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# Impurity-induced stabilization of Luttinger liquid in quasi-one-dimensional conductors

## Abstract

It is shown theoretically that the Luttinger liquid phase in quasi-one-dimensional conductors can exist in the presence of impurities in a form of a collection of bounded Luttinger liquids. The conclusion is based upon the observation by Kane and Fisher that a local impurity potential in Luttinger liquid acts, at low energies, as an infinite barrier. This leads to a discrete spectrum of collective charge and spin density fluctuations, so that interchain hopping can be considered as a small parameter at temperatures below the minimum excitation energy of the collective modes. The results are compared with recent experimental observation of a Luttinger-liquid-like behavior in thin NbSe3 and TaS3 wires.

Electronic properties of one-dimensional (1D) metals are known to be very different from those of ordinary three-dimensional (3D) metals (for a review see Ref.Voit ; FishGlaz ; SchulzR ). 3D electron gas is well described by Landau’s Fermi-liquid picture in which interaction modifies free electrons making them quasiparticles that behave in many respects like non-interacting electrons. In contrast to the 3D case, in 1D electronic systems the Fermi-liquid picture breaks down even in the case of the arbitrarily weak interaction. In 1D metals, the single-electron quasiparticles do not exist, and the only low energy excitations turn out to be charge and spin collective modes with the sound-like spectrum. These modes are dynamically independent giving rise to a spin-charge separation in 1D systems. Furthermore, correlation functions at large distances and times decay as a power law with interaction dependent exponents. Such a behavior has been given a generic name Luttinger liquid Haldane .

The concept of Luttinger liquid is of great interest in view of its application to real physical systems, such as carbon nanotubes and semiconductor heterostructures with a confining potential (quantum wires and quantum Hall effect edge states). The case of a special interest are quasi-1D conductors, i. e., highly anisotropic 3D conductors with chain-like structure. Numerous experimental studies of both organic and inorganic q1D conductors at low temperatures typically demonstrate broken-symmetry states, like superconductivity, spin- or charge-density wave (CDW) states, and a metallic behavior above the transition temperature with non-zero single-particle density of states at Fermi energy. For instance, the most studied inorganic quasi-1D metals undergo the Peierls transition from metallic state either to a semiconducting CDW state (e. g., blue bronze K0.3MoO3, TaS3, (TaSe4)2I etc.) or to semimetallic CDW state (NbSe3) Gruner . Typically, this transitions occur in the temperature range 50 - 250 K. From the theoretical point of view, the formation of Luttinger liquid in quasi-1D conductors at low enough temperatures is also problematic because of the instability towards 3D coupling in the presence of arbitrarily small interchain hopping PriFirs ; BraYak ; Schulz ; Boies ; Arrig . So the interchain hopping induces a crossover to 3D behavior at low energies, while Luttinger liquid behavior can survive only at high enough energy scale where it is not affected by 3D coupling.

In contrast to the interchain hopping, the Coulomb interaction between the electrons at different chains does not destroy the Luttinger liquid state, the main difference from the 1D case being the absence of simple scaling relations between the exponents of the various correlation functions Barisic ; BoBa ; SchulzCoul ; MKL .

However, in recent experimental studies of temperature and field dependence of conductivity of TaS3 and NbSe3 in nanoscale-sized crystals a transition from room-temperature metallic behavior to nonmetallic one accompanied by disappearance of the CDW state at temperatures below 50 - 100 K was observed ZZPM ; ZZ ; ZZGSZ . The low temperature non-metallic state was characterized by power law dependencies of the conductivity on voltage and temperature like that expected in Luttinger liquid, or by more strong temperature dependence corresponding to the variable-range hopping. Resembling dependencies of conductivity were reported although in focused-ion beam processed or doped relatively thick NbSe3 crystals ZZGSZ . Hopping conductivity was also detected in dirty quasi-1D conductors KCP and organic TCNQ-based metals organics , while pure materials are known to undergo the Peierls transition to the CDW state.

In order to account for such behavior, we study the possibility of impurity-induced stabilization of a gapless Luttinger liquid state in quasi-1D metals. Impurities in Luttinger liquid are known to act as infinite barriers forming the effective boundaries for low energy excitations KaneFischer ; MatveevGlazman ; FuruNag . This leads to a dimensional quantization and, consequently, to a minimal excitation energy $`\omega _1`$. As a result, the interchain hopping does not destroy the Luttinger liquid phase at temperatures $`T\omega _1`$, producing only small perturbations of the 1D picture. To show this, we consider first the gapless 1D Tomonaga-Luttinger (TL) model with impurity potential included, and make certain that the system with impurities breaks up into a set of independent segments described as bounded Luttinger liquid with discrete spectrum. Then we calculate corrections caused by the interchain hopping to thermodynamic potential and to the one-particle Green’s function, and find that such corrections are small at low temperatures. Finally, we discuss modifications introduced by generalization of the TL model to the more realistic case of Coulomb potential and compare our results with experimental data.

First of all we start with the TL model ignoring interchain hopping integral $`t_{}`$ in order to formulate the problem in the zeroth approximation in $`t_{}`$. Electronic operators for right ($`r=+1`$) and left ($`r=1`$) moving electrons with spin $`s`$ are given in terms of phase fields as (see Ref.Voit ; SchulzR )

$$\psi _{r,s}(x)=\underset{\alpha 0}{lim}\frac{e^{irk_Fx}}{\sqrt{2\pi \alpha }}\eta _{r,s}e^{iA_r},A_r=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}[\mathrm{\Theta }_\rho r\mathrm{\Phi }_\rho +s(\mathrm{\Theta }_\sigma r\mathrm{\Phi }_\sigma )]$$
(1)
here phase fields $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (x)`$ are related to charge ($`\nu =\rho `$) and spin ($`\nu =\sigma `$) densities, while fields $`\mathrm{\Theta }_\nu (x)`$ are related to the momentum operators $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\nu =(1/\pi )_x\mathrm{\Theta }_\nu `$ canonically conjugate to $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu `$. Further, $`\eta _{r,s}`$ are Majorana (”real”) Fermionic operators that assure proper anticommutation relations between electronic operators with different spin $`s`$ and chirality $`r`$, and the cut off length $`\alpha `$ is assumed to be of the order of interatomic distance.

We describe the intrachain properties of the system by the standard TL Hamiltonian Voit ; SchulzR  with added $`2k_F`$ impurity backscattering term FishGlaz . In the bozonized form it reads

$`H={\displaystyle \underset{\nu =\rho ,\sigma }{}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x\left\{\frac{\pi v_\nu K_\nu }{2}\mathrm{\Pi }_\nu ^2+\frac{v_\nu }{2\pi K_\nu }\left(_x\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \right)^2\right\}}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}V_0d\delta (xx_i)\mathrm{cos}(\sqrt{2}\mathrm{\Phi }_\rho +2k_Fx)\mathrm{cos}(\sqrt{2}\mathrm{\Phi }_\sigma (x)),`$ (2)
where $`v_\nu `$ are velocities of the charge ($`\nu =\rho `$) and spin ($`\nu =\sigma `$) modes, $`K_\nu =v_F/v_\nu `$ is the standard Luttinger liquid parameter describing the strength of the interaction, $`V_0`$ and $`d\alpha `$ are amplitude and radius of the scattering potential, respectively.

