunction of the vacuum times a holomorphic polynomial. Each Landau level is finite dimensional, the degeneracy of the $`n`$-th level being $`N+2n+1`$, the states are in SU(2) representations. The generic wavefunctions can be obtained by applying $`L_+`$ on the lowest weight states of each level, defined by $`L_{}\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$. The lowest weight wavefunctions are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n,m=n}={\displaystyle \frac{\overline{z}^n}{\left(1+\frac{z\overline{z}}{4R^2}\right)^{\frac{N}{2}+n}}}.`$ (66)
Having discussed the Landau problem on the sphere, one can recover the Landau problem on the plane as a limit $`N,R\mathrm{}`$, keeping $`B=N/2R^2`$ fixed. By an appropriate rescaling of the operators, the $`SU(2)`$ algebra contracts to a Heisenberg algebra. The curvature correction term drops from the energy spectrum, and we are left with the familiar

$`E_n=B\left(n+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\right).`$ (67)
Now each Landau level has infinite degeneracy (since we sent $`N\mathrm{}`$), and the lowest Landau level and lowest weight wavefunctions are just the limit of the ones on the sphere

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n=0,m}`$ $`=`$ $`z^me^{\frac{Bz\overline{z}}{4}},`$ (68)
$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{n,m=n}`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{z}^me^{\frac{Bz\overline{z}}{4}}.`$ (69)
Finally, we can consider the Landau problem in the hyperbolic plane. Now $`g_{z\overline{z}}=1/\left(1z\overline{z}/4R^2\right)^2`$, and most of the previous discussion goes through. There is in principle no quantization on $`B`$, the $`SU(2)`$ is replaced by an $`SL(2,\text{})`$ algebra and the discrete spectrum is

$`E_n=B\left(n+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{n(n+1)}{2R^2}},0n<BR^21.`$ (70)
There is only a finite number of discrete Landau levels, each with infinite degeneracy, with states forming discrete $`SL(2,\text{})`$ representations. Beyond that range of energies, there is a continuous part to the spectrum , with states in the continuous principal series $`𝒞_j`$

$`j={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}+i\nu ,0\nu \mathrm{},`$ (71)
$`E(\nu )={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2R^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}+BR^2+\nu ^2\right).`$ (72)
Note that $`E_n<\left(1/4+B^2R^4\right)/2R^2`$, while $`E(\nu )\left(1/4+B^2R^4\right)/2R^2`$, so the discrete and continuous spectra don’t overlap.


text:
# Discovery of a faint 𝑅-band drop-out: a strongly reddened lensed star forming galaxy at 𝑧=1.68 Based on observations collected with the ESO VLT-UT1 Antu Telescope (70.A-0355, 271.A-5013), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope.

## 1 Introduction

The strong lensing effect due to clusters of galaxies – typically yielding a magnification by 1–3 magnitudes – has extensively been used in the last decade to identify and to probe the population of galaxies at $`z\stackrel{>}{}1`$ towards the faint end of the luminosity function and beyond the limits of conventional spectroscopic samples. (see e.g. Mehlert et al. 2001, Ellis et al. 2001, Pelló et al. 2003 and references therein).

The development of near-IR spectrographs on 10m class telescopes has allowed the study of the rest-frame optical properties of galaxies using the same emission lines all the way from the local universe to $`z4`$ (Pettini et al. 2001, Erb et al. 2003). The contribution of lensing clusters to these detailed studies is already significant. In particular, the metallicity–luminosity and the mass–metallicity relations for intrinsically faint lensed galaxies, as compared to reference samples at different redshifts, have recently been studied by Lemoine-Busserolle et al. (2003). Despite these efforts, the sample of $`z`$ 1–3 galaxies observed spectroscopically in the near-IR is still dramatically small. Furthermore all of these objects were selected from optical imaging and spectroscopy.

