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# Topological Hall effect and Berry phase in magnetic nanostructures

## Abstract

We discuss the anomalous Hall effect in a two-dimensional electron gas subject to a spatially varying magnetization. This topological Hall effect (THE) does not require any spin-orbit coupling, and arises solely from Berry phase acquired by an electron moving in a smoothly varying magnetization. We propose an experiment with a structure containing 2D electrons or holes of diluted magnetic semiconductor subject to the stray field of a lattice of magnetic nanocylinders. The striking behavior predicted for such a system (of which all relevant parameters are well known) allows to observe unambiguously the THE and to distinguish it from other mechanisms.

After half a century of theoretical efforts, the Hall effect of ferromagnets (usually called anomalous or extraordinary Hall effect) remains a puzzling and controversial topic. Until recently, it was considered that it originates from the combined effect of exchange and spin-orbit (SO) interactions. Two mechanisms of anomalous Hall effect (AHE) have been identified (the skew scattering karplus54 ; smit58  and side-jump berger70 ) and studied thoroughly hurd . Recently, a new point of view has been proposed m\_onoda02 , in which the AHE is expressed in terms of a Berry curvature in momentum space. However, one should note that a generally accepted theory treating on an equal footing all the above mentioned contributions to the SO-induced AHE is still missing.

Recently, it has been suggested that (in addition to the above mentioned SO-induced mechanism) a new mechanism may give rise to a non-vanishing Hall effect in ferromagnets having a topologically non-trivial (chiral) spin-texture, such as manganites or pyrochlore-type compounds matl98 . To distinguish this mechanism from the SO-based mechanism, we shall refer to it hereafter as the topological Hall effect (THE).

Several theoretical papers have been devoted to the THE. In order to explain the AHE observed in manganites, a model of 3D ferromagnet with thermally excited skyrmion strings (topological dipoles)has been proposed ye99 , showing that a THE can be induced by the Berry phase berry84  related to the spatial variation of magnetization in the vicinity of the string. The case of disordered ferromagnets in the limit of small exchange splitting has been addressed in Ref. tatara02, . In both cases, in order to get a net topological field (or chirality), the SO-coupling must be invoked. Even when the net topological field vanishes, a nonvanishing THE may be obtained, as discussed for a 2D kagomé lattice or a 3D pyrochlore lattice nagaosa .

All the above mentioned discussions of the THE concern systems with spin-chirality at the microscopic scale (e.g., pyrochlore lattice) or due to skyrmion-strings. In both cases, quantitative experimental information on the chirality is not easily available. Furthermore, the SO-mechanism is usually also present, which makes complicate the quantitative interpretation of the observations.

In the present Letter, we propose to investigate the THE in nanostructures, namely in a 2D electron (or hole) gas, in which a well-controlled artificial chirality can be induced from the stray field of a lattice of magnetic nanocylinders. The great advantage of such a model system is that, in contrast to the above mentioned cases, all relevant parameters are well known and (to some extend) adjustable. We show that it is possible to obtain a significant net topological field, and that the latter has a characteristic variation with respect to a (uniform) external field, providing an unambiguous signature of the THE. Finally, we suggest a system appropriate for an experimental check of our theory.

We start from a model of 2DEG in a smoothly varying magnetization $`𝐌(𝐫)`$. The Hamiltonian has the following form

$$H=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\frac{^2}{𝐫^2}g𝝈𝐌(𝐫),$$
(1)
where $`g`$ is the coupling constant and $`𝝈`$ is the vector of Pauli matrices. We assume that the amplitude of magnetization is constant, $`𝐌(𝐫)=M𝐧(𝐫)`$, and that the 3D unit vector $`𝐧(𝐫)`$ is a slowly varying function of coordinates.

We use a gauge transformation $`T(𝐫)`$, which makes the quantization axis oriented along vector $`𝐧(𝐫)`$ at each point tatara97 . It transforms the last term in (1) as $`T^{}(𝐫)\left[𝝈𝐧(𝐫)\right]T(𝐫)=\sigma _z`$, corresponding to a local rotation of the quantization axis from $`z`$ axis to the axis along $`𝐧(𝐫)`$.

The transformed Hamiltonian describes the electrons moving in a (spinor) gauge potential $`𝐀(𝐫)`$,

$$H^{}=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\left(\frac{}{𝐫}\frac{ie}{\mathrm{}c}𝐀(𝐫)\right)^2gM\sigma _z,$$
(2)
where $`A_i(𝐫)=2\pi i\varphi _0T^{}(𝐫)_iT(𝐫)`$, $`\varphi _0=hc/e`$ is the flux quantum, and $`i=x,y`$. For convenience, we define the gauge potential $`𝐀(𝐫)`$ to have the same dimension as the electromagnetic vector potential. The components of $`𝐀(𝐫)`$ can be found easily using an explicit form of $`T(𝐫)`$.

Hamiltonian (2) with the spinor $`𝐀(𝐫)`$ contains terms inducing transitions between the spin-polarized states. We consider the case when spin-flip transitions can be neglected, i.e., where the spin adiabatically follows $`𝐧(𝐫)`$. It corresponds to the condition $`\lambda (\epsilon _F/\epsilon _0)(k_F\xi )^11`$, where $`\xi `$ is a characteristic length of the variation of $`𝐧(𝐫)`$, $`\epsilon _F`$ is the Fermi energy, and $`\epsilon _0=2gM`$ is the spin splitting.

We also assume that the 2DEG is half-metallic with the Fermi level located in the spin-up subband. Then we can neglect the spin-down electrons, and we obtain the following effective Hamiltonian for spinless electrons:

$$\stackrel{~}{H}=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\left(\frac{}{𝐫}\frac{ie}{\mathrm{}c}𝒂(𝐫)\right)^2+V(𝐫),$$

where

$$a_i(𝐫)=\frac{\pi \varphi _0\left(n_x_in_yn_y_in_x\right)}{1+n_z},$$
(3)
the potential $`V(𝐫)=(\mathrm{}^2/8m)(_in_\mu )^2`$ results from the second order in $`𝐀(𝐫)`$ terms, and $`\mu =x,y,z`$. For spin-down electrons the sign of the gauge field $`𝒂(𝐫)`$ in Eq. (Topological Hall effect and Berry phase in magnetic nanostructures) is reversed.

The topological field is defined as $`B_t=_xa_y_ya_x`$. It acts on the electrons within the spin polarized subband like the ordinary magnetic field, and in particular gives rise to a Lorentz-type force aharonov . Using (4) we find

$`B_t={\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _0}{4\pi }}ϵ_{\mu \nu \lambda }n_\mu (_xn_\nu )(_yn_\lambda ),`$ (4)
where $`ϵ_{\mu \nu \lambda }`$ is the unit antisymmetric tensor. The integral over the area $`S_0`$ enclosed by an arbitrary contour $`L_0`$

$$\mathrm{\Omega }(L)=\frac{1}{2}_{S_0}d^2𝐫ϵ_{\mu \nu \lambda }n_\mu (_xn_\nu )(_yn_\lambda )$$
(5)
is the Berry phase calculated as the spherical angle spanned by an area $`S`$ inside the contour $`L`$ in $`𝐧`$-space. This results from the mapping of the contour $`L_0`$ onto the contour $`L`$ in the mapping space $`S_2`$. In the 2D case with a constant magnetization at infinity, we can compactify 2D plane to a sphere $`S_2`$, and the quantity $`I\mathrm{\Omega }/4\pi `$ calculated with the integral (6) over $`S_2`$ is the topological invariant corresponding to the number of covering the mapping space.

We can consider different topologically nontrivial types of the distribution of magnetization field in 2D plane like, for example, separated magnetic domains embedded into homogeneous magnetization. Each domain creates a unit flux of topological field $`+\varphi _0`$ or $`\varphi _0`$, where the sign is related to the magnetic polarization inside the domain with respect to the ambient. The important point is that this topological flux does not depend on a specific shape or a size of the domain. Besides, it does not depend on whether the domain is separated by the domain wall of Bloch or Néel type. The same result will be also for the skyrmion - a topological excitation similar to the circular magnetic domain with a Néel domain wall.

Next we consider a periodic magnetization created by a regular 2D lattice of the elements with a nontrivial topology. For example, it can be a square or triangular lattice of circular domains. Each of the domains creates the same magnetic flux. We can estimate the THE for this system using the formula for the Hall conductivity in the average topological field $`\overline{B_t}`$.

$$\sigma _{xy}(𝐫)=\frac{2\pi \mathrm{}e^2n_{}\tau _{}^2\overline{B_t}}{m^2\varphi _0},$$
(6)
where $`n_{}`$ and $`\tau _{}`$ are the concentration and momentum relaxation time of spin up electrons, respectively. If the system is not half-metallic, there is also a corresponding additional contribution to $`\sigma _{xy}`$, which differs from (7) by sign.

Using (7) and the standard formula for conductivity, $`\sigma _{xx}=n_{}e^2\tau _{}/m`$, in the case of unfilled spin-up subband we find

$$\rho _{xy}\frac{\sigma _{xy}}{\sigma _{xx}^2}=\frac{\overline{B_t}}{ecn_{}}.$$
(7)
The periodic magnetization can be realized using a structure with a lattice of magnetic nanocylinders nielsch01  on top of 2D electron gas. To observe the THE we suggest using II-VI diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS), as shown schematically in Fig. 1. The stray field from the magnetic nanocylinders, penetrates into semiconductor and polarizes the magnetic impurities, creating a large spin splitting of electrons or holes in the DMS furdyna88 . This effect is much stronger than the direct diamagnetic or Zeeman actions of external magnetic field. The main idea is to design a system, which provides a non-uniform magnetic field of zero average within the semiconductor but induces a topological field of nonzero average.

