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# Evolution of the isotropic to nematic phase transition in octyloxycyanobiphenyl+aerosil dispersions

## I INTRODUCTION

The effect of quenched random disorder on phase structure and transitions is an important area of study that continues to attract a great deal of research. Disorder is ubiquitous (ideal pure transitions being the exception rather than the rule in nature) and the effect on phase transitions can be profound. Phase transitions are modified depending on the aspect of the system affected by the disorder, on the dimensionality, and on the number of components to the order parameter. Of particular interest is a linear coupling between quenched random disorder and the order parameter, which allows for a random-field theoretical approach. Also, the order of the transition is crucial as first-order transitions have additional considerations compared to continuous transitions. This is due to the presence of two-phase coexistence (hence interfaces between ordered and disordered regions), intrinsically finite correlation length at the transition, and hysteresis effects for first-order compared to continuous phase transitions. This has made the experimental and theoretical studies of quenched random disorder effects at first-order transitions challenging.

Liquid-crystals (LC) are a particularly attractive system for the study of phase transitions into partially ordered phases. This makes them especially interesting for the study of the effects of quenched random disorder (QRD), which are typically introduced by the random fixed dispersion of solid surfaces. In LC+aerosil systems, the quenched random disorder is created by a dispersed gel of aerosil particles and is varied by changing the density of aerosils in the dispersion. A convenient measure of the introduced disorder is the grams of silica per cm3 of liquid-crystal, denoted the conjugate silica density $`\rho _S`$, which is directly related to the surface area of solids as well as the mean-distance between solid surfaces Iannacchione et al. (1998, 2003). The aerosils used are silica spheres that can hydrogen bond together to form a fractal-like random gel. Studies have previously been carried out by various groups on liquid crystals in an aerogel medium Bellini et al. (2001). Aerogels are self-supporting structures and this places a lower limit on the disorder strength that can be probed. By contrast, the aerosil gel provides a weaker and more easily controlled perturbation, and thus opens up a physically interesting regime.

In this work, we study the effect of quenched random disorder due to a dispersed thixotropic aerosil gel on the weakly first-order isotropic to nematic (I-N) phase transition. The calorimetric results for the nematic to smectic-A phase transition in $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples have been previously reported and were shown to be consistent with results in $`8CB`$+aerosil samples Clegg et al. (2003). At the I-N transition, the orientational order has a finite correlation length and is established in three dimensions, which is describable by a symmetric and traceless $`2nd`$ rank tensor $`Q_{ij}`$ de Gennes and Prost (1993) (as such, it possesses only five independent components). Thus, nematic order belongs, in principle, to a $`d=3`$, $`n=5`$ Heisenberg class. However, by ignoring any biaxial character and aligning the orientation axis with a principle axis of a local frame, this tensor can be split into a scalar order parameter ($`S`$) measuring the magnitude of orientational order about the orientation axis and a ”headless” vector called the nematic director $`\widehat{n}`$ ($`\widehat{n}=\widehat{n}`$) describing the spatial orientation of this axis. In this simplified view, nematic order is described on short length scales by $`S`$ and on longer length scales by $`\widehat{n}`$, which is useful in describing the elastic properties of the nematic structure. These measures of nematic order are related to the quadrupolar nematic order parameter by $`Q_{ij}=\frac{1}{2}S(3\widehat{n}_i\widehat{n}_j\delta _{ij})`$.

In principle, the effect of the aerosil gel network on the orientational order of the nematic phase is two fold. The silica gel firstly dilutes the liquid crystal and secondly creates a preferred local orientation Gingras (1995); Feldman (2000). In addition, the first-order transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase necessitates the formation of interfaces between coexisting domains/phases, which must occur within the available void spaces. The latter effect is the classic result of quenched random disorder; a distribution of transition temperatures due to the nucleation of ordered domains within voids having some size distribution. This leads to short-range order (SRO), a rounding of the transition, and suppression of the first-order character of the transition Imry and Wortis (1979). The contribution of a random preferred local orientation effect to the total hamiltonian can be represented as

$$_{rf}=\underset{i}{}g_2(𝐡_𝐢\widehat{𝐧}_𝐢)^\mathrm{𝟐}$$
(1)
where $`\widehat{𝐧}_𝐢`$ is the orientation of the molecules over some small region where the orientation is approximately constant and $`𝐡_𝐢`$ is the random influence of the silica surface. The variance of this random field $`h^2`$ should be proportional to the density of solids dispersed in the LC medium. This term is squared due to the effective inversion symmetry of the molecules in the nematic phase. Since the nematic order parameter is quadratic in $`\widehat{𝐧}_𝐢`$ due to the same inversion symmetry de Gennes and Prost (1993), Eq. (1) is also linear in the order parameter and hence constitutes a random field (RF) interaction. Recently, Eq. (1) has also been interpreted as a random-anisotropy (RA) interaction Feldman (2000) but this seems only applicable to systems describable by a pure vector $`n=3`$ order parameter. The formation of interfaces and the resulting surface energy penalties places restrictions on the effects of $`h^2`$ depending on the elasticity of the nematic. Light scattering measurements have shown that the nematic phase in liquid crystal and aerosil dispersions breaks up into large (micron size) but finite-size domains Bellini et al. (1998). In addition, more extensive optical studies focussing on the nature of the nematic director structure well below the I-N transition have shown that the director correlation length $`\xi _{\widehat{n}}`$ decays exponentially with distance, which is a hallmark of short-range order Bellini et al. (2000, 2002). These features are consistent with an RF interaction for nematics with QRD.

To date, the most thoroughly studied LC+aerosil system is the dispersion of type-300 aerosil in octylcyanobiphenyl ($`8CB`$), denoted $`8CB`$+aerosil. Detailed calorimetric Zhou et al. (1997); Iannacchione et al. (1998); Marinelli et al. (2001), x-ray scattering Park et al. (2002); Leheny et al. (2003), x-ray intensity fluctuation spectroscopy Retsch et al. (2002), static and dynamic light-scattering Bellini et al. (1998, 2000, 2002), and deuterium NMR Jin and Finotello (2001) studies on the nematic to smectic-A (N-SmA) and the isotropic to nematic (I-N) phase transitions of this system have shown that there are clear quenched random-field characteristics as well as finite-size scaling effects Iannacchione et al. (2003).

Calorimetry measurements on $`8CB`$+aerosil samples have been particularly useful in yielding detailed information on both the I-N and the N-SmA phase transitions Iannacchione et al. (1998). The results for both transitions show a complex dependence of the transition temperature on the aerosil density. While the N-SmA heat capacity peak remains sharp and evolves towards 3D-XY behavior with increasing silica density, the I-N behavior is more complicated. For silica densities below $`\rho _S0.1`$ g cm-3, two heat capacity peaks, closely spaced in temperature, were observed. At higher aerosil densities, the heat capacity peaks for both the I-N and the N-SmA transitions displayed a highly smeared and non-singular features. Deuterium NMR measurements on deuterated $`8CB`$+aerosil dispersions, which were carried out over a wide range of silica densities, showed that the magnitude of the orientational order $`S`$ below the I-N transition temperature was essentially unchanged from bulk behavior Jin and Finotello (2001). The amount of liquid crystal reorientation for field-cooled samples upon rotation within the DNMR field is small and decreases continuously with silica density up to $`\rho _S=0.094`$ g cm-3 (the units will be dropped hereafter) confirming distinct low and high $`\rho _S`$ behavior. A x-ray intensity fluctuation spectroscopy (XIFS) study have found evidence of aerosil gel dynamics in $`8CB`$+aerosil dispersions indicating an elastic coupling between the gel and LC Retsch et al. (2002). The optical, calorimetric, DNMR, and XIFS results all appear to be consistent with a model in which director fluctuations are suppressed with increasing aerosil density.

The present work focusses on a different liquid crystal – octyloxycyanobiphenyl ($`8OCB`$) – having dispersed in it the same type of aerosil over a comparable range of silica densities as the well-studied $`8CB`$+aerosil system. This liquid-crystal has several important differences from the closely related $`8CB`$. The liquid-crystal $`8OCB`$ has stronger smectic and nematic interactions than $`8CB`$ as evidenced by the higher transition temperatures, the larger bare correlation lengths for smectic interactions Litster et al. (1979), and the larger elastic constants. More specifically, $`8OCB`$ has a $`17\%`$ larger bend, $`36\%`$ larger twist, and $`10\%`$ larger splay nematic elastic constants than $`8CB`$ (in the single elastic constant approximation, $`8OCB`$ has a $`20\%`$ greater $`K_N`$ than $`8CB`$ with an overall uncertainty of $`5\%`$) Bradshaw et al. (1985). Thus, comparison of behaviors between $`8CB`$+aerosil and $`8OCB`$+aerosil systems allow for the isolation of general quenched random-disorder (QRD) effects from material specific effects, in this case the elasticity of the liquid-crystal host medium.

In general, this work reveals a non-monotonic silica density dependence of the I-N and N-SmA transition temperatures similar to that observed for $`8CB`$+aerosil but occurring over a larger $`\rho _S`$ range for $`8OCB`$+aerosil. The calorimetric results presented here for the I-N transition reveal the onset of a double transition peak for $`\rho _S>0.1`$ with a $`\rho _S`$ dependence on the temperature distance between the two heat capacity peaks. Evidence is presented that the first-order character of the I-N transition continuously decreases with silica content, becoming approximately zero for $`\rho _S0.7`$. Over the entire range of $`\rho _S`$ studied here, the heat capacity temperature dependence away from the immediate vicinity of the transition region is bulk-like and independent of silica content.

