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# Extracting joint weak values with local, single-particle measurements

## Abstract

Weak measurement is a new technique which allows one to describe the evolution of postselected quantum systems. It appears to be useful for resolving a variety of thorny quantum paradoxes, particularly when used to study properties of pairs of particles. Unfortunately, such nonlocal or joint observables often prove difficult to measure weakly in practice (for instance, in optics – a common testing ground for this technique – strong photon-photon interactions would be needed). Here we derive a general, experimentally feasible, method for extracting these values from correlations between single-particle observables.

In a ground-breaking work, Aharonov, Albert, and Vaidman (AAV) AAV  introduced the concept of a “weak measurement.” In contrast to the usual approach to quantum measurment, weak measurements can provide information without greatly disturbing the evolution of a system. They are therefore of special interest in the context of post-selected subensembles. In particular, they have been used to “resolve” Hardyweak  Hardy’s Paradox Hardy ; to interpret and extend novel cavity-QED experiments orozco ; wisemanQED ; to reconcile diverging views on which-path experiments and uncertainty scully ; walls ; wisemanweak ; and to address the long-standing controversy over tunneling times aeweak . Often, it is of interest to discuss the weak value of a nonlocal observable (especially, of course, in proposals to study locality Hardy ; Hardyweak ; aetree ); unfortunately, it is usually difficult or impossible to carry out such measurements Hardyweak ; molmer . In this Letter, we demonstrate that the weak values of joint observables may be readily extracted from experimentally realistic measurements.

In the usual quantum mechanical measurement process, correlations are generated between the shift of the measurement pointer and the quantum system through strong coupling interactions; this entanglement leads to effective collapse. In AAV’s weak measurement scheme, the coupling between the measurement device and the system is extremely small and their entanglement, and hence collapse, is avoided. The drawback is that on any given event the resolution is insufficient to distinguish the different eigenvalues of the observable. Nevertheless, by performing the experiment many times on identically prepared systems one can reduce the measurement uncertainty to any desired precision.

AAV considered the case where the weak measurement takes place between two strong measurements called pre- and post-selection. Pre-selection of a quantum state is commonplace in quantum mechanics experiments, and amounts to the preparation of an initial quantum state, $`|i.`$ In a similar manner, post-selection projects out some final quantum state, $`|f`$. Only upon sucessful pre- and post-selection is the state of the measurement apparatus considered. The weak measurement of an obervable $`A`$ can take place via the same interaction Hamiltonian as a strong (von Neumann) measurement,

$$_I=g\widehat{A}\widehat{P_x},$$
(1)
where $`\widehat{A}`$ is the hermitian operator corresponding to the observable $`A`$ of the quantum system, $`g`$ is a (real) coupling constant, and $`\widehat{P}_x`$ is the measurement pointer momentum operator. This interaction shifts the mean pointer position $`\widehat{X}`$ by an amount $`\mathrm{\Delta }x=K\widehat{A}gT\widehat{A}`$, where $`T`$ is the length of time over which the interaction is “on”. The main result of AAV’s seminal work is that for sufficiently weak coupling strength $`K`$, the mean shift in the pointer position for a pre- and post-selected subensemble is given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }x=K\mathrm{R}e\widehat{A}_W`$, where $`\widehat{A}_W`$ is the expression derived by AAV and termed by them the “weak value” AAV :

$$\widehat{A}_W\frac{f|\widehat{A}|i}{f|i}.$$
(2)
The concept of weak measurement has been controversial since its inception commentsAAV . In contrast to normal quantum mechanical expectation values, weak values are not constrained to lie within the extremes of the eigenvalue spectrum or to be real numbers. The controversy is only in the *interpretation* of these strange results, since the predictions of the formalism follow directly from quantum mechanics. To date, the *predictions* of weak measurements have been tested only in optical experiments. Ritchie et al. performed the first such test in an optical Stern-Gerlach experiment weakexp , based on some theoretical proposals AAV ; duckproposal . More recently, we have performed an experimental realization of the Quantum Box Problem 3Box ; 3boxexp . In these experiments, the single-particle observables of interest were coupled to the transverse displacement of a light beam; this transverse position acted as the measurement pointer.

Optical experiments are very limited in the kinds of interactions that are available to experimentalists at the quantum level. One can realize an effective interaction of the form of Eq. 1, for single-photon polarization weakexp  or optical path measurements 3boxexp . However, there are more complicated types of observables for which it is difficult to find a strong interaction Hamiltonian of the desired form. An example of such an observable would be the joint probability of one particle being found in region A and a second particle being found in region B. Using AAV’s approach, one would require a Kerr-like nonlinearity at the single-photon level to couple the value of this joint property into a shift of the measurement pointer. Such nonlinear effects are very difficult to come by in optics kimble ; franson ; harris ; switch , and thus optical experiments might seem suited to only the simplest weak measurement problems. More complicated theoretical proposals, such as the ones involving Hardy’s Paradox Hardyweak ; Hardy , nonlocality of single particle aetree , and extensions of the Quantum Box Problem aewheeler  are extremely difficult to implement if they require optical nonlinearities at the quantum level, or other multi-particle or nonlocal interactions. One theoretical proposal has been made for carrying out such joint weak measurements with trapped ions, relying on the natural, strong, interparticle interaction molmer ; to date, no such quantitites have been measured in the laboratory.

In this work, we show that it is experimentally possible to measure these complicated *joint weak values* using local, single-particle interaction Hamiltonians by studying the correlations between two different pointer variables (either two different one-dimensional pointers or a single two-dimensional pointer). We derive an explicit formula for finding the weak value of an observable which is the product of two operators; this is sufficient to test all of the aforementioned theoretical proposals in optical systems. (The theoretical approach is general enough that it can be extended to products of N operators by using N pointer dimensions.)

We begin by rederiving AAV’s result for the deflection of a measurement pointer through the weak measurement procedure using the interaction Hamiltonian from Eq. 1. Throughout our calculations we assume that the operators $`\widehat{A}`$ and $`\widehat{P}_x`$ commute, which is a very natural assumption since one operator corresponds to a property of the quantum system and the other to the measurement apparatus.

The quantum system is initially prepared in the state $`|i`$. We consider a measurement pointer initially prepared in a gaussian state centered at zero:

$$\varphi (x)=\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }\sigma }\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{x^2}{4\sigma ^2}\right),$$
(3)
where $`\sigma `$ is the rms width of the probability distribution. We now calculate the expected displacement of the measurement pointer when the quantum state is post-selected in the final state $`|f`$, using the rule

$$\widehat{X}_{\mathrm{fi}}=\frac{\widehat{P}(f)\widehat{X}}{\widehat{P}(f)},$$
(4)
where $`\widehat{X}_{\mathrm{fi}}`$ is the expectation value of $`\widehat{X}`$ given a successful post-selection of the final state $`|f,`$ and $`\widehat{P}(f)`$ is the projector $`|ff|`$ onto the final state aeweak . This amounts to finding the expectation value of the operator $`\widehat{O}_x|ff|\widehat{X}`$ and renormalizing. We employ the Heisenberg equation of motion to propagate the expectation value of $`\widehat{O}_x`$ forward in time to first order:

$$\widehat{O}_x(t)\widehat{O}_x(0)+\frac{it}{\mathrm{}}[,\widehat{O}_x].$$
(5)
This first-order approximation is only valid for weak values of the coupling $`K`$. Our measurement pointer was originally centred at zero, and therefore the first term on the right-hand side vanishes. The expectation value of $`\widehat{O}_x`$ to first-order is

$`\widehat{O}_x(t)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{it}{\mathrm{}}}g\varphi |i|\left\{\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x|ff\left|\widehat{X}\right|ff|\widehat{X}\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x\right\}|i|\varphi `$ (6)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{it}{\mathrm{}}}g\left[i\left|\widehat{A}\right|ff|i\varphi \left|\widehat{P}_x\widehat{X}\right|\varphi i|ff\left|\widehat{A}\right|i\varphi \left|\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_x\right|\varphi \right].`$ (7)
The values of the pointer integrals are $`\varphi \left|\widehat{P}_x\widehat{X}\right|\varphi =i\mathrm{}/2`$ and $`\varphi \left|\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_x\right|\varphi =i\mathrm{}/2`$. We are justified in truncating the time-dependence of the system at first order only if the higher-order terms are small. Second-order terms will contain integrals with quadratic terms in the momentum and linear in position and are therefore zero by symmetry; however third-order terms will be proportional to $`1/\sigma ^2`$. These terms will contribute negligibly to the expectation value of the weak value provided $`Ka\sigma `$, where $`a`$ is the characteristic scale of $`\widehat{A}`$; that is to say that the uncertainty in the pointer position is much larger than the strength of the interaction – this was AAV’s condition for weakness. We now renormalize to obtain the conditional expectation value of $`\widehat{X}`$ given pre-selection and postselection,

$$\widehat{X}_{\mathrm{fi}}=\frac{K}{2}\left[\frac{i\left|\widehat{A}\right|f}{i|f}+\frac{f\left|\widehat{A}\right|i}{f|i}\right].$$
(8)
Thus we see that the shift of the pointer, conditioned on appropriate postselection is indeed proportional to the weak value $`\widehat{A}_W`$ from Eq. 2:

$$\mathrm{R}e\widehat{A}_W=\frac{\widehat{X}_{\mathrm{fi}}}{K}.$$
(9)
It is well known that weak values are not constrained to be real numbers. The imaginary part of the weak value yields a shift in the variable conjugate to the pointer position (i.e. $`\widehat{P_x}`$), related to the back-action of the measurement aeweak . Using the same initial state of the measurement apparatus, one can go through a similar calculation for the expectation value of the operator $`\widehat{O}_p|ff|\widehat{P}_x.`$ The result of this calculation for the imaginary part of the weak value is:

$$\mathrm{I}m\widehat{A}_W=\frac{2\sigma ^2}{\mathrm{}}\frac{\widehat{P}_x_{\mathrm{fi}}}{K}.$$
(10)
Note that, unlike the real part, the imaginary part of the weak value depends quadratically on the width of the pointer distribution, $`\sigma .`$ This means that for more and more ideal weak measurements (i.e. as $`\sigma \mathrm{}`$) the actual physical shift in the pointer momentum, $`\widehat{P}_x_{\mathrm{fi}},`$ will tend to zero.