Kane and Fischer KaneFischer  found that the backscattering impurity potential for repulsive potential ($`K_\rho <1`$) flows to infinity under scaling. Their arguments were generalized by Fabrizio and Gogolin FabGogolin  to the case of many impurities. It was shown that the impurity potential can be considered as effectively infinite provided that the mean distance, $`l`$, between impurities satisfies the condition

$$l\frac{1}{k_F}\left(\frac{D}{V_0}\right)^{2/(1K_\rho )},$$
(3)
where $`D`$ is the bandwidth. We assume that the impurity potential is of atomic scale, $`V_0D`$, and the interaction between electrons is not too weak, (i. e., $`K_\rho `$ is not too close to 1). Then condition (3) is satisfied for $`l1/k_F\alpha `$ which is of the order of interatomic distance. So the limit of strong impurity potential should be a good approximation in a wide range of impurity concentrations.

Further, $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\nu `$, $`\mathrm{\Theta }_\nu `$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu `$ must obey the commutation relations (see Ref.Voit ; FishGlaz ; SchulzR ) ensuring anticommutation of electronic operators (1). Using then the analogy of Eq.(2) with the Hamiltonian of an elastic string strongly pinned at impurity sites, we can write down solutions for the phase operators $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu `$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }_\nu `$ in the region between impurity positions at $`x=x_i`$ and $`x_{i+1}`$ as

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_\nu (x)={\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{K_\nu }{n}}}(b_n+b_n^+)\mathrm{sin}q_n\stackrel{~}{x}+{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{x}\mathrm{\Phi }_{i+1}(\stackrel{~}{x}l_i)\mathrm{\Phi }_i}{\sqrt{2}l_i}}\delta _{\nu \rho }{\displaystyle \underset{j<i}{}}\pi \mathrm{\Delta }N_{\nu j}\pi \mathrm{\Delta }N_{\nu i}{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{x}}{l_i}},`$
$`\mathrm{\Theta }_\nu (x)={\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{K_\nu n}}}(b_nb_n^+)\mathrm{cos}q_n\stackrel{~}{x}+\theta _\nu ,`$ (4)
where $`\stackrel{~}{x}=xx_i,`$ $`l_i=x_{i+1}x_i`$, $`q_n=\pi n/l_i`$, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$ is the modulo $`2\pi `$ residue of $`2k_Fx_i`$. Further, $`\mathrm{\Delta }N_{\rho i}=(\mathrm{\Delta }N_i+N_i)/\sqrt{2}`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }N_{\sigma i}=(\mathrm{\Delta }N_iN_i)/\sqrt{2}`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }N_i`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }N_i`$) is the number of extra electrons with spin up (down) in the region between $`i`$-th and $`(i+1)`$-th impurities, and, finally, $`\theta _{\nu i}`$ is the phase canonically conjugate to $`\mathrm{\Delta }N_{\nu i}`$ ($`[\theta _{\nu i},\mathrm{\Delta }N_{\nu i}]=i`$).

Excitation spectra of the eigenmodes are $`\omega _\nu =n\omega _{1,\nu }v_\nu q_n`$ where $`\omega _{1,\nu }=\pi v_\nu /l_i`$ is the minimum excitation frequency for mode $`\nu `$.

Note that if we consider the open boundary conditions at the sample ends, $`x=0`$, and, $`x=L`$, (instead of periodic boundary conditions that are commonly used) then operators $`\eta _s`$ in Eq.(1) are the same for electrons going right and left. In this case, the electron field operator, $`\psi _s(x)=\psi _{s+}(x)+\psi _s(x)`$, vanishes at impurity positions, $`x=x_i`$, and expressions for the phase fields between the impurity sites turn out to be similar to those found for bounded 1D Luttinger liquid in Refs.FabGogolin ; EggJohMat ; Mat , the main difference being the summation over $`j<i`$ that insure proper commutation relations between the electron operators related to different segments between impurities. Thus the system breaks up into a set of independent segments described as bounded Luttinger liquid with discrete spectrum.

Now we consider the role of interchain hopping adding to (2) the hopping Hamiltonian

$`H_{}=t_{}{\displaystyle \underset{m,n,r,s}{}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x\psi _{r,s,m}^+(x)\psi _{r,s,n}(x)}+HC`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{m,n,r,s}{}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x\frac{it_{}\eta _{r,s,n}\eta _{r,s,m}}{\pi \alpha }\left[\mathrm{sin}(A_{r,m}A_{r,n})+\mathrm{sin}(A_{r,m}A_{r,n}+2irk_Fx)\right]},`$ (5)
where indices $`n`$ and $`m`$ denoting the chain numbers related to the nearest neighbors are added.

Arguments by Schulz Schulz  on instability of the Luttinger liquid in the presence of the interchain hopping were based on calculations of temperature dependence of the thermodynamic potential at low temperatures. So we calculate contribution of the interchain hopping to the thermodynamic potential per unit volume given by the standard expression AGD

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=T\mathrm{ln}S/V,S=T_\tau \mathrm{exp}\left(_0^{1/T}H_{}(\tau )𝑑\tau \right),$$
(6)
where $`V`$ is the volume, $`T_\tau `$ stands for imaginary time ordering, and $`\mathrm{}`$ means thermodynamic averaging over the unperturbed state.

At temperatures $`T\omega _{1,\nu }`$, the discreteness of the excitation spectrum can be neglected, hence, according to Refs. PriFirs ; BraYak ; Schulz ; Boies ; Arrig , interchain hopping is expected to give significant contributions destroying the Luttinger liquid. We examine the opposite limit, $`T\omega _{1,\nu }`$, which does not exist in pure infinite Luttinger liquid.

Consider first the second order correction in $`t_{}`$. The leading contribution to $`S`$ in Eq.(6) is given by items in which the term related to a given chain contains contributions from the electrons with the same chirality, $`r`$, only,

$$\underset{m,r,r^{}}{}\frac{t_{}^2}{8\pi ^2\alpha ^2}d\mathrm{𝟏}d\mathrm{𝟐}T_\tau e^{i[A_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟏})A_{r^{},n}(\mathrm{𝟏})]}e^{i[A_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟐})A_{r^{},n}(\mathrm{𝟐})]}e^{i(rr^{})k_F(x_1x_2)},$$
(7)
where $`\mathrm{𝟏}=\{x_1,\tau _1\}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟐}=\{x_2,\tau _2\}`$. Other items in which the terms related to the same chain contain contributions from electrons moving both left and right give small contribution, and we do not discuss them in details.

Then we use Eq.(4) in (1) and calculate average in (7) using the relation

$$T_\tau e^{iA_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟏})}e^{iA_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟐})}=e^{\frac{1}{2}A_{r,m}^2(\mathrm{𝟏})+A_{r,m}^2(\mathrm{𝟐})2T_\tau [A_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟏})A_{r,m}(\mathrm{𝟐})]}.$$
(8)
Neglecting small corrections $`\mathrm{exp}[\frac{\omega _{1,\nu }}{T}]`$ due to Planck’s distribution functions, we find for the average in the exponent

$$T_\tau A_r(\mathrm{𝟏})A_r(\mathrm{𝟐})=\frac{1}{8}\mathrm{ln}\left[\frac{(\mathrm{cosh}z\mathrm{cos}y_+)^{(K_\nu K_\nu ^1)}}{(\mathrm{cosh}z\mathrm{cos}y_{})^{(K_\nu +K_\nu ^1)}}\right]+i\mathrm{tan}^1\left[\frac{\mathrm{sin}y_{}}{e^z\mathrm{cos}y_{}}\right],$$
(9)
where $`y_\pm =\frac{\pi (\stackrel{~}{x}_1\pm \stackrel{~}{x}_2)}{l_i}`$, $`z=\frac{\pi (\alpha +v_\nu |\tau _1\tau _2|)}{l_i}`$ (chain indices are dropped for brevity here).