We speculate that the variance of the disorder $`h^2`$ may change through a first-order transition for nematics to account for these observations. Such a variation of the disorder strength may be due to the silica surfaces introducing a low-order, paranematic-like, boundary layer initially screening the remaining liquid crystal material. The thickness of this boundary layer is strongly temperature dependent in the immediate vicinity of the I-N transition and as it shrinks, the screening becomes weaker.

Section II describes the preparation of the $`8OCB`$+aerosil dispersions as well as the ac-calorimetry technique employed. Given in Section III is a presentation of the results. All results are then discussed in Section IV and related to results from previous LC+aerosil studies. Directions for future study will also be discussed.

## II EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

The liquid crystal $`8OCB`$, purchased from Aldrich, was used after degassing in the isotropic phase for $`1`$ hour. This liquid-crystal molecule has an aliphatic tail attached by an oxygen link to the rigid biphenyl core and a polar cyano head group ( $`M_w=307.44`$ g mol-1 ). This oxygen link constitutes the sole molecular difference between $`8OCB`$ and $`8CB`$. Pure $`8OCB`$ has a weakly first-order isotropic to nematic transition at $`T_{IN}^o353`$ K and a second-order nematic to smectic-A transition at $`T_{NA}^o340`$ K. At lower temperatures, the strongly first-order Crystal-SmA transition occurs reproducibly on heating at $`T_{CrA}^o328`$ K and, as usual, can be greatly supercooled.

The hydrophilic type-300 aerosil obtained from Degussa Deg  was thoroughly dried at $`300^o\text{C}`$ under vacuum for a couple of hours prior to use. The hydrophilic nature of the aerosils arises from the hydroxyl groups covering the surface and allows the aerosil particles to hydrogen bond to each other. This type of bonding is weak and can be broken and reformed, which leads to the thixotropic nature of gels formed by aerosils in an organic solvent. Crystallization severely disrupts the gel. The specific surface area measured by the manufacturer via BET nitrogen isotherms is $`300`$ m2 g-1 and each aerosil sphere is roughly $`7`$-nm in diameter. However, SAXS studies have shown that the basic aerosil unit consists of a few of these spheres fused together during the manufacturing process Iannacchione et al. (1998). Each $`8OCB`$+aerosil sample was created by mixing appropriate quantities of liquid crystal and aerosil together, then dissolving the resulting mixture in spectroscopic grade (low water content) acetone. The resulting solution was then dispersed using an ultrasonic bath for about an hour. As the acetone evaporates from the mixture, a fractal-like gel forms through diffusion-limited aggregation. Small angle x-ray studies have shown that the aerosil gel dispersion has a fractal structure and no preferred orientation Iannacchione et al. (1998) on the micron-long length scales of nematic order Bellini et al. (2000).

At room temperature, $`8OCB`$ is a crystalline solid even in the presence of high aerosil density. Care was taken to avoid crystallization of $`8OCB`$ and possible damage to the aerosil gel, especially for low silica densities. For this calorimetry study, the mixture after slow solvent evaporation was allowed to crystallize, and the solid sample was transferred into the calorimetry cell. The cell was then sealed, the heater and thermometer attached, and the cell was heated into the isotropic phase. The sample was then remixed by placing the assembly in an ultrasonic bath for over an hour. The cell and sample temperature was kept elevated during the mounting of the sealed cell into the calorimeter by maintaining current through the heater. This sample preparation protocol also allows a controlled entry into the crystal phase. However, since the cell is sealed, the in situ remix could not be inspected and so some small dispersion inhomogeneity may remain.

High-resolution ac calorimetry was performed using two home-built calorimeters at WPI. The sample cell consisted of a silver crimped-sealed envelope $`10`$ mm long, $`5`$ mm wide, and $`0.5`$ mm thick (closely matching the dimensions of the heater). After the sample was introduced into a cell having an attached $`120`$-$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ strain-gauge heater and $`1`$-M$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ carbon-flake thermistor, a constant current was placed across the heater to maintain the cell temperature well above $`T_{IN}`$. The filled cell was then placed in an ultrasonic bath to remix the sample. After remixing, the cell was mounted in the calorimeter, the details of which have been described elsewhere Yao and Garland (1998). In the ac-mode, power is input to the cell as $`P_{ac}e^{i\omega t}`$ resulting in temperature oscillations with amplitude $`T_{ac}`$ and a relative phase shift of $`\phi \mathrm{\Phi }+\pi /2`$, where $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is the absolute phase shift between $`T_{ac}(\omega )`$ and the input power. The specific heat at a heating frequency $`\omega `$ is given by

$$C_p=\frac{[C_{filled}^{}C_{empty}]}{m_{sample}}=\frac{P_{ac}cos\phi /\omega |T_{ac}|C_{empty}}{m_{sample}},$$
(2)
$$C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }=\frac{P_{ac}}{\omega |T_{ac}|}sin\phi \frac{1}{\omega R},$$
(3)
where $`C_{filled}^{}`$ and $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$ are the real and imaginary components of the heat capacity, $`C_{empty}`$ is the heat capacity of the cell and silica, $`m_{sample}`$ is the mass in grams of the liquid crystal (the total mass of the $`8OCB`$+aerosil sample was $`20`$ mg, which yielded $`m_{sample}`$ values in the range of $`1320`$ mg), and $`R`$ is the thermal resistance between the cell and the bath (here, $`200`$ K W-1). Equations (2) and (3) require a small correction to account for the finite internal thermal resistance compared to $`R`$, and this was applied to all samples studied here Iannacchione et al. (1997). Measurements were conducted at various frequencies in order to ensure the applicability of Eqs. (2) and (3) by checking that $`C_{filled}^{^{\prime \prime }}0`$ through the effective N-SmA transition at $`T^{}`$ and that $`C_p`$ was independent of $`\omega `$. All data presented here were taken at $`\omega =0.1473`$ s-1 at a scanning rate of less than $`\pm 100`$ mK h-1, which yield essentially static $`C_p`$ results. All $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples experienced the same thermal history after mounting; six hours in the isotropic phase to ensure homogeneous gelation, then a slow cool deep into the smectic phase before beginning the first detailed scan upon heating.

## III RESULTS

### III.1 General description

The heat capacity of the pure $`8OCB`$ liquid-crystal is in good agreement with previously published results Kasting et al. (1980); Birgeneau et al. (1981). For our pure $`8OCB`$ material the transition temperatures were $`T_{IN}^o=352.53`$ K and $`T_{NA}^o=339.52`$ K. The I-N two-phase coexistence width was $`95`$ mK wide, and the N-SmA transition enthalpy was $`\delta H_{NA}^o=0.42`$ J g-1. These thermal features indicate that the $`8OCB`$ liquid-crystal used in this study was of reasonably good quality. A summary of the calorimetric results for pure $`8OCB`$ and $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples is given in Table 1.

In order to determine the excess heat capacity associated with the phase transitions, an appropriate background was subtracted. The total sample heat capacity over a wide temperature range had a linear background, $`C_p`$(background), subtracted to yield

$$\mathrm{\Delta }C_p=C_pC_p(\mathrm{background})$$
(4)
as the excess $`C_p`$ due to the I-N and N-SmA phase transitions. The resulting $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ data are shown for pure $`8OCB`$ and all $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples in Fig. 1 over a wide temperature range about $`T_{IN}`$, where the units are J K-1 per gram of liquid crystal. The transition temperature, $`T_{IN}`$, is determined as the highest temperature where any nematic phase is present and corresponds to the highest temperature peak in $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$.

As seen in Fig. 1, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ values away from the N-SmA transition and the I+N coexistence regions overlap with bulk behavior independent of silica concentration. The detailed variations of $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ associated with the N-SmA transition with $`\rho _S`$ has been reported previously Clegg et al. (2003). The deviations of some of the $`\rho _S=0.05`$ points in the nematic phase is likely a consequence of sample inhomogeneity. The $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ ”wings” of the I-N transition are associated with short-range fluctuations of nematic order. Given the simplification of the nematic order parameter, the short-range fluctuations in bulk nematics are mainly composed of thermal fluctuations of the scalar part S. For the $`8OCB`$+aerosil system, the temperature dependence of $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ being independent of $`\rho _S`$ suggests that thermal fluctuations of S are independent of disorder over the whole range of $`\rho _S`$ studied in this work. The $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ wing behavior shown here for $`8OCB`$+aerosil is completely consistent with similar results for $`8CB`$+aerosil Iannacchione et al. (1998) and low-density $`8CB`$+aerogel samples Wu et al. (1995).

In stark contrast to the behavior of $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ in the one-phase regions, the two-phase coexistence region of the I-N transition exhibits strong effects of silica concentration, as shown in Fig. 2. From 1 K below to 0.4 K above $`T_{IN}`$, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ peaks for the pure $`8OCB`$ and the $`\rho _S=0.036`$ sample are essentially the same not (a). Upon increasing silica density, the peak in $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ is substantially lower in temperature relative to the peak in $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$ and considerably broader than for the bulk or the $`\rho _S=0.036`$ sample. See the upper panel in Fig. 2. In addition, there is a small and very broad shoulder below the main specific heat peak, also seen in bulk, which moves toward the main peak with increasing $`\rho _S`$. The nature of this subsidiary feature is not known. It is likely, given the similarity of the materials used here with the $`8CB`$+aerosil system, that the percolation threshold for type-300 aerosil in $`8OCB`$ is essentially the same at $`\rho _P0.018`$ Iannacchione et al. (1998) and so a true gel should be present for all samples studied in this work. This is supported by a visual inspection of these samples holding their shape above the crystal melting temperature. The I-N transition regions shown in Fig. 2 for $`\rho _S0.1`$ appear to be quite sensitive to small inhomogeneities in the silica gel dispersion and so, are grouped together. Given the dominance of a large, broad, specific heat peak and relatively erratic transition temperature shifts, discussed below, the effect of the silica gel on the I-N phase transition is strongly dependent on the quality of the dispersion.