Here we report the discovery of a faint emission line galaxy at $`z1.7`$ (named #2582 hereafter) discovered recently during near-IR spectroscopic observations targetting $`z`$ 8 to 10 candidates selected from deep JHK ISAAC imaging in a $`2^{}\times 2^{}`$ field centered on the lensing cluster Abell 1835 that reached depths of 25.1 in J, 24.3 in H and 24.3 in K (3$`\sigma `$ on 4 pixels, Vega system). This survey area corresponds to about 2.9 arcmin2 at $`z=1.7`$, after correction of lensing magnification. Object #2582 fulfills the following photometric selection criteria: it is an $`R`$-band drop-out on HST images, with blue $`HK0.5`$ and red $`JH0.8`$. Because this object was marginally detected in $`I`$, it was considered as an interesting secondary target, potentially a $`z5`$ galaxy or possibly a source of “contamination” in searches of high $`z`$ galaxies. Results on this specific project will be reported elsewhere (Richard et al., in preparation). Furthermore, with $`RK4`$ this object is quite red, although not exactly comparable to extremely red objects (ERO). Our observations thus reveal that we are dealing with a previously unknown type of galaxy at intermediate redshift: a strongly reddened low-luminosity star-forming galaxy.

In Section 2 we summarize the observations used in the present study. The spectroscopic properties of #2582 and its nature are addressed in Sects. 3 and 4 respectively. Implications from our finding are discussed in Sect. 5.

## 2 Photometric and Spectroscopic Data

Ultradeep $`JHKs`$ images were obtained with ISAAC/VLT on the central $`2\times 2`$ arcmin of Abell 1835 ($`z=0.253`$), with ISAAC/VLT in service mode during February 2003. Photometric data were complemented by deep $`VRI`$ observations taken at CFHT, and WFPC2/HST images in the $`R`$ band (F702W, Smith et al. 2003). Photometry was performed using the SExtractor package (Bertin & Arnouts 1996). A full report of these observations, including particular data reduction procedures, will be published elsewhere.

During a run between 29 June and 3 July 2003 we have carried out spectroscopic observations in the $`J`$ band with ISAAC (SW mode) which included #2582 as a secondary target aligned “coincidentally” in the slit position shown in Fig. 1. The slit width was $`1^{\prime \prime }`$, and the seeing varied between $`0.4^{\prime \prime }`$ and $`0.5^{\prime \prime }`$. The coordinates of this object are $`\alpha _{2000}`$=14:01:00.700, $`\delta _{2000}`$=+02:52:09.55.

Spectra were obtained in beam-switching mode between two positions A and B, following a sequence ABBA (see e.g. Cuby et al. 2003111ISAAC User Manual: http://www.eso.org/instruments/isaac/
userman/umhtml1121/index.html, Lemoine-Busserolle et al. 2003) Spectroscopic data where reduced using IRAF procedures and conforming to the ISAAC Data Reduction Guide 1.5 222 http://www.hq.eso.org/instruments/isaac/index.html. The first sky-subtraction was performed by subtracting one frame from the other in each AB pair. After removing the 50 Hz pickup that occured during the last night and flat-fielding these frames, we wavelength-calibrated the two-dimensional spectra using the atlas of OH lines (Rousselot et al., 2000). Finally, we combined each A-B and B-A frames after suitable shifts and extracted the one-dimensional spectrum. We used the observed telluric standards to flux-calibrate and correct for telluric features in the individual spectra, fitting the hot (O and B) stars with a blackbody curve.

## 3 Results

Table 1 summarizes the photometric data obtained on object #2582, computed within a $`1.5^{\prime \prime }`$ aperture on seeing matched images. This source is unresolved, and it is not detected on the WFPC2/HST image ($`\mu _{F702W}`$ 23.8 mag/arcsec2 and $`R_{F702W}`$ 27.3, 2$`\sigma `$ on 4 HST pixels). It is undetected in $`V`$ and $`R`$ and only marginally detected in $`I`$. This object would never have been selected from our optical data, since it is only marginally detected in the I band.