We have calculated the stray field and topological field for a triangular lattice of nanocylinders (of magnetization $`M_s`$ along the $`z`$-axis), using realistic values of parameters for the nanocylinder lattice. Namely, we take a lattice constant of 100 nm, a cylinder radius of 37 nm (i.e., a filling ratio of 50 percent), and the gap $`D`$ between the lattice and semiconductor equal to 20 nm. The distribution of $`z`$-component of the dipolar field (normal to the semiconductor surface) is shown in Fig. 2. The corresponding topological field calculated from Eq. (5) is presented in Fig. 3. For Fe cylinders, the dipolar field $`B`$ inside the semiconductor is about 2 kG in absolute value. The characteristic length for the variations of $`𝐧(𝐫)`$ is of the order of the gap $`D`$, i.e., $`\xi 20`$ nm.

One can see quite easily (for example by considering the Berry phase from the mapping of the plane onto the sphere $`S_2`$) that the net topological flux per unit cell, $`\varphi _t`$, has to be an integer multiple of $`\varphi _0`$, and that $`\varphi _t/\varphi _0`$ is given by the number (per unit cell) of lines $`B_z=0`$ enclosing a region with $`B_z<0`$ minus the number of lines $`B_z=0`$ enclosing a region with $`B_z>0`$. From Fig. 2, one thus sees that we have a triangular lattice of lines $`B_z=0`$ enclosing regions with $`B_z<0`$, yielding $`\varphi _t=\varphi _0`$ for a vanishing external field. For the considered geometry this corresponds to an average topological field of about $`5`$ kG, with local values ranging between $`15`$ kG and $`+5`$ kG.

If a negative external field is applied (assuming that the magnetization of the nanocylinders remains unchanged, due to some large coercivity), the lines with $`B_z=0`$ shrink without changing their topology until they collapse to a single point and eventually disappear at a critical field $`B_1`$, beyond which $`\varphi _t=0`$. If a positive field is applied, the lines with $`B_z=0`$ expand, until they connect each other at a critical field $`B_2`$ and change their topology to a honeycomb lattice (the dual of the triangular lattice) of lines $`B_z=0`$ enclosing regions with $`B_z>0`$ (dashed lines in Fig. 2), giving $`\varphi _t=+2\varphi _0`$. Increasing further the external field leads to a collapse of the lines with $`B_z=0`$ at a critical field $`B_3`$, beyond which $`\varphi _t=0`$. For Fe nanocylinders in the above geometry, the critical fields are, respectively, $`B_12`$ kG, $`B_2+0.9`$ kG, and $`B_3+1.3`$ kG. This change of topology under application of an external magnetic field results in a striking field dependence of the Hall resistivity, as sketched in Fig. 4, and constitutes an unambiguous signature of the THE.

For the practical realization, we propose to use $`p`$-type DMS since the exchange constants for holes are much larger than for electrons furdyna88 . For the estimation of the topological field acting on holes, we use the Luttinger Hamiltonian luttinger56

$$H_h=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m_0}\left[\left(\gamma _1+\frac{5}{2}\gamma _2\right)^22\gamma _2(𝐉)^2\right]+E_{ex}𝐉𝐧(𝐫),$$
(8)
where $`J_\mu `$ are the matrices of momentum $`J=3/2`$, $`\gamma _1`$ and $`\gamma _2`$ are the Luttinger parameters, $`m_0`$ is the free electron mass, $`𝐧(𝐫)`$ is the unit vector along the direction of exchange field acting on 2D gas of holes, $`E_{ex}`$ is the average exchange field created by magnetic impurities,

$$E_{ex}=JSxN_0\beta _S(g_L\mu _BB/k_BT),$$
(9)
$`N_0\beta `$ is the $`p`$-$`d`$ exchange constant, $`S`$ is the magnetic moment of impurity, $`xN_0`$ is the concentration of magnetic atoms, $`_S(z)`$ is the modified Brillouin function, and $`g_L`$ is the Landé factor of magnetic atom.

We calculate the topological field for holes described by Hamiltonian (9), using the transformation $`T(𝐫)=\mathrm{exp}(i𝐉𝛀(𝐫)/2)`$, where $`𝛀(𝐫)`$ is the vector of rotation. We find the topological field $`B_t`$ considering small deviations of the vector $`𝐧(𝐫)`$ in a vicinity of some point $`𝐫`$. Assuming that the magnetic splitting under exchange field is strong, we find that the gauge potential and the topological field for holes in the valence band, being proportional to $`J`$, are given by the same expressions (3) and (4) as for electrons, multiplied by a factor 3.

After transforming (9) and restricting ourselves by the subband $`J_z=3/2`$, we obtain for spin-polarized holes, the same Hamiltonian as (Topological Hall effect and Berry phase in magnetic nanostructures), with $`1/m`$ replaced by $`1/m^{}=(\gamma _1+\gamma _2)/m_0`$.

The spin splitting in II-VI semiconductor can be large enough to provide 100% polarization of holes under the dipolar field of 2 kG. Indeed, we can take the exchange coupling $`N_0\beta =1.2`$ eV, which is the typical magnitude for different compounds (Cd1-xMnxSe, Zn1-xMnxSe, etc), and the atomic density of magnetic atoms $`x=0.05`$. For $`B=2`$ kG, $`g_L=2`$, and $`T=4.2`$ K the Brillouin function $`_{5/2}(g\mu _BB/k_BT)0.075`$. Then using (10) we obtain $`E_{ex}11`$ meV. The Fermi energy of 2D holes filling the spin-splitted subband is determined by the density of holes $`n_p`$, $`E_F=2\pi \mathrm{}^2n_p/m^{}`$, where $`m^{}`$ is the effective mass of holes. By taking $`m^{}=0.5m_0`$, and $`n_p=10^{11}`$ cm-2, we obtain $`E_F1`$ meV. Thus, the condition of 100% polarization of holes, $`E_F<E_{ex}`$, is quite realistic for II-VI diluted magnetic semiconductors. The adiabaticity parameter for this choice of parameters is $`\lambda 0.041`$. It should be noted that much stronger splitting can be reached for Zn1-xCrxTe compounds, for which $`N_0\beta =3.6`$ eV mac96 .

For electrons, on the other hand, in order to fulfill the conditions of full polarization and adiabaticity, lower temperatures and/or very low electron densities would be needed. Taking the exchange constant of $`s`$-$`d`$ interaction $`N_0\alpha =0.22`$ eV furdyna88 , the electron effective mass $`m_e=0.22m_0`$, $`T=4.2`$ K, and the concentration of electrons $`n_e=10^{11}`$ cm-2, we obtain $`E_F4.4`$ meV, $`E_{ex}2`$ meV, and $`\lambda 1`$; the condition of adiabaticity is poorly fulfilled, resulting in a reduction of the effect. Also the gas is not fully polarized, reducing further the THE due to the partial compensation of contributions from spin up and down subbands. Although not fully developed, the THE should nevertheless be observable with electrons.

In conclusion, we have proposed that the THE can be observed in suitably chosen nanostructures, and that its striking behavior under an external magnetic field provides an unambiguous experimental signature of the THE.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank J. Cibert for discussions. V.D. thanks Polish State Committee for Scientific Research for support under Grants PBZ/KBN/044/P03/2001 and 2P03B05325. P.B. acknowledges financial support from BMBF (Grant No. 01BM924).


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# Stochastic resonance for two competing species in the presence of colored noise

## I Introduction

Recently the constructive role played by the noise in population dynamics has been the subject of intense theoretical investigations . The noise, through its interaction with the nonlinearity of the ecosystems, can give rise to counterintuitive phenomena like stochastic resonance  (SR), noise enhanced stability  (NES), noise delayed extinction , etc…

In this work we focus on the role of realistic noise in the dynamics of two competing species, and specifically on the SR phenomenon in population dynamics in the presence of exponentially correlated noise. When the time scale of random fluctuations is larger than the characteristic time scale of the ecosystem the external noise cannot be considered white noise. This noise has no time scale because is $`\delta correlated`$. In real ecosystems the external random perturbations, due to interaction with the environment, are correlated with a finite correlation time. A strongly correlated noise for example emerges as the result of a coarse graining over a hidden set of slow variables . The dynamics of our ecosystem is described by generalized Lotka-Volterra equations with a random interaction parameter between two competing species in the presence of a multiplicative colored noise. In the absence of noise we have two stable states, corresponding to dynamical regimes of coexistence and exclusion. Real ecosystem however are subjected to noisy environment and to geological periodical forcing, like seasonal temperature. Because of these random and periodical forcing we describe the two dynamical regimes of coexistence and exclusion with a bistable potential for the interaction parameter, tilted periodically by an environment temperature driving term.

We find that the noise is responsible for the generation of quasi-periodic temporal oscillations and the enhancement of the response of the system to a driving force producing stochastic resonance . By analyzing the effect of the colored noise we find that for low values of the correlation time $`\tau _c`$ the response of the system coincides with that obtained with multiplicative white noise. For higher values of $`\tau _c`$ the coherent response of the system and the maximum of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which are signature of the SR phenomenon, are shifted towards higher values of the noise intensity. These results are in agreement with previous theoretical and experimental investigations of SR phenomenon in dynamical systems in the presence of colored noise . However in previous studies the colored noise was additive, while here we have two different sources of noise and only one of them is colored.