Beginning with the $`\rho _S=0.22`$ sample and for increasing silica content there is a systematic variation of the excess heat capacity, which is shown by the lower panel in Fig. 2. At $`\rho _S=0.22`$, a double heat capacity feature is observed with a sharp high-temperature peak $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p^{HT}`$ corresponding closely to (but very slightly below) a sharp peak in $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$, followed at lower temperature by a broader peak $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p^{LT}`$ also having an associated broad peak in $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$. Clearly, both are first-order signatures and they are separated by $`0.1`$ K. For the $`\rho _S=0.347`$ and $`0.489`$ samples, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p^{HT}`$ feature remains sharp but decreases in magnitude while the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p^{LT}`$ feature becomes increasingly rounded and moves to lower temperature relative to $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p^{HT}`$ by $`0.15`$ and $`0.2`$ K, respectively. For the $`\rho _S=0.647`$ sample, both heat capacity features are rounded and separated now by $`0.5`$ K. Over this entire range of silica density, the size of the $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$ peak decreased monotonically with increasing $`\rho _S`$. Such a double I-N heat capacity feature was observed in $`8CB`$+aerosil samples for silica concentrations up to $`\rho _S0.1`$, but $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ exhibited a single, rounded feature above this density Iannacchione et al. (1998). Only a single rounded $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ feature was observed for all $`8CB`$+aerogel samples Wu et al. (1995).

### III.2 The I-N transition enthalpies

The I-N transition enthalpy also exhibits a dependence on aerosil concentration and can be a quantitative measure of the strength of the transition. For a second-order (or continuous) phase transition, the change in enthalpy through the transition is given by

$$\delta H=\mathrm{\Delta }C_p𝑑T$$
(5)
where the limits of integration are as wide as possible about the heat capacity peak. However, for first-order transitions the situation is complicated by the presence of a two-phase coexistence region, in this work I+N, as well as a latent heat $`\mathrm{\Delta }H`$. The total enthalpy change through a first-order transition is the sum of the pretransitional enthalpy and the latent heat. In an ac-calorimetric measurement, $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ values observed in the two-phase region are artificially high and frequency dependent due to partial phase conversion during a $`T_{ac}`$ cycle. The pretransitional enthalpy $`\delta H`$ is typically obtained by substituting a linearly truncated $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ behavior between the bounding points of the two-phase coexistence region into Eq. (5), and an independent experiment is required to determine the latent heat $`\mathrm{\Delta }H`$ Iannacchione et al. (1998). A direct integration of the observed $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ yields an effective transition enthalpy $`\delta H^{}`$ and this contains some of the latent heat contributions; thus $`\delta H<\delta H^{}<\mathrm{\Delta }H_{total}=\delta H+\mathrm{\Delta }H`$.

For our analysis, the observed $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ was directly integrated over a wide temperature range of $`25`$ K below to $`+5`$ K above $`T_{IN}`$ for all bulk and $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples where the N-SmA transition enthalpy contribution was subtracted. This will be referred to hereafter as the ac-enthalpy and denoted as $`\delta H_{IN}^{}`$, as it represents only a part of the total transition enthalpy. As seen in Fig. 1, an integration of a linearly truncated $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p(IN)`$ in the two-phase coexistence region over a similar range yields a pretransitional enthalpy $`\delta H_{IN}=5.13`$ J g-1 that is independent of aerosil density. Integration over a similar temperature range yielded a pretransitional $`\delta H_{IN}`$ value of $`5.43`$ J g-1 for $`8CB`$+aerosil samples, also independent of silica density Iannacchione et al. (1998). In addition, the integration of the imaginary heat capacity given by Eq. (3) and normalized to the LC mass, defines an imaginary transition enthalpy, referred to as im-enthalpy and denoted as $`\delta H_{IN}^{\prime \prime }`$, which is an indicator of the first-order character of the transition. Although $`\delta H_{IN}^{\prime \prime }`$ is a measure of the dispersive component of the complex enthalpy, it is only approximately proportional to the transition latent heat due to the fixed-$`\omega `$ ac-technique employed in this work. As the silica content changes, the two-phase conversion rate may change and so alter the proportionality between $`\delta H_{IN}^{\prime \prime }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }H_{IN}`$; thus a detailed frequency scan for each sample would be needed to fully characterize the relationship. This was done for a few samples and the frequency employed in this work is sufficiently close to the static limit that this effect should be minimal.

The results of both the ac- and im-enthalpy for $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples are shown in Fig. 3 as a function of the silica density. There is a slight variation (first increasing for increasing $`\rho _S`$ up to $`0.220`$ then decreasing for larger $`\rho _S`$) of the ac-enthalpy due mainly to changes in $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ values within the two-phase coexistence range since the heat capacity wings away from the transition are $`\rho _S`$ independent (except for $`\rho _S=0.051`$, which is systematically high for $`TT_{IN}`$ from $`3`$ K to $`10`$ K). Given the fixed-$`\omega `$ aspect of the technique, any variation observed in the ac-enthalpy in the two-phase region can be attributable to changes in either the dynamics or magnitude (or both) of the latent heat evolution. The small non-monotonic variation of $`\delta H_{IN}^{}`$ for $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples is in contrast to the systematic decrease of $`\delta H_{IN}^{}`$ with increasing $`\rho _S`$ for $`8CB`$+aerosil samples. This may reflect a difference in the phase conversion dynamics between $`8CB`$ and $`8OCB`$ and how they are modified by the presence of aerosils.

The interpretation of the im-enthalpy is more straight-forward as it is closely related to the latent heat of the transition. With increasing $`\rho _S`$, the im-enthalpy appears to monotonically decrease to almost zero for $`\rho _S=0.647`$. See Fig. 3. This suggests that for the highest $`\rho _S`$ sample studied, the I-N latent heat has become nearly zero. Similar trends were observed for $`8CB`$+aerosil Iannacchione et al. (1998) where a continuous I-N transition is estimated to occur near $`\rho _S0.8`$. Also, a nearly continuous I-N transition was reported for $`7CB`$+aerosil for silica densities near $`\rho _S1`$ Jamee et al. (2002). The above observations are consistent with the general view that with increasing QRD, first-order transitions are driven continuous Imry and Wortis (1979).

### III.3 Transition temperatures and crystallization

The I-N transition temperature, defined here as the peak in $`C_{filled}^{\prime \prime }`$ for the highest temperature feature, for the $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples as well as those for the $`8CB`$+aerosil system taken from Ref. Iannacchione et al. (1998) are shown in Fig. 4 as a function of silica density. For the $`8OCB`$+aerosil system, $`T_{IN}`$ is essentially unchanged up to $`\rho _S=0.051`$ then decreases sharply by $`1.5`$ K at $`\rho _S=0.078`$, $`0.105`$, and $`0.220`$. It then rises strongly for $`\rho _S=0.347`$, nearly recovering the bulk value. Upon further increase in $`\rho _S`$, $`T_{IN}`$ decreases monotonically (with a concave downward character) until it is again about $`1.5`$ K below $`T_{IN}^o`$ for the $`\rho _S=0.647`$ sample. The non-monotonic evolution of $`T_{IN}`$ with silica content for the $`8OCB`$+aerosil system is similar to that seen in the $`8CB`$+aerosil system, suggesting that the initial depression of $`T_{IN}`$, recovery, then continued depression is a general phenomena of quenched random disorder on nematics while the specific $`\rho _S`$ dependence is liquid crystal material dependent. Over this same range in silica density, the width of the two-phase coexistence region $`\delta T_{IN}`$ also has a non-monotonic dependence on $`\rho _S`$, as seen in Table 1. However, $`\delta T_{IN}`$ is sensitive to local inhomogeneities of the aerosil dispersion that may account for its variation when $`\rho _S<0.1`$. Beginning at $`\rho _S=0.105`$, $`\delta T_{IN}`$ increases monotonically by a factor of $`6.7`$ while $`\rho _S`$ increases by a factor of $`6`$. The observed broadening of the two-phase coexistence width in nearly direct proportion with increasing QRD is generally consistent with the behavior of first-order transitions with quenched disorder Imry and Wortis (1979).

The N-SmA pseudo-transition temperatures $`T^{}`$ scaled by the bulk transition temperature $`T_{NA}^o`$ for $`8OCB`$+aerosil and $`8CB`$+aerosil systems are shown in Fig. 5. The pattern of fractional changes in the $`T^{}`$ is essentially the same for both LC+aerosil systems with an initial rapid depression, recovery, then more gradual decrease with a total change of less than $`1\%`$ from $`T_{NA}^o`$. The primary difference with the $`8CB`$+aerosil system is that this behavior is ”stretched” in $`\rho _S`$ for the $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples. This is consistent with the evolution seen of $`T_{IN}`$ shown in Fig. 4 and described above.