The spectroscopic observations revealed the presence of 3 emission lines in 2 overlapping regions of the $`J`$ band: 1.285-1.345 $`\mu m`$ and 1.335-1.395 $`\mu m`$, observed with exposure times of 10.8 and 18.9 ksec respectively. These lines were identified as \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007 and H$`\beta `$ at wavelengths corresponding to an average redshift of $`z=1.676`$ for this IR-selected source. The corresponding 2D and extracted spectra are shown in Fig. 2. As seen on the 2D spectrum, the “trace” of the spectrum does not follow a detector line. Extraction (with iraf task apall) was done by shifting the fitted “trace” of the spectrum of the brighter star used for slit alignement onto the position of the \[OIII\]5007Å line of #2582. The observed line fluxes are given in Table 2. Because of the excellent seeing conditions and the slit width, we can safely consider that the bulk of the flux from this unresolved source was included in the slit. The lines are not resolved as compared to the instrumental profile measured using the OH sky lines. Thus, the line-of-sight velocity dispersion $`\sigma `$ should be smaller than 20-30 km/s.

From simple SED fit (cf. below) and adopting “concordance” cosmological parameters333 $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$, and $`H_0=70\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, the apparent $`J`$ magnitude translates to an absolute $`B`$-band magnitude $`M_B`$ –18.2. Corrected for the magnification factor of 1.8 mag obtained from the lensing model by Smith et al. (2002), this yields an absolute magnitude of only $`M_B`$ –16.4. Even taking the apparently high extinction into account (cf. below) this still corresponds to $`M_B`$ –18. to –18.8. To the best of our knowledge, this makes it the faintest starforming source at intermediate redshift for which spectroscopic data have been obtained. We now discuss the possible nature of this faint galaxy.

## 4 The nature of the $`z=1.676`$ galaxy #2582

The observed line ratio \[O iii$`\lambda `$5007/H$`\beta `$ $``$ 5.9 is of moderate to high excitation typical of relatively metal-poor H ii galaxies whose emission lines are predominantly powered by star formation. The emission lines are unresolved, and thus we can exclude a Seyfert 1 galaxy, but in principle not a Seyfert 2. However, the #2582 object is fainter than most Sey 2 (cf. Ho et al. 1997) even if corrected for extinction. With an absolute magnitude of $`M_B`$ -16.4 (or $``$ –18 to –18.8 after extinction correction) this galaxy is fainter than Lyman break galaxies at $`z3`$ by at least 3 mag, but similar to the compact narrow emission line galaxies (CNELG) at $`z<`$ 1.4 of Guzman et al. (1997). The H$`\beta `$ luminosity ($`L(\mathrm{H}\beta )1.2\times 10^{41}`$ erg s-1) is also comparable to that of CNELG, and to the bright end of H ii galaxies in the local Universe.

The observed emission lines contribute to $``$ 56 % of the observed $`J`$-band flux within the slit. Assuming Case B recombination and zero ($`A_V`$ 1.8 mag) extinction a lower limit to the contribution of H$`\alpha `$ to the H-band is estimated to $``$ 17 (30) %. We do not expect significant contamination from other emission lines on the remaining filters. After correction of the observed broad band flux for the emission lines, the following estimate is obtained for the rest-frame H$`\beta `$ equivalent width: $`W(\mathrm{H}\beta )_{\mathrm{rest}}`$ 139 Å. Whereas smaller equivalent widths are typically observed in large starburst galaxies and in some CNELG, such values are fairly common in low metallicity H ii galaxies (e.g. Stasiśka & Izotov 2003).

The broad-band SED plotted in Fig. 3 provides further information on the properties of this object. Basically such a SED can only be reconciled with a population showing a strong Balmer break and little extinction or a younger stellar population strongly extinguished in the rest-frame UV. This is quantitatively confirmed by SED fits of numerous templates using the code of Bolzonella et al. (2000), including spectra from the 2001 version of Bruzual & Charlot (1993) models, Starburst99 (Leitherer et al. 1999), and observed galaxy templates from Coleman et al. (1980) and Kinney et al. (1996). The best fits correspond to burst models with ages $``$ 360–510 Myr and little or no extinction, or bursts of ages $``$ 6–9 Myr with $`A_V`$ 1.2–1.8 mag depending on the adopted extinction law. The former explanation is excluded as populations of such age are not compatible with the presence of emission lines indicative of young ($``$ 10 Myr) massive stars. Furthermore, if present (in quantities sufficient to explain e.g. the observed H$`\beta `$ flux) the young population will dominate the rest-frame UV–optical spectrum. We therefore conclude that the only consistent explanation for the observed SED of #2582 is that it is dominated by a young ($``$ 6–9 Myr) population which suffers from a strong extinction.