## II The model

Time evolution of two competing species is obtained within the formalism of the Lotka-Volterra equations  in the presence of a multiplicative noise

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dx}{dt}}=\mu _1x(\alpha _1x\beta _1(t)y)+x\zeta _x(t)`$ (1)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{dy}{dt}}=\mu _2y(\alpha _2y\beta _2(t)x)+y\zeta _y(t),`$ (2)
where $`\zeta _i(t)`$ $`(i=x,y)`$ are colored noises given by the archetypal source for colored noise, i. e. exponentially correlated processes given by Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process

$$\frac{d\zeta _i}{dt}=\frac{1}{\tau _c}\zeta _i+\frac{1}{\tau _c}\xi _i(t)(i=x,y)$$
(3)
and $`\xi _i(t)`$ $`(i=x,y)`$ are Gaussian white noises within the Ito scheme with zero mean and correlation function $`\xi _i(t)\xi _j(t^{})=2\sigma \delta (tt^{})\delta _{ij}`$. The correlation function of the processes of Eq.(3) is

$$\zeta _i(t)\zeta _j(t^{})=\frac{\sigma }{\tau _c}e^{|tt^{}|/\tau _c}\delta _{ij}$$
(4)
and gives $`2\delta (tt^{})\delta _{ij}`$ in the limit $`\tau _c0`$. We can distinguish two different regimes for the correlation time of the noise: (a) $`dt<\tau _c<T_o`$, i. e. a correlation time greater then the integration step $`dt`$ and less then the period of the deterministic driving force $`T_o`$; (b) $`\tau _c>T_o`$.

The time series for the two populations are obtained setting $`\alpha _1=\alpha _2=\alpha `$, $`\beta _1(t)=\beta _2(t)=\beta (t)`$, and $`\xi _x(t)=\xi _y(t)=\xi (t)`$. For $`\beta <1`$ both species survives, that is a coexistence regime takes place, while for $`\beta >1`$ an exclusion regime is established and one of the two species extinguishes after a certain time. Coexistence and exclusion of one of the two species correspond to stable states of the Lotka-Volterra’s deterministic model . This aspect together with the assumption of a strong noisy interaction between species and environment suggests that the interaction parameter $`\beta (t)`$ can be described as a stochastic process which obeys the following stochastic differential equation

$$\frac{d\beta (t)}{dt}=\frac{dU(\beta ,t)}{d\beta }+\xi _\beta (t),$$
(5)
where $`U(\beta ,t)`$

$$U(\beta ,t)=h(\beta (1+\rho ))^4/\eta ^42h(\beta (1+\rho ))^2/\eta ^2\beta \gamma cos(\omega _0t),$$
(6)
is a bistable potential (see Fig.1), with the two stable states of coexistence and exclusion, modulated by the periodic term $`\gamma cos(\omega _0t)`$, which takes into account for the environment temperature oscillations. Here $`h`$ is the height of the potential barrier.

In Eq. (5) $`\xi _\beta (t)`$ is a Gaussian white noise with the usual statistical properties: $`\xi _\beta (t)=0`$ and $`\xi _\beta (t)\xi _\beta (t^{})=\sigma \delta (tt^{})`$. We choose as initial conditions for two competing species a coexistence regime ($`\beta (0)<1`$) on the left minimum of the potential $`U(\beta ,t)`$ at $`\omega _0t=\pi /2`$.

### A Stochastic resonance

The deterministic dynamics of the species strongly depends on the value of the interaction parameter $`\beta (t)`$. We first analyze therefore the time evolution of $`\beta (t)`$ for different levels of the additive noise $`\sigma _\beta `$ . In the absence of noise ($`\sigma _\beta =0`$) we have a periodical behaviour of $`\beta (t)`$ in the coexistence regime (see Fig.2a). For low noise intensity with respect to the height of the potential barrier ($`\sigma _\beta h`$) we obtain a quasi-deterministic trajectory of $`\beta (t)`$, slightly perturbed by the noise (Fig.2b). When the noise intensity is comparable with the barrier height ($`\sigma _\beta h`$), the typical picture of stochastic resonance phenomenon is obtained: the periodical behavior of the interaction parameter jumps between the two values $`\beta =0.94<1`$ and $`\beta =1.04>1`$, which characterize the coexistence and the exclusion dynamical regimes (see Fig.(2c). A further increase of the noise intensity produces a loss of coherence and the dynamical behavior of $`\beta (t)`$ is strongly controlled by the noise (Fig.2d).

The optimum coherent time behaviour of $`\beta (t)`$ (Fig.(2c) is obtained from the statistical synchronization relation

$$\tau _k=T_0/2$$
(7)
typical of the SR phenomenon. Here $`\tau _k`$ is the Kramers time

$$\tau _k=\frac{2\pi }{\sqrt{|U^{\prime \prime }(0.99)|U^{\prime \prime }(0.94)}}\mathrm{exp}[2h/\sigma _\beta ],$$
(8)
$`T_0=2\pi /\omega _0`$ is the period of the driving force, $`U^{\prime \prime }(0.99)`$ and $`U^{\prime \prime }(0.94)`$ are the second derivative respectively calculated in the unstable and stable states of the potential. For $`T_o=10^3`$ we have $`\sigma _\beta =1.7810^3`$, the value of the noise intensity of Fig.2c.

Now we analyze the dynamics of the two species by fixing the additive noise intensity at the value $`\sigma _\beta =1.7810^3`$, corresponding to a competition regime between the two species periodically switched from coexistence to exclusion, and by varying the intensity of the multiplicative colored noise. We obtain the temporal series of the two species for different values of both the multiplicative noise intensity $`\sigma =\sigma _x=\sigma _y`$ and the correlation time $`\tau _c`$. We do simulations in both regimes for the correlation time of the noise: (a) $`dt<\tau _c<T_o`$, and (b) $`\tau _c>T_o`$. In the weak correlated noise regime (a) no relevant modifications occur in the temporal series of the two species densities. The time evolution of the two species show an anticorrelated behavior with quasiperiodical oscillations (see Figs. 3c,4c) with a random inversion of the population that predominates over the other one, as in the white noise case . In Figs. 3,4 we report these time behaviours at $`\sigma =0`$, $`\sigma =10^{12}`$, $`\sigma =10^4`$, $`\sigma =10^2`$ for two different values of the correlation time $`\tau _c=20,210^3`$. For $`0<\tau _c<T_o=10^3`$ we obtain the same behaviour as in the presence of multiplicative white noise. For $`\tau _cT_o`$ some modifications occur, particularly for $`\tau _c=210^3`$ the temporal series of the two species densities show the anticorrelated behavior with quasiperiodical oscillations up to $`\sigma =10^2`$ (see Fig. 4d), i. e. a delay in the coherent output of our ecosystem. This delay will manifest itself in the behaviour of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a function of the multiplicative noise intensity.

In the strong correlated noise regime (b) a relevant delay of the coherent time behaviour of the two species is observed. The maximum of SNR is shifted towards higher values of the multiplicative noise intensity. This shift in a Log-Log scale grows faster than a linear function of the correlation time $`\tau _c`$. In Fig. 5,6 we report the temporal series for $`\tau _c=210^6,210^9`$ obtained for different values of the multiplicative noise intensity.

Comparing the temporal series of Figs. 3,4 and Figs. 5,6 we note that increasing the values of $`\tau _c`$ the noise-induced effects are observed for higher levels of noise intensity. The coexistence regime and the correlated oscillations of both populations persist for a wider range of multiplicative noise intensities. The anticorrelated behavior with quasiperiodical oscillations appear with very high noise intensity as the correlation time value of the multiplicative noise is strong enough. The lost of coherence in the time behaviours of the two species is observed at very high intensities of the multiplicative noise. Because of the high values of the multiplicative noise, one population extinguishes and the other one survives at a constant density after a transient dynamics (see Figs. 5d,6d). This dynamical behaviour is typical of an ecosystem in the presence of an absorbing barrier .

The periodicity of the noise-induced oscillations in the time behavior of the population densities shown in Figs. 3-6 is the same of the driving periodic term of Eq.(6).

This is the signature of stochastic resonance (SR)phenomenon. In order to manifest the presence of SR we analyze the squared difference of population densities $`(xy)^2`$ for different values of $`\tau _c`$. In Fig. 7 the SNRs of this quantity are shown for $`\tau _c=0,210^2,210^1,20,210^3,210^6,210^9`$ as a function of the multiplicative noise intensity $`\sigma `$, by fixing the additive noise intensity at $`\sigma _\beta =1.7810^3`$. We calculate the SNR of $`(xy)^2`$ because of the random periodical inversion of population densities. We note that dynamics of $`(xy)`$ is mainly affected by the multiplicative noise, as we can see from Eqs.(2). The SNRs have been obtained by performing $`190`$ realizations of Eqs. (2). In each graph of Fig. 7 a maximum appears, whose position depends on the values of $`\tau _c`$, i.e. the most coherent response of the system is connected with both the intensity and the correlation time of the multiplicative noise. We see clearly the two dynamical regimes of weak correlated noise (a), with the first four values of $`\tau _c`$, and of strong correlated noise (b) with the last three values of $`\tau _c`$. In this regime the maximum of SNR is shifted towards higher values of multiplicative noise intensity as in previous theoretical and experimental studies . However some differences occur. Previous studies on the effect of colored noise on SR phenomenon showed that by increasing $`\tau _c`$ the peak of the SNR shifts towards higher values of the noise amplitude and the maximum decreases with a broadening of the entire curve. The shift of the SR peak to larger noise intensities is due to the fact that colored noise suppresses exponentially the hopping rate with increasing noise color. In our model the colored noise is introduced in the multiplicative noise and not in the additive one as in usual bistable dynamical systems. The SR in the dynamics of interaction parameter $`\beta `$ induces SR phenomenon in the dynamics of two competing populations . Our hopping rate in the first SR is not affected by the *”color”* of the multiplicative noise. However this noise produces the coherent response of the ecosystem and therefore produces the shift of the SNR peak. A more detailed study on the effect of colored noise on two noise sources used in our model will be the subject of future investigation.