The nematic phase temperature range, $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N=T_{IN}T^{}`$, normalized by the bulk nematic range $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N^o=T_{IN}^oT_{NA}^o`$, is shown in Fig. 6. While the individual transition temperature changes reflect the absolute stability limit of the nematic and smectic phases, $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N`$ reflects the relative stability of both phases. For $`8CB`$+aerosil, a decrease of $`1\%`$ in $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N`$ was seen up to $`\rho _S0.1`$, corresponding to the the local maximum of $`T_{IN}(\rho _S)`$ and $`T^{}(\rho _S)`$. This was originally thought to be scatter in the data of Ref. Iannacchione et al. (1998). For $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples, a similar and far more pronounced $`4\%`$ decrease in $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N`$ is seen from $`\rho _S=0.051`$ to $`0.220`$. This decrease in $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_N`$ reflects a greater depression of $`T_{IN}`$ than $`T^{}`$ and indicates that in this range of silica density, the disorder primarily effects nematic (orientational) ordering. Upon further increasing $`\rho _S`$, the nematic range begins to increase and appears to saturate at an $`8\%`$ increase similar to that seen in the $`8CB`$+aerosil system. This growth in the nematic range occurs because of the greater suppression of $`T^{}`$ relative to $`T_{IN}`$ and so, reflects that above $`\rho _S0.2`$, the effect of the silica gel is to mainly disorder smectic (1D-translational) ordering.

The calorimetric results on the I-N transition temperature described above suggest the importance of sample homogeneity. As a test of the fragility of the silica gel, heat capacity scans were performed on a low and high density $`8OCB`$+aerosil sample immediately before and after crystallization of the LC. Such a thermal cycle for the $`\rho _S=0.051`$ sample is shown in Fig. 7 and for the $`\rho _S=0.220`$ sample in Fig. 8 as a function of $`\mathrm{\Delta }T=TT_{IN}`$ in order to suppress hysteresis effects of the I-N transition. The effect of crystallization on the $`\rho _S=0.051`$ sample is striking, revealing significant distortion of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ signature at both the I-N and N-SmA transitions. The appearance of an additional broad $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ feature beginning $`0.9`$ K below $`T_{IN}`$ as well as a broadened feature over the N-SmA transition region after crystallization may indicate increased sample inhomogeneity, presumably caused by the local expulsion of silica particles as LC crystallites form. However, there are two puzzling aspects; (1) the shift in $`T_{IN}`$ is downward by $`0.7`$ K and (2) the specific distortion seen in $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ about $`T^{}`$ reveals an increased N-SmA transition enthalpy. The first aspect is counter-intuitive as the expulsion of impurities upon crystallization should have moved the system closer to bulk behavior by increasing the size of pure LC domains (regions where no silica is present). The second aspect is particularly puzzling as the N-SmA transition enthalpy after crystallization surpasses the N-SmA transition enthalpy for bulk $`8OCB`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }H_{NA}(before)=0.334`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }H_{NA}(after)=0.65`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }H_{NA}(bulk)=0.42`$ all given in units of J g-1). Visual inspection of the sample immediately after the first crystallization revealed no obvious inhomogeneities. A recent Raman spectroscopy study of $`8CB`$ crystallizing within a gel matrix provides evidence of new solid and semi-solid phase at low temperature Fehr et al. (2003). The additional enthalpy observed here could indicate new solid phases for $`8OCB`$+aerosil samples. These results are only observed upon initial crystallization of a freshly dispersed $`8OCB`$+aerosil sample. Bulk $`8OCB`$ behavior is eventually approached upon repeated thermal cycling through the crystallization transition. Clearly, at these low silica densities, the silica gel is, at least locally, quite fragile and short range restructuring of the gel can strongly affect the liquid-crystal.

The results of initial cycling through the crystallization transition for the $`\rho _S=0.220`$ sample shown in Fig. 8 do not reveal any significant changes. Aside from a very small, sharp, additional heat capacity feature at the N-SmA transition, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ curves are almost perfectly reproducible. The shift in $`T_{IN}`$ after the initial crystallization is small and upward by $`0.2`$ K, as expected by the expulsion of impurities. This indicates that for higher silica densities, the gel is robust and well behaved. Note that there is no appreciable change in the nematic range, as seen in both Fig. 7 and 8.

## IV DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Results have been presented from high-resolution ac-calorimetric experiments on $`8OCB`$+aerosil dispersions with emphasis on the weakly first-order I-N phase transition. These results for $`8OCB`$+aerosil dispersions have been compared with existing results for $`8CB`$+aerosil dispersions Iannacchione et al. (1998, 2003) and reveal new aspects of the effect of quenched random disorder on liquid crystal phase transitions. In particular, these two LC+aerosil systems are very similar except for the relative elasticity of the LC material. The material $`8OCB`$ is elastically stiffer, having an effective (single) nematic elastic constant $`K_N`$ larger by approximately $`20\%`$, than $`8CB`$, and this is reflected by the higher transition temperatures for the nematic, smectic, and crystal phases. Thus, aspects that are LC material dependent and those that are general to quenched random disorder can be distinguished.

From the very good overlap of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ wings away from the I-N two-phase coexistence region and from direct NMR studies on $`8CB`$+aerosil Jin and Finotello (2001) a general feature of LC+aerosils is that the magnitude of the nematic order, $`S`$, is essentially the same as in the bulk LC. Thus, the main effect of QRD is on the director structure with the elasticity of the LC and the kinetics of the ordered phase growth as likely important factors. This is supported by the differences seen between $`8OCB`$+aerosil and $`8CB`$+aerosil systems; in particular, the different $`\rho _S`$ dependence is likely connected to the difference in elasticity for the two liquid-crystals.

The effect of quenched random disorder on first-order phase transitions is substantially different than that on continuous phase transitions. First-order transitions have an additional energy penalty for the formation of interfaces between coexisting phases, which complicates random-field type theoretical approaches. In the classical treatment, first developed by Imry and Wortis Imry and Wortis (1979), the QRD effect on first-order transitions is that a quenched random-field creates domains having a randomly shifted transition temperature. This would have the effect of smearing the overall transition, a monotonic decrease in the transition latent heat and temperature with increasing QRD, and a low-temperature phase possessing only short-range order for arbitrarily weak QRD. These predictions are generally consistent with the behavior of nematic in aerogels Wu et al. (1995). For nematics in aerosils, the transition latent heat appears to decrease and the width of the coexistence region to increase monotonically with increasing disorder as well as the transition becoming apparently continuous for high disorder strength. These features are generally consistent with the classical picture. However, the character of the transition and the non-monotonic transition temperature shifts do not appear to be consistent with this view. More strikingly, the I-N transition in aerosils in some range of $`\rho _S`$, appears to proceed via two transitions. This could only occur in the classical view if a bimodal distribution of the random-field variance $`h^2`$, connected to a bimodal distribution in $`\rho _S`$, is present. This is not supported by SAXS studies, which revealed the fractal-like nature of the aerosil gel structure Iannacchione et al. (1998), nor the behavior at the N-SmA transition Haga and Garland (1997a, b); Iannacchione et al. (1998). However, nematics are very ”soft” materials and the QRD imposed by aerosils appears to be much weaker than that of aerogels, thus elasticity of the LC (and possibly the gel) can play an important role.

In LC+aerosil systems, $`h^2`$ is thought to depend on the given concentration of silica and interaction with the LC, whereas the LC elasticity $`K_N`$ is strongly temperature dependent (being proportional to $`S^2`$) near and below $`T_{IN}`$. Since the aerosil gel is thixotropic and formed in the isotropic phase, any high energy strains or deformations that may exist are likely quickly annealed, the anisotropy of the gel should be fixed and essentially zero, especially for rigid gel structures like aerogels. However, the disordering nature of the gels may evolve with thermal history of the LC in aerosil gels. As seen by the result of cycling through crystallization presented here as well as the DNMR Jin and Finotello (2001) and electro-optical Bellini et al. (2000, 2002) studies, the gel can be compliant with respect to distortions in the director structure for a range of silica densities. Note that the quantity $`T_{IN}`$ differs by at most 10% between $`8CB`$ and $`8OCB`$ thus the energy scales are similar while the twist elastic constant differs by 36%.

The features described above suggests a possible physical scenario for the origin of the double $`\mathrm{\Delta }C_p`$ feature at the I-N (or any ”soft” first-order not (b)) transition in LC+aerosil systems. As the nematic elastic constant strongly increases with decreasing temperature for $`TT_{IN}`$, a ”skin” of low nematic order (due to the undulations of the aerosil strands) may coat the silica strands. The thickness of this paranematic boundary layer would be strongly temperature dependent, shrinking with decreasing $`T`$ below $`T_{IN}`$. The presence of such layer a would serve to partially decouple the disordering (or field) effect of the silica gel from the void nematic (acting as a kind of ”lubricant”). Once the layer thickness reaches its minimum value (roughly equivalent to a molecular length) the elasticity of the void nematic becomes strongly coupled to that of the aerosil gel. This would effectively increase, for a given $`\rho _S`$, the disorder strength.

A consequence of this speculation for a first-order transition induced change in disorder strength (through the onset of coupling between the director fluctuations and gel) would be the alteration of the gel dynamics (i.e., vibrational modes). This would be consistent with large changes in the relaxation times of aerosil gels observed by dynamic x-ray studies on $`8CB`$+aerosil near $`T_{IN}`$ Retsch et al. (2002). In addition, this coupling should dampen director fluctuations and could account for the variation in the critical behavior seen at the N-SmA transition for LC+aerosil samples. Another consequence of this view is that the director correlation length $`\xi _{\widehat{n}}`$ (the relevant aspect of nematic order) would jump to a large isotropic value at the first transition and upon further cooling cross a second transition into a more strongly disordered state having a smaller correlation length. The isotropic nature of $`\xi _{\widehat{n}}`$ and the final SRO state of the nematic with QRD are consistent with recent optical studies Bellini et al. (2002) and the detailed evolution of $`\xi _{\widehat{n}}`$ through the two transitions is the subject of current optical and calorimetric study not (c).