In the integrations over $`\mathrm{𝟏}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟐}`$, the leading contributions comes from region $`\mathrm{𝟏}\mathrm{𝟐}`$, i. e., $`|y_{}|1`$, $`z1`$ where expression (7) reduces to

$$\frac{t_{}^2mL}{\pi ^2\alpha ^2T}\frac{\mathrm{cos}[(rr^{})k_F(x_{})]dx_{}d\tau _{}}{_{\nu =\rho ,\sigma }[(1+ϵ_\nu \tau _{})^2+(x_{}/\alpha )^2]^{1+2\delta _\nu }}$$
(10)
where $`ϵ_\nu =\frac{v_\nu }{\pi \alpha }`$, $`\delta _\nu =\frac{1}{4}(K_\nu +1/K_\nu 2)`$, $`\tau _{}=|\tau _1\tau _2|`$, $`x_{}=x_1x_2`$, and $`m`$ is the number of the nearest-neighbor chains. Contribution to expression (7) from integration over region $`|y_{}|1`$, $`z1`$, is small, $`(\alpha /l_i)^{2\delta }`$, $`\delta =\delta _\rho +\delta _\sigma `$, because $`\delta `$ is not too small in the assumed case of the not too small interaction (cf. Eq. (3)).

Additional items in $`S`$ in Eq.(6) in which the terms related to the same chain contain contributions from electrons moving both left and right is smaller than that given by Eq. (10) by factor $`(\alpha /l_i)^{K_\rho +K_\sigma }`$. For reasonable values of $`K_\nu `$, this contribution is small and can be neglected.

Similarly, the leading contribution to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ from higher-order terms in series expansion of the exponential in Eq.(6) was found to come from even powers $`2n`$ in $`t_{}`$ that can be represented as a sum of $`(2n1)!!`$ items like (7) with almost coinciding times and coordinates. Therefore, summing up the leading contributions and inserting them into Eq.(6) we can calculate the variation of the thermodynamic potential per single chain and per unit length

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=a\frac{t_{}^2m}{\pi ^2v_F},a=\frac{(1+\mathrm{cos}2k_F\alpha x)dxd\tau }{_{\nu =\rho ,\sigma }[(1+\tau /K_\nu )^2+x^2]^{1+2\delta _\nu }}.$$
(11)
For moderate repulsion, $`\delta 1`$, $`a1`$. In the limit of strong repulsion, $`K_\rho K_\sigma 1`$, $`a`$ is small, $`aK_\rho ^2`$.

Thus $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is much smaller than the thermodynamic potential of purely 1D Luttinger liquid, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0\left(\frac{1}{K_\rho }+\frac{1}{K_\sigma }\right)\epsilon _Fk_F`$,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{\Omega }_0\left(\frac{t_{}}{\epsilon _F}\right)^2,$$

and temperature-dependent corrections to Eq.(11) are determined by small thermally activated contributions $`\mathrm{exp}[\frac{\omega _{1,\nu }}{T}]`$.

Now we calculate modification of the one-particle Green’s function due to the interchain hopping.

$$G(\mathrm{𝟏},\mathrm{𝟏}^{})=T_\tau \psi (\mathrm{𝟏})\overline{\psi }(\mathrm{𝟏}^{})S/S.$$
(12)
Again, we consider the low-temperature limit, $`T\omega _{1,\nu }`$, non-existing in pure infinite system. Consider first the second order correction in $`t_{}`$ to the Green’s function of pure 1D system, $`G_0(\mathrm{𝟏},\mathrm{𝟏}^{})`$.

$$G_2(\mathrm{𝟏},\mathrm{𝟏}^{})=T_\tau \psi (\mathrm{𝟏})\overline{\psi }(\mathrm{𝟏}^{})S_2+T_\tau \psi (\mathrm{𝟏})\overline{\psi }(\mathrm{𝟏}^{})S_2.$$
(13)
Calculation is similar to that considered above, (cf. (7-9)). However, in contrast to the case of the thermodynamic potential where the leading contribution was given by regions of almost coinciding values of times and coordinates, such contributions from two terms in (9) cancel each other. So the second-order correction is estimated as

$$G_2(\mathrm{𝟏},\mathrm{𝟏}^{})\left(\frac{t_{}l}{v_F}\right)^2\left(\frac{\alpha }{l}\right)^{2\delta }G_0(\mathrm{𝟏},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}).$$

Estimation of the fourth order correction in $`t_{}`$ gives $`G_4(t_{}l/v_F)^2(\alpha /l)^{2\delta }G_2`$. Therefore, we conclude that at $`T\omega _{1,\nu }`$ the interchain hopping gives small corrections to the one-particle Green’s function, provided

$$\left(\frac{t_{}l}{v_F}\right)^2\left(\frac{\alpha }{l}\right)^{2\delta }\left(\frac{t_{}}{\epsilon _F}\right)^2\left(\frac{\alpha }{l}\right)^{2\delta 2}1,$$
(14)
where we estimated the cut-off parameter as $`\alpha 1/k_F`$.

So far we considered the TL model in which interaction is described by coupling constants related to forward- and backscattering. In order to make comparison with experimental data we must consider a more realistic Coulomb potential. It is reasonable to assume that the long-range part of the interaction is dominated by the Coulomb potential, while the backscattering is described by relatively small coupling constant $`g_1`$. This enables us to concentrate on the spin isotropic case and to ignore the possibility of the spin gap. The problem of the long-range Coulomb potential on an array of chains was solved in Refs. Barisic ; BoBa ; SchulzCoul . It was found that interaction of electrons on a given chain is screened by the electrons on other chains, and the Coulomb interaction can be described by the TL Hamiltonian with coupling constants dependent on wave vector,

$$g_2=g_4=\frac{4\pi e^2}{s^2(q_{}^2+ϵ_{}q_{}^2)},$$
(15)
where $`s`$ is the lattice period in the direction perpendicular to the chains, and $`ϵ_{}`$ is a background dielectric constant for the transverse direction. Coupling constants in spin channel remain unaffected. In principle, the coupling constants must be determined by matrix elements of Coulomb potential that depend on details of wavefunctions and on chain arrangement, and must contain an infinite sum over transversal reciprocal lattice vectors. So expression (15) is not universal and depends on material.

Eq. (15) leads to $`𝐪`$-dependent velocities

$$\omega _\rho =\frac{v_F}{K_\rho }q_{},\frac{1}{K_\rho }=\sqrt{1+\frac{\mathrm{}}{s^2(q_{}^2+ϵ_{}q_{}^2)}},\mathrm{}=\kappa ^2s^2=\frac{8e^2}{\mathrm{}v_F},$$
(16)
where $`\kappa `$ is the inverse Thomas-Fermi screening length.