## III Conclusions

We report a study on the role of the colored noise in the dynamics of two competing species. In our model we consider two Gaussian noise sources: a multiplicative colored noise and an additive white noise, which produces a random interaction parameter between the species. The additive noise controls the switching between the coexistence and the exclusion dynamical regimes, the multiplicative noise is responsible for periodical oscillations of the two species densities, whose amplitude and coherence depend on the value of the correlation time $`\tau _c`$. When the interaction parameter is in SR regime a coherent time behavior of two species appears. This behavior is characterized by periodical oscillations and enhancement of the response of the system through the appearance of a stochastic resonance phenomenon in the dynamics of the two competing species. We then conclude that a stochastic resonance phenomenon (primary SR) for the interaction parameter $`\beta `$ induces another effect of stochastic resonance (secondary SR) in the dynamics of the species in the presence of colored noise. We note that for $`\tau _c0`$ our results are consistent with that obtained for the case of white noise (see Fig. 7). Moreover the coherent time behavior of our ecosystem and the SR phenomenon are shifted towards higher noise intensities, in agreement with previous theoretical and experimantal investigations . The presence of a colored noise assures that the densities of the two species at the time $`t`$ depend on the values of the multiplicative noise at the previous times. This represents a more realistic condition and it can be useful to explain the time evolution of ecological species, whose dynamics is strongly affected by the environmental noise .

## IV Acknowledgments

This work was supported by INTAS Grant 01-450, by INFM and MIUR.


text:
# ON FRACTAL DIMENSION OF PROTON AT SMALL 𝑥

## 1 Introduction

Self similarity is a familiar property in nature. Many of the seemingly irregular shapes of nature have hidden self similarity in them.It is not the usual symmetry with respect to rotation or translation,but symmetry with respect to scale or size: a small part of a system is self similar to the entire system. Such a system is defined through its self similar dimension, which is in general fractal, hence called fractal dimension. Classical fractals discussed in standard references are Cantor Dust, Koch Curve and Sierpinski gasket whose fractional dimensions are 0.63,1.26 and 1.585 respectively, which lie between Euclidean point and surfaces.

Notion of self similarity and fractal dimensions are being used in the phase spaces of hadron multiparticle production processes since nineteen eighties\[3-7\].However these ideas did not attract much attention in contemporary physics of deep inelastic lepton hadron scattering, due to its obvious lack of applicability. Although a related approach employing self organized criticality , has been pursued in reference \[9-12\] for quark-gluon systems . Only recently , Lastovicka has developed relevant formalism and applied it to deep inelastic electron proton scattering at low $`x`$ and proposed a functional form of the structure function $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$. Specifically a description of $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$ reflecting self similarity is proposed with a few parameters which are fitted to recent HERA data.The specific parameterization is claimed to provide an excellent description of the data which covers a region of four momentum transferred squared $`0.45<Q^2120GeV^2`$ and of Bjorken $`x`$,$`6.2\times 10^7<x0.01`$.

More recently, it was observed  that the positivity of fractal dimensions prohibits some of the fitted parameters of the structure function of reference. Specifically out of the fractal dimensions $`D_1`$,$`D_2`$ and $`D_3`$ one ($`D_3`$)was estimated to be negative ($`D_31.3`$). However the positivity of fractal dimension forbids such negative value.

In order to avoid such possibility, we suggest that the proton is described by the single self similarity dimension D. This then facilitates one to compare the self similarity nature of the proton at low $`x`$ with the classical multifractals, which is the aim of the present paper. In section2, we report the essentials of the formalism while section 3 contains the conclusion.

## 2 Formalism

Under the hypothesis of self similarity of the proton structure at low $`x`$, Lastovicka obtained the following form of the structure function $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$,

$$F_2(x,Q^2)=\frac{e^{D_0}(\frac{Q_0^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2})x^{D_2+1}}{1+D_3+D_1\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})}[x^{D_1\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})^{D_3+1}1]$$
(1)
where $`D_1`$,$`D_2`$,$`D_3`$ are the self similarity dimensions associated with the magnification factors $`\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})`$, $`\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2}).\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})`$ and $`\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})`$, while $`D_0`$ defines the normalization constant.Since the magnification factors should be positive, non-zero and dimensionless, a choice $`1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2}`$, rather than $`Q^2`$ has been made, while $`Q_0^2`$ is arbitrary small virtuality,$`Q^2>Q_0^2`$. An additional parameter $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ has been introduced in to make the structure function dimensionless, a point overlooked in . Explicit confrontation with HERA data  yields, $`D_0=0.339\pm 0.145`$,$`D_1=0.073\pm 0.001`$,$`D_2=1.013\pm 0.01`$,$`D_3=1.287\pm 0.01`$ and $`Q_0^2=0.062\pm 0.01GeV^2`$. As the self similarity dimensions of all known fractals are positive, by its definitions one expects $`D_10`$,$`D_20`$,$`D_3>0`$, a feature overlooked in the empirical fit of  as far as $`D_3`$ is concerned.Further in analogy with other classic fractals  we also assume that proton at low $`x`$ is a monofractal with just one single fractal dimension, so that

$$D_1=D_2=D_3=D$$
(2)
Under such a hypothesis, equation (1) is rewritten as,

$$F_2(x,Q^2)=[\frac{e^{D_0}(\frac{Q_0^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2})x^{D+1}}{1+D+D\mathrm{log}\frac{1}{x}}][(\frac{1}{x})^{D\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})}(1+\frac{Q_2}{Q_0^2})^{D+1}1]$$
(3)
For very low $`x`$, $`\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})>>D`$,1

$$F_2(x,Q^2)=\frac{e^{D_0}(\frac{Q_0^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2})x^{D+1}}{D\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})}(\frac{1}{x})^{D\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})^{D+1}$$
(4)
In (4), $`D_0`$ is the only flavor dependent factor, varying for different quark combinations. An immediate prediction of (4) is the slope of the structure function $`\lambda _{eff}`$ defined through

$$F_2(x,Q^2)Cx^{\lambda _{eff}(Q^2)}$$
(5)
yielding

$$\lambda _{eff}=D[1+\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})]1+\frac{\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{\mathrm{log}(1/x)})}{\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})}$$
(6)
Recently HERA data at low $`x`$  have been parameterized through (5) with

$$\lambda _{eff}=a\mathrm{log}(\frac{Q^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2})$$
(7)
where $`a=0.048\pm 0.0013(stat)\pm 0.0037(syst)`$,$`c0.18`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=292\pm 20(stat)\pm 51(syst)MeV`$ consistent with QCD expectation  above Regge regime. Equating (6) and (7), we obtain the fractal dimension of proton to be,

$$D(x,Q^2)=\frac{1+a\mathrm{log}(\frac{Q^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2})+\frac{\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x}))}{\mathrm{log}(\frac{1}{x})}}{1+\mathrm{log}(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2})}$$
(8)
Equation (8) is the main result of the present paper.

## 3 Results

In figure 1-4, we plot $`D(x,Q^2)`$ versus $`x`$\[equation(8)\] for fixed $`Q^2`$ values,$`Q^2`$=5,8.5, 20, 35, 45, 60, 90, 150 $`GeV^2`$. It shows that the fractal dimension $`D(x,Q^2)`$ increases with $`x`$ but decreases for higher values of $`x`$ ($`x3.9\times 10^3`$). This decreasing nature of $`D(x,Q^2)`$ for higher $`x`$ is more prominent for high $`Q^2`$. It has also been observed that at high $`Q^2`$,$`D(x,Q^2)`$ decreases very slowly instead of increasing.

In figure 5-8, we plot $`D(x,Q^2)`$ \[equation(8)\] versus $`Q^2`$ for representative small $`x`$, $`x=1.3\times 10^4`$(0.00013),$`2\times 10^4`$(0.0002),$`3.2\times 10^4`$(0.00032),$`5\times 10^4`$(0.0005),$`8\times 10^4`$(0.0008),$`1.3\times 10^3`$(0.0013),$`2\times 10^3`$(0.002) and $`1.3\times 10^2`$(0.013). It shows invariable decrease of $`D(x,Q^2)`$ as $`Q^2`$ increases. In table 1,we also record the values of $`D(x,Q^2)`$ for a few representative data points.Taking the average of the total 148 $`x`$,$`Q^2`$ data points of H1in the range $`1.5Q^2150GeV^2`$ and $`3.2\times 10^5x0.2`$, we obtain average fractal dimension to be $`D0.64`$. Our analysis thus suggests that if proton is viewed as a monofractal at low $`x`$,HERA data\[14-16\] constrains its average dimension $`D`$ such that in its self similarity nature, it is close to Cantor dust ($`D0.63`$).

Let us conclude this work with a few comments.Replacing the three fractal dimensions of Reference by a continuous function of two variables, equation (8) is a considerable extension of the parameter space and needs close scrutiny. A much more modest but meaningful approach would have been perhaps to make the $`D_3`$ of reference  vanishingly small $`D_30`$ and see how it differs the original analysis. Furthermore notion of fractal dimension of proton needs clearer physical interpretation.Lastly, the formalism developed here needs direct comparison with structure function data. These aspects are currently under study.

It is however tempting to speculate that the notion of monofractal versus multifractal craracterizations of systems pursued actively in other branches of sciences  might be of relevence even in the study of structure functions at low $`x`$.