The different silica density dependence of $`T_{IN}`$ and the temperature distance between the two $`C_p`$ peaks ($`\delta T_{2p}`$) between $`8OCB`$+aerosil and $`8CB`$+aerosil would also be consistent with the difference in the nematic elasticity of the two liquid-crystals. A stiffer silica gel (higher $`\rho _S`$) would be required to influence a stiffer LC, thereby stretching the shift in $`T_{IN}`$ with respect to $`\rho _S`$ as seen between the $`8OCB`$+aerosil and $`8CB`$+aerosil systems. The $`\rho _S`$ dependence in the high-density regime of $`\delta T_{2p}`$ for $`8OCB`$+aerosil (see Table 1) compared to the nearly constant $`\delta T_{2p}0.1`$ K seen only in the low density regime of $`8CB`$+aerosil Iannacchione et al. (1998) would be compatible with a transition induced increase in the variance of the gel disorder strength. The liquid-crystal $`8CB`$ being much softer would only be able to stress a very weak (low $`\rho _S`$) gel while the much stiffer $`8OCB`$ would be able to distort a wider range of gels. Since the $`\rho _S`$ dependence of the critical behavior for the N-SmA transition is quite similar between $`8CB`$+aerosil and $`8OCB`$+aerosil Clegg et al. (2003), these observations suggest that the effects observed at the I-N transition are not directly connected to those at the N-SmA.

Finally, the unexpected behavior of low silica density sample when initially cycled through the crystallization transition is not fully understood. The expulsion of silica impurities by the strongly first-order crystallization transition seems to lead to a more disordered system. One possibility to explain this phenomena is that the initial crystallization causes the expulsion of the silica particles locally and transforms the flexible fractal structure into a more rigid, foam-like, gel. The depression of $`T_{IN}`$ is then a consequence of the greater elastic distortions imposed by the new gel arrangement. Repeated cycling through crystallization would continue to expel impurities, eventually destroying the foam-like structure. Once the silica has been compacted sufficiently, percolation is no longer possible and free-floating silica particles would represent an annealed disorder. The gels formed in the high silica density samples are more robust and would not be expected to change significantly when the LC crystallize. This view can be directly tested with a detailed structural study by small-angle x-ray scattering where the thermal history is carefully controlled. The increase in the enthalpy of the N-SmA transition after the initial crystallization to a value greater than the bulk LC value remains a puzzle. Note that the speculations presented here for the double I-N transition peaks and the unusual hysteresis behavior are intended to motivate future experimental and theoretical studies.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors wish to thank C. W. Garland, Robert Leheny, and Tommaso Bellini for many helpful and useful discussions. Funding in Toronto was provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the work at WPI was supported by the NSF under the NSF-CAREER award DMR-0092786.


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# Direct Dark Matter Searches

## 1 Introduction

Since 1933 when Fritz Zwicky found the first evidence for the existence of dark matter, astronomers and cosmologists became more and more convinced that a large fraction of the mass of our universe is existing in an unknown form of matter - the so called dark matter. In spite of the prominent role this dark matter seems to play on all scales from galaxies up to the structure of the entire universe, it was up to now not possible to detect it directly nor to elucidate its nature. Dark matter searches are therefore among the hottest topics in astroparticle physics. Among the many theories proposing possible dark matter candidates, so called Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are presently most favoured. These weakly interacting particles with masses of several GeV form halos around galaxies. Due to their huge abundance, their gravitational mass dominates the galaxy and may therefore explain the rotational velocity distribution of spiral galaxies. The existence of WIMPs would also imply physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In a sub-class of supersymmetric theories the neutralino would be a good candidate.

The detection reaction in direct WIMP searches is the elastic scattering of a WIMP off a nucleus giving the nucleus a recoil energy of up to several ten keV.

## 2 General Considerations of Direct Detection Experiments

The density of our galaxy‘s WIMP halo at the position of the earth is estimated to be about $`0.3GeV/cm^3`$. Their velocity distribution is roughly a Boltzmann distribution with a mean velocity of about $`270km/s`$. Interacting in a detector, WIMPs create nuclear recoils. The energy spectrum of the recoils can be roughly described by an exponential rise towards low energies  . The shape of the recoil spectrum depends, among other parameters, on the WIMP mass, the mass of the target nucleus and the velocity distribution. For typical WIMP parameters, an interaction rate in the order of $`1count/day`$ or even less per kilogram of detector mass is expected. Obviously, identifying this low rate constitutes an extremely demanding challenge for direct detection experiments.Therefore, background reactions coming from radioactivity in the detector and its surrounding as well as from cosmic rays have to be reduced or shielded to at least the same level as the WIMP interaction rate. Meeting these stringent demands requires a continuous development and learning process.

In order to be able to see most of the recoil events the energy threshold of the detector should be as low as possible. A good energy resolution is needed to measure the shape of the recoil spectrum and to determine the origin of the background by gamma and alpha spectroscopy.

Due to the expected shape of the WIMP recoil spectrum the bins right above the detector threshold have the strongest influence on the detector sensitivity. A good monitoring of the gain stability and trigger efficiency is therefore essential for giving reliable exclusion limits or claiming long term modulation effects.

There are several ways to positively identify a WIMP signal. First one can check the shape of the recoil spectrum and its dependence on the mass of the target nucleus. The influence of the target nucleus on the interaction rate may be used to elucidate the WIMP‘s nature. In addition the rate and the spectrum should exhibit an annual modulation . This modulation is caused by a modulation of the WIMP velocity distribution on earth due to the movement of the earth around the sun. However, this modulation effect is only in the order of a few percent of the total WIMP interaction rate. To identify a signal positively as a WIMP signal, several of these should be observed in a consistent manner.

A nuclear recoil in a solid state detector can be detected in several ways: Most of the energy of a recoil will create phonons and will therefore result in a small temperature rise of the detector. This temperature rise is detected in cryogenic detectors. Only about 10% of the recoil energy is used for creating electron-hole-pairs. These can be measured as a charge signal, for example in high purity Germanium detectors. If the detector material is a scintillator, about 1% of the recoil energy may be converted into scintillation light.

On the other hand , however, ionisation and scintillation yields are much higher if the primary interaction takes place with an electron, creating an electron recoil instead of a nuclear recoil. This is the case for all background events created by photons an electrons. Usually they constitute the major background component. By measuring two excitation channels simultaneously ( e.g. phonon plus ionisation, phonon plus scintillation or ionisation plus scintillation) this background component can be strongly suppressed. New detectors just coming online use this background suppression technique and will boost the experimental sensivity in the near future by several orders of magnitude. They are limited by the background created by the elastic scattering of neutrons at nuclei, as this type of interaction also creates nuclear recoils indistinguishable from those created by WIMPs. For these experiments neutron shielding is an important issue.

## 3 Experiments

In the following section different experimental techniques are shortly described and their advantages and disadvantages outlined.

### 3.1 Ionisation Detectors

First dark matter searches were made Germanium detectors. These searches were a byproduct of the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in germanium. Germanium diodes exhibit an excellent energy resolution and long term stability. Since they are the standard detector for gamma spectroscopy, there exists a lot of experience in running and in industrial production of these detectors. From the radioactivity point of view they can be made very clean and have presently the lowest primary background of all solid state detectors. The restriction of this technology to Germanium as detector material and the lack of a background suppression may be seen as a drawback for future dark matter searches. Especially the activation of the detectors by cosmic rays during the production may become a limiting factor which can be overcome only by strong financial and technological efforts. Nevertheless there is a strong potential left in the next future. Dark matter searches with Ge-diodes are, for example, the Heidelberg Moscow Experiment, Igex, GTF and in the future Majorana.

### 3.2 Scintillation Detectors

#### 3.2.1 Liquid Xenon

Liquid Xenon is a good scintillator which has the capability to discriminate pulses caused by nuclear recoils (neutrons or WIMPs) from that of electron recoils (gamma and beta background) by exploiting their different time constants of the scintillation pulses. The distributions of these two event classes are, however, strongly overlapping. Therefore a background suppression can be made only on a statistical rather than an event-by-event basis. This statistical method is used by the Zeplin I dark matter search. The limiting factors are systematic errors which may be reduced by dedicated calibration runs. Probably due to the difficulties and ambiguities of these runs the limits given by ZEPLIN I  are still labeled preliminary. Future liquid Xenon experiments are ZEPLIN II and ZEPLIN III , potentially leading to ZEPLIN-MAX.

#### 3.2.2 NaJ

NaJ scintillation detectors are standard detectors for gamma spectroscopy and therefore a well established and commercially available technique. The difficulty in using these detectors for dark matter search is the necessity to obtain an extremely low threshold. The DAMA collaboration has been running about 100kg of NaJ counters with a threshold of 2 keV for more than seven years collecting 107731 kg days of data . They clearly find an annual modulation in the event rate in their lowest energy bins. Because they cannot attribute this modulation to any other origin, they interpret it to be caused by an annually modulated WIMP signal hidden in their background. This interpretation is in partial contradiction but at present not fully excluded by other experiments as EDELWEISS or CDMS.

### 3.3 Cryogenic Calorimeters

Cryogenic calorimeters consist of dielectric or superconducting crystals cooled to temperatures below 100 mK. A suitable thermometer is attached to these crystals. Even with crystal masses of a few hundred grams an energy deposit of a few keV results in a measurable temperature rise (some $`10^6{}_{}{}^{}K`$) of the thermometer. Detectors of this type were developed during the last 15 years and there are still a lot of ongoing improvements. The main advantage of this detectortype is the extremely low threshold down to about 600 eV for nuclear recoilsand the possibility to use a large variety of detector materials. On the other hand , however, the complexity of producing and running these devices is certainly a disadvantage. An excellent background discrimination can be obtained by the simultaneous measurement of heat and ionisation or heat and scintillation light as described in the next sections. Pure cryogenic dark matter searches are CRESST I, the Tokyo LiF / NaF setup, Rosebud, Cuoricino and in future Cuore.