We now proceed to calculate an expression for joint weak values. Instead of employing a nonlinear optical Hamiltonian to measure a joint weak value $`\widehat{A}\widehat{B}_W`$ of two observables $`A`$ and $`B`$ (with corresponding hermitian operators $`\widehat{A}`$ and $`\widehat{B}`$), we use the local single-particle interaction Hamiltonian

$$=g_A\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x+g_B\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_y,$$
(11)
where $`g_A`$ and $`g_B`$ are coupling constants and $`\widehat{P}_x`$ and $`\widehat{P}_y`$ are the momentum operators conjugate to two commuting pointer operators $`\widehat{X}`$ and $`\widehat{Y}`$. Our system is prepared in the quantum state $`|i`$ and the measurement apparatus in a state $`|\mathrm{\Phi }|\varphi _x|\varphi _y`$ described by a two-dimensional gaussian wavepacket,

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(x,y)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi \sigma _x\sigma _y}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{x^2}{4\sigma _x^2}\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{y^2}{4\sigma _y^2}\right),$$
(12)
where $`\sigma _{x,y}`$ are the rms widths of the probability distribution in $`x`$ and $`y`$, respectively.

In this case, we are interested in the joint weak value $`\widehat{A}\widehat{B}_W`$, and therefore need an expression for a pointer deflection that contains contributions from deflections in the x-direction and in the y-direction after the successful post-selection of the quantum system into the state $`|f`$. By analogy with the previous calculation, we find the expectation value of the operator, $`\widehat{O}_{xy}|ff|\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}`$. We use the Heisenberg equation of motion recursively to expand the right-hand side to *second* order:

$$\widehat{O}_{xy}(t)\widehat{O}_{xy}(0)+i\frac{t}{\mathrm{}}[,\widehat{O}_{xy}]\frac{1}{2!}\left(\frac{t^2}{\mathrm{}^2}\right)[,[,\widehat{O}_{xy}]].$$
(13)
The zeroth-order term, $`\widehat{O}_{xy}(0),`$ in the expectation value is zero since $`|\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is even with respect to both $`x`$ and $`y`$, while $`\widehat{O}`$ is odd in both. The first-order commutator is given by:

$$[,\widehat{O}_{xy}]=\left(g_A\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x+g_B\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_y\right)|ff\left|\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}\right|ff|\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}\left(g_A\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x+g_B\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_y\right).$$
(14)
Each term in this expression is even with respect to either $`x`$ or $`y`$ but not both, and therefore has a vanishing expectation value for the pointer state $`|\mathrm{\Phi }`$. Therefore, to first order, since the measurement apparatus can receive a kick in either the $`x`$-direction or the $`y`$-direction but never both, there is no shift in the expectation value of $`\widehat{O}`$. We require the second-order term, where kicks in both $`x`$ and $`y`$ can appear, to find a nonzero value. The second-order commutator contains 16 terms of which only 8 contain the product of $`\widehat{P}_x`$ and $`\widehat{P}_y`$ and can therefore have nonzero expectation values. These remaining 8 terms can be simplified by collecting 2 identical pairs of terms to

$$[,[,\widehat{O}_{xy}]]=g_Ag_B\begin{array}{c}\widehat{B}\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x\widehat{P}_y\widehat{O}_{xy}+\widehat{A}\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_x\widehat{P}_y\widehat{O}_{xy}2\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x\widehat{O}_{xy}\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_y\\ 2\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_y\widehat{O}_{xy}\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x+\widehat{O}_{xy}\widehat{A}\widehat{B}\widehat{P}_x\widehat{P}_y+\widehat{O}_{xy}\widehat{B}\widehat{A}\widehat{P}_x\widehat{P}_y\end{array}.$$
(15)
We further simplify this result by evaluating the integrals for the measurement apparatus, $`\varphi \left|\widehat{P}_x\widehat{X}\right|\varphi =i\mathrm{}/2`$ and $`\varphi \left|\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_x\right|\varphi =i\mathrm{}/2`$ . Thus,

$`\widehat{O}_{xy}(t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2!}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{t^2}{\mathrm{}^2}}\right)g_Ag_B\left[\begin{array}{c}\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{4}i\left|\widehat{B}\widehat{A}\right|ff|i\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{4}i\left|\widehat{A}\widehat{B}\right|ff|i\\ \frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}i\left|\widehat{A}\right|ff\left|\widehat{B}\right|i\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}i\left|\widehat{B}\right|ff\left|\widehat{A}\right|i\\ \frac{\mathrm{}^2}{4}i|ff\left|\widehat{A}\widehat{B}\right|i\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{4}i|ff\left|\widehat{B}\widehat{A}\right|i\end{array}\right]`$ (19)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}K_xK_y\mathrm{R}e\left[i|ff\left|{\displaystyle \frac{\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A}}{2}}\right|i+i\left|\widehat{A}\right|ff\left|\widehat{B}\right|i\right],`$ (20)
where $`K_{x,y}g_{A,B}t`$ in analogy with our one-dimensional definition. We again employ the notation $`\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}_{\mathrm{fi}}`$ to mean the expectation value for $`\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}`$ given a successful post-selection. This conditional expectation value requires division by the success probability for normalization such that

$`\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}_{\mathrm{fi}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}K_xK_y{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{R}e\left[i|ff\left|\frac{\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A}}{2}\right|i+\left(i\left|\widehat{A}\right|ff\left|\widehat{B}\right|i\right)\right]}{\left|i|f\right|^2}}`$ (21)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}K_xK_y\mathrm{R}e\left[{\displaystyle \frac{f\left|\frac{\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A}}{2}\right|i}{f|i}}+\widehat{A}_W^{}\widehat{B}_W\right],`$ (22)
where $`A_W`$ and $`B_W`$ are the weak values of the individual operators as defined by AAV (Eq. 2), and can be extracted from experimental measurement as shown in the previous theory section. We again are making an approximation when truncating our evolution at second order. Third order terms are identically zero due to symmetry; however fourth-order terms are not. Similar to the single weak values, these higher order terms contribute negligibly provided that $`K_{x,y}`$ are sufficiently small with respect to the widths $`\sigma _{x,y}`$, in direct analog with the condition we imposed in the one-dimensional case. We rearrange Eq. 22 to obtain an expression for the weak value of $`(\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A})/2,`$

$$\mathrm{R}e\frac{\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A}}{2}_W=2\frac{\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}_{\mathrm{fi}}}{K_xK_y}\mathrm{R}e\left(\widehat{A}_W^{}\widehat{B}_W\right),$$
(23)
where the subscript $`W`$ refers to the weak value. If $`\widehat{A}`$ and $`\widehat{B}`$ are commuting observables (as must be the case, for instance, if they operate on disjoint subsystems), then $`\widehat{A}\widehat{B}`$ is Hermitian and the left-hand side is equal to $`\mathrm{R}e(\widehat{A}\widehat{B})_W`$, the desired result:

$$\mathrm{R}e\widehat{A}\widehat{B}_W=2\frac{\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}_{\mathrm{fi}}}{K_xK_y}\mathrm{R}e\left(\widehat{A}_W^{}\widehat{B}_W\right).$$
(24)
For $`\widehat{A}\widehat{B}`$ non-Hermitian, the AAV coupling Hamiltonian $`=g\widehat{A}\widehat{B}\widehat{P}`$ would be unphysical, and only the symmetric form of Eq. 23 could correspond to an observable (assuming $`\widehat{A}`$ and $`\widehat{B}`$ Hermitian and $`g`$ real). Note that other operator orderings have also been studied in certain contexts muga .

Through an analogous calculation we can obtain an expression for the imaginary part of the weak value of the operator $`\widehat{A}\widehat{B}`$ by calculating the first nonzero term in the expectation value of the operator $`\widehat{O}_{xp_y}|ff|\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_y`$ under the same interaction Hamiltonian from Eq. 11. The imaginary part of the weak value is:

$$\mathrm{I}m\frac{\widehat{A}\widehat{B}+\widehat{B}\widehat{A}}{2}_W=\frac{4\sigma _y^2}{\mathrm{}}\frac{\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_y_{\mathrm{fi}}}{K_xK_y}\mathrm{I}m\left(\widehat{A}_W^{}\widehat{B}_W\right)$$
(25)
which can again be further simplified on the left-hand side if $`\widehat{A}`$ and $`\widehat{B}`$ commute. As we noted in the single weak value case, the physical implication (i.e. the shift in $`\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_y_{\mathrm{fi}}`$) of the imaginary part of the weak value becomes smaller and smaller in the limit as $`\sigma \mathrm{}`$.