We do not perform explicit calculations restricting ourselves to estimations. For the case of $`𝐪`$-dependent coupling expressions for the thermodynamic potential and Green’s functions contain various integrals of correlation functions over $`𝐪_{}`$. One can show that the results obtained above can be generalized qualitatively to the case of long-range Coulomb interaction if we substitute $`q_{}`$ in Eq. (16) for its characteristic value, $`q_{}\pi /s`$. For example, integrals for corrections to the thermodynamic potential are dominated by close values of coordinates and times, similar to Eq. (10), and coupling parameters should be substituted by their averages over $`q_{}`$,

$$\delta =\frac{1}{4}(\overline{K_\rho }+\overline{1/K_\rho }+K_\sigma +1/K_\sigma 4)\frac{1}{4}\left[\frac{s^2d^2q_{}}{(2\pi )^2}\left(K_\rho +\frac{1}{K_\rho }\right)2\right].$$

Note that $`\mathrm{}=8\alpha (c/v_F)`$, where $`\alpha `$ is the fine structure constant. Since $`v_F`$ is much smaller than the velocity of light, the factor $`\mathrm{}`$ is large. For $`v_F2\times 10^7`$ cm/s, which is typical value for transition metal trihalcogenides, $`\mathrm{}90`$. This corresponds to the case of strong interaction and leads to quite large values of coupling parameters, $`\overline{1/K_\rho }\sqrt{\mathrm{}/ϵ_{}}3÷8,`$ $`\delta 1/2÷2.`$

Now we discuss conditions for observation of the Luttinger liquid in quasi-1D conductors stabilized by impurities. First we discuss the condition for the temperature limiting from above the region where the Luttinger liquid can exist. This condition reads, $`T\omega _{1,\nu }`$. The minimal excitation energies, $`\omega _{1,\nu }`$, can be estimated as

$$\omega _{1,\nu }=\frac{\mathrm{}v_F}{l}\overline{1/K_\nu }\epsilon _F\left(\frac{1}{k_Fl}\right)\overline{1/K_\nu }\epsilon _Fc_i\overline{1/K_\nu },$$

where $`c_i`$ stands for dimensionless impurity concentration corresponding to number of impurities per one electron. As Fermi energy in NbSe3 and TaS3 is about 1 eV, we obtain that $`\omega _{1,\rho }`$ is about 100 K for impurity concentration $`c_i10^2÷10^3`$.

Another condition to be fulfilled is smallness of corrections to the Green’s function due to interchain hopping. According to Eq.(14) the corrections are small provided

$$\left(\frac{t_{}}{\epsilon _F}\right)^2c_i^{2\delta 2}1.$$

If the interaction is strong enough, $`\delta 1`$, this condition is not more strict than the condition for the limiting temperature discussed above. For lower strength of interaction, $`\delta <1`$, this condition reads

$$c_i\left(\frac{t_{}}{\epsilon _F}\right)^{1/(22\delta )}.$$

Estimating $`t_{}`$ as being of the order of the Peierls transition temperature, $`T_P100÷200`$ K $`0.01\epsilon _F`$, we find that this condition can be fulfilled easily even at $`\delta =1/2`$ for relatively small impurity concentration, $`c_i10^2`$.

Thus we find that Luttinger liquid can be stabilized by impurities in relatively pure linear-chain compounds at rather high temperatures corresponding to experimental observation Refs.ZZPM ; ZZ ; ZZGSZ  of the transition from metallic to non-metallic conduction characterized by power law dependencies of conductivity and by conductivity resembling the variable-range hopping. However, in order to make detailed comparison with the experimental data, calculation of the conductivity in a random network made of weakly coupled bounded Luttinger liquids is needed.

The author is grateful to S.V. Zaitsev-Zotov for useful discussions. The work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, by INTAS, CRDF, and by collaborative program with the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.


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# Low scale inflation with large number of e-foldings

## I Introduction

Low scale inflation has its virtues and challenges Linde . The virtues are low reheating temperature, which can avoid thermal and non-thermal gravitino problems Ellis ; Maroto , solving moduli problem by either invoking thermal inflation Lyth  or via TeV scale scale inflation Randall ; garcia . Among the main challenges it is usually hard to realize successful baryogenesis scenario, especially if the reheat temperature comes out to be below the electroweak scale, however see $`Q`$-ball baryogenesis enqvist98 , and for a review see Ref. Reps .

Usually low scale inflationary models do not give plenty of inflation compared to a simple chaotic type models, partly because the vevs of the fields involved can be less than $`𝒪(M_p)`$, where $`M_p=2.4\times 10^{19}`$ GeV. Even hybrid Linde1 , or natural inflation type models new  give limited inflation, e.g. $`𝒩_e100`$, or, even less angular . Very Large number of e-foldings is not mandatory for structure formation, because the required number of e-foldings can be at most $`60`$, but in any case it is an interesting academic curiosity that how large e-foldings of inflation can we obtain for low scale inflaton.

In this paper we will illustrate an example based on a simple hybrid inflation model Linde1 , where it is quite possible to tweak the parameters which can give an extremely large e-foldings of inflation. Usually in hybrid model inflation ends when the phase transition occurs and the transition can be either first order or second order Copeland . Particularly in the case of a second order phase transition it is often believed that it happens quite fast, on the contrary to the common dogma here we give an example where this phase transition occurs extremely slowly which can drive a second bout of inflation.

One of the most interesting outcome of our scenario is that we can get enough e-foldings of inflation even if we had a Hubble induced mass correction to the inflaton softmass . Imagining that we did not have any significant inflation before the phase transition due to the break down of a slow roll inflation, nevertheless, we can still generate sufficiently large e-foldings during the slow phase transition. This is the most interesting result of our paper, which could provide a resolution to many inflationary models, such as in $`N=1`$ supergravity where one commonly obtains such correction Copeland ; dterm . In this paper we also illustrate that inspite of having large mass correction to the inflaton it is possible to generate almost scale invariant density perturbations, which is a compelling result. We will also address the issue of cosmological moduli problem in this paper.

## II The model and its dynamics

The dynamics of hybrid inflation models where there is a second period of inflation have previously been studied in Refs Randall  and garcia , with particular emphasis on the production of large density perturbations, which may lead to the over-production of primordial black holes. The importance of a second bout of inflation was rediscovered in the context of inflationary models with large extra dimensions Green , see also Abdel1 . Now we will discuss briefly the dynamics of a second bout of inflation and describe its rich applications.

For the purpose of illustration let us consider the following form of the potential

$`V(\varphi ,\mathrm{\Phi })=\lambda ^2\left(\left({\displaystyle \frac{M_{}}{M_p}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }^2}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{M_p}{M_{}}}\right)\mathrm{\Phi }_0^2\right)^2+`$
$`g^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{M_{}}{M_p}}\right)^2\varphi ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m_\varphi ^2\varphi ^2.`$ (1)
where we have assumed $`\lambda ,g𝒪(1)`$. Here $`M_{}`$ is an intermediate scale. The global minimum of the potential is

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\sqrt{2}\left(\frac{M_p}{M_{}}\right)\mathrm{\Phi }_0,\varphi =0.$$
(2)
If $`M_{}=\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$, then the natural global minimum is $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\sqrt{2}M_p`$, and $`\varphi =0`$ as before. Naturally our couplings are small and for such small couplings we will show that phase transition is indeed very slow. Furthermore if $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0m_\varphi `$ and for $`\mathrm{\Phi }(M_\mathrm{P}\mathrm{\Phi }_0/M_{})`$ the false vacuum term in the potential dominates and the Hubble parameter remains constant with

$$H=\sqrt{\frac{8\pi }{3}}\lambda \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0^2}{M_{}}.$$
(3)
During the first phase of inflation when $`\varphi >\varphi _c,\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$, the number of e-foldings of inflation is limited by

$$\frac{\varphi }{\varphi _c}=e^{\frac{n1}{2}𝒩_e},$$
(4)
where $`n`$ is the spectral index, and it is given by

$$n1=2\eta =\frac{2m_\varphi ^2}{3H^2}.$$
(5)
Note that if $`m_\varphi 𝒪(H)`$, the tilt in the spectral index will be significantly large. This is exactly what happens in the context of a Hubble induced mass correction to the inflaton in $`F`$-term supergravity inflation Copeland ; dterm . In the above expression $`\varphi _c`$ is the critical vev which is determined by

$$\varphi _c\frac{\lambda \mathrm{\Phi }_0M_p}{gM_{}}.$$
(6)
This is the point where usually the slow roll inflation comes to an end with a phase transition. For the time being let us concentrate upon the dynamics around this vev.