This best fit reproduces the observed SED to within $``$ 1–2 $`\sigma `$, as shown in Fig. 3, using two different extinction laws: Calzetti et al. (2000) for starbursts, with $`A_V`$ 1.6–1.8 mag, and the Seaton (1979) Milky Way extinction law with $`A_V`$ 1.2–1.4 mag. The later produces a strong “absorption bump” at $``$ 5900 Å. Thus, we are probably dealing with a low-metallicity and dusty young starburst.

The best consistency checks of our explanation on the nature of this source will probably be through H$`\alpha `$ spectroscopy, in order to confirm the large extinction and to exclude the Sey 2 possibility. Deeper optical imaging, including the $`Z`$-band, will improve the constraints on the overall SED. Measurements of other emission lines such as \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727, \[NII\]$`\lambda \lambda `$6548,6584, and \[S ii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6717,6731 will also provide a better understanding of the physical properties and of the nature of this source.

## 5 Discussion and conclusions

The $`V`$ and $`R`$-band drop-out technique has recently been applied by various authors in searches of $`z5`$ galaxies. E.g. Lehnert & Bremer (2003) use $`RIz`$ images taken with the VLT and apply a $`R_{AB}I_{AB}1.5`$ color criterion to select galaxies with $`z>4.8`$. Iwata et al. (2003) adopt the $`VI_c2.0`$ “drop-out” and a combined $`VI_c`$ and $`I_cz^{}`$ criterion to determine luminosity functions and star formation rates of $`z>5`$ galaxies from their SUBARU data. Would the #2582 object, a $`V`$ and $`R`$-band drop-out, be selected as a high-$`z`$ candidate ?

The galaxy #2582 has $`R_{AB}I_{AB}>1.2`$ and $`VI>1.5`$, close to the above selection criteria but not formally above the generally adopted bounds. If deeper optical imaging was available in $`V`$ or $`R`$ and $`I`$, #2582 might have been detected in these bands. Furthermore, the red R-K color makes it a lower priority candidate for $`z>5`$ objects selection. However, because of the large equivalent width of its lines, this class of objects is a problem for searches based on narrow-band only such as Rhoads et al. (2003) and for future $`z7`$ searches with narrow band filters in the J band. In order to unambiguously detect $`z>5`$ sources, a combination of photometry and spectroscopy, similar to the approach of Lehnert & Bremer (2003) or our own, is probably to be preferred.

From our observations we conclude that young strongly reddened starbursts are potential contaminants of high-z galaxy samples together with stars and low-z elliptical galaxies. However, from the existing data it is too early to estimate the fraction of such “contaminants” to photometric samples of $`z5`$ candidates.

Finally we may speculate that the classical criteria used to search for intermediate redshift galaxies probably miss objects like the one found here quite independently of the lensing magnification also employed here. The true number of intermediate $`z`$ emission line galaxies observable with near-IR spectrographs is probably larger than presently thought.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to T. Contini and M. Lemoine-Busserolle for useful comments and discussion. We thank the ESO Director General for a generous allocation of Director’s Discretionary Time for ISAAC spectroscopy (DDT 271.A-5013). Part of this work was supported by the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Swiss National Foundation. JPK acknowledges support from Caltech and CNRS.


text:
# The Clustering of Intergalactic Metals

## 1. Introduction

No one knows where they came from, how they got there, or when it happened, but quasar (QSO) absorption line studies have encountered heavy elements in all regions of the tenuous intergalactic medium (IGM) in which they were detectable (eg. Songalia & Cowie 1996). First, measurements of $`N_{\mathrm{CIV}}/N_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ indicated that typically $`[C/H]2.5`$ in somewhat overdense regions at $`z3`$ , with an order of magnitude scatter (eg. Rauch, Haehnelt, & Steinmetz 1997). Later, statistical methods pushed further, showing that C iv may be present in underdense regions (Ellison et al. 2000), and that a minimum IGM metallicity of approximately $`3\times 10^3Z_{}`$ is already in place at $`z5`$ (Songaila 2001; hereafter S01). Although the presence of metals in underdense regions has not yet been firmly established (eg. Petitjean 2001; Carswell et al. 2002; Schaye et al. 2003; Aracil et al. 2003a), their very existence outside galaxies has profound cosmological implications.