Note that all of the quantities in Eqs. 24 and 25 are experimentally measurable in the same experiment. The quantities $`\widehat{X}\widehat{Y}_{\mathrm{fi}}`$ and $`\widehat{X}\widehat{P}_y_{\mathrm{fi}}`$ are extracted from the two-dimensional pointer deflections, and $`\widehat{A}_W^{}`$ and $`\widehat{B}_W`$ can be measured using the method from Eq. 9 and Eq. 10.

Since AAV’s original work on weak measurement, their predictions have been demonstrated experimentally in several optical experiments. In a number of circumstances, it has become clear that weak measurements of nonlocal and/or multi-particle observables should be of great interest. The interaction Hamiltonians required to accomplish such measurements using the original AAV approach are often experimentally inaccessible, e.g., demanding strong interactions between individual photons. We have developed an alternative method for extracting the desired joint weak values that can be implemented using only local, single-particle Hamiltonians. In addition to being necessary for the resolution of certain quantum paradoxes Hardyweak ; 3boxexp ; aetree , the ability to discuss the correlations present in postselected systems should prove indispensible for investigating the role of postselection in quantum information klm . The new approach described here will be essential for the broad experimental application of joint weak measurements.

We would like to thank Jeff Lundeen and Morgan Mitchell for helpful discussions. This work was funded by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-01-1-0468), Photonics Research Ontario, and NSERC.


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# Formation of mid-gap states and ferromagnetism in semiconducting CaB6

## Abstract

We present a consistent overall picture of the electronic structure and ferromagnetic interaction in CaB6, based on our joint transport, optical, and tunneling measurements on high-quality defect-controlled single crystals. Pure CaB6 single crystals, synthesized with 99.9999 %-pure boron, exhibited fully semiconducting characteristics, such as monotonic resistance for 2–300 K, a tunneling conductance gap, and an optical absorption threshold at 1.0 eV. Boron-related defects formed in CaB6 single crystals synthesized with 99.9 %-pure boron induced mid-gap states 0.18 eV below the conduction band and extra free charge carriers, with the transport, optical, and tunneling properties substantially modified. Remarkably, no ferromagnetic signals were detected from single crystals made with 99.9999 %-pure boron, regardless of stoichiometry, whereas those made with 99.9 %-boron exhibited ferromagnetism within a finite range of carrier density. The possible surmise between the electronic state and magnetization will be discussed.

The hexaboride compounds RB6 (R = Ca, Sr, La, Ce, Sm, Eu, and Gd) have been studied extensively over the last few decades because of their distinctive physical properties. Recently, it was found that CaB6 doped with a small amount of La exhibits a weak ferromagnetism at a high temperature ($`T_c`$ $``$ 600 K) without the constituent elements being partially filled with $`d`$ or $`f`$ orbitals, which are usually required for ferromagnetism Young . Substantial theoretical and experimental efforts have been devoted to clarify this intriguing property Zhitomirsky ; Ceperley ; Jarlborg ; Massida ; Tromp . Based on the early band structure calculations of CaB6 Massida , from which the compound’s apparent semimetallic character could be derived, many theoretical models, such as the ferromagnetic phase of a dilute electron gas (DEG), the doped excitonic insulator (DEI), and the conventional itinerant magnetism, have been suggested to explain the weak ferromagnetism observed at a high temperature Zhitomirsky ; Ceperley ; Jarlborg . However, a more detailed calculation employing the so-called GW approximation Tromp  predicted that CaB6 has a sizeable semiconducting band gap of about 0.8 eV at the X point in the Brillouin zone and suggested that the magnetism in Ca1-xLaxB6 occurs just on the metallic side of a Mott transition in the La-induced impurity band. Experimental investigations of the predicted band gap with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) supported the results of the GW calculation Denlinger ; Souma . The mapped band structure and the Fermi surface were in good agreement with the GW scheme, and a semiconducting band gap at the X point, estimated to be 1 eV Souma  or larger Denlinger , was reported. In addition, a small electron pocket found at the X point was thought to originate from boron vacancies and to cause the previously reported metallic conductivity in CaB6, SrB6, and EuB6. A more direct signature of a semiconducting band gap, such as in optical absorption and tunneling conductance, would be highly desirable.

Regarding the magnetic properties of La-doped CaB6, there have been a lot of debates on the origin of the magnetic moment and on the mechanism of the exotic ferromagnetism. Recently, FeB and Fe2B, which have critical temperatures of about 598 K and 1,015 K, respectively, were suggested to be responsible for the high-temperature weak ferromagnetism in CaB6 Matsubayashi , while the evidence against the argument was presented by Young et al. on an experimental basis Young02 . However, it was also suggested that defects, possibly driven by La doping and randomly distributed in the lattice, generate free charge carriers that simultaneously create local magnetic moments Fisk . The defects likely involve sites in the boron sublattice rather than those in the cation sublattice since excess Ca or La ions are not likely to be placed into the rigid network of B octahedra. Indeed, the formation energy and local magnetic moment of a series of possible point defects in CaB6 were calculated Monnier . However, the exact nature of the hypothetical defects is still not clear and it should be confirmed experimentally, in particular whether the defects really induce local magnetic moments and possibly free charge carriers as well.

We synthesized our CaB6 single crystals using the high-temperature flux method, described in detail elsewhere Ott . In order to initiate a variation in the relative concentration of Ca and B, we started the single-crystal growth process with the initial molar ratios of Ca:B = 1:5, 1:6, and 1:6.05. We denote the B-deficient single crystal as CaB6-δ, the stoichiometric one as CaB6, and the B-rich one as CaB6+δ, depending on the initial molar ratio of Ca and B. For the growth of each single-crystal species, we used two different types of boron, one with 99.9999 % purity (6N) (EAGLE PICHER, USA) and the other with 99.9 % purity (3N) (Target Materials Inc, USA). In the following, a single crystal denoted as CaB6-δ(6N) is a nominally B-deficient sample made with 99.9999 %-pure boron, and likewise CaB6-δ(3N) for one made with 99.9 %-pure boron. Similar notations are used for the stoichiometric and the nominally B-rich single crystals. The 6N and 3N boron contain Fe impurities of order of 0.01 ppm/mg and 1.0 ppm/mg, respectively, and other major non-magnetic ones of C, and Si was found in 3N boron. No magnetic signals were detected in our magnetization measurements of both 3N and 6N boron precursors before and even after heat treatment at 1,450 oC for 12 hr. We conducted our optical measurements using FTIR and grating spectrometers covering the spectral range of 5 meV–6 eV. For tunneling measurements we used the in-situ (breakage at 4 K) break-junction method Ekino ; Jung , which protects the samples from serious environmental defects.

Figure 1 displays the temperature-dependent resistivity $`\rho (T)`$ of CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) on a log scale. The $`\rho (T)`$ of CaB6(6N) was much higher in magnitude than that of CaB6(3N) and exhibited typical semiconducting behavior in the entire temperature range of 2–300 K. However, the $`\rho (T)`$ of CaB6(3N) revealed metallic temperature dependence except at very low temperatures. The insets of Fig. 1 display the infrared reflectivity of CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) at room temperature. The reflectivity of CaB6(6N) reveals its insulating nature: the overall shape of the spectrum, dominated by a single optical phonon mode at 150 cm-1, is a typical characteristic of an insulator or a pure semiconductor. We were not able to detect a clear signature of a Drude-like feature of free carriers down to 40 cm-1 (5 meV) (the low-frequency region somewhat obscured by noisy interference fringes). On the other hand, CaB6(3N) exhibited a clear Drude-like feature below about 60 cm-1 (7.5 meV) in addition to the aforementioned phonon mode. Hence our optical data are consistent with the temperature dependence of the resistivity of CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) described above. Similar features were observed in the transport and optical measurements on boron-deficient and boron-rich single crystals. Our observations suggest that boron-related defects (or chemical impurities) present in CaB6(3N) are closely associated with carrier doping and hence with the semiconducting/metallic characteristics of the resistivity. These results are in contrast to earlier reports in Ref. Tsebulya  (a high-alloy semiconductor model) and Taniguchi  (a doped semimetal model) but are compatible with Ref. Vonlanthen  with only subtle differences. Thus, it is essential to employ high-purity boron for careful studies of the intrinsic properties of CaB6. The effect of the boron purity in alkaline-earth hexaborides has not yet been seriously addressed despite numerous references in the literature which argue that the experimental data on these compounds were quite sensitive to the sample quality.

We have performed electron-tunneling experiments on CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) using a break junction to identify the difference in their electronic structure. The d$`I`$/d$`V`$ versus applied voltage is plotted in Fig. 2(a) and (b) for CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N), respectively. The overall shape of the tunneling conductance curve for CaB6(6N) shows a well-defined large gap structure of size 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ 2 eV and a weak sub-gap anomaly of size 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ 0.4 eV. The non-zero d$`I`$/d$`V`$ at zero bias and the broad maximum on the shoulder at both bias indicate that the electronic states are not completely depleted inside the large gap. The observed large gap feature $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ 1 eV is most likely a manifestation of the bulk semiconducting band gap of pure CaB6 corresponding to the 1 eV $`X`$-point band gap reported in the ARPES measurements of Ref. Denlinger  and Souma .