Note that the slope of the potential in the $`\varphi `$ direction can be written as

$$\frac{\mathrm{d}V}{\mathrm{d}\varphi }=\left[2g^2\left(\frac{M_{}}{M_\mathrm{P}}\right)^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2+m_\varphi ^2\right]\varphi .$$
(7)
When the second term in the right hand side of the above equation dominates then the motion of $`\varphi `$ evolves away from $`\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$. By solving the equation of motion for $`\varphi `$, we obtain

$$\varphi =\varphi _c\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{1}{\sqrt{24\pi }}\frac{1}{\lambda }\left(\frac{m_\varphi }{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}\right)^2(M_{}\widehat{t})\right],$$
(8)
where we have now taken $`\widehat{t}=0`$ when $`\varphi =\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$. For small vevs the quantum fluctuations in the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field become important. This happens when

$$\varphi ^2<\varphi _\mathrm{c}^2+\frac{4\pi }{3}\left(\frac{\lambda \mathrm{\Phi }_0^2M_\mathrm{P}}{M_{}}\right)^2,$$
(9)
then the Fokker-Planck equation fp  is usually employed to study the dynamics of the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field Randall ; garcia ; Green . It is possible to study the random walk of $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field by assuming that the field has a delta-function distribution at some initial time, say when $`\varphi \varphi _\mathrm{c}`$. The average quantum diffusion per Hubble volume per Hubble time is $`H/2\pi `$. It was found in Ref. garcia  that the typical value of the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field when $`\varphi =\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$ is $`\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}𝒪(10)H/2\pi `$, which has also been numerically verified in Ref. Green .

In the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ direction the slope of the potential is given by

$$\frac{\mathrm{d}V}{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }}=\left[\lambda ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2+2g^2(\varphi ^2\varphi _c^2)\right]\mathrm{\Phi }\left(\frac{M_{}}{M_\mathrm{P}}\right)^2.$$
(10)
If $`\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$ is sufficiently large then there is a small period where the first term dominates and $`\mathrm{\Phi }(\widehat{t})\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$. As $`\varphi `$ evolves away from $`\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$, however, the second term soon comes to dominate, so that for small $`\widehat{t}`$, using the first order expansion of Eq. (8)

$$\varphi \varphi _c\frac{1}{\sqrt{24\pi }}\frac{1}{g}\left(\frac{m_\varphi ^2}{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}\right)M_\mathrm{p}t,$$
(11)
the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field grows exponentially

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{1}{12\pi }\left(\frac{m_\varphi }{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}\right)^2\left(M_{}t\right)^2\right],$$
(12)
where we have neglected the initial period where $`\mathrm{\Phi }\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$ because its duration is negligible compared with that of the subsequent exponential growth. During this period $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field grows exponentially and $`\varphi `$ moves slowly away from $`\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$. However, once

$$2g^2\left(\frac{M_{}}{M_\mathrm{P}}\right)^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2m_\varphi ^2,$$
(13)
the first term in Eq. (7), which is growing exponentially, comes to dominate the evolution of the $`\varphi `$ field then $`\varphi `$ evolves rapidly away from $`\varphi _\mathrm{c}`$. At this point $`\mathrm{\Phi }(\varphi _\mathrm{c}\varphi )`$ so that $`\mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\varphi `$ and both $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`(\varphi _\mathrm{c}\varphi )`$ grow rapidly, and inflation comes to an end shortly afterwards, with both fields subsequently oscillating about the global minimum of the potential. This is the end of the slow phase transition and also the era of the end of inflation. The duration of the second phase of inflation, $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$, lasts Green

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t\frac{\sqrt{6\pi }\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{m_\varphi M_{}}\left\{\mathrm{ln}\left[\frac{1}{2g^2}\left(\frac{M_P}{M_{}}\right)^2\left(\frac{m_\varphi }{\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}}\right)^2\right]\right\}^{1/2}.$$
(14)
Since the Hubble parameter remains constant until very close to the end of the second phase of inflation, the estimate of the total number of e-foldings can be given by Green

$`𝒩_\mathrm{e}`$ $``$ $`H\mathrm{\Delta }t=4\pi \lambda {\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0^3}{M_{}^2m_\varphi }}`$ (15)
$`\times \left\{\mathrm{ln}\left[2\sqrt{\pi }\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{M_{}}}\right)^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{M_\mathrm{p}}{\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}}}\right)\right]\right\}^{1/2}.`$
Let us consider some examples, for $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}10^{18}`$ GeV, $`m_\varphi 1`$ MeV and $`\lambda g𝒪(1)`$, we obtain $`𝒩_e10^{28}`$, an extremely large number of e-foldings of inflation. This reiterates the point that for $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}`$ the phase transition is extremely slow. However note that the Hubble expansion is fairly large, $`H10^{17}`$ GeV. Now suppose we consider $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}10^6`$ GeV and $`m_\varphi 10`$ GeV, for which $`H10^6`$ GeV, we still get $`𝒩_e10^6`$, still quite large number of e-foldings of inflation. If we would like to stretch our parameters to $`m_\varphi 10^3`$ eV and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}10^3`$ GeV, we obtain $`𝒩_e10^{16}`$ e-foldings of inflation. Now we turn our attention to the virtues of the slow phase transition.

## III A possible solution to the $`\eta 𝒪(1)`$ problem

It is quite tempting to push this limit to solve the $`\eta `$ problem, which plagues $`F`$-term supersymmetric inflationary models and other models. In supergravity, the idea is that even for a minimal Kähler potential, the inflaton mass obtains a Hubble induced correction during and after inflation, e.g. $`m_\varphi H`$, provided the source for the inflaton potential belongs to the chiral sector. For $`D`$-term inflation it is possible to avoid this potential problem, see dterm . An another example for Hubble induced mass correction is if the inflaton, $`\varphi `$, couples non-minimally to the gravity. The coupling $`(\xi /2)R\varphi ^2`$ gives rise to the inflaton mass correction, $`12\xi H^2`$ during inflation, without altering the rate of expansion of the Universe. Whatsoever be the main cause for obtaining large mass correction, the main result is that we immediately obtain a large tilt in the spectral index, see Eq. (5). The inflaton with a Hubble induced mass simply rolls down to its minimum within one Hubble time, therefore, ending slow roll inflation in usual sense.

Let us now consider our potential, Eq. (II), with $`m_\varphi 𝒪(H)`$. Note that in Eq. (15), if we assume $`m_\varphi 𝒪(1)H`$, then we obtain $`𝒩_e𝒪(10)(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/M_{})`$. For instance if we select $`\mathrm{\Phi }_010M_{}`$, we obtain a considerable e-foldings of inflation from a slow phase transition, $`𝒩_e𝒪(100)`$. However we immediately note that for the above parameters our approximations leading to Eq. (15) breaks down. With the above parameters phase transition occurs actually fast and therefore the problem remains.