As the long cooling times of large clouds of primordial composition are shortened by even modest levels of enrichment (Sutherland & Dopita; Scannapieco & Broadhurst 2001), IGM metals accelerated the formation of massive ($`\stackrel{>}{}10^{12}\mathrm{M}_{}`$) galaxies. Similarly, the violent events that ejected heavy elements from galaxies have important implications for the thermal and velocity structure of the IGM (eg. Gnedin & Ostriker 1997), and would have exerted strong feedback on dwarf galaxies forming nearby (eg. Thacker, Scannapieco, & Davis 2002).

Still, no one knows where they came from. Although numerous starburst-driven outflows have been observed at $`3z5`$ (Pettini et al. 2001; Frye, Broadhurst, & Benitez 2002), it is unclear whether such objects are responsible for the majority of IGM enrichment. In fact a variety of theoretical arguments suggest that these galaxies represent only the tail of a larger population of small “pre-galactic” starbursts that formed earlier (Madau, Ferrara, & Rees 2001; Scannapieco, Ferrara, & Madau 2002). On the other hand active galactic nuclei are observed to host massive outflows (Weyman 1997), whose contribution remains unknown. Finally, theoretical studies have suggested that the primordial generation of metal-free stars were very massive (eg. Schneider et al. 2002), resulting in a profusion of tremendously powerful pair-production supernovae that distributed metals at $`z\stackrel{>}{}15`$ (Bromm et al. 2003).

This paper describes the first direct attempt to use clustering measurements to discriminate between these disparate models. Making use of 643 C iv and 104 Si iv absorption systems, measured in 19 high signal-to-noise quasar spectra, we are able to place strong constraints on the spatial distribution of intergalactic metals at intermediate redshifts ($`1.5z3.1`$ and a detection limit of $`N_{CIV}10^{12}`$ cm-2). Whatever the objects that enriched the IGM, it is clear that they formed in the densest regions of space, regions that were highly clustered. As this “geometrical biasing” is a systematic function of mass (eg. Kaiser 1984), the large-scale clustering of metal-line systems encodes valuable information on the masses of the sources from which they were ejected. Likewise, we are able to relate the small-scale clustering of metals to the typical radius enriched by each source.

The structure of this work is as follows. In §2 we summarize the properties of our data set and reduction methods. In §3 we present the number density of C iv and Si iv absorption systems and their two point correlations. In §4 we compare these correlations with simulations to constrain the masses and ejection energies of the sources responsible for IGM metal enrichment. A discussion is given in §5.

## 2. Data Set and Reduction

### 2.1. Observations

The ESO Large Programme “The Cosmic Evolution of the IGM” was devised to provide a homogeneous sample of QSO sight-lines suitable for studying the IGM from $`z`$ = 1.7$``$4.5. High resolution ($`R`$ $``$ 45000), high signal-to-noise (40 and 80 per pixel at 3500 and 6000 Å, respectively) spectra were taken over the wavelength ranges 3100–5400 and 5450–9000 Å, using the UVES spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. Although the complete emission redshift range is covered, emphasis is given to lower redshifts, and the C iv and Si iv metal lines discussed in this paper were well-detected over the redshift ranges of 1.5-3.0 and 1.8-3.0 respectively, as described in Table 1.

Observations were performed in service mode over two years. The data were reduced using the UVES context of the ESO MIDAS data reduction package, applying the optimal extraction method, and following the pipeline reduction step by step. The details of this reduction and spectrum normalization are described in further detail in Aracil et al. (2003a).