We noted a drastic change in the tunneling conductance spectrum for CaB6(3N) as shown in Fig. 2(b). The sub-gap structure 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ was strongly enhanced, while the large gap feature 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ was sharply depressed. The marked enhancement of the sub-gap structure is probably linked to the induced free carriers in CaB6(3N), but this distinct effect is not precisely in accordance with the electron pocket picture at the X point observed in the ARPES measurements of Ref. Denlinger  and Souma . We argue that boron-related defects in CaB6(3N) not only induced free carriers but also created mid-gap states at about 0.2 eV below the conduction band cho03 . The sub-gap feature can be then naturally interpreted as representing tunneling of the induced free carriers at the mid-gap states across an energy gap of $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ 0.2 eV between the highest-occupied mid-gap states and the bottom of the conduction band. This assignment also explains why the sub-gap feature is strongly enhanced in CaB6(3N) but is weakly present in CaB6(6N): the boron-related defects are far more abundant in CaB6(3N). Understandably, even the CaB6(6N) single crystals studied in this work possess such defects to some extent, as reflected by a small trace of the sub-gap feature in Fig. 2(a).

Clear evidence for the bulk semiconducting band gap of 1.0 eV in CaB6(6N) and for the mid-gap states at 0.18 eV below the conduction band in CaB6(3N) comes from direct optical absorption measurements. The optical absorption coefficients of CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) are plotted in Fig. 3. The CaB6(6N) and CaB6(3N) samples exhibited optical absorption onsets at 1.0 eV and 0.82 eV, respectively. This observation directly confirms that pure CaB6 is a semiconductor with a band gap of 1.0 eV. The band gap of 1.0 eV is consistent with our break-junction tunneling results discussed above and coincides with the band gap observed by ARPES Denlinger ; Souma . The red shift of 0.18 eV in the optical absorption threshold for CaB6(3N) implies that the boron-related defects cause either band-gap narrowing or mid-gap state formation, the latter explanation being favored by our tunneling results above.

By combining the results of our optical and tunneling measurements, we acquire a consistent overall picture of the electronic structure and the band gap of CaB6 as described by a schematic diagram in the inset of Fig. 3. The energy gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }=`$ 1.0 eV is common to the optical absorption spectra and to the tunneling conductance spectra of CaB6(6N). The changes noted for CaB6(3N) can be understood in terms of mid-gap states generated at 0.18 eV below the conduction band by boron-related defects. We assign the optical absorption threshold at 0.82 eV for CaB6(3N) to the transition from the valence band to the mid-gap states at $`E_{\text{VM}}=`$ 0.82 eV above the valence band. The sub-gap feature $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}=`$ 0.18 eV in dI/dV, which was strongly enhanced in CaB6(3N) but weakly present in CaB6(6N), represents tunneling from the mid-gap states to the conduction band.

We also conducted isothermal magnetization measurements at 5 and 300 K for the single crystals in Fig. 1, CaB6-δ(6N,3N), CaB6+δ(6N,3N), and also Ca1-xLaxB6 with $`x`$ = 0.005 (6N,3N), 0.01 (6N,3N), 0.02 (3N), 0.03 (3N), and 0.04 (3N). Surprisingly, no single crystals made with 6N boron exhibited any detectable magnetic signal in the entire temperature range of 5–300 K. CaB6(3N), CaB6+δ(3N), and Ca1-xLaxB6(3N) with $`x`$ = 0.005, 0.01, and 0.02 revealed ferromagnetism, as can be inferred from a hysteresis loop in the isothermal magnetization. In contrast, there was no trace of magnetism in CaB6-δ(3N) and Ca1-xLaxB6(3N) with $`x`$ = 0.03 and 0.04. As a representative set of data, the hysteresis loops of Ca0.99La0.01B6(3N) at 5 and 300 K are plotted in the inset of Fig. 4. We estimate the carrier density in the relevant samples by converting the Hall resistivity data into the effective number of free carriers using the single-carrier (electron) model. The presence of a single carrier species in hexaborides was already established by Hall measurements on Eu1-xCaxB6 Rhyee ; Paschen  and by ARPES measurements on CaB6, SrB6, and EuB6 Denlinger ; Souma . Figure 4 presents the most important correlation between the saturated magnetization $`M_{\text{sat}}`$ and the carrier density. We believe that the exotic ferromagnetism in CaB6 requires simultaneous presence of the localized magnetic moments and free carriers within a finite range of density (Fig. 4). Most importantly, this indicates that the formation of the ferromagnetic state is established through the induced free carriers occupying the mid-gap states. This fact can possibly explain the disappearance of magnetic signal at relatively high carrier density in Ca1-xLaxB6 ($`x0.03`$), which can cause the mid-gap states to merge or hybridize with the conduction band.

Regarding the formation of a localized magnetic moment, it is not clear at present whether it comes from simple magnetic impurities, such as Fe, FeB, and Fe2B, or is indeed associated with boron-related defects as theoretically considered in Ref. 12. However, it was found from micro-chemical analysis of both 3N and 6N compounds that there is no correlation between the Fe content on the sample surface and the emergence of ferromagnetism Park . Because we have not detected any magnetic signals in our magnetization measurement of both 3N and 6N boron precursors (even after heat treatment), we certainly believe that ferromagnetism is related to impurities, probably not magnetic, in the boron precursor material. It will be very important to precisely identify these impurities and the nature of the associated defects.

In conclusion, we believe our reports are the first to experimentally discover the creation of mid-gap states and extra free carriers therein by boron-related defects in CaB6. In addition, we showed that the exotic ferromagnetism in CaB6 has non-magnetic-impurity origin, contrary to the previous reports. It will be a critical issue to understand the nature of the impurity and the relation between the mid-gap state and ferromagnetism in CaB6.

This work was supported by Korean Research Foundation Grant No. KRF-2002-070-C00032 and CSCMR at SNU funded by KOSEF. The work at Yonsei University was supported by eSSC at Postech funded by KOSEF (J.H.K:jaehkim@phya.yonsei.ac.kr).


text:
# Meromorphic functions with two completely invariant domains

## 1. Introduction and main result

Let $`f`$ be a meromorphic function in the complex plane $``$. We always assume that $`f`$ is not fractional linear or constant. For the definitions and main facts of the theory of iteration of meromorphic functions we refer to a series of papers by Baker, Kotus and Lü , who started the subject, and to the survey article . For the dynamics of rational functions we refer to the books .

A completely invariant domain is a component $`D`$ of the set of normality such that $`f^1(D)=D`$. There is an unproved conjecture (see \[4, p. 608\], \[8, Question 6\]) that a meromorphic function can have at most two completely invariant domains. For rational functions this fact easily follows from Fatou’s investigations , and it was first explicitly stated by Brolin \[10, §8\]. Moreover, if a rational function has two completely invariant domains, then their common boundary is a Jordan curve on the Riemann sphere, and each of the domains coincides with the basin of attraction of an attracting or superattracting fixed point, or of an attracting petal of a neutral fixed point with multiplier $`1`$; see \[15, p. 300-303\] and . All critical values of $`f`$ are contained in the completely invariant domains.

In this paper we extend these results to a class of transcendental meromorphic functions in $``$. This class $`S`$ consists of meromorphic functions with finitely many critical and asymptotic values. Let $`A=A(f)`$ be the set of critical and asymptotic values. We also call the elements of $`A`$ singular values of $`f`$. For $`fS`$ the map

$$f:\backslash f^1(A)\overline{}\backslash A$$

is a covering. By $`J=J(f)`$ we denote the Julia set of $`f`$.

Baker, Kotus and Lü \[4, Theorem 4.5\] proved that functions of the class $`S`$ have at most two completely invariant domains. Cao and Wang \[12, Theorem 1\] have shown that if a function in the class $`S`$ has two completely invariant domains, then its Fatou set is the union of these domains. We complement these results with the following

Theorem. Let $`f`$ be a function of the class $`S`$, having two completely invariant domains $`D_j,j=1,2.`$ Then

* each $`D_j`$ is the basin of attraction of an attracting or superattracting fixed point, or of a petal of a neutral fixed point with multiplier $`1`$,
* $`A(f)D_1D_2`$,
* each $`D_j`$ contains at most one asymptotic value, and if $`a`$ is an asymptotic value and $`0<ϵ<\mathrm{dist}(a,A\backslash \{a\})`$, then the set $`\{z:|f(z)a|<ϵ\}`$ has only one unbounded component,
* $`J\{\mathrm{}\}`$ is a Jordan curve in $`\overline{}`$.

A simple example of a meromorphic function of class $`S`$ with two completely invariant domains is $`f(z)=\mathrm{tan}z`$, for which the upper and lower half-planes are completely invariant, and each of these half-planes is attracted to one of the two petals of the fixed point $`z=0`$.

More examples will be given later in §3.

In the case that $`f`$ is rational and both $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are attracting or superattracting basins, Sullivan \[27, Theorem 7\] and Yakobson  proved that $`J`$ is a quasicircle. Steinmetz  extended this result to the case that both completely invariant domains are basins of two petals attached to the same neutral fixed point. We will construct examples of transcendental functions in $`S`$ for which $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are attracting basins, or basins of petals attached to the same neutral fixed point, but where $`J`$ is not a quasicircle; see Examples 1 and 2 in §3.