Nevertheless it is possible to ameliorate this situation if we allow mismatching couplings, for example if we only alter

$$g=\left(\frac{M_p}{M_{}}\right),$$
(16)
in which case the coupling between the fields simply reads; $`\varphi ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2`$ in Eq. (II), and similarly all other equations are modified, importantly Eq. (13), which now reads $`\mathrm{\Phi }^2m_\varphi ^2/2`$. If we suppose $`m_\varphi 𝒪(H)`$, then we obtain a vev of $`\mathrm{\Phi }(\lambda /2)(\mathrm{\Phi }_0^2/M_{})`$, when roughly inflation ends. Note that this vev is smaller than the global minimum for $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, see Eq. (2), as long as $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0<(2\sqrt{2}/\lambda )M_p`$.

With the above choice of parameter, $`g`$, we find an equivalent expression for the number of e-foldings to be

$$𝒩_e4\pi \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{M_{}}\left\{\mathrm{ln}\left[\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{m_\varphi }{\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}}\right)^2\right]\right\}^{1/2}.$$
(17)
We note that we can obtain $`60`$ e-foldings of inflation if we just assume $`\mathrm{\Phi }_05\times M_{}`$. The number of e-foldings can easily increase if $`M_p\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}`$. We have ensured numerically that for a wide ranging parameters $`m_\varphi /\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}>\sqrt{2}`$.

The conclusion is robust which reiterates that indeed the phase transition is sufficiently slow to have enough e-foldings of inflation even if there is a Hubble induced mass correction to the inflaton.

## IV What happens to the cosmological moduli problem?

The moduli problem occurs with light scalar particles having mass within a range $`m_{3/2}1`$ TeV, oscillating with an initial vev larger than or close to $`M_p`$, with a Planck suppressed interactions to the Standard Model degrees of freedom. The small decay rate allows the field to oscillate many times before it decays, while oscillating the equation of state mimics that of a dust and soon the coherent energy density stored in the moduli dominates the Universe, i.e. $`\rho H^2M_p^2`$. This is known as the moduli problem. If the moduli mass is greater than $`10`$ TeV then there is no moduli problem because they decay before BBN, causing no harm to the predictions of the hot big bang model. For a supersymmetric moduli if there is a low scale inflation, e.g. $`H𝒪(\mathrm{TeV})`$, then it is possible to dilute the moduli abundance, this was the suggestion made in Refs. Randall ; Lyth .

In our case it is quite possible to tune the parameters to obtain TeV scale inflation from the slow phase transition. For an example, $`M_{}\mathrm{\Phi }_0𝒪(\mathrm{TeV})`$ and $`m_\varphi 1`$ GeV can give rise to $`H\mathrm{TeV}`$ and $`𝒩_e100`$. However in models where gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking is allowed the natural mass scale comes out to be the electroweak scale. In such a case it is rather difficult to tune parameters $`M_{},\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ to have extremely slow phase transition with a large number of e-foldings.

Nevertheless it is possible to have intermediate scale inflation which helps diluting the moduli by decreasing their initial amplitude from $`𝒪(M_p)`$, but it actually does not solve problem, because the moduli vev changes during and after inflation. However if there is an enhanced symmetry, which allows local minimum during inflation and the true minimum of the moduli coinciding, then the moduli field can be dynamically relaxed to its minimum during inflation Thomas . In this paper we will consider moduli induced isocurvature density perturbations later on.

## V Density perturbations

The amplitude for the density perturbations towards the end of the first period of inflation, when $`\varphi \varphi _\mathrm{c}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }0`$, can be calculated easily

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}8.2\lambda ^2g\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0^5}{M_{}^2m_\varphi ^2M_\mathrm{p}}.$$
(18)
However as we have shown that number of foldings could be fairly large if the phase transition is extremely slow, in which case the above estimation will not hold any significance. One has to invoke the dynamics of both the fields, we therefore need to employ the formula for multiple slow-rolling scalar fields msr :

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}^2=\frac{1}{75\pi ^2}\left(\frac{8\pi }{M_\mathrm{p}^2}\right)^3V^3\left[\left(\frac{\mathrm{d}V}{\mathrm{d}\varphi }\right)^2+\left(\frac{\mathrm{d}V}{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }}\right)^2\right]^1.$$
(19)
The scales that we are interested in leave the Hubble radius very close to the end of the second period of inflation when both fields are evolving rapidly. However note that after the beginning of the phase transition, but far from the end of inflation, $`\mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\varphi m_\varphi ^2\varphi \mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ so that $`\delta _\mathrm{H}`$ has the same value as prior to the phase transition, given by Eq. (18). The fields begin evolving more rapidly during the last couple of e-foldings or so with $`\mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`\mathrm{d}V/\mathrm{d}\varphi `$, which are of the same order of magnitude, increasing significantly, so that $`\delta _\mathrm{H}`$ decreases.

We can make an order of magnitude estimate of $`\delta _\mathrm{H}`$ at the end of inflation, $`\delta _\mathrm{H}(ϵ=1)`$, by pretending that only one of the fields is dynamically important and utilizing the single-field expression for $`\delta _\mathrm{H}`$ in terms of the first slow-roll parameter $`ϵ_\varphi (M_P^2/16\pi )(V^{}/V)^2`$:

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}=\frac{32}{75M_\mathrm{P}^4}\frac{V}{ϵ}.$$
(20)
Inflation ends when $`ϵ=1`$, so that

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}(ϵ=1)<\frac{\lambda \mathrm{\Phi }_0^2}{2M_{}M_\mathrm{P}}.$$
(21)
We can obtain an amplitude $`\delta _\mathrm{H}10^5`$ for density perturbations if we assume $`M_{}\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ and $`M_{}10^{15}`$ GeV, for $`\lambda 1`$. Nevertheless we warn that the above estimation is an upper bound only. In fact we can imagine a situation where we have large number of e-foldings with small parameters, $`M_{},\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$, such that we do not obtain the right amplitude, e.g. $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0M_{}10^6`$ GeV and $`m_\varphi 10`$ GeV, we obtain $`\delta _H10^{12}`$. In such cases we will need to invoke alternative mechanisms for generating adiabatic density perturbations.

## VI Alternative mechanisms for generating adiabatic density perturbations

### VI.1 Curvaton Scenario

It is possible to obtain adiabatic perturbations on comoving scales larger than the size of the horizon by some other light degrees of freedom which does not necessarily belong to the inflaton sector. This is the main motive behind the curvaton scenario Sloth ; Lyth1 ; Moroi ; Mazumdar ; mcdonald ; Lyth2 . Especially the last reference, Lyth2 , describes the curvaton scenario in a low scale inflation models. Let us briefly recall here the outline of the curvaton scenario. The perturbations in the light degrees of freedom can be regarded as isocurvature in nature. On large scales isocurvature perturbations feed the adiabatic fluctuations. The isocurvature perturbations can be converted into the adiabatic ones when the light degree of freedom decays into SM radiation. Such a conversion takes place when the contribution of the curvaton energy density $`\rho `$ to the total energy density in the universe grows, i.e., with the increase of

$$r=\frac{3\rho }{4\rho _\gamma +3\rho }.$$
(22)
Here on $`\rho _\gamma `$ is the energy in the radiation bath from inflaton decay. Non-Gaussianity of the produced adiabatic perturbations requires the curvaton to contribute more than $`1\%`$ to the energy density of the universe at the time of decay, that is $`r_{\mathrm{dec}}>0.01`$ Lyth1 ; WMAP .