## 4 Acknowledgement

Both of us thank Dr.Subir Sarkar for helpful discussions. One of us (DKC) acknowledges useful coresspondence with Dr.T.Lastovicka.He also acknowledges warm hospitality at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai where a part of the work has done.

| TABLE1:Values of $`D(x,Q^2)`$ for a few representative data points | | |
| --- | --- | --- |
| *$`Q^2`$* | x | *$`D(x,Q^2)`$* |
| 5 | $`8.18\times 10^5`$ | 0.754 |
|  | $`1.30\times 10^2`$ | 0.752 |
| 8.5 | $`1.39\times 10^2`$ | 0.684 |
|  | $`2.00\times 10^2`$ | 0.675 |
| 20 | $`2.68\times 10^4`$ | 0.588 |
|  | $`3.20\times 10^2`$ | 0.57 |
| 35 | $`5.74\times 10^4`$ | 0.537 |
|  | $`8.00\times 10^2`$ | 0.487 |
| 45 | $`1.30\times 10^3`$ | 0.517 |
|  | $`8.00\times 10^2`$ | 0.468 |
| 60 | $`2.00\times 10^3`$ | 0.496 |
|  | 0.013 | 0.491 |
| 90 | $`3.2\times 10^3`$ | 0.468 |
|  | 0.13 | 0.39 |
| 150 | $`2.00\times 10^2`$ | 0.43 |
|  | 0.2 | 0.31 |


text:
# Pentaquark as Kaon–Nucleon Resonance

## Abstract

Several recent experiments have reported evidence for a narrow feature in the $`K^+`$-neutron system, an apparent resonant state $`100`$ MeV above threshold and with a width $`25`$ MeV. This state has been labelled as $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ (previously as $`Z^{}`$), and because of the implied inclusion of a anti-strange quark, is referred to as a pentaquark, that is, five quarks within a single bag. We present an alternative explanation for such a structure, as a higher angular momentum resonance in the isospin zero $`K^+N`$ system. One might call this an exit channel or a molecular resonance. In a non-relativistic potential model we find a possible candidate for the kaon-nucleon system with relative angular momentum $`L=3`$, while $`L=1`$ and $`2`$ states possess centrifugal barriers too low to confine the kaon and nucleon in a narrow state at an energy so high above threshold. A rather strong state-dependence in the potential is essential, however, for eliminating an observable $`L=2`$ resonance at lower energies.

Several groups spring ; diana ; jlab ; elsa  have reported the presence of a resonance, referred to presently as the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$, in a variety of experimental configurations. This experimental situation stands in sharp contrast to that relative to the 6-quark H-dibaryon jaffe1 , which at first glance seemed theoretically to be a candidate for an exotic state eminently more likely to be discovered. For the $`H`$ there have been many, so far fruitless searches. We offer elaborations on some points made by Capstick, et al. capstick , on the general nature of resonances in the kaon-nucleon system and the connection between their angular momenta, widths and energies above threshhold.

Perhaps the simplest data comes from the SAPHIR detector at ELSA elsa , wherein the positive strangeness $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ is photo-produced off a simple proton target. The final state contains $`nK^+K_s^0`$ and the relevant system is identified in the missing mass spectrum of the $`K_s^0`$. The $`K_s^0`$ is reconstructed from its two $`\pi `$ decay, preferentially in the forward direction. These authors conclude the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ is an isoscalar due to the absence of a $`\mathrm{\Theta }^{++}`$ in the $`\gamma ppK^+K^{}`$ channel. Interestingly, in this preferentially forward detection of the $`K_s^0`$ elsa , the transfer of appreciable angular momentum to the observed resonance would be favored.

Previously and presently, several theorists praszalowicz ; walliser ; diakonov ; weigel ; karliner  have predicted the existence of such states, on occasion with astonishing accuracy diakonov  one might add, using the Skyrme model topological soliton skyrme  as a basis; others, including the experimental groups themselves, spring ; diana ; jlab ; jaffe ; capstick  have described the state as a bag mitbag  containing five quarks, viz. a pentaquark.

There are perhaps some difficulties inherent in either of these theoretical approaches, since a $`{}_{}{}^{1}P`$ configuration is generally selected as the primary candidate. There is a wealth of low energy $`KN`$ scattering data sakitt ; dover ; martin ; bgrt ; roper  which presumably would have revealed a low-angular momentum $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ resonance in the total cross-section or elsewhere. This problem could be avoided if the state possessed a truly narrow width, perhaps $`\mathrm{\Gamma }3`$ MeV newanal . On the other hand if a higher angular momentum $`L=2,3`$ resonance were sought, the absence of observations in $`100`$ MeV scattering data might perhaps be bypassed newanal .

Pentaquark bag and soliton solutions both face a related problem. They will, in decay, be connected to the outgoing tate via a low angular momentum, molecular ‘doorway’ state capstick . At $`100`$ MeV of excitation, an $`L=1`$ resonance could acquire so large a width as to be non-existent in the absence of $`SU_f(3)`$ symmetry breaking, or, in nuclear structure terms the presence of a small ‘spectroscopic’ factor to suppress the decay capstick ; nussinov .

In searching for a suitable phenomenological ‘effective’ $`K`$$`N`$ potential one finds that a resonance of width $`7`$$`21`$ MeV at the rather elevated excitation energy of $`100`$ MeV can indeed be constructed. Such an effective potential presumably represents a final state interaction between the kaon and nucleon components, i. e. a molecule like doorway state. Proceeding in this fashion may amount to trading one problem for another, and involves an appreciable degree of artificiality. But in doing so we can throw some light on the experimental problems arising from the assumption that the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ possesses a low angular momentum.

It is in fact already known, generally from phase shift analyses of data dover ; martin ; bgrt , that the $`KN`$ system possesses a considerable state dependence in its various $`S`$ and $`P`$ configurations. In particular the isoscalar singlet $`P`$ seems to evidence the greatest attraction and in some modeling, the phase shift passes upwards through $`\pi /2`$, however, at the rather high relative momentum of $`800`$ MeV/c bgrt ; bnl . In this very brief contribution we only attempt to delineate the minimum requirements for a molecular resonance to exist, $`K^+`$ \+ $`N`$, rather than a single bag.

A possible candidate state with an appropriate and natural single particle width-energy relation will, as we shall see, possesses $`L=3`$. If there is no dependence of the effective potential on orbital angular momentum, it is likely the $`L=2`$ channel also has a resonant state, which will generally be narrower and closer to threshold. Thus an $`L=2`$ resonance remains a possibility, with perhaps a reduced cross-section for production considering somewhat large momentum transfer required.

In this picture, we have in mind, first the creation of a very short-lived seven-quark ’bag’ and soon after the fission into the final $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ and $`K_s^0`$. Both the initial object and the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ may well be deformed mitbag ; iachello . The $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$-molecule is likely prolate before its subsequent fission (decay) into its $`K`$ and $`N`$ components. We envision that the interaction between these components is mainly on their surface, perhaps a particle-vibrational coupling.

Explicit calculations were done using the non-relativistic code GAMOW due to T. Verse, K. F. Pal and Z. Balogh resonance , in its original form and also in a version modified to essentially exclude interactions inside some radius, somewhat inside the $`0.8`$$`1`$ fm expected for the size of a nucleon bag. Non-relativistic kinematics should be adequate for $`K`$-$`N`$ system at the rather low relative energy of $`100`$ MeV ascribed to the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$. From the outset, it is abundantly clear that a state of such energy and width cannot be easily sustained by the centrifugal barrier in states with $`L2`$. This could be an advantageous circumstance, should further experiments truly eliminate the presence of even a narrow $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ in low energy $`KN`$ scattering. An $`L=3`$ resonance would have been very difficult to see in existing $`100`$ MeV data newanal . The widths considered here are essentially what is referred to as single-particle in nature and ignore for now narrowing arising from any symmetry-breaking or other mechanism.

One potential which can produces a resonance in the higher partial waves is a surface Saxon-Woods form:

$$V_{surface}(r)=V_0^s\left[\frac{4e^{(rR)/a}}{(1+e^{(rR)/a})^2}\right].$$
(1)
The selection of a surface interaction, sharply peaked at that, is discussed below. If one wants to limit the produced resonances to say $`L=2,3,4`$, some appreciable degree of state dependence must be introduced. One would also want to cut off this dependence in even higher partial waves. The potential stength then appears as,

$$V_0^s=A[\alpha +\beta F(L)],$$
(2)
There is no problem introducing some state dependence, certainly for isospin; most earlier treatments dover ; martin  present the $`S`$ and $`P`$ states quite differently. More interestingly, Hasenfratz and Kuti mitbag ; hasenfratz ; tomio ; bohr  suggested that isolated quark bags may be treated like liquid drops, in close analogy with nuclei. In such a dynamical treatment, the bag is deformable, and susceptible to surface oscillations which can be expanded in spherical harmonics, each characterized by a quantum number $`l`$. One can imagine, as one example, a particle-vibrational coupling producing the effective interaction in Eq.(1), by a quark in say the kaon coupling to a vibration of the nucleon surface, thus our choice of $`R`$. These latter authors hasenfratz  point out that the surface potential energy is proportional to

$$c_l=(l1)(l+2)\rho _0^2\sigma ,$$
(3)
where $`\rho _0^2`$ is the bag radius and $`\sigma `$ the surface tension. Such a coupling might then lead to a comparable dependence in the overall effective $`K`$-$`N`$ interaction via particle-vibrational coupling. The number of surface waves contributing is naturally cut off at higher $`l`$ by the the underlying microscopic structure of the bag surface, thus only a very few surface waves need enter. From Eq(3) the $`l=1`$ mode is absent and it is not unreasonable, given that only five valence quarks are present bohr , that we assume only relative D, F and G waves are affected. Even an $`l=4`$ surface wave may have too small a wave length for consideration given that three valence quarks are present in the nucleon.