On the other hand, Keen and Kotus \[16, Corollary 8.2\] have shown that for the family $`f_\lambda (z)=\lambda \mathrm{tan}z`$ there exists a domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ containing $`(1,\mathrm{})`$ such that $`f_\lambda `$ has two completely invariant attracting basins and $`J(f_\lambda )`$ is a quasicircle for $`\lambda \mathrm{\Omega }`$. Meromorphic functions for which the Julia set is contained in a quasicircle were also considered by Baker, Kotus and Lü \[2, §5\].

Baker  proved that an entire function $`f`$ can have at most one completely invariant component of the set of normality, and that such a domain contains all critical values. Eremenko and Lyubich \[14, §6\] proved that a completely invariant domain of an entire function also contains all asymptotic values of a certain type, namely those associated with direct singularities of $`f^1`$. On the other hand, Bergweiler  constructed an entire function with a completely invariant domain $`D`$, and such that some asymptotic value belongs to the Julia set $`J=D`$. Example 3 in §3 shows that meromorphic functions with two completely invariant components of the set of normality can have asymptotic values on their Julia sets. So (ii) does not hold for general meromorphic functions, without the assumption that $`fS`$.

## 2. Proof of the Theorem

We shall need the following result of Baker, Kotus and Lü \[4, Lemmas 4.2 and 4.3\] which does not require that $`fS`$. Here and in the following all topological notions are related to $``$ unless $`\overline{}`$ is explicitly mentioned.

###### Lemma 1.

Let $`f`$ be meromorphic with two completely invariant components $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ of the set of normality. Then $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are simply-connected and $`J=D_1=D_2`$. In particular, $`J`$ is a connected subset of $``$.

Proof of the Theorem. As the result is known for rational $`f`$, we assume that our $`f`$ is transcendental.

Statement (i) follows from the classification of dynamics on the Fatou set for meromorphic functions of the class $`S`$, given in \[5, Theorems 2.2 and 2.3\], \[8, Theorem 6\], and \[24, p. 3252\].

To prove (ii), we consider for $`j=1,2`$ the finite sets $`A_j=AD_j`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$ be a Jordan curve in $`D_j`$ which separates $`A_j`$ from $`D_j`$. Let $`G_j`$ be the Jordan regions bounded by the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$. Let $`G=\overline{}\backslash (\overline{G_1}\overline{G_2})`$ be the doubly connected region in $`\overline{}`$ bounded by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_2`$. Notice that $`G`$ contains the Julia set $`J`$.

We define $`\gamma _j=f^1(\mathrm{\Gamma }_j)`$. Then

(1)
$$f:\gamma _j\mathrm{\Gamma }_j,j=1,2,$$

are covering maps.

We claim that each $`\gamma _j`$ is a single simple curve tending to infinity in both directions, which means that $`\gamma _j\{\mathrm{}\}`$ is a Jordan curve in $`\overline{}`$.

To prove the claim, we fix $`j`$ and consider the full preimages $`H_j=f^1(G_j)`$ and $`F_j=f^1(D_j\backslash \overline{G_j})`$. Then $`D_j=F_jH_j\gamma _j`$. The boundary of each component of $`F_j`$ contains a component of $`\gamma _j`$, and this gives a bijective correspondence between components of $`F_j`$ and components of $`\gamma _j`$.

We notice that $`H_j`$ is connected. Indeed, by complete invariance of $`D_j`$, we have $`H_jD_j`$, so every two points $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$ in $`H_j`$ can be connected by a curve $`\beta `$ in $`D_j`$, so that $`\beta `$ does not pass through the critical points of $`f`$. The image $`f(\beta )`$ of this curve begins and ends in $`G_j`$, and does not pass through the critical values of $`f`$. By a small perturbation of $`\beta `$ we achieve that $`f(\beta )`$ does not pass through asymptotic values. Using the fact that

$$f:D_j\backslash f^1(A_j)D_j\backslash A_j,$$

is a covering and that $`A_jG_j`$, we can deform $`\beta `$ into a curve in $`H_j`$ which still connects $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$. This proves that the $`H_j`$ are connected.

It follows that $`H_j`$ is unbounded, as it contains infinitely many preimages of a generic point in $`G_j`$.

It is easy to see that the boundary of each component $`F_j^{}`$ of $`F_j`$ intersects the Julia set.

For each component $`F_j^{}`$ of $`F_j`$, the intersection $`F_j^{}\overline{H_j}`$ is a component $`\gamma _j^{}`$ of $`\gamma _j`$. This component $`\gamma _j^{}`$ divides the plane into two parts, one containing $`H_j`$ and the other containing $`F_j^{}`$. We conclude that every component of $`\gamma _j`$ is unbounded, because $`H_j`$ is unbounded, and $`F_j`$ intersects the Julia set which is unbounded and connected by Lemma 1. (A similar argument for unboundedness of each component of $`\gamma _j`$ was given in ).

For every component $`\gamma _j^{}`$ of $`\gamma _j`$, the component of $`\backslash \gamma _j^{}`$ that contains $`F_j^{}`$ intersects the Julia set. Since the Julia set is connected by Lemma 1, we conclude that $`F_j`$ and $`\gamma _j`$ are connected. So the map (1) is a universal covering by a connected set $`\gamma _j`$, for each $`j=1,2`$. Thus $`\gamma _1\{\mathrm{}\}`$ and $`\gamma _2\{\mathrm{}\}`$ are Jordan curves in $`\overline{}`$ whose intersection consists of the single point $`\mathrm{}`$. This proves our claim.

As a corollary we obtain that the point $`\mathrm{}`$ is accessible from each $`D_j`$, and so all poles of all iterates $`f^n`$ are accessible from each $`D_j`$. (This fact was established in .)

Next we note that the set $`\gamma _1\gamma _2\{\mathrm{}\}`$ separates the sphere into three simply connected regions. We denote by $`W`$ that region whose boundary in $`\overline{}`$ is $`\gamma _1\gamma _2\{\mathrm{}\}`$. Then

(2)
$$f^1(G)=W,$$

in particular, $`W`$ contains the Julia set $`J`$.

To complete the proof of (ii) we choose an arbitrary point $`wJ`$ and show that $`w`$ is neither a critical value nor an asymptotic value.

Fix an arbitrary point $`w_1\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$. The preimage $`f^1(w_1)`$ consists of infinitely many points $`a_k\gamma _1`$, which we enumerate by all integers in a natural order on $`\gamma _1`$. Let $`\varphi _k`$ be the branches of $`f^1`$ such that $`\varphi _k(w_1)=a_k`$. We find a simple curve $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ from $`w_1`$ to some point $`w_2\mathrm{\Gamma }_2`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\backslash \{w_1,w_2\}`$ is contained in $`G\backslash \{w\}`$, and such that all branches $`\varphi _k`$ have analytic continuation along $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ to the point $`w_2`$. We define

$$G^{}=G\backslash \mathrm{\Delta }\overline{}.$$

The full preimage $`f^1(\mathrm{\Delta })`$ consists of infinitely many disjoint simple curves $`\delta _k`$ starting at the points $`a_k`$ and ending at some points $`b_k\gamma _2`$. The open curves $`\delta _k\backslash \{a_k,b_k\}`$ are disjoint from $`\gamma _1\gamma _2`$.

For every integer $`k`$, let $`Q_k`$ be the Jordan region bounded by $`\delta _k,\delta _{k+1}`$, the arc $`(a_k,a_{k+1})`$ of $`\gamma _1`$ and the arc $`(b_k,b_{k+1})`$ of $`\gamma _2`$. Then $`f`$ maps $`Q_k`$ into $`G^{}`$, and $`f(Q_k)G^{}`$. So

(3)
$$f:Q_kG^{}$$

is a ramified covering, continuous up to the boundary. Furthermore, the boundary map is a local homeomorphism. As each point of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1\backslash \{w_1\}`$ has only one preimage on $`Q_k`$, we conclude that (3) is a homeomorphism. Now it follows that the restriction $`f:(b_k,b_{k+1})\mathrm{\Gamma }_2\backslash \{w_2\}`$ is a homeomorphism and

$$W=\underset{k=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}Q_k\delta _k\backslash \{a_k,b_k\}.$$

It follows that there are no critical points over $`w`$, so $`w`$ is not a critical value.

If $`w`$ were an asymptotic value, there would be a curve $`\alpha `$ in $`W`$ which tends to infinity, and such that $`f(z)w`$ as $`z\mathrm{},z\alpha `$. But this curve $`\alpha `$ would intersect infinitely many of the curves $`\delta _k`$, so its image $`f(\alpha )`$ would intersect $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ infinitely many times, which contradicts the assumption that $`f(\alpha )`$ tends to $`w`$.

This completes the proof of (ii). The proof actually shows that $`f:WG`$ is a universal covering, a fact which we will use later.

To prove (iii), let us assume that $`D_1`$ contains two asymptotic values, or that $`\{zD_1:|f(z)a|<ϵ\}`$ has two unbounded components for some asymptotic value $`aD_1`$. Then there exists a curve $`\alpha D_1`$, tending to infinity in both directions, such that $`f(z)`$ has limits as $`z\mathrm{}`$, $`z\alpha `$, in both directions, where these limits are the two asymptotic values in the first case, and where both limits are equal to $`a`$ in the second case, but the two tails of the curve $`\alpha `$ are in different components of $`\{zD_1:|f(z)a|<ϵ\}`$. Now one of the regions, say $`R`$, into which $`\alpha `$ partitions the plane does not intersect the Julia set $`J`$ (because $`J`$ is connected by Lemma 1), and thus $`RD_1`$. We want to conclude that $`f`$ has a limit as $`z\mathrm{}`$ in $`R`$.