Name $`z_{\mathrm{em}}`$ Coverage    iv Si iv    PKS2126$``$158 3.280 2.36$``$3.24 2.74$``$3.24  Q0420$``$388 3.117 2.23$``$3.08 2.59$``$3.08  HE0940$``$1050 3.084 2.21$``$3.04 2.56$``$3.04  HE2347$``$4342 2.871 2.04$``$2.83 2.38$``$2.83  HE0151$``$4326 2.789 1.97$``$2.75 2.31$``$2.75  Q0002$``$422 2.767 1.96$``$2.73 2.29$``$2.73  PKS0329$``$255 2.703 1.91$``$2.66 2.23$``$2.66  Q0453$``$423 2.658 1.87$``$2.62 2.19$``$2.62  HE1347$``$2457 2.611 1.83$``$2.57 2.15$``$2.57  HE1158$``$1843 2.449 1.71$``$2.41 2.01$``$2.41  Q0329$``$385 2.435 1.70$``$2.40 2.00$``$2.40  HE2217$``$2818 2.414 1.68$``$2.37 1.98$``$2.37  Q1122$``$1328 2.410 1.68$``$2.37 1.98$``$2.37  Q0109$``$3518 2.404 1.67$``$2.36 1.97$``$2.36  HE0001$``$2340 2.263 1.56$``$2.22 1.84$``$2.22  PKS0237$``$23 2.222 1.53$``$2.18 1.81$``$2.18  PKS1448$``$232 2.220 1.53$``$2.18 1.81$``$2.18  Q0122$``$380 2.190 1.50$``$2.15 1.78$``$2.15  HE1341$``$1020 2.135 1.46$``$2.10 1.74$``$2.10

Table 1. List of lines of sight. Here $`z_{\mathrm{em}}`$ is the quasar emission redshift. Only C iv and Si iv systems detected redward of the Ly$`\alpha `$ forest and at least 3000 km/s blueward of $`z_{\mathrm{em}}`$ are used.

### 2.2. Line Identification

Metal-line systems were identified using an automated two-step procedure. For each species we applied a pixel-by-pixel procedure which compared the spectrum with one that was rescaled and shifted according to the ratio of the oscillator strengths, extracting the minimal flux and accounting for blends. A detection threshold was then applied to these spectra, such that only absorption features with equivalent widths (EWs) larger than 5 times the noise rms were accepted. Finally a set of physical criteria were applied, to eliminate false detections.

For each identified system the final decomposition into subcomponents was carried out using VPFIT (Carswell et al. 1987). For each component, initial $`z`$ values were taken from the central wavelengths of the sub-features, while initial values for the Doppler parameter $`b`$ and column density $`N`$ were computed directly from the EW and peak absorption of each sub-feature. This procedure is described in detail in Aracil et al. (2003b) and has been tested on simulated spectra, doing well for all systems with realistic values of $`N`$ and $`b`$.

Finally we applied a set of four cuts to the automated list generated by VPFIT: $`\mathrm{log}N[\mathrm{cm}^2]12`$ due to the detection limit of our procedure, $`b3`$ km/s to avoid false detections due to noise spikes, $`\mathrm{log}N[\mathrm{cm}^2]16`$ to remove two very badly saturated subcomponents, and $`b45`$ km/s to avoid false systems due to errors in continuum fitting. Our cuts resulted in a final data set of 643 C iv and 104 Si iv systems, drawn from an original sample of 748 and 149 respectively.

## 3. Analysis

### 3.1. Distribution Functions

This sample was first used to compute the column density distribution function $`f(N)`$. Following Tytler (1987), $`f(N)`$ is defined as the number of absorbing systems per unit column density and per unit redshift path $`X(z)\frac{2}{3}\left[(1+z)^{3/2}1\right]`$. In an $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=1`$ universe, which is a reasonable approximation over the redshift range considered, $`f(N)`$ does not evolve for a population whose physical size and comoving space density are constant.

Fig. 1.—Column density distribution of C iv (upper panel) and Si iv (lower panel) absorption systems. In each panel, systems are divided into two redshift bins: $`1.5z2.3`$ (squares) and $`2.3z3.1`$ (triangles). Column density bins are $`10^{0.5}N`$ cm-2 wide and $`\pm 1\sigma `$ error bars are given, computed from the variance of the data between spectra. The dashed lines are the power law fit measured in S01.