### 3.4 Phonon plus Ionisation

This measurement technique, developed by the CDMS and EDELWEISS collaborations, is in simple words the combination of a Germanium detector with a cryogenic calorimeter. Since background events (produced by photons and electrons) create much more charge than nuclear recoil events of the same energy, the ratio of charge signal to phonon signal (the phonon signal is independent of the type of event) can be used to classify the event type and therefore to suppress beta and gamma background on an event by event basis. The fact that the sensitivity of the CDMS and EDELWEISS  dark matter searches with a few ten kilogram days of data is competitive to detectors with masses up to hundred kilograms running for several years shows the advantage of this detector concept. CDMS is just starting a physics run in their deep underground lab in the Soudan mine which has the capability for making a big step forward.

### 3.5 Phonon plus Scintillation

The simultaneous detection of scintillation light and phonons in cryogenic calorimeters using scintillating absorber crystals can give a similar background suppression as the simultaneous measurement of ionisation and light. This method was developed by the CRESST collaboration for CRESST II. Very recently it was shown that a large variety of scintillating crystals can be used. This gives this method a big advantage in identification of WIMP signals. The experiments using this technique are CRESST II and Rosebud.

## 4 Conclusion

Dark matter searches are one of the hot topics of astroparticle physics but are experimentally very challenging. A key issue of every experiment is to obtain a background rate as low as possible. In the future this can only be obtained by experiments having the capability of a background suppression on an event by event basis. In the next few years improvements of about two orders of magnitude in sensitivity seem feasible, which will clarify some still ongoing discussion and cover already a substantial part of the theoretically predicted parameter rage for neutralino dark matter. If we are lucky, next generation experiments might perhaps even find the dark matter.


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# Helical filaments with varying cross section radius

## Abstract

The tridimensional configuration and the twist density of helical rods with varying cross section radius are studied within the framework of the Kirchhoff rod model. It is shown that the twist density increases when the cross section radius decreases. Some tridimensional configurations of helix-like rods are displayed showing the effects of the nonhomogeneity considered here. Since the helix-like solutions of the nonhomogeneous rods do not present constant curvature and torsion a set of differential equations for these quantities is presented. We discuss the results and possible consequences.

Helical filaments are tridimensional structures universally found in Nature. They can be seen in very small sized systems, as biomolecules tamar  and bacterial fibers wolge , and in macroscopic ones, as ropes, strings, and climbing plants alain ; foot1 ; tyler . All these objects have in common the fact that the mathematical geometric properties of the 3D-space curve related to their axis, namely the curvature, $`k_F`$, and the torsion, $`\tau _F`$, are constant nize .

The so-called Kirchhoff rod model has been proved to be a good framework to study the statics nize ; vander  and dynamics goriely  of long, thin and inextensible elastic rods kirch ; dill . The applications of the Kirchhoff model range from Biology tamar ; col1 ; tyler  to Engineering sun . In these cases, the rod or filament is considered as being homogeneous, but the case of nonhomogeneous rods have been also considered in the literature. It has been shown that nonhomogeneous Kirchhoff rods may present spatial chaos holmes ; davies  and that helical transitions occur in the tridimensional configurations of rods with periodic variation of the Young’s modulus fonseca0 . A comparison between homogeneous and nonhomogeneous rods subject to given boundary conditions and mechanical parameters was performed by da Fonseca and de Aguiar in fonseca1 . The effects of a nonhomogeneous mass distribution in the dynamics of unstable closed rods have been analyzed by Fonseca and de Aguiar fonseca2 . Goriely and McMillen alain2  studied the dynamics of cracking whips whip  and Kashimoto and Shiraishi moto  studied twisting waves in inhomogeneous rods.

Here, using the Kirchhoff model, we shall present the results for the equilibrium solutions of nonhomogeneous rods with varying cross section radius and no intrinsic curvature. Only the solutions classified by Nizette and Goriely nize  as being helical will be considered: the straight rod, the twisted planar ring and the helix. We shall show that the twist density varies along the rod inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radius of the cross section. Also, it will be seen that the curvature, $`k_F`$, and the torsion, $`\tau _F`$, are not constant for the helix-like solutions with nonhomogeneous cross section radius.

The motivations for this work are: i) the study of failure or rupture of cables azevedo ; sayed . For example, it was shown that shoreline anchor rods rupture at the region where the rod diameter diminishes due to corrosion sayed . The fact that, for twisted rods, the twist density increases in the regions where the rod diameter decreases can be related to the onset of the failure; ii) the shape of some climbing plants have filamentary helical structures (spring-like tendrils) whose radius and pitch are not constant alain . Such a tridimensional configuration, with the radius and the pitch varying along the rod, will be shown to be a possible solution of the Kirchhoff model for the nonhomogeneous rod. Other motivations are related to defects kronert , distortions geetha  and the rule of twisting turner  in biological molecules.

The static Kirchhoff equations, in scaled variables, for rods with circular cross section and no intrinsic curvature are given by:

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝐅^{}=0,\hfill & \\ 𝐌^{}+𝐝_3\times 𝐅=0,\hfill & \\ 𝐌=I(s)k_1𝐝_1+I(s)k_2𝐝_2+\mathrm{\Gamma }I(s)k_3𝐝_3,\hfill & \end{array}$$
(1)
where $`s`$ is the arc-length of the rod, the prime  denotes differentiation with respect to $`s`$ and the vectors $`𝐅`$ and $`𝐌`$ are the resultant force, and corresponding moment with respect to the axis of the rod, respectively, at each cross section. $`𝐝_i`$, $`i=1,2,3`$, compose the director basis with $`𝐝_3`$ chosen to be the vector tangent to the axis of the rod and $`𝐝_1`$ and $`𝐝_2`$ lie in the plane of the cross section. $`k_i`$ are the components of the twist vector, $`𝐤`$, that controls the variations of the director basis along the rod through the relation $`𝐝_i^{}=𝐤\times 𝐝_i`$. $`k_1`$ and $`k_2`$ are related to the curvature ($`k_F=\sqrt{k_1^2+k_2^2}`$) and $`k_3`$ is the twist density of the rod. $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2\mu /E`$ is the adimensional elastic parameter, with $`\mu `$ and $`E`$ being the shear and the Young’s moduli, respectively. $`I(s)`$ is the variable moment of inertia that is related to the radius of the cross section through the relation $`I(s)=R^4(s)`$ (valid in scaled units). Writing the resultant force $`𝐅`$ in the director basis, $`𝐅=f_1𝐝_1+f_2𝐝_2+f_3𝐝_3`$, the equations (1) give six differential equations for the components of the resultant force and twist vector:

$`f_1^{}f_2k_3+f_3k_2=0,`$ (2a)
$`f_2^{}+f_1k_3f_3k_1=0,`$ (2b)
$`f_3^{}f_1k_2+f_2k_1=0,`$ (2c)
$`(I(s)k_1)^{}+(\mathrm{\Gamma }1)I(s)k_2k_3f_2=0,`$ (2d)
$`(I(s)k_2)^{}(\mathrm{\Gamma }1)I(s)k_1k_3+f_1=0,`$ (2e)
$`(\mathrm{\Gamma }I(s)k_3)^{}=0.`$ (2f)
Since $`I(s)=R^4(s)`$, the equation (2f) shows that the twist density $`k_3`$ is inversely proportional to $`R^4(s)`$. Therefore, $`k_3`$ is not constant for nonhomogeneous cases. On the other hand, the component $`M_3=\mathrm{\Gamma }Ik_3`$ of the moment in the director basis (also called torsional moment), is a constant along the rod.

In order to look for helical solutions of the eqs. (2) the components of the twist vector $`𝐤`$ are expressed as follows:

$$k_1=k_F\mathrm{sin}\xi ,k_2=k_F\mathrm{cos}\xi ,k_3=\xi ^{}+\tau _F,$$
(3)
where $`k_F`$ and $`\tau _F`$ are the curvature and torsion of the rod, respectively. In the homogeneous case $`k_F`$ and $`\tau _F`$ are constant, and $`\xi =(k_3\tau _F)s`$ nize .

We shall consider the following cases: the straight rod, the twisted planar ring and the general helix-like rod.

i) The straight rod: $`k_F=\tau _F=0`$.

From eq. (3), $`k_1=k_2=0`$ and from eqs. (2),

$$\begin{array}{cc}k_3(s)=\frac{\text{Constant}}{I(s)}=\frac{M_3}{\mathrm{\Gamma }R^4(s)},\hfill & \\ f_1=f_2=0\text{and}f_3T=\text{Constant}.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(4)
$`T`$ is the tension applied to the rod. Figure 1 shows the twist density $`k_3(s)`$ for a straight rod with the cross section radius varying as

$$R(s)=1+0.1\mathrm{cos}(0.3s),$$
(5)
in scaled units. The mechanical parameters used to obtain the rod displayed in Figure 1 were $`M_3=10^1`$ (scaled units) and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.9`$.

ii) The twisted planar ring: $`k_F=`$ Constant and $`\tau _F=0`$.

The components of the twist vector for the twisted planar ring are:

$$\begin{array}{cc}k_1=k_F\mathrm{sin}\xi ,k_2=k_F\mathrm{cos}\xi ,\xi ^{}=k_3=\frac{M_3}{\mathrm{\Gamma }R^4(s)}.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(6)
Substituting the eqs. (6) in eqs. (2) shows that the twisted planar ring is a possible equilibrium solution only if the cross section radius is of the form:

$$R(s)=(A_0\mathrm{cos}(k_Fs)+B_0\mathrm{sin}(k_Fs)+C_I/k_F^2)^{\frac{1}{4}},$$
(7)
where $`A_0`$, $`B_0`$ and $`C_I`$ are constants.