To do this, we choose an arbitrary point $`bD_2`$ and consider the function $`g(z)=(fb)^1`$ which is holomorphic and bounded in $`D_1`$. This function has limits when $`z\mathrm{}`$, $`z\alpha `$, so by a theorem of Lindelöf , these limits coincide and $`g`$ has a limit as $`z\mathrm{}`$ in $`R`$. This proves (iii).

To prove (iv), we distinguish several cases, according to the dynamics of $`f`$ in each $`D_j`$.

1. Suppose first that both $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are basins of attraction of attracting or superattracting points. Then we choose the curves $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$ as above, but with the additional property that $`f(\mathrm{\Gamma }_j)G_j`$, that is $`f(\mathrm{\Gamma }_j)\overline{G}=\mathrm{}.`$ To achieve this, we denote by $`z_j`$ the attracting or superattracting fixed point in $`D_j`$, choose $`G_j`$ to be the open hyperbolic disc centered at $`z_j`$, of large enough hyperbolic radius, so that $`A_jG_j`$, and put $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j=G_j`$. Then the $`G_j`$ are $`f`$-invariant, and moreover $`f(\overline{G_j})G_j`$ for $`j=1,2`$, because $`f`$ is strictly contracting the hyperbolic metric in $`D_j`$. It follows that the closure of $`W=f^1(G)`$ is contained in $`G`$. Let $`h`$ be the hyperbolic metric in $`G`$, and $`|f^{}(z)|_h`$ the infinitesimal length distortion by $`f`$ at the point $`zW`$ with respect to $`h`$. By the Theorem of Pick \[21, Theorem 2.11\] there exists $`K>1`$ such that

(4)
$$|f^{}(z)|_hK,zW.$$

Now we consider successive preimages $`W_n=f^n(W)`$. Note that $`\mathrm{}A(f)`$ by (ii) which implies that the components of $`f^1(\gamma _j)`$ are bounded for $`j=1,2`$. We deduce that every component of $`W_n`$ is a Jordan domain whose boundary consists of two cross-cuts, one of $`D_1`$ and the other of $`D_2`$. These crosscuts meet at two poles of $`f^n`$. It follows from (4) that the diameter (with respect to the metric $`h`$) of every component of $`W_n`$ is at most $`CK^n`$, where $`C>0`$ is a constant. Now we notice that

$$J=\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\overline{W_n}$$

and prove that every point $`zJ`$ is accessible both from $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$.

The accessibility of poles of the iterates $`f^n`$ was already noticed before. Now we assume that $`z`$ is not a pole of any iterate. Let $`V_n`$ be the component of $`W_n`$ that contains $`z`$. Then $`V_1V_2\mathrm{}`$. The intersection $`V_kD_j`$ is connected (its relative boundary with respect to $`D_j`$ is a cross-cut in $`D_j`$), so one can choose a sequence $`z_{k,j}V_kD_j`$ and connect $`z_{k,j}`$ with $`z_{k+1,j}`$ by a curve $`\mathrm{}_{k,j}`$ in $`V_kD_j`$. The union of these curves gives a curve in $`D_j`$ which tends to $`z`$.

The proof of (iii) in the attracting case is completed by an application of Schoenflies’ theorem that if each point of a common boundary of two domains on the sphere is accessible from both domains then this common boundary is a Jordan curve .

2. To prove (iv) in the remaining cases, suppose, for example, that $`D_1`$ is the domain of attraction of a petal associated with a neutral fixed point $`a`$. We need several lemmas.

###### Lemma 2.

There exists a Jordan domain $`G_1`$ with the properties $`\overline{G_1}D_1\{a\}`$, $`f(\overline{G_1})G_1\{a\}`$, $`A_1G_1`$, and $`G_1`$ is absorbing, that is for every compact $`KD_1`$ there exists a positive integer $`n`$ such that $`f^n(K)G_1`$.

Proof. It is well known (see, e. g. \[21, §10\]) that there exists a domain $`G_1`$ having all properties mentioned except possibly $`A_1G_1`$. Such a domain is called an attracting petal.

Let $`P`$ be an attracting petal. Choose a point $`z_0D_1`$ and let $`r>0`$ be so large that the open hyperbolic disc $`B(z_0,r)`$ of radius $`r`$ centered at $`z_0`$ contains $`A_1`$, and $`z_1=f(z_0)B(z_0,r)`$. Then put

$$G_1^{}=P\left(\underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}B(z_k,r)\right),z_k=f^k(z_0).$$

Then $`G_1^{}`$ is absorbing because the petal $`P`$ is absorbing. Notice that for every neighborhood $`V`$ of $`a`$, all but finitely many discs $`B(z_k,r)`$ are contained in $`V`$. This easily follows from the comparison of the Euclidean and hyperbolic metrics near $`a`$, or, alternatively, from the local description of dynamics near a neutral fixed point with multiplier $`1`$. It is easy to see that $`f(\overline{G_1^{}})G_1^{}\{a\}`$. Now we fill the holes in $`G_1^{}`$: let $`X`$ be the unbounded component of $`\overline{G_1^{}}`$ and $`G_1=\backslash \overline{X}`$. It is easy to see that $`G_1`$ is a Jordan domain (its boundary is a union of arcs of hyperbolic circles which is locally finite, except at the point $`a`$, plus some boundary arcs of the petal). $`\mathrm{}`$

Now we fix the following notations till the end of the proof of the Theorem. If $`D_j`$ is a basin of an attracting or superattracting fixed point, let $`G_j`$ be the Jordan region constructed in the first part of the proof of (iv). If $`D_j`$ is a basin of a petal, let $`G_j`$ be the region from Lemma 2. We define $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j=G_j`$. This is a Jordan curve in $`D_j`$ or in $`D_j\{a\}`$ which encloses all singular values in $`D_j`$.

Next we define $`G=\overline{}\backslash (\overline{G_1}\overline{G_2})`$. This region is simply connected in the case that both $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are basins of two petals associated with the same fixed point, and doubly connected in all other cases. If $`G`$ is doubly connected, we make a simple cut $`\delta `$ disjoint from the set $`A`$ of singular points, as in the proof of (ii), to obtain a simply connected region $`G^{}=G\backslash \delta `$. If $`G`$ is simply connected we set $`G^{}=G`$. All branches of $`f^n`$ are holomorphic in $`G^{}`$. Let $`\gamma _j=f^1(\mathrm{\Gamma }_j)`$.

###### Lemma 3.

There exists a repelling fixed point $`bJ`$ which is accessible from both $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ by simple curves $`\beta _j`$ which begin at some points of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$ and do not intersect $`G_j`$, and which satisfy $`f(\beta _j)\overline{G^{}}=\beta _j`$, for $`j=1,2`$.

Proof. We use the notation introduced before the statement of the Lemma. Fix one of the components $`Q`$, of $`f^1(G^{})`$, such that $`\overline{Q}G^{}`$. Let $`\varphi `$ be the branch of $`f^1`$ which maps $`G^{}`$ onto $`Q`$. Then $`\varphi `$ has an attracting fixed point $`bQ`$. Let $`z_0\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ and $`z_1=\varphi (z_0)Q`$. We connect $`z_0`$ and $`z_1`$ by a simple curve $`\beta `$ in $`(G^{}\backslash Q)D_1`$. Such a curve exists because $`z_1\gamma _1`$, and the component of $`\backslash \gamma _1`$ that contains $`G_1`$ is completely contained in $`D_1`$.

Now

$$\beta _1=\underset{k=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\varphi ^k(\beta )$$

is a curve in $`D_1`$ tending to $`b`$ which satisfies $`f(\beta _1)\overline{G^{}}=\beta _1`$. Similarly a curve $`\beta _2`$ in $`D_2`$ is constructed. $`\mathrm{}`$

Now, if $`G`$ is doubly connected, we set $`G^{\prime \prime }=G\backslash (\beta _1\beta _2\{b\}).`$ If $`G`$ is simply connected then $`G^{\prime \prime }=G`$. Then $`G^{\prime \prime }`$ is a simply connected region which contains no singular values of $`f`$. Let $`\{\varphi _k\}_k`$ be the set of all branches of $`f^1`$ in $`G^{\prime \prime }`$. These branches map $`G^{\prime \prime }`$ onto Jordan regions $`T_kG^{\prime \prime }`$. These regions $`T_k`$ are of two types: the regions of the first type are contained in $`G^{\prime \prime }`$ with their closures, while the regions of the second type have common boundary points with $`G^{\prime \prime }`$.

We claim that there are only finitely many regions of the second type. To study these regions $`T_k`$, we first observe that the full preimage of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$ is a curve $`\gamma _j`$ which can have at most one point in common with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$, namely the neutral fixed point on $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$. Thus the region $`W=f^1(G)`$ bounded by $`\gamma _1`$ and $`\gamma _2`$ is a simply connected region contained in $`G`$, and the boundary $`W`$ has at most two common points with $`G`$, namely the neutral fixed points. The full preimage of the cross-cut

$$\alpha =\beta _1\beta _2\{b\}$$

constructed in Lemma 2 consists of countably many disjoint curves $`\alpha _k\overline{W}`$. Each $`\alpha _k`$ connects a point on $`\gamma _1`$ to a point on $`\gamma _2`$. One of the $`\alpha _k`$, say $`\alpha _1`$, is contained in $`\alpha `$ while all others are disjoint from $`\alpha `$. Thus our regions $`T_k`$ are curvilinear rectangles, similar to the $`Q_k`$ used in the proof of (ii). In particular, they cluster only at $`\mathrm{}`$ so that only finitely many of them are of the first type.