The particle-vibrational coupling in nuclei is, in any case certainly strongly surface peaked, with a form factor$`rdV^{vol}/dr`$ bohr . One then expects the diffusivity $`a`$ to be quite small. We might assume for the surface strength a form like:

$$V_0^S=A[\alpha +\beta (L1)(L+n)],$$
(4)
which is, of course, not directly justified and should be viewed as a phenomenological ansatz. Eq(4) implies no effect of the particle-vibrational coupling in the $`L=1`$ system and adds some further orbital dependence. Since we are considering only $`L=2,3,4`$ states here, we could simply quote results for differing ratios of potential strengths in these orbits, ignoring in effect the explicit choices made in this equation.

One can argue further that the simple kaon-nucleon picture should be modified to account for a bag-like interior, say within separations $`1.0`$ fm, with the molecular state arising from interactions at larger distance. So a better model would be hybrid in nature, its states being mixtures of an interior quark bag and exterior hadrons. The surface potential employed here, with a small diffusivity, achieves this to some extent, but perhaps the interior structure is more complicated. A rather obvious, but nevertheless arbitrary, change would be to introduce a constant volume potential fixed to cancel the centrifugal force just inside the assumed surface and thus achieve some average cancellation in the interior, or alternatively to just eliminate this latter interaction inside. The first procedure reduces the required required strength of the surface interaction $`V_0^S`$; the second narrows the relevant $`L`$-state resonances considerably.

The radius parameter in Eq(1) is taken as $`R=1.1(1.0087)^{1/3}fm=1.130`$ fm and the diffusivity as $`a=0.2`$ fm. The narrowness of the surface well, i. e. the small value of $`a`$, implies that the interaction is not strong inside or outside the chosen surface separation. The choice of diffusivity greatly influences the resonance width; $`a`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ both decrease together.

Specifically, using a potential with no interior centrifugal force and setting $`\alpha =0`$, $`n=0`$, $`\beta =1`$ and $`A=70.835`$ MeV yields an $`L=3`$, $`KN`$ state at $`ϵ=1033.76i`$ MeV. For an unaltered interior potential with $`A=134.2`$ MeV, the $`L=3`$ state appears at $`ϵ=10011.2i`$ MeV. The widths $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ are twice the imaginary part of the energies. In all cases the radial integral of the surface potential, absent the angular factor $`4\pi `$, is near to or less than $`50`$ Mev-fm3. Moreover this applies to only a few partial waves. The usually anticipated weakness of the $`K^+`$$`N`$ interaction dover  to some extent justifies setting $`\alpha =0`$, or small, in Eq(4).

For $`\alpha =n=0`$ in Eq(4), the $`L=2`$ strength is reduced by $`1/3`$. With any of the models, even for less drastic reductions in the $`L=2`$ strength, this implies either that no $`D`$-state resonance exists, or that the state is present at some $`84`$ MeV (no interior centrifugal force) but with a width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }80`$ MeV. On the other hand, if the surface potential strength is kept at the value for $`L=3`$ of $`6(70.83)=425`$ MeV, then a resonance develops in $`L=2`$ at $`ϵ=35.44.5i`$ MeV. Such a $`D`$ state, closer to threshold, is perhaps lower in production cross-section and more difficult to detect. Here we keep in mind the somewhat large momentum tranfer occasioned by the production of at least one $`K`$ meson in the final state.

In all situations the above $`L=3`$ surface potential alone is too weak to generate an $`L=4`$ resonance near $`100`$ MeV. We expect in any case some cutoff effect to start with higher partial waves, probably by $`L=4`$, since the nucleon and kaon possess few valence quarks. Similar results could have been obtained using energy-dependent potentials, but as we pointed out there is some justification for a particle-vibrational coupling acting in a few surface states.

This exercise certainly has artificial aspects, notably the state-dependent potentials, although such dependences are just what one would expect to arise in coupling the meson quarks to the nucleon bag surface. At first sight the surface potential depths appear large, however, since the diffusivity is small, the integrated moment of the potential, which has a direct significance in producing states is in fact quite small. One might well ask why such dynamics are limited to $`K^+`$$`N`$ and not also present in $`K^{}`$$`N`$. Two answers are possible: the latter state is not exotic, proceeds through $`K^{}`$ absorption involving known and observed $`Y^{}`$ resonances in the $`s`$-channel, also, the $`K^+N`$ system generally involves weaker interactions and may then more easily exhibit the surface effects discussed above.

The approach also has its advantages: the apparent experimental absence of the coupling of an assumed low angular momentum state to low energy $`K`$$`N`$ channels, and the natural appearance at $`100`$ MeV of an $`L=3`$ state with about the right width. Should closer experimental study reveal another, say $`L=2`$ resonance closer to threshold, one would have to take our approach more seriously. If the actual width of the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ proved to be truly small $`1`$ MeV, then an explanation must probably be sought in some other model.

Finally one should note the rather large cross-section, found by the SAFIR collaboration elsa , $`300`$ nb, for production of the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$. As we noted above, the large change in mass, i. e the production of one or two $`K`$’s in the final state, and the forward detection of the $`K_s^0`$, likely also favor an appreciable transfer of angular momentum to the putative $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ resonance. This is especially clear if in $`\gamma p`$, the production of the final state proceeds through a doorway $`N^{}`$. The nucleon form factor then enters the $`\gamma p`$ cross-section roughly as $`|f_N[R_p2M(K)]|^2`$, while if the $`K_s^0`$ is produced at the first $`\gamma p`$ vertex then perhaps only a single unit of M(K) is present. Such effects are seen, for example, in $`(\pi ^+,K^+)`$ reactions on nuclei, which preferentially produce high angular momentum hypernuclear levels pi+k+ .

To repeat: one lesson to be learned from this examination of an effective potential model, concerns the relationship between resonance energy and single particle width. It is difficult to obtain a narrow $`P`$-state at $`100`$ Mev without symmetry breaking or other weakening of the decay. Capstick et. al. have already pointed this out and one can point to the strong but broad $`L=1`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ as a further example of it. The centrifugal force $`1/\mu `$ sets the scale in any given system, $`\pi `$$`N`$ naturally having a higher energy scale than $`K`$$`N`$. Nussinov et al. nussinov  discuss alternate means for narrowing the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ and related resonances. Should the as yet only weakly constrained width of the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$, at $`\mathrm{\Gamma }25`$ MeV, actually prove to be considerably narrower Refs. capstick ; nussinov  become even more relevant.

Capstick et al. have cleverly narrowed the width of the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^+`$ by taking this object to be an isotensor. They are then faced with the existence of the other members of this multiplet, in particular the $`\mathrm{\Theta }^{++}`$. Our suggestion is clearly highly phenomenological, and a purely final-state kaon-nucleon potential model cannot be the whole answer, since very short distances must be described by the underlying quark nature of hadrons. Nevertheless, the relevance of somewhat higher orbital states cannot be eliminated immediately. Clearly, further experimental study of these exotic objects, in particular of their angular momenta, and of the entire low energy $`K`$$`N`$ system, is both interesting and necessary.

The authors are grateful to D. J. Millener for many useful discussions.

This manuscript has been authored under the US DOE grant NO. DE-AC02-98CH10886.


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# Universality in snowflake aggregation

## 1 Introduction

It has recently become possible to collect large samples of high resolution cloud particle images in real time, opening up the modelling of cloud dynamics to detailed comparison with nature. Figure 1 shows ice crystal aggregates from a Cirrus cloud over the USA, captured by non-contact aircraft-based imaging. Such aggregates can be seen to be comprised of varied rosette ice crystal types, and detailed statistics have recently been published on both the cluster aspect ratios \[Korolev and Isaac 2003\] and size distributions \[Field and Heymsfield 2003\] in Cirrus clouds. Such aggregation is a key feature of cloud development in the troposphere and can be quite crucial to the development of precipitation, whether it reaches the ground as snow or melts first to arrive as rain.

The openness of the aggregates significantly accelerates their growth. Two clusters (labelled by $`i,j`$) pass approach with their centres closer than the sum of their radii $`r_i+r_j`$ at a rate proportional to

$$\pi \left(r_i+r_j\right)^2\left|v_iv_j\right|,$$
(1)
where for each cluster the sedimentation speed $`v`$ varies inversely with its radius $`r`$ and mass $`m`$ as

$$v=\frac{\eta /\rho }{r}F\left(\frac{mg\rho }{\eta ^2}\right).$$
(2)
Here $`\eta `$ and $`\rho `$ are the viscosity and density of the air, $`g`$ is the acceleration due to gravity, and we have assumed that only one geometrical radius is relevant: Mitchell  discusses an elaboration. Given the above, the rates of aggregation per unit time for fixed cluster masses vary linearly overall with the cluster radii, and openness of aggregate structure enhances aggregation rates despite lowering fall speed. For real aggregates this is a significant factor: using data from Heymsfield et al., , one finds that rosette aggregates 2mm across (which yield 0.5 mm droplets) aggregate four times faster than when melted. For cloud particles it is also relevant to consider the rates of aggregation per unit of distance fallen (rather than per unit time), which at fixed mass is proportional to the square of radius, leading to 16 times enhancement for ice over water in the example cited.

We have made computer simulations of ice aggregation based on equations (1) and (2), tracing trajectories through possible collisions to obtain accurate collision geometries. We assumed that all collisions led to rigid irreversible joining of clusters, as the openness of the experimentally observed clusters suggests little large scale consolidation of structure upon aggregation, and that cluster orientations were randomised in between collisions but did not change significantly during them. We took the sedimentation speeds to be governed by inertial flow, for which the mass dependence function in equation (2) is given by $`F(X)X^{1/2}`$. Details of implementation are given in a longer paper \[Westbrook et al., 2004\].