The curvaton potential is flat during inflation leading to a large VEV of the curvaton. The field amplitude remains fixed until the flaton mass becomes of the order of the Hubble constant, and the field starts oscillating in the potential. During this period of oscillations the curvaton energy density red shifts as non-relativistic matter $`\rho _\varphi a^3`$, whereas the energy density in the radiation bath from inflaton decay red shifts as $`\rho _\gamma a^4`$. Therefore $`ra`$ grows, and isocurvature perturbations are transformed into the adiabatic ones. This conversion ends when the curvaton comes to dominate the energy density, or if that never happens, when it decays.

We can imagine that moduli to be our curvaton. For simplicity let us suppose that there is no moduli problem, e.g. minimum of the moduli during and after inflation is the same, otherwise moduli could be heavier than $`10`$ TeV. In these cases we can imagine that the dynamics of the moduli field can generate isocurvature density perturbations during inflation Moroi . Depending on the mass of the moduli and the scale of inflation, the moduli can roll down slowly or faster during inflation. The perturbed equation of motion for the moduli field in a long wavelength regime, during inflation, is given by

$$\ddot{\delta }_k+3H\dot{\delta }_k+m_{}^2\delta _k=0.$$
(23)
The perturbations in the moduli is Gaussian with a spectrum $`𝒫_\delta ^{1/2}H_{}/2\pi `$, where $`H_{}=k/a`$ denotes the epoch of horizon exit. The spectral tilt in the spectrum is given by

$$n_{}=2\frac{\dot{H}}{H^2}+\frac{2}{3}\frac{m_{}^2}{H^2}.$$
(24)
Note that the spectral tilt depends on the moduli mass. If it were of order $`H`$, it would generate a wrong tilt in the power spectrum. For $`m_{}<H`$, it is possible to have a flat spectrum.

When $`m_{}H(t)`$, the moduli starts oscillating. During this period the power spectrum can be evaluated by averaging over many oscillations which generates fluctuations which is $`\chi ^2`$ in nature. The amplitude for the density perturbations is given by Lyth1 ; Moroi

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}r\frac{2}{5}\frac{H_{}}{\pi }.$$
(25)
Now there is a more freedom to accommodate the right amplitude for the density perturbations. Nevertheless if $`H_{}`$ is sufficiently low, for instance $`H10^5`$ GeV, then in order to have the right amplitude the vev of moduli should be smaller compared to the Planck scale, e.g. $`<M_p`$. This can be easily realized inspite of the fact that $`m_{}<<H`$, because the number of e-foldings can be fairly large and during slow rolling the moduli vev slides by $`(t)M_pe^{(2m_{}^2t/3H)}`$.

Instead of moduli we can also involve the dynamics of MSSM flat directions Mazumdar . However in which case one has to be careful with the flat direction potentials. Usually MSSM flat directions are gauge invariant monomials which obtains supersymmetry breaking contributions including non-renormalizable superpotential corrections. It was found that only those MSSM flat directions which are lifted by $`n=7,9`$, non-renormalizable superpotential terms are the successful candidates Mazumdar .

### VI.2 Fluctuating Inflaton Mass and Coupling

In our case when inflation ends after the phase transition then both $`\mathrm{\Phi },\varphi `$ start oscillating in their respective minimum. However note that the inflaton, $`\varphi `$, field obtains an effective mass term by virtue of the coupling with $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field and vice versa. The frequency of oscillations for both the fields are determined by their effective masses at their global minimum

$$\overline{m}_\varphi =\sqrt{2}g\mathrm{\Phi }_0,\overline{m}_\mathrm{\Phi }=\sqrt{2}\lambda \mathrm{\Phi }_0.$$
(26)
In fact we can imagine a situation where $`g>\lambda `$, in which case the inflaton oscillates with a larger frequency compared to the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field. Therefore the inflaton could decay into the Standard Model fermions at a faster rate compared to the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field (such couplings are certainly required for a successful reheating, for example see jaikumar ). We can then assume that $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field is still rolling down the potential while the $`\varphi `$ had already started oscillating and decaying. The effective inflaton mass due to the finite coupling obtains a vev dependent contribution

$$m_{eff,\varphi }^2=2\left(g\frac{M_{}}{M_p}\right)^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2+m_\varphi ^2.$$
(27)
As long as $`\mathrm{\Phi }(m_\varphi /2g)(M_p/M_{})`$, the fluctuations in the decay rate of the inflaton can be written as

$$\frac{\delta \mathrm{\Gamma }}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\frac{\delta \mathrm{\Phi }}{\mathrm{\Phi }}.$$
(28)
Further imagining that if $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ field has a Gaussian fluctuation then this will be imprinted in the decay rate of the inflaton as well, e.g. $`\delta \mathrm{\Gamma }/\mathrm{\Gamma }(H_{}/2\pi \mathrm{\Phi })`$ Dvali ; Enqvist . The fluctuating decay rate will give rise to a fluctuation in the reheat temperature of the Universe and this will be transmitted to the energy density of the thermalized plasma

$$\frac{\delta \rho _\gamma }{\rho _\gamma }=\frac{2}{3}\frac{\delta \mathrm{\Gamma }}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\frac{2}{3}\frac{H_{}}{2\pi \mathrm{\Phi }},$$
(29)
and the corresponding amplitude for the density perturbations will be given by

$$\delta _\mathrm{H}\frac{2}{9}\frac{H_{}}{2\pi \mathrm{\Phi }}.$$
(30)
The numerical factor $`2/3`$ appears in Eq. (29) due to the fact that the energy density of the inflaton oscillations goes as $`a^3`$ while the radiation energy of the thermalized plasma falls as $`a^4`$. The factor $`2/9`$ in Eq. (30) is due to the fact that the inflaton decays gives rise to the radiation dominated epoch. Interestingly note that $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ can take large vevs near the end of phase transition, as $`\mathrm{\Phi }(M_p/M_{})\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$, it is increasing probable to obtain the right amplitude for density perturbations, which requires $`\mathrm{\Phi }10^6H_{}`$.

Another interesting possibility could be that the inflaton sector couples to the Standard Model sector via some Yukawa coupling $`\kappa \varphi HH+\varphi (S/M_p)qq+..`$, where $`H`$ is the Standard Model Higgs, $`q`$ Standard Model quarks, which has a non-renormalizable contribution of the form

$$\kappa =\kappa _0\left(1+\frac{𝐒}{M_p}+\mathrm{}\right),$$
(31)
where $`S`$ could be MSSM flat direction Mazumdar1  or sneutrino Mazumdar2 . In which case the inflaton coupling $`\kappa `$ fluctuates by virtue of the fluctuation in $`S`$.

This gives rise to fluctuations in the energy density which is finally imprinted in CMB. The fluctuations in the energy density of the relativistic species is given by Dvali ; Enqvist ; Mazumdar1 ; Marieke

$$\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho }=\frac{4}{3}\frac{\delta \kappa }{\kappa }=\frac{4}{3}\frac{\delta S}{S}.$$
(32)
Another useful way of imagining the coupling term $`S`$ in Eq. (31) as a fluctuating mass term for the inflaton. This completes our discussion on alternative ways of generating adiabatic density perturbations.

## VII Conclusion

In this paper we argue that it is possible to obtain extremely large e-foldings of inflation at a fairly low scale. We exemplify this claim by imposing extremely slow second order phase transition. This realization can be implemented easily in hybrid inflation model where usually inflation ends via phase transition. We also show that a large Hubble induced inflaton mass is generically not a problem, because it is possible to arrange the parameters such that enough inflation can be obtained for galaxy formation during this phase transition. The scale of phase transition can be brought down to the TeV scale, which can ameliorate the cosmological moduli problem. We also discuss various alternatives of generating adiabatic density perturbations, especially we show that in hybrid model the orthogonal directions to the inflaton can be responsible for generating adiabatic density perturbations.