It is easy to see that every region of the second type has on its boundary exactly one of the following points: a neutral fixed point or the repelling fixed point $`b`$. Indeed, let $`T`$ be a region of the second type, and $`\varphi :G^{\prime \prime }T`$ the corresponding branch of the inverse. Then the iterates $`\varphi ^n(z)`$ converge to a unique point $`c\overline{T}`$ by the Denjoy–Wolff Theorem. (This theorem is usually stated for the unit disk, but it follows for Jordan domains like $`T`$ by the Riemann mapping theorem, using that the Riemann map extends homeomorphically to the boundary.) On the other hand, it follows from the local dynamics near the repelling fixed point $`b`$ and a neutral fixed point $`a`$ that there exists $`ϵ>0`$ such that $`\varphi ^n(z)b`$ if $`|zb|<ϵ`$ and $`\varphi ^n(z)a`$ if $`|za|<ϵ`$, $`zT`$.

If $`\varphi _j`$ and $`\varphi _k`$ are two different branches of $`f^1`$ in $`G^{\prime \prime }`$, whose images are of the second type, then the images $`(\varphi _k\varphi _j)(G^{\prime \prime })`$ are compactly contained in $`G^{\prime \prime }`$. There exists a compact subset set $`KG^{\prime \prime }`$ which contains all regions $`T`$ of the first type as well as all images $`(\varphi _k\varphi _j)(G^{\prime \prime })`$ where $`jk`$.

Now consider the hyperbolic metric in $`G^{\prime \prime }`$ and let $`|\varphi ^{}|_h`$ stand for the infinitesimal length distortion of a branch $`\varphi `$ with respect to this hyperbolic metric. Then we have for all $`zG^{\prime \prime }`$ and some $`\lambda (0,1)`$:

(5)
$$|\varphi _k^{}(z)|_h<\lambda \text{for all }k\text{ of the first type}$$

and

(6)
$$|(\varphi _j\varphi _k)^{}(z)|_h<\lambda \text{for all }jk.$$

Let $`W_n=f^n(W)`$. Then the Julia set can be represented as the intersection of a decreasing sequence of closed sets $`J=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}\overline{W_n}`$. The points of the Julia set are divided into the following categories:

a) poles of $`f`$ and their preimages,

b) neutral fixed points and their preimages,

c) the repelling point $`b`$ and its preimages

d) those points of $`J`$ which are interior to all $`f^n(G^{\prime \prime })`$.

We have already seen that all points of the categories a)-c) are accessible from each of the domains $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$.

The proof that the points of the type d) are accessible is similar to the argument in the case that both $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ are attracting basins: we will show that each such point $`z`$ can be surrounded by a nested sequence of Jordan curves whose diameter tends to zero.

Indeed, each point $`z`$ of the class d) can be obtained as a limit

$$z=\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}(\varphi _{k_1}\varphi _{k_2}\mathrm{}\varphi _{k_n})(w),$$

where $`wG^{\prime \prime }`$. For a point $`z`$ of the category d), the sequence $`k_1,k_2,\mathrm{}`$ is uniquely defined. We will call this sequence the itinerary of $`z`$. Let us consider the domains

$$T_n(z)=(\varphi _{k_1}\varphi _{k_2}\mathrm{}\varphi _{k_n})(G^{\prime \prime }),$$

in other words, $`T_n(z)`$ is that component of $`f^n(G^{\prime \prime })`$ which contains $`z`$. The boundary of $`T_n(z)`$ is a Jordan curve which intersects the Julia set at a finite set of points of categories a)-c). The complementary arcs of these points are cross-cuts of $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$. Thus, to show that $`z`$ is accessible from $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$, it is enough to show that the diameter of $`T_n(z)`$ tends to zero as $`n\mathrm{}`$. Let $`zJ`$ be a point of category d), and $`k_1,k_2,\mathrm{}`$ its itinerary. Then the sequence $`k_1,k_2,\mathrm{}`$ cannot have an infinite tail consisting of the branch numbers of the second type. Indeed, the iterates of any branch of the second type converge to a boundary point $`x`$ of $`G^{\prime \prime }`$ (a neutral fixed point or the point $`b`$). In this case, $`z`$ will be a preimage of $`x`$.

Since the itinerary does not stabilize on a branch number of the second type, we can use (5) and (6) to conclude that $`\mathrm{diam}T_n(z)0`$.

This completes the proof. $`\mathrm{}`$

## 3. Examples

Example 1. Let

$$g(z)=\frac{1}{1+a\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z}}$$

where $`0<a<\frac{1}{5}`$. Then there exists $`b<0`$ such that

$$f(z)=\frac{g(z+b)g(b)}{g^{}(b)}$$

has a parabolic fixed point at zero, with two completely invariant parabolic basins attached to it. Moreover, $`fS`$ and the Julia set of $`f`$ is a Jordan curve, but not a quasicircle.

Verification. Note that $`g`$ has no poles on the real axis. We have

$$g^{}(z)=\frac{a\mathrm{sin}\sqrt{z}}{\sqrt{z}(1+a\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z})^2}$$

and

$$g^{\prime \prime }(z)=\frac{a^2(\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z})^2a\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z}2a^2}{z(1+a\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z})^3}\frac{a\mathrm{sin}\sqrt{z}}{z\sqrt{z}(1+a\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z})^2}.$$

It follows that

$$\underset{x\mathrm{}}{lim}g^{\prime \prime }(x)x\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{x}=\frac{1}{4a}<0$$

so that $`g^{\prime \prime }(x)>0`$ if $`x`$ is negative and of sufficiently large modulus. On the other hand,

$$g^{\prime \prime }(0)=\frac{a(5a1)}{2(a+1)^3}<0.$$

Thus there exists $`b(\mathrm{},0)`$ with $`g^{\prime \prime }(b)`$=0 and $`g^{\prime \prime }(x)>0`$ for $`x<b`$.

The critical points of $`g`$ are given by $`(k\pi )^2`$ where $`k`$, and $`g`$ has a maximum there for odd $`k`$ and a minimum for even $`k`$. It follows that $`g^{}(x)>0`$ for $`x<\pi ^2`$ and thus in particular for $`xb`$. Thus $`f`$ has the critical points $`(k\pi )^2b`$, with corresponding critical values

$$d_\pm =\frac{(1\pm a)^1g(b)}{g^{}(b)}.$$

Moreover, $`f`$ has the asymptotic value $`c=g(b)/g^{}(b)`$, which is also a Picard exceptional value of $`f`$, and no other asymptotic values. Thus $`A(f)=\{c,d_+,d_{}\}`$.

Next we note that $`f(0)=0`$, $`f^{}(0)=1`$ and $`f^{\prime \prime }(0)=0`$. Since $`f^{}(x)=g^{}(x+b)/g^{}(b)`$ we have $`0<f^{}(x)<1`$ for $`x<0`$. It follows from the mean value theorem that if $`x<0`$, then $`x<f(x)<0`$. Thus $`(\mathrm{},0)`$ lies in a parabolic basin $`U`$ attached to the parabolic point $`b`$. In particular, $`U`$ contains the value $`c=g(b)/g^{}(b)`$ which is a Picard exceptional value of $`f`$. We note that $`f^1(D(c,r))`$ is connected for sufficiently small $`r>0`$, and thus $`U`$ is completely invariant.

Since $`f^{\prime \prime }(0)=0`$ there is at least one parabolic basin $`V`$ different from $`U`$ attached to the parabolic point $`0`$. As $`f`$ has a completely invariant domain, every component of the set of normality is simply connected. Thus $`V`$ is simply connected. Now $`V`$ must contain a singularity of $`f^1`$. Thus $`V`$ contains one of the critical values $`d_+`$ and $`d_{}`$, and in fact a corresponding critical point $`\xi =(k\pi )^2b`$. Since $`f^n(\xi )V`$ and $`f^n(\xi )0`$ as $`n\mathrm{}`$, and since $`V`$ is simply connected and symmetric with respect to the real axis, we conclude that $`(0,\xi ]V`$. Since $`f((0,\mathrm{}))(0,d_{}]=f(\pi ^2b)`$ we conclude that the positive real axis is contained in $`V`$.

We now show that $`V`$ is completely invariant. Suppose that $`W`$ is a component of $`f^1(V)`$ with $`WV`$. Since $`W`$ contains no critical points of $`f`$, and $`V`$ contains no asymptotic values, there exists a branch $`\phi `$ of $`f^1`$ which maps $`V`$ to $`W`$. This functions $`\phi `$ can be continued analytically to any point in $`\overline{}\{c\}`$. By the monodromy theorem, $`\phi `$ extends to a a meromorphic function from $`\overline{}\{c\}`$ to $``$. But this implies that $`f`$ is univalent, a contradiction.

It follows from part (iv) of our Theorem that the Julia set of $`f`$ is a Jordan curve. On the other hand we note that if $`w=u+iv`$ with $`|v|<T`$, then $`(\mathrm{Im}(w^2))^2=(2uv)^24T^2u^2<4T^2(u^2v^2)+4T^4=4T^2\mathrm{Re}(w^2)+4T^4`$. It follows that if $`4T^2\mathrm{Re}z(\mathrm{Im}z)^24T^4`$, then $`|\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z}|\mathrm{sinh}T`$ and thus $`zU`$, if $`T`$ is large enough. Thus the Julia set of $`f`$ is contained in the domain $`\{z:4T^2\mathrm{Re}z>(\mathrm{Im}z)^24T^4\}`$ if $`T`$ is large enough. This implies that it is not a quasicircle.