Remark: considering $`\tau _F=0`$ and assuming that $`k_F`$ is a function of $`s`$ (instead of being a constant) there exist no solutions for eqs. (2). So, the existence of planar solution requires $`k_F=`$ Constant.

iii) The general helix-like rod: $`k_F=k_F(s)`$ and $`\tau _F=\tau _F(s)`$.

In this case, the eqs. (3) become:

$$k_1=k_F(s)\mathrm{sin}\xi ,k_2=k_F(s)\mathrm{cos}\xi ,k_3=\xi ^{}+\tau _F(s).$$
(8)
Substituting eq. (8) in eqs. (2), extracting $`f_1`$ and $`f_2`$ from eqs. (2e) and (2d), respectively, differentiating them with respect to $`s`$ and substituting in eqs. (2a) and (2b) gives a set of differential equations for $`k_F(s)`$, $`\tau _F(s)`$ and $`f_3(s)`$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}[(I(s)k_F(s))(\mathrm{\Gamma }k_3(s)\tau _F(s))]^{}(I(s)k_F(s))^{}\tau _F(s)=0,\hfill & \\ (I(s)k_F(s))^{\prime \prime }+I(s)k_F(s)\tau _F(s)(\mathrm{\Gamma }k_3(s)\tau _F(s))f_3(s)k_F(s)=0,\hfill & \\ (I(s)k_F(s))^{}k_F(s)+f_3^{}(s)=0.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(9)
These differential equations are nonlinear and depend on $`R(s)`$ through $`I(s)`$.

Figure 2 shows a helix-like rod for the following linear variation of the radius of the cross section:

$$R(s)=1+0.0023s.$$
(10)
The mechanical parameters, in scaled units, are $`M_3=0.05`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.9`$, $`k_F(0)=0.05`$, $`\tau _F(0)=0.24`$ and $`f_3(0)=0`$.

In the figure 2 we display $`k_3(s)`$ (full line) and $`0.1R(s)`$ (dashed line). We can see that the radius and pitch of the helix-like tridimensional configuration displayed on the left of figure 2 are not constant.

Figure 3 shows the numerical solution for the curvature $`k_F(s)`$ (full line) and torsion $`\tau _F(s)`$ (dashed line) for the helix-like rod shown in the figure 2. Despite the simplicity of its tridimensional shape (figure 2, on the left) $`k_F(s)`$ and $`\tau _F(s)`$ are not simple functions of the arclength $`s`$, showing the nonlinear characteristic of the system.

Figure 4 shows an example of a helix-like rod with periodic variation of the radius of the cross section:

$$R(s)=1+0.1\mathrm{sin}(0.1s).$$
(11)
The mechanical parameters, in scaled units, are $`M_3=0.04`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.9`$, $`k_F(0)=0.19`$, $`\tau _F(0)=0.04`$ and $`f_3(0)=0.005`$.

The functions $`k_3(s)`$ and $`0.1R(s)`$ are displayed in the figure 4 (full line and dashed line, respectively). In this case of periodic variation of the radius of the cross section, the tridimensional helix-like rod displayed in figure 4 (left) is more complicated than that displayed in the figure 2 (left).

Figure 5 shows the numerical solution for the curvature $`k_F(s)`$ (full line) and torsion $`\tau _F(s)`$ (dashed line) for the helix-like rod shown in the figure 4. The curvature and torsion are not simple functions of the arclength $`s`$ of the rod.

There is a kind of solution called free standing helix that is defined by setting the resultant force $`𝐅=0`$ tabor2 . In eqs. (9) $`f_3(s)=0`$ gives the following solution for the curvature and torsion of the rod:

$$\begin{array}{cc}(I(s)k_F(s))^{}=0k_F(s)=\frac{k_{F_0}}{I(s)},\hfill & \\ \tau _F(s)=\mathrm{\Gamma }k_3(s)\tau _F(s)=\frac{M_3}{I(s)}.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(12)
Notice that for the free standing helix-like rod the curvature $`k_F(s)`$, and the torsion $`\tau _F(s)`$, will be analytical functions of the arclength $`s`$ if the moment of inertia $`I(s)`$ is given by an analytic function of $`s`$. Also $`\frac{k_F(s)}{\tau _F(s)}`$ is a constant for all $`s`$.

The variation of the twist density along the rod can be a key factor in a variety of phenomena. As mentioned before, the onset of a failure in a twisted cable can be related to the increasing of the twist density in a given region of the cable. In the Kirchhoff model, the torsional moment $`M_3`$ is constant along the rod. For a relatively high value of $`M_3`$ the twist density at a region of the rod with small diameter can be so large that it may not be valid the assumption of linear relationship between the torque and the components of the twist vector. Also, depending on how large the moment is, the behavior of the material could not be approximately elastic in the regions of small diameter. So, the increase of the twist density due to the decreasing diameter in a twisted rod may be the starting point of a process that can culminate with its rupture.

An interesting question arises for the important phenomenon known as writhing instability. In this phenomenon a local change in the twist can lead to a global reconfiguration of the rod that is a consequence of a topological constraint given by a mathematical theorem by White white . If the twist density varies along the rod, the question is to identify the region of the rod where this kind of instability will occur. The nonhomogeneity considered here can also have important consequences in the dynamics of this phenomenon golds . It will be a subject of a future publication.

Another implication of variable twist density along twisted rods is the problem of stability of equilibrium solutions. It is known that above a critical value of the twist density an equilibrium solution for the Kirchhoff model becomes unstable goriely ; tabor . Another good question is to investigate if a local increasing of the twist density above the critical value, can lead to a global instability of the related equilibrium solution. It could be important to the problem of failure mentioned before.

A very hard problem in differential geometry is obtaining a direct relationship between the curvature and the torsion with the radius and the pitch of a helix-like nonhomogeneous rod. Since the definitions of curvature and torsion involve the calculation of the modulus of the derivatives of tangent and normal vectors with respect to the arclength of the rod, for non constant radius and pitch, this relation is very complicated. The analysis of this problem will be considered in a future work.

It is interesting to note that the tridimensional configuration of the figure 2 displays a pattern in the radius and the pitch of the helix-like rod seen in the spring-like tendrils of some climbing plants. Since the young parts of the filament that composes the plant has smaller diameter than the older parts, these filaments are examples of rods with the nonhomogeneity considered here.

The numerical solutions obtained for $`\tau _F(s)`$ and the solutions for $`k_3(s)`$ of the helix-like cases show that the term $`\xi ^{}`$ of the equation (3) is not null as it was proved to be for the case of homogeneous helix tyler . It means that helix-like filaments formed by nonhomogeneous rods are not twistless.

The existence of intrinsic curvature may lead to other planar solutions. The helix-like solutions can also be influenced by the intrinsic curvature. This will be considered in a more complete work.

This work was partially supported by the Brazilian agencies FAPESP, CNPq and CAPES. The authors would like to thank Prof. Alain Goriely for suggesting the problem.


text:
# Brief Neutrino Physics Update

## 1 Two–Neutrino Parameters

In conjunction with the most recent SNO data with enhanced neutral current sensitivity (salt phase)  and the KamLAND reactor data , solar neutrino experiments have now established the oscillation phenomenon. This closes the solar neutrino problem and opens an era of opportunity for learning more about the Sun  or about beyond–oscillations properties of neutrinos, such as magnetic moments  and non-standard interactions . Although well-motivated by theory, such mechanisms can no longer account for the data and may only be present at a sub–leading level . Similarly, the solid oscillation interpretation of the atmospheric neutrino data  leaves little room for beyond-oscillation non-standard physics .

Neutrino masses  have finally been discovered . A complete analysis of recent solar, atmospheric, accelerator and reactor neutrino data has been given in Ref.  111See Refs.  for extensive list of experimental solar and atmospheric neutrino references. For a discussion of other neutrino data analyses see Table 2 in  and the reviews in .. This paper presents an updated determination of the neutrino oscillation parameters taking into account all data (see Ref.  for details) including the new solar neutrino data from the SNO–salt phase . The resulting 90%, 95%, 99%, and 3$`\sigma `$ 2 d.o.f. C.L. regions in $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta sol`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol`$ allowed by all solar neutrino data before (lines) and after (shaded regions) the inclusion of the SNO–salt data are shown in Fig. 1. Also shown in this figure is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$ as a function of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta sol`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol`$, minimized with respect to the undisplayed parameter.

One finds that especially the upper part of the LMA–MSW region and large mixing angles are strongly constrained by the new data, with $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta sol=0.5`$ excluded at more than 5$`\sigma `$. This rules out all bi–maximal models of neutrino mass .

The first 145.1 days of KamLAND data have important implications on the determination of the solar neutrino parameters, as discussed, for example, in Ref. . Fig. 2 shows the projections of the allowed regions from all solar neutrino and KamLAND data at 90%, 95%, 99%, and 3$`\sigma `$ C.L. for 2 d.o.f. onto the plane of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta sol`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol`$ before (lines) and after (shaded regions) the inclusion of the SNO–salt data. Also shown is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$ as a function of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta sol`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol`$, minimized with respect to the undisplayed parameter.

One sees that the SNO–salt results reject the previously allowed high-mass branch of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol`$ at about 3$`\sigma `$. Moreover, for the first time it is possible to obtain meaningful bounds on solar neutrino parameters at the 5$`\sigma `$ level, showing that neutrino physics has just entered the precision age.