Some representative computer aggregates are shown in figure 1 alongside the experimental ones. Our simulations used three dimensional cross shapes for the initial particles as a crude representation of the experimental bullet rosettes.

Figure 2 shows a quantitative comparison of aggregate geometry, in terms of the ratio of cluster spans perpendicular to and along the direction of maximal span, as measured from projections in an arbitrary plane of observation. We find that different initial particle geometries (rosettes, rods) approach a common asymptotic average cluster value. The aspect ratio of CPI images have been similarly calculated \[Korolev and Isaac 2003\], the results of which have been overlayed onto figure 2, and these appear to approach the same value. This universality of aspect ratios provides direct support for our hypothesis of rigid cluster joining upon contact.

A deeper indicator of universality is provided by the fractal scaling of ice crystal aggregates, where one tests the relation $`m\mathrm{}^{d_f}`$ between aggregate mass $`m`$ and linear span $`\mathrm{}`$. Our simulations and experimental observations \[Heymsfield et al., 2002\], rather accurately agree on the fractal dimension $`d_f=2.05\pm 0.1`$ and in Westbrook et al.  we discuss theoretical arguments leading to $`d_f=2`$.

Our simulations conform well to dynamical scaling of the cluster size distribution. This means that number of clusters per unit mass varies with mass and time together as a single scaling function,

$$\frac{dN}{dm}(m,t)=S(t)^2\mathrm{\Phi }\left(\frac{m}{S(t)}\right),$$
(3)
where $`S(t)`$ is the weight average cluster mass. This relationship is confirmed in figure 3, where we rescale the mass distribution from different times in the simulations onto a universal curve.

The scaling function which we observe in figure 3 exhibits power law behaviour with $`\mathrm{\Phi }(X)X^\tau `$ for $`X1`$ with $`\tau 1.6`$. This is not intrinsically surprising (and indeed it matches theoretical expectations \[Van Dongen and Ernst, 1985\]) but it has forced us to abandon the way experimentally observed distributions of cluster linear size have hitherto been plotted. The problem is that given equation (3) and its observed power law form, we must expect that the distribution of clusters by linear span $`\mathrm{}`$ should at small $`\mathrm{}`$ take the form $`\frac{dN}{d\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{},t)\mathrm{}^{1(\tau 1)d_f}`$ which diverges as $`\mathrm{}^{2.2}`$ using our observed exponents. For small enough crystal sizes this behaviour will be modified by the role of growth processes other than aggregation, but that lies outside the scaling regime.

Because of the divergence one has to take great care in constructing a characteristic linear size $`L(t)`$, where the natural choices are $`L_k(t)=\frac{_{clusters}\mathrm{}^{k+1}}{_{clusters}\mathrm{}^k}`$ and the lowest whole number $`k`$ for which the denominator is not dominated by the smallest clusters is $`k=2`$. The simplest natural scaling ansatz for the cluster span distribution is then found \[Westbrook et al., 2004\] to be

$$\frac{dN}{d\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{},t)=M_2(t)L_2(t)^3\mathrm{\Psi }\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{L_2(t)}\right),$$

where $`M_k(t)=_{clusters}\mathrm{}^k`$. Figure 4 shows that this scaling ansatz works acceptably for our simulation data and well for the experimental observations. The latter are rich data because cluster span is one of the simplest automated measurements to take.

The rescaled distributions from simulation and experiment agree fairly well but not perfectly, as shown in Figure 4. One experimental reservation is the fall-off of experimental observation efficiency at small sizes, where clusters can be missed. However our scaling procedure itself is in effect expressly designed to avoid sensitivity to this, and the superposition of the experimental data down to small reduced sizes looks good. Indeed it looks so good that the transient flattening around $`\mathrm{}/L1`$, which is absent from the simulations, appears to be significant.

One suggestion for the flattening around the middle of the rescaled distribution is that it might be associated with the peculiar feature of the collision rate being zero between clusters of equal sedimentation speed. Our simulations include this feature but for low relative approach speeds, where each cluster has more time to adjust its momentum in response to the other perturbing the local airflow, our approximation of ignoring hydrodynamic interactions (and hence phenomena such as wake capture) is less accurate.

In summary, we have a fairly complete understanding of the geometry of the atmospheric ice crystal aggregates, dominated by sticking upon encounter. Further details of the sticking mechanism (which we did not include) appear not to be important for the cluster geometry, and the excellent scaling superposition of the experimental cluster size distributions suggests sticking efficiency does not favour aggregation at particular sizes. The simplest interpretation of these observations is that although the sticking probability might be low for a single microscopic event, many such contacts will be attempted during a cluster-cluster encounter so that eventual escape is unlikely. The actual sticking mechanism between ice crystals remains an intriguing open question, particularly for the low temperatures of figure 1.

The fact that the same evolution is seen for differing initial monomer populations (rods and rosettes) suggests that a single set of geometric relationships for ice aggregates can successfully be applied in a wide range of cloud conditions. This would lead to greater accuracy in retrieving cloud properties such as precipitation rate and predicting the radiative affect of ice crystal aggregates upon the climate system.


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# Energy Gaps and Roton Structure above the 𝜈=1/2 Laughlin State of a Rotating Dilute Bose-Einstein Condensate

(11 March 2003; published as PRL 91 (2003) 140401)

## Abstract

Exact diagonalization study of a rotating dilute Bose-Einstein condensate reveals that as the first vortex enters the system the degeneracy of the low-energy yrast spectrum is lifted and a large energy gap emerges. As more vortices enter with faster rotation, the energy gap decreases towards zero, but eventually the spectrum exhibits a rotonlike structure above the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state without having a phonon branch despite the short-range nature of the interaction.

Rotating dilute Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) have attracted considerable interest in recent years JILA ; MIT ; ENS ; Oxford . When the single-particle energy-level spacing is much larger than the interaction energy per particle, the system becomes highly degenerate with increasing the angular momentum (AM) $`L`$. Interactions then play a pivotal role in lifting the degeneracy and determining the many-body ground state WGS , in close analogy with the physics of the fractional quantum Hall effect WG ; Ho . Mottelson Mottelson , on the other hand, pointed out the relevance of the yrast line, which traces the lowest-lying states of the system as a function of the AM and has served as a key concept in nuclear physics Hamamoto , to a rotating dilute BEC. In view of recent development of Feshbach techniques IC  and experimental achievements of fast rotating BECs JILA ; MIT ; ENS , such an extreme but highly interdisciplinary arena seems to be within experimental reach.

Bertsch and Papenbrock numerically found that the yrast line depends linearly on $`L`$ for $`LN`$, where $`N`$ is the number of bosons BP99 , and showed that high-lying states above the yrast line are dominated by single-particle excitations BP01 . Of particular interest is the yrast spectrum for low-lying states because it gives us insights about how the many-body wave function responds as vortices enter the system. Mottelson pointed out that for $`LN`$ low-lying states are quasi-degenerate and dominated by collective multipolar excitations Mottelson . An exact diagonalization study NU00  and subsequent analytical studies UN01 ; Kavoulakis ; Bardek  have demonstrated the existence of the quasi-degenerate yrast spectrum that is dominated by interactions between octupole modes. The purpose of this Letter is to report the results of our exact diagonalization study on faster rotating BECs. Our primary findings are two distinct kinds of energy gaps: one above the single-vortex state and the other associated with vortex-antivortex pair excitations above the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state. We also find that higher excited states with $`LN`$ form linear energy bands.

Consider a weakly interacting $`N`$-boson system trapped in an axisymmetric parabolic confining potential. The potential is assumed to be isotropic in the radial direction but in the axial direction it is assumed to be so tightly confined that all particles occupy the lowest-energy state in that direction. The problem is thus essentially two-dimensional with projected AM, $`L`$, on the symmetry axis being conserved. The many-body Hamiltonian of this system can be written as $`H=_ih_i+V`$, where $`h_i\mathrm{}^2_i^2/2M+M\omega ^2r_i^2/2`$ denotes the single-particle Hamiltonian for the $`i`$-th particle and $`V=(4\pi \mathrm{}g/M\omega )_{i<j}\delta (𝐫_i𝐫_j)`$ describes the contact interaction between bosons having mass $`M`$. Here $`g`$ characterizes the strength of interaction between bosons, $`g/\mathrm{}\omega =a_\mathrm{s}/(2\pi \mathrm{}/M\omega _z)^{1/2}`$, $`\omega `$ and $`\omega _z`$ are trap frequencies in the radial and axial directions, respectively, and $`a_\mathrm{s}`$ is the s-wave scattering length. Throughout this Letter we shall assume weak repulsive interactions such that $`\mathrm{}\omega gN>0`$.