Remark. It seems that $`g^{\prime \prime }`$ has only one negative zero. But since we have not proved this, we have just defined $`b`$ to be the smallest zero of $`g^{\prime \prime }`$. The values $`a`$ and $`b`$ are related by

$$a=\frac{\sqrt{b}\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{b}\mathrm{sin}\sqrt{b}}{\sqrt{b}+\sqrt{b}\mathrm{sin}^2\sqrt{b}\mathrm{sin}\sqrt{b}\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{b}}$$

For example, if $`b=1`$, then $`a=0.16763487\mathrm{}`$, $`g(b)=0.764166\mathrm{}`$ and $`1/g^{}(b)=16.083479\mathrm{}`$ so that

$$f(z)=16.083479\left(\frac{1}{1+0.16763487\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z1}}0.764166\right).$$

Example 2. Let $`g`$ and $`f`$ be as in Example 1 and let $`\alpha >1`$. Then there exists $`\alpha _0=\alpha _0(a)>1`$ such that if $`1<\alpha <\alpha _0`$, then $`f_\alpha (z)=\alpha f(z)`$ has two completely invariant attracting basins.

Verification. It is not difficult to see that if $`\alpha `$ is sufficiently close to $`1`$, then $`f_\alpha `$ does indeed have two attracting fixed points $`\xi _+>0`$ and and $`\xi _{}<0`$, with $`\xi _\pm 0`$ as $`\alpha 1`$. The verification that their immediate attracting basins are completely invariant is analogous to that in Example 1.

Remark. We consider again the case $`b=1`$. Then $`f_\alpha `$ has the form

$$f_\alpha (z)=\beta \left(\frac{1}{1+0.16763487\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{z1}}0.764166\right)$$

with $`\beta >16.083479\mathrm{}`$. For $`\beta =26.712615\mathrm{}`$ the positive attracting fixed point coincides with the critical point $`1+\pi ^2`$ and thus is superattracting.

Example 3. Let

$$g(z)=\underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{a_kz},\text{where}0<a_0<a_1<\mathrm{},\underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{a_k}<\mathrm{}.$$

Both the upper and lower half-plane are $`g`$-invariant, and $`g(x)0`$ as $`x\mathrm{}`$ along the negative ray, so $`0`$ is an asymptotic value. Evidently, the second derivative $`g^{\prime \prime }`$ changes sign on $`(a_0,a_1)`$, so there exists $`c(a_0,a_1)`$ such that $`g^{\prime \prime }(c)=0`$. Then the function

$$f(z)=\frac{g(z+c)g(c)}{g^{}(c)}=z+O(z^3),z0$$

has a neutral fixed point with two petals at $`0`$. It follows that the Julia set $`J(f)`$ coincides with the real line, and thus $`0J(f)`$.

To get an example $`f`$ where the upper and lower half-plane are superattracting basins, we note that $`g`$ can be chosen such that $`g^{}`$ has a non-real zero $`\tau `$, and with $`a=\mathrm{Im}\tau /\mathrm{Im}g(\tau )`$ and $`b=\mathrm{Re}\tau a\mathrm{Re}g(\tau )`$ the function $`f(z)=ag(z)+b`$ satisfies $`f(\tau )=\tau `$ and $`f^{}(\tau )=0`$, as well as $`f(\overline{\tau })=\overline{\tau }`$ and $`f^{}(\overline{\tau })=0`$.

Example 4. For $`a=3.74883811.3843391i`$ the function $`f(z)=a\mathrm{tan}z/\mathrm{tan}a`$ has fixed points $`\pm a`$ of multiplier $`1`$. The Julia set is a Jordan curve by our theorem, but clearly not a quasicircle.

Example 5. For $`a=1/(1\mathrm{tanh}^21)=2.3810978`$ the function

$$f(z)=a\mathrm{tan}za\mathrm{tan}i+i$$

has the fixed point $`i`$ of multiplier $`1`$ and the attracting fixed point $`3.1864112i`$. Again the Julia set is a Jordan curve, but not a quasicircle.

Example 6. Our final example has two completely invariant half-planes, but unlike $`\mathrm{tan}z`$, it has no asymptotic values. Another feature of this example is that it has minimal possible growth among the functions of class $`S`$, namely

(7)
$$T(r,f)=O((\mathrm{log}r)^2),r\mathrm{},$$

where $`T`$ is the Nevanlinna characteristic. Langley  proved that meromorphic functions with the property $`T(r,f)=o((\mathrm{log}r)^2)`$ have infinitely many singular values.

Let $`h`$ be the branch of the arccosine which maps the 4-th quadrant $`Q_4=\{z:\mathrm{Re}z>0,\mathrm{Im}z<0\}`$ onto the half-strip $`H=\{z:\mathrm{Re}z(0,\pi /2),\mathrm{Im}z>0\}`$.

Let $`g`$ be the conformal map of a rectangle $`R=\{z:\mathrm{Re}z(0,\pi /2),\mathrm{Im}z(0,a)\}`$ with $`a>0`$ onto $`Q_4`$, such that $`g(\pi /2)=0`$ and $`g(\pi /2+ia)=\mathrm{}`$, and $`g(ia)>g(0)>0`$. By the Reflection Principle, $`g`$ has an analytic continuation to the half-strip $`H`$ and maps this half-strip into the left half-plane. It is easy to see that $`g`$ is an elliptic function.

The composite function $`f=gh`$ maps the positive ray into itself, and applying the reflection again we conclude that it maps the right half-plane into itself. The boundary values on the imaginary axis belong to the imaginary axis, so by another reflection $`f`$ extends to a meromorphic function in the plane. We see that both the right and left half-plane are completely invariant.

The function $`f`$ has 4 critical values, $`\pm g(ia)`$ and $`\pm g(0)`$, two in the right half-plane and two in the left half-plane.

To estimate the growth of $`f`$ is it enough to notice that $`\mathrm{arccos}z=i\mathrm{log}z+O(1)`$ as $`z\mathrm{}`$ in the lower half-plane and in the upper half-plane. Taking into account that $`g`$ is an elliptic function we obtain (7).

Our function $`f`$ satisfies the differential equation

$$(1z^2)(f^{})^2=c(f^2p^2)(f^2q^2),$$

where $`p=g(ia)`$, $`q=g(0)`$ and $`c`$ is a real constant.

A similar differential equation was considered by Bank and Kaufman ; see also .

###### Acknowledgment.

We thank the referee for useful comments.


text:
# Results from a diffuse intracluster light survey

## 1. Introduction

The concept of intracluster starlight (ICL), or stars between the galaxies in galaxy clusters is not a new one: it was first proposed over 50 years ago (Zwicky 1951). However, progress in studying ICL has been slow due to its low surface brightness, which is less than 1% of the brightness of the night sky. This is unfortunate, because ICL is a powerful probe of the evolution of galaxies in clusters (Dressler 1984), and of cluster evolution overall. It is also an important part of the ejection of matter out of galaxies discussed at this conference.

We have undertaken a deep imaging survey of galaxy clusters, intended to quantify the properties of ICL as a function of environment, and overall galaxy cluster properties. From our deep imaging, with careful attention to systematic errors (e.g., Morrison, Boroson, & Harding 1994), we are able to measure the ICL to faint surface brightnesses many magnitudes below that of the night sky ($`\mu _{\text{v,ICL}}`$ $``$ 26–28). In tandem with the observations, we are constructing numerical simulations of galaxy clusters in a cosmological context, similar to those of Dubinski (1998). Here we summarize some recent results: previous results can be found in Feldmeier et al. (2002).

## 2. Intracluster Tidal Debris

Models of intracluster star production predict that intracluster light may not always be in a smooth, elliptically symmetric, component but instead can be in tidal tails and arcs (Moore et al. 1996; Napolitano et al. 2003). In our deep imaging survey, we have found intracluster tidal debris in almost every cluster we have surveyed (see Figure 1 for one of the most striking examples). However, at this time, we have detected more plume-like structures than the long arcs originally predicted by the models. Since only half of the survey has been completely reduced, the significance of this result is unclear.

## 3. The amount of intracluster light

Determining the amount of ICL from our imaging observations is non-trivial because it is difficult to separate the outer edges of galaxies from the underlying background ICL. To make a model-independent estimate of ICL fraction in the clusters observed, we used an isophotal cutoff. The exact value of the cutoff is problematic, so we have adopted a range of values to set reasonable limits. We find that for the clusters surveyed thus far, the amount of ICL is 10–20%, including a correction for the edges of galaxies still unmasked. This is similar to the amount of intracluster light found in the nearby Virgo and Fornax clusters (see Arnaboldi, this volume).

## References

Dressler, A. 1984, ARA&A, 22, 185

Dubinski, J. 1998, ApJ, 502, 141

Feldmeier, J. J., et al. 2002, ApJ, 575, 779

Morrison, H. L., Boroson, T. A. & Harding P., 1994, AJ, 108, 1191

Napolitano, N.R., et al. 2003, ApJ, 594, 172

Zwicky, F. 1951, PASP, 63, 61