Turning to the atmospheric neutrino parameters, we show in Fig. 3 the projection of the allowed regions from the global fit of all atmospheric data (details in Ref. , onto the plane of the atmospheric neutrino parameters. The regions displayed correspond to 90%, 95%, 99%, and 3$`\sigma `$ C.L. for 2 d.o.f. implied by the atmospheric+solar+CHOOZ data, while for the shaded regions also the K2K and KamLAND data are added. Also shown is the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$ as a function of $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta atm`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$, minimized with respect to undisplayed parameters. One sees that the first 29 events from K2K  included here already constrain the upper region of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$. This should be contrasted with the lowering of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$ indicated by a recent preliminary reanalysis of the atmospheric data by the Super–Kamiokande collaboration presented at the Aachen EPS conference . While the two analyses differ, the value for $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$ quoted in  is statistically compatible with the result shown above. For $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm=2\times 10^3\mathrm{eV}^2`$ and maximal mixing Ref.  obtains a $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=1.3`$.

## 2 Three–Neutrino Parameters

We now summarize the results of a global analysis combining all current solar, atmospheric, reactor and accelerator data in order to obtain the allowed three-neutrino oscillation parameters . The simpest three–neutrino lepton mixing matrix is parameterized as a product of three complex rotations $`K=\omega _{12}\omega _{13}\omega _{23}`$, $`\omega _{ij}`$ being a rotation in the $`ij`$ sector. This involves three mixing angles and three CP-violating phases , one of which is the analogue of the quark CP phase, whose effect in oscillations we neglect, while the two Majorana phases  do not show up in oscillations but appear in lepton number violating processes . This way one is left with just the three angles in the neutrino oscillation analysis: $`\theta _{12}\theta sol`$ which governs solar neutrino oscillations, $`\theta _{23}\theta atm`$ which characterizes atmospheric neutrino oscillations, and $`\theta _{13}`$ which couples these two analyses.

$$K=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}c_{13}c_{12}& s_{12}c_{13}& s_{13}\\ s_{12}c_{23}s_{23}s_{13}c_{12}& c_{23}c_{12}s_{23}s_{13}s_{12}& s_{23}c_{13}\\ s_{23}s_{12}s_{13}c_{23}c_{12}& s_{23}c_{12}s_{13}s_{12}c_{23}& c_{23}c_{13}\end{array}\right),$$
(1)
Oscillations also involve the neutrino mass-squared differences $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol\mathrm{\Delta }m_{21}^2m_2^2m_1^2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm\mathrm{\Delta }m_{31}^2m_3^2m_1^2`$. Because of the hierarchy $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$ it is a good approximation to set $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol=0`$ in the analysis of atmospheric and K2K data, and to set $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$ to infinity for the analysis of solar and KamLAND data. The global fit to the data then involves five oscillation parameters $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{12},\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{23},\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{13},\mathrm{\Delta }m_{21}^2,\mathrm{\Delta }m_{31}^2`$. The results of such three–neutrino analysis are summarized in Fig. 4, taken from Ref. , showing the allowed regions and $`\chi ^2`$ projections for the above five oscillation parameters.

The regions are at 90%, 95%, 99%, and 3$`\sigma `$ C.L. for 2 d.o.f. for various parameter combinations. Also shown is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$ as a function of the five oscillation parameters, minimized with respect to all undisplayed parameters. Finally, the best-fit values, 2$`\sigma `$, 3$`\sigma `$ and 5$`\sigma `$ intervals (1 d.o.f.) for the three-flavour neutrino oscillation parameters derived from current solar, atmospheric, reactor (KamLAND and CHOOZ) and accelerator (K2K) experiments are given in Table 1 of Ref. . It is remarkable that, for the first time, one can determine solar neutrino parameters at the 5$`\sigma `$ level, showing that neutrino physics has now entered the precision phase.

## 3 Future agenda

So far all CP phases are neglected in all current neutrino oscillation analyses. This is justified because the CP violating effects are suppressed due to the stringent limits on $`\theta _{13}`$ following mainly from reactor data , shown in Fig. 5. On the left panel one can see the 90%, 95%, 99%, and 3$`\sigma `$ allowed ($`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{13},\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$) regions from CHOOZ data alone (lines) and CHOOZ+solar+KamLAND data (shaded regions). Moreover leptonic CP violating effects are suppressed by the small mass splitting indicated by the solar neutrino data analysis. Indeed, in the 3-neutrino limit, CP violation disappears as two neutrinos become degenerate . Current data determine the ratio $`\alpha \mathrm{\Delta }m^2sol/\mathrm{\Delta }m^2atm`$ as shown in the right panel of Fig. 5.

Now that the neutrino oscillation phenomenon has been confirmed, one may try to go a step further and test for the phenomenon of leptonic CP violation, either induced by the Dirac phase (oscillations) or by the Majorana phases  through L-and-CP violating processes 222 Depending on the model, leptogenesis may involve both Dirac and Majorana phases .. Let us start with oscillations. One sees that the value for $`\alpha `$ inferred from the global neutrino oscillation analysis and the reactor bound on $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{13}`$ both limit the prospects for probing CP violating effects at future neutrino oscillation experiments with superbeams or neutrino factories . It will be challenge to probe such small effects, and this will require a near–detector in order to reject against the presence of non–standard neutrino interactions .

On the other hand, now that neutrino masses have been established, it is natural to check whether neutrinos are Majorana particles, as expected from theory . Neutrinoless double beta decay  provides the most sensitive probe into the nature of neutrinos, irrespective of its theortetical origin . There is indeed a new generation of proposed experiments aimed at detecting $`\beta \beta _{0\nu }`$ with improved sensitivity .

Although potentially sensitive to the Majorana CP phases present in the lepton mixing matrix , current nuclear physics uncertainties still preclude a realistic way to test Majorana phases using this process , even if several isotopes are combined. As for other lepton number violating processes, these are strongly suppressed by the small masses of neutrinos and/or the V-A nature of the weak interaction. For example the L-violating neutrino oscillation probability involved in the “thought-experiment” proposed in Ref.  is suppressed by $`(m_\nu /E)^2`$, while transition Majorana neutrino magnetic moments  also vanish in the massless neutrino limit .

Let us now turn to another issue, namely, the number of light neutrinos. Are there more than three light neutrinos?

The LSND collaboration has claimed evidence for oscillations  which would strongly suggest the existence of a fourth (singlet) neutrino species at the electron-volt range, as could arise, say, due to some protecting global symmetry such as lepton number . However, a combined global four–neutrino study including also the solar, atmospheric and negative short–baseline oscillation searches, such as Karmen, Bugey and CDHS, strongly prefer the minimal three light–neutrino hypothesis . The data rule out the possibility of symmetric (2+2) schemes, because in this case sterile neutrinos take part in both solar and atmospheric oscillations. Though strongly disfavoured by short-baseline experiments, the presence of a light sterile neutrino in a (3+1) scheme may still be allowed, since it can be chosen to decouple from solar and atmospheric oscillations. Data from cosmology, including CMB data from WMAP   and the 2dFGRS large scale structure surveys  lead to further restrictions, especially on large $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2lsnd`$ values.

## 4 Neutrino Theory: Top-Down versus Bottom-Up

The theoretical setting involved in the description of current neutrino oscillation experiments was laid out long ago , including the two-component quantum description of massive Majorana neutrinos and the gauge theoretic characterization of the lepton mixing matrix. The other crucial ingredient was the formulation of neutrino oscillations in the presence of matter .

The origin of neutrino mass remains as much of a mystery today as it was back in the eighties. Much of the early theoretical effort was motivated in part by the idea of unification which introduced the seesaw mechanism . Although first formulated in the context of the $`SO(10)`$ group, it was soon realized that the seesaw idea can be applied to left-right symmetric theories , or the simplest effective Standard Model gauge framework . While the $`SO(10)`$ or $`SU(2)_LSU(2)_RU(1)`$ seesaw formulations have the virtue of relating the small neutrino mass to the dynamics of parity (gauged B-L) violation, the effective $`SU(2)U(1)`$ description is more general and applies to any theory, for example with ungauged B-L . It is also worth–noting that the general seesaw scheme implies a Higgs triplet contribution to neutrino masses, from an induced tadpole or an elementary scalar vacuum expectation value .

However, it is worth stressing that the seesaw is just one way of generating the fundamental dimension–five neutrino mass operator . Such may also arise from physics “just around the corner”. One example is provided by certain super-string-inspired models . Indeed in such “anti-seesaw” models neutrino masses vanish as the B-L scale goes to zero, rather than infinity.

An alternative origin for neutrino mass is provided by the idea of low energy supersymmetry  in schemes that break R parity through a sneutrino vacuum expectation value . These lead effectively to bilinear R parity violation . The novelty here is that neutrino mixing angles can be tested at accelerator experiments . Hybrid alternatives involving triplet Higgs bosons and supersymmetry are possible .

In summary there is no “road–map” for the ultimate theory of neutrino mass, a wide variety of pathways remains open. In this context one expects small residual effects associated to non-standard weak interaction properties of neutrinos. These may follow from the particular structure of the charged and neutral currents expected in theories where neutrino masses follow from the existence of isosinglet leptons  or from alternative low energy radiative mechanisms for neutrino mass generation  and their variants.

This work was supported by Spanish grant BFM2002-00345, European Commission RTN grant HPRN-CT-2000-00148, European Science Foundation Neutrino Astrophysics Network and a Humboldt Research Award. This written version includes the SNO–salt data, analysed in detail in Ref. .