In Fig. 1 we plot $`f(N)`$ for both C iv and Si iv systems, dividing our sample into two redshift bins (1.5-2.3 and 2.3-3.1). Both species are consistent with a lack of redshift evolution, as found by previous studies of C iv and Si iv absorption systems (S01; Ellison et al. 2000). Furthermore the overall density distribution of C iv is consistent with a power-law of the form $`f(N)N^{1.8}`$ as fit by S01. From this figure, we see that some incompleteness sets in around $`10^{12.5}`$ cm-2. While fewer in total, Si iv systems are also consistent with a lack of evolution, and follow a similar power law with a lower overall magnitude.

### 3.2. Clustering of Metal Absorption Systems

Having constructed a sample of well-identified metal absorption systems, whose distributions are consistent with previous measurements, we then computed their two-point correlation function in redshift space, $`\xi (v)`$. This quantity was last studied by Rauch et al. (1996) and Boksenberg, Sargent, & Rauch (2003) who noted a marked similarity between $`\xi (v)`$ of C iv and Mg II (see also Petitjean & Bergeron 1990, 1994). For each quasar, we computed a histogram of all velocity separations and divided by the number expected for a random distribution. We then combined these distributions, weighting them according to the number of pairs in each quasar, yielding $`\xi (v)+1`$. The corresponding error bars were computed according to the appropriate weighted variance between quasars.

Fig. 2.—Two point correlation function of C iv (upper panel) and Si iv (lower panel) absorption systems. In each panel our systems have been divided into two redshifts bins, with symbols as in Fig. 1. The solid line in the upper panel includes the four unusual low-redshift systems (see text).

The resulting correlation functions are shown in Fig. 2, again split into two redshift bins. While the spatial distribution of both species shows no evolution at separations $`400`$ km/s, our comparison uncovers a low-redshift feature in the 500 km/s C iv bin. This we have traced back to arising from four extended systems amongst our 19 QSO sightlines, and seems to be due to some peculiarity in the internal structure of these systems. These will be studied in detail in a future publication, and are excluded from our model comparisons below, although this cut has no effect on our final fits.

The overall shape and amplitude of the C iv and Si iv correlation functions are strikingly similar and are consistent to within the Si iv measurement errors. Both functions exhibit a steep rise at large separations and a flatter profile at small separations, with an elbow occurring at $`150`$ km/s. Unlike Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption systems (see Cristiani et al. 1997), the correlation of C iv does not seem to depend strongly on absorption column densities. While choosing subsets below a fixed $`N`$ increases the noise of our measurements, the shape of $`\xi (v)`$ is preserved to within error bars.

## 4. Constraints on Metal Sources

The two-slope shape of the measured correlation functions is highly suggestive of a picture in which metal bubbles of a typical size (associated with the small scale clustering) are generated about objects of a typical mass (whose geometrical bias is associated with the large-scale clustering) (see also Petitjean & Bergeron 1990). In order to explore this connection further, we generated a simple model, based on a dark-matter-only simulation. As no evolution was detected, and the properties of both species were similar, we focused our attention on comparing the properties of C iv absorbers with simulated groups at a single representative redshift of three.

We adopted a Cold Dark Matter cosmological model with $`h=0.7`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ = 0.3, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ = 0.7, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b=0.05`$, $`\sigma _8=0.87`$, and $`n=1`$, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ are the total matter, vacuum, and baryonic densities in units of the critical density ($`\rho _c`$), $`\sigma _8^2`$ is the variance of linear fluctuations on the $`8h^1\mathrm{Mpc}`$ scale, and $`n`$ is the “tilt” of the primordial power spectrum. We made use of a simulation with $`512^3`$ dark matter particles, contained with a box $`50/h`$ comoving Mpc on a side. The mass of each particle was $`7.7\times 10^7\mathrm{M}_{}`$, which gives a minimum mass resolution for our group finding of $`10^{9.5}\mathrm{M}_{}`$ as we select only groups with 40 or more particles. The initial conditions were produced using GRAFIC (Bertschinger 2001) and were used as the inputs to the parallel version of GADGET (Springel et al. 2001). Halo detection was performed using the HOP algorithm (Eisenstein & Hut 1998) with the cuts $`\delta _{\mathrm{peak}}=160`$, $`\delta _{\mathrm{saddle}}=140`$, and $`\delta _{\mathrm{outer}}=80`$.