The single-particle state is characterized by the radial quantum number $`n`$ and the AM quantum number $`m`$, with the corresponding eigenenergy given by $`\mathrm{}\omega (2n+|m|+1)`$. For a given AM $`L>0`$, it is energetically favorable to assume $`n=0`$ and let all particles have nonnegative AM, i.e., $`m0`$. In this lowest-Landau-level approximation, the noninteracting part of the Hamiltonian contributes a constant term $`\mathrm{}\omega (L+N)`$, and we shall henceforth ignore this constant part and focus on the interaction Hamiltonian. It is convenient to take as a basis set of states single-particle states described by $`\varphi _m(z)=(z^m/\sqrt{\pi m!})\mathrm{exp}(|z|^2/2)`$, where $`zx+iy`$ and the lengths are measured in units of $`(\mathrm{}/M\omega )^{1/2}`$. Expanding the field operator as $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Psi }}(z)=_m\widehat{b}_m\varphi _m(z)`$, the second-quantized form of the contact interaction Hamiltonian is written as $`\widehat{V}=g_{m_1,\mathrm{},m_4}V_{m_1m_2m_3m_4}\widehat{b}_{m_1}^{}\widehat{b}_{m_2}^{}\widehat{b}_{m_3}\widehat{b}_{m_4}`$, where the matrix elements $`V_{m_1m_2m_3m_4}`$ are given by $`V_{m_1m_2m_3m_4}=\delta _{m_1+m_2,m_3+m_4}(m_1+m_2)!/(2^{m_1+m_2}\sqrt{m_1!m_2!m_3!m_4!})`$. Our task thus reduces to finding the energy spectrum of $`\widehat{V}`$ under the restrictions of a fixed particle number $`_m\widehat{b}_m^{}\widehat{b}_m=N`$ and a fixed AM $`_mm\widehat{b}_m^{}\widehat{b}_m=L`$.

Figure 1 shows the yrast spectrum for $`0L35`$ with $`N=25`$, where the energy is measured in units of $`gN`$ from the yrast line $`E=gN(N1L/2)`$ BP99 . For $`LN`$, there are quasi-degenerate excited states arising from pairwise repulsive interaction between octupole modes NU00 . However, the excitation energies are very small, of the order of $`g`$. This quasi-degeneracy may be regarded as a precursor for spontaneous symmetry breaking of the axisymmetry associated with the entrance of the first vortex. Remarkably, the quasi-degeneracy for $`LN`$ is lifted with increasing $`L`$ and that a large energy gap of the order of $`gN`$ appears as the first vortex enters the system. The energy gap implies that the many-body wave function responds to external rotation in such a manner that a single vortex state becomes stabilized.

The emergence of the energy gap can be inferred from the fact that excitations associated with the single-particle state $`\varphi _m`$ ($`m3`$) become increasingly massive, as the AM per particle $`L/N`$ approaches unity. As shown in Table 1, the excitation energy increases by an amount of the order of $`gN`$ when the condensate develops from the nonvortex state at $`L=0`$ to the single-vortex state at $`L=N`$, and an increase in excitation energy is larger for smaller $`m`$. In particular, excitations of the $`m=3`$ mode, which are nearly gapless for $`L/N1`$, become increasingly massive as the vortex enters the system. The energy gap continues to increase till $`L=N+m1`$ for each $`m`$. We also note that the energy bands (shown in Fig. 1 as dash-dotted lines) for $`m=4,5,6,\mathrm{}`$ are almost linear. When $`L/N1`$, a regular structure of rotational bands is stabilized by the energy gaps associated with the single-particle states $`\varphi _m`$. In Figure 1, we show three rotational bands by linking the collective excitations $`Q_\lambda |L=N`$, $`Q_\lambda |L=N1`$, and $`Q_\lambda |L=N2`$ ($`\lambda 7`$) with solid, dashed, and dotted curves, respectively. Here $`Q_\lambda =(1/\sqrt{N\lambda !})_{p=1}^Nz_p^\lambda `$ describes the collective multipolar excitation of order $`\lambda `$ Mottelson , and $`|L=N`$, $`|L=N1`$, and $`|L=N2`$ denotes the yrast states for $`L=N`$, $`L=N1`$, and $`L=N2`$, respectively.

The regularity of rotational bands for $`L/N1`$ is more clearly seen in Fig. 2, where the energy is measured from the line $`E=E_{L=N}5gN(LN)/32`$ KMP . As in Fig. 1, the collective excitations, $`Q_\lambda |L=N`$, $`Q_\lambda |L=N1`$, and $`Q_\lambda |L=N2`$ ($`\lambda 7`$), are linked by solid, dashed, and dotted curves, respectively. Those states that contain excitations of the center-of-mass motion are not shown except for the states $`Q_1|L=N`$, $`Q_1|L=N1`$, and $`Q_1|L=N2`$ (shown by squares). Other low-lying excitations can be understood as (multiple) excitations of these collective modes.

When $`LN(N1)`$, the system can respond in such a manner that the interaction energy becomes zero. In fact, the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state laughlin , $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\nu =1/2}=_pe^{|z_p|^2/2}_{i<j}(z_iz_j)^2`$, appears at $`L=N(N1)`$ as the first zero-interaction-energy state; the contact interaction does not affect this state because the minimum of the relative AM between particles is two for this state. In such a high AM regime, we find a remarkable energy gap to appear above the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state as shown in Fig. 3.

To investigate long-wavelength collective excitations while keeping the average density unaltered (i.e., neutral excitations), it is convenient to use the spherical geometry sphere  rather than the disk geometry which is used thus far. The two geometries are related with each other by the stereographic mapping. The $`z`$-component of the total AM in the spherical geometry is given by $`L_z=LNS`$, where $`2S+1`$ is the number of single-particle states on the sphere and $`2S`$ is chosen to be $`2(N1)`$ in order to study the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state.

Figure 3 shows the excitation spectrum calculated in the spherical geometry for $`0L56`$ with $`N=8`$. The $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state appears at $`L=N(N1)=56`$ (i.e., $`L_z=0`$) as the zero-interaction-energy state (i.e., the lowest energy state) for the contact repulsive interaction $`(4\pi g/R^2)_{i<j}\delta (𝛀_i𝛀_j)`$, where $`𝛀_i`$ is a unit vector that specifies the location of the $`i`$th boson on the sphere and the radius of the sphere is given by $`R=\sqrt{S/2}`$. The total AM, $`L_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, of this state is zero and the eigenstates with $`L_{\mathrm{tot}}=0`$ are plotted for $`L=NS`$. The eigenstates with non-zero total AM are plotted only for $`L=NSL_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ without showing their $`(2L_{\mathrm{tot}}+1)`$-fold degeneracy.

The inset of Fig. 3 shows the excitation spectrum above the Laughlin state as a function of $`L_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ in the spherical system. A rotonlike structure manifests itself as the lowest-energy excitation branch. We have confirmed that the excitation energy remains finite ($`1.229\pm 0.038`$ in units of $`g`$) in the thermodynamic limit gaisou . We have also confirmed that the feature of the rotonlike minimum becomes more pronounced if we use long-range interactions such as the Coulomb interaction, $`_{i<j}|𝛀_i𝛀_j|^1`$. The two-roton continuum is also seen to exist above the single-roton branch.

To understand the physics underlying these gapful excitations, let us recall that it is possible to produce quasi-particle excitations upon the Laughlin state laughlin . One of them is the quasi-hole (vortex) excitation, $`_p[e^{|z_p|^2/2}(z_pz_0)]_{i<j}(z_iz_j)^2`$, and another one is the ‘quasi-boson’ (anti-vortex) excitation, $`_p[e^{|z_p|^2/2}(\frac{}{z_p}z_0^{})]_{i<j}(z_iz_j)^2`$, where $`z_0`$ denotes the location of the vortex or that of the anti-vortex. Then the lowest-lying neutral excitations are considered to be the bound states of a vortex-antivortex pair.

By investigating a system with $`2S=2N3`$ or $`2S=2N1`$, we find that in the thermodynamic limit the quasi-boson creation energy remains finite ($`1.248\pm 0.007`$ in units of $`g`$) gaisou , while the quasi-hole creation energy is zero for repulsive contact interaction. Since each of quasiboson and quasihole excitations has AM $`N/2`$, the branch composed of a quasiboson-quasihole pair is expected to end at $`L_{\mathrm{tot}}=N`$. This is indeed the case in the lowest-lying excitation branch as shown in Fig. 4, where the branches for system size $`N=4,5,6,7`$ and $`8`$ are plotted against “wave number” $`k=L_{\mathrm{tot}}/R`$.

In Fig. 4 it is seen that the minimum of the neutral-excitation energy (indicated by closed symbols) is realized at $`k_{\mathrm{min}}3(M\omega /\mathrm{})^{1/2}`$. For $`kk_{\mathrm{min}}`$, the excitation energy increases with increasing $`k`$ and approaches the quasi-boson creation energy (indicated on the right side of the figure by a line for each $`N`$). As shown in the inset of Fig. 4, the difference between the quasi-boson creation energy (indicated by open circles) and the minimum value of the neutral-excitation energy (indicated by closed circles) decreases as the system size increases and may vanish in the thermodynamic limit. In the presence of this finite energy gap, however, this rotonlike minimum can survive even for very large values of $`N`$ by introducing, e.g., laser-induced dipole-dipole interactions between bosons dd .

It should be noted that the lowest-lying spectrum has no phonon branch, despite the short-range nature of the interaction rj . A similar roton spectrum has been reported in the fractional quantum Hall system GMP , where absence of the phonon branch has been attributed to the Higgs mechanism caused by the long-range nature of the Coulomb interaction. However, the rotonlike structure with no phonon branch found in this Letter for the contact interaction does not fit into this category. In the composite-boson picture, the $`\nu =1/2`$ Laughlin state is nothing but a condensate of composite bosons, each of which is composed of a boson and two flux quanta attached to it. In the composite-particle picture for the quantum Hall system, it has been discussed that interactions between composite particles are different from those between original particles devna . It might be conceived that the finite gap in the long-wavelength limit is related with momentum-dependent long-range interactions introduced on the composite-boson transformation (without being induced by a laser dd ). However, the understanding of the gap formation found in this Letter remains to be clarified and merits further investigation.

T.N. and M.U. acknowledge support by Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research (Grant No.14740181 and No.15340129) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, respectively. M.U. also acknowledges support by the Toray Science Foundation and by the Yamada Science Foundation.