## Acknowledgments

The author is thankful to Cliff Burgess, Jim Cline, Anne Green, Abdel Lorenzana and Marieke Postma for discussion. The author is a CITA national fellow.


text:
# TRINLAT-03/03 , UPRF-2003-17 Non-perturbative study of QCD on a 2+2 anisotropic lattice

## 1 INTRODUCTION

QCD on 3+1 anisotropic lattices  has proved to be a successful tool for the non-perturbative investigation of interesting physical phenomema including the glueball spectrum, $`b\overline{b}`$ states, gluon strings, the spectral density. The method is successful for processes where the hadronic final state is static in the center of mass frame but it is perhaps less advantageous for processes in which the hadron momentum in the final state is non-negligible compared to its mass. In such cases, independent fine spatial directions for each momentum degree of freedom are needed to describe the system precisely. This increases dramatically the computational cost and, when considering an anisotropic approach, the difficulties linked with tuning the parameters.

For processes where the final state hadron is strongly peaked at a momentum approximately equal to its mass, a 2+2 lattice discretization may provide a solution. It offers the possibility to extend the range of final state momenta accessible to lattice calculations and enhance the overlap with experimental data. In addition, the study of high-momentum glueball form factors could benefit from such a program.

A 2+2 discretisation of the gauge action was proposed in Refs  and the parameters in the action were determined at the one-loop level in perturbation theory. In this talk a non-perturbative determination of these parameters is discussed. A 2+2 Wilson-like fermion action is discussed in Ref .

## 2 YANG-MILLS THEORY ON A 2+2 LATTICE

We start from the simple $`1\times 1`$ plaquette action

$$S_\mathrm{g}=\beta \underset{x,\mu ,\nu }{}c_{\mu \nu }[1\frac{1}{2N_c}\mathrm{Tr}(P_{\mu \nu }(x)+P_{\mu \nu }^{}(x))],$$
(1)
defined in a fixed hypercubic physical volume $`V=L^4`$. The ultraviolet cutoff is larger in the $`z,t`$ directions and $`\xi =a_c/a_f`$ is the asymmetry ratio. In the following, the coarse and fine lattice spacings are denoted $`a_c`$ and $`a_f`$ respectively. The coefficients $`c_{\mu \nu }`$ in Eq. 1 must be fixed by tuning their values so as to recover the correct continuum theory. This can be done either perturbatively  or non-perturbatively . The perturbative expansion is written

$$c_{\mu \nu }=\{\begin{array}{ccc}\xi ^2(1+\eta _{ff}^{(1)}g^2+O(g^4))\hfill & \text{f-f};\hfill & \\ 1+\eta _{cf}^{(1)}g^2+O(g^4)\hfill & \text{c-f};\hfill & \\ \frac{1}{\xi ^2}(1+\eta _{cc}^{(1)}g^2+O(g^4))\hfill & \text{c-c;}\hfill & \end{array}$$
(2)
and the calculation of the one-loop coefficients, $`\eta _{\mu \nu }^{(1)}`$ was the subject of Ref . We note in passing that the tree-level values of the $`c_{\mu \nu }`$ are

$$c_{cc}=1/\xi ^2,c_{cf}=1,\text{ and }c_{ff}=\xi ^2.$$
(3)
A non-perturbative determination of these coefficients is the focus of this talk.

We choose to fix the coefficients to restore rotational invariance for the static inter-quark potential. The procedure is, in principle, the same as for a 3+1 discretisation. However, for 3+1 any choice of the parameters leads to a well-defined, albeit unknown, scale ratio $`\xi `$. In this case, a non-perturbative determination of $`c_{\mu \nu }`$ may be unnecessary if, as is true for some applications, one is not interested in the physical mass-scale ratio between the coarse and fine directions. If such a determination is necessary, both the coarse-fine and coarse-coarse Wilson loops must be measured. The same is true for the 2+2 case, where the potential between spatially separated color sources, measured using a fine temporal axis determines just one of the two free parameters in the action. The only drawback for the 2+2 discretisation compared to the 3+1 is that such a determination must be done a priori. Rotational invariance of the static inter-quark potential must be imposed for all combinations of source separation and transfer matrix axes. Alternatively, the slope of dispersion relations of physical (color singlet) states can be measured. This requirement can be observed in perturbation theory by examining the static potential, given by

$$V(R)=\underset{T\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{T}\mathrm{log}<W(R,T)>.$$
(4)
Expanding Eq. 4 at order $`g^4`$ and handling the resulting Bessel functions for large $`T`$, it is easy to check that only the coefficients $`\eta _{\mu \nu }^{(1)}`$ carrying one time index survive. A fine temporal axis will therefore give no information about $`\eta _{cc}^{(1)}`$, since constraining potential ratios in different directions leads to a constraint only on $`c_{cf}/c_{ff}`$ for 2+2 and no constraint for 3+1. This constraint degeneracy is illustrated in Fig. 1. The solid and dashed lines represent the constraints on the spatial potential: firstly that $`V(n,0,0)=V(0,0,\xi n)`$ and secondly that $`V(n,n,0)=V(n,0,\xi n)`$. The outer solid and dotted lines are the one sigma errors from a fit to these constraints. Within the errors shown the lines are degenerate and cannot provide a non-perturbative determination of the $`c_{\mu \nu }`$.

Conversely, considering a coarse temporal axis results in no dependence on $`\eta _{ff}^{(1)}`$. For 2+2, only the ratio, $`c_{cc}/c_{cf}`$ will be constrained. But now, this condition combined with the previous determination fixes the parameters uniquely. For 3+1 this is the only meaningful condition. With a coarse temporal axis obtaining good fits can be more challenging. However, we find that with reasonable statistics good $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$ is achieved. This non-perturbative determination of the $`c_{\mu \nu }`$ is work in progress.

## 3 PRELIMINARY RESULTS

As a first step we show that the tuning described in the previous section is actually not as onerous as it might sound. Fig. 2 shows the potential in different directions, calculated using the tree-level coefficients. Even at the tree-level there is clearly no dramatic breaking of Lorentz invariance. This indicates that the tuning of parameters is mild and the scheme can be of practical use.

To demonstrate how powerful this scheme can be, Fig. 3 shows the $`SU(3)`$ potential calculated for $`\xi =6`$ on a $`8^2\times 48^2`$ volume, in the range $`R=0.041.6fm`$. These results were obtained after two days of workstation CPU time. The data show that the short distance term can already be calculated with very high precision. Longer runs and bigger volumes could easily allow one to reach even higher precision.

The method is therefore immediately applicable to a very high resolution determination of the short-range inter-quark potential, which is of phenomenological interest.

## 4 OUTLOOK AND DEVELOPMENTS

We have shown how 2+2 lattice QCD can be relevant to useful physics. Although parameter tuning is necessary, both the perturbative  and the non-perturbative determinations are feasible. The results for the static inter-quark potential demonstrate that this scheme can be a useful tool for exploring energy ranges higher than those currently available to lattice simulations. In the gauge sector the scheme can naturally be applied to a calculation of glueball form factors, and this is under investigation. An extension to the quark action allows further interesting phenomenological applications and is described in Ref .

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was funded by the Enterprise-Ireland grants SC/2001/306 and 307.