The resulting list of groups was then used to construct a simple simulated picture of IGM metal enrichment. We selected all $`z=3`$ groups above a threshold group mass $`M_s`$ as markers of the centers of enrichment events, about which we painted spheres of radius $`R_s`$. Note that our choice of this set is not meant to imply that enrichment occurred at $`z=3`$, but rather that it occurred at an unknown redshift higher than the observed range, centered on groups whose large-scale clustering was equivalent to $`z=3`$ objects of mass $`M_s`$. All smaller groups within such spheres were associated with C iv absorbers, each with an overall impact parameter equal to a factor $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$ times its dark matter radius. The observed number of C iv systems per unit redshift path was well-reproduced by fixing $`\stackrel{~}{b}=10.`$

Thirty-two planes were taken, and for each plane all 512 sightlines were drawn; the average two-point correlation was then compared with detected $`\xi `$ values, as shown in Fig. 3. As expected, the large scale correlations are almost completely dependent on $`M_s`$ while the position of the elbow in $`\xi (v)`$ is set by $`R_s`$. Our measurements are clearly suggestive of $`R_s=1.6`$ Mpc and $`M=5\times 10^{11}M_{}`$ $`z=3`$ objects, corresponding to a filling factor of $`f10\%`$, at the level of detection of our survey. Varying $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$ over a wide range of values has only a minor impact on this comparison, changing the inner slope of $`\xi (v)`$ slightly while giving a much poorer fit for the overall number of systems.

A straightforward geometric argument allows us to associate $`R_s`$ with a wind ejection energy per object, $`E_s`$. Here we adopt a simple picture in which the average bubble expands according to a Sedov-Taylor solution (Sedov 1959). In this case $`E_s`$ is related to the bubble radius as $`E_s=48\pi R^5\rho t^2/125`$, where $`t`$ is the expansion time and $`R`$ is in physical units such that $`R=R_s/(1+z_o)`$, where is the redshifts of observation, respectively. If we assume for simplicity that $`t`$ is approximately the Hubble time (2.3 Gyrs at $`z=3`$ in our cosmological model) and that the shell expands into material at the mean density at this redshift, this gives $`E=1.6\times 10^{58}`$ erg, which is equal to the kinetic energy input from roughly $`1.3\times 10^7`$ TypeII supernovae (SNIIe). This is roughly consistent with the overall number of C iv systems, which can be converted into a cosmological density of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{C\mathrm{iv}}5\times 10^8`$ as described in S01.

## 5. Discussion

We have studied the clustering of 643 C iv and 104 Si iv systems detected in UVES observations of 19 high-$`z`$ QSOs using an automatic procedure. The independently derived correlation functions of C iv and Si iv are similar, giving confidence in our automated approach. The shape of the correlation function is consistent with a picture where metals are confined within bubbles of $`R_s2`$ Mpc about $`M_s5\times 10^{11}\mathrm{M}_{}`$ halos at $`z=3`$. This implies that the filling factor of the metals is only 10% at the detection limit of the survey.

As our overall mass constraint is derived only from the geometrical bias of the sources, however, we cannot exclude models in which equally rare, but somewhat smaller higher-redshift objects are responsible for metal enrichment. Furthermore, the observed number density of C iv shows little evolution at $`z3`$ as at higher redshift (eg. S01). While more detailed investigations are necessary, it remains that all such models will be strongly constrained by the clustering of intergalactic metals.

We are grateful to J. Heyvaerts, C. Mallouris D. Pogosyan, E. Rollinde, R. Teyssier, & E. Thiébaut. ES was supported in part by an NSF MPS-DRF fellowship. This work is based on observations collected through ESO project ID No. 166.A-0106. The computational resources were made available to us by CINES.