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# Theory of the radiative width of a highly excited nucleus 11footnote 1Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, 441–452 (1974) [Sov. Phys. JETP 40, No. 2, 219-224 (1975)]

## 1 Introduction

That there is a gradual unification of the mechanisms underlying the emission of electromagnetic radiation by a not too light nucleus as the excitation energy of the nucleus increases is practically beyond question. Roughly speaking, if an infinite number of the levels of the nucleus as a whole lie below the initial excitation energy, then the system will itself find and prefer the easiest effective way of emitting $`\gamma `$ quanta. In particular, there is below the initial excited level an abundance of levels $`\gamma `$ transitions to which satisfy the most favorable “selection rules”, so that from this point of view the process is, in the limit under consideration, practically one with an infinite number of channels. Analysis shows (see ) that the electric-dipole radiation due to collisions between the (proton and neutron) quasiparticles and the “wall” of the nucleus predominates. The ideas of the Landau theory of the Fermi fluid  allow us to compute in closed form the radiative width $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma `$ and its fluctuations from level to level.

In a sense, spherical nuclei are rather exotic objects: the application to them of the Fermi-fluid concepts requires in each specific case certain precautions. The fact that the spherical configuration is stable is in itself an indication of the essential role played by the “residual interaction” between the quasiparticles, an interaction which blurs the Fermi level: it can be shown that in the scheme without interaction the sphere is absolutely unstable (see ). Furthermore, analysis of the data on the shell and magic oscillations in the masses of spherical nuclei allows the establishment of the macroscopically ordered structure that this residual interaction possesses in the space of the values of the orbital momentum $`l`$ of the individual quasiparticles . (We shall again touch upon spherical nuclei when we compare below the theoretical results with the experimental data.) Nonspherical nuclei, on the other hand, are easy to investigate, it being apparently necessary to regard their shape as a perfectly natural consequence of the properties of the “normal”, disordered nuclear phase, in which the quasiparticles situated near the limit of the Fermi distribution move, in the main, independently of each other.

However, for the theory of radiative widths expounded below the “shape effects”, as such, are of no independent importance, and a special allowance for them is not necessary. Indeed, the equilibrium deformation $`\alpha `$ of a nonspherical nucleus is equal in order of magnitude to $`\rho _f^1`$ (i.e., $`\alpha \rho _f^1`$), where

$$\rho _f=k_fR1$$
(1)
($`k_f`$ is the limiting momentum of the quasiparticle distribution and $`R`$ is the radius of the nucleus) is an important dimensionless parameter that arises in the most diverse investigations that have as their aim the treatment of the nucleus as a macroscopic body. In view of the scalar nature of the quantity $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ to be computed, only the squared deformation can enter, so that the relative magnitude $`\alpha ^2\rho _f^21`$ of the corresponding corrections is negligibly small and falls outside the limits of accuracy of the theory. In other words, only the possibility of considering the quasiparticles individually is important for what follows, it still being possible in actually occurring deformations to treat the geometry of the motion of each of the quasiparticles as spherically symmetric.

## 2 The radiative width of a highly excited nuclei

We shall derive the expressions, referred to one quasiparticle, on the basis of the correspondence principle. As applied to radiation processes, this principle asserts total analogy between the formulas of the classical and quantum theories (see, for example ). The classical intensity $`I`$ (i.e., the energy emitted per unit time) needs only to be divided by $`\epsilon =\mathrm{}\omega `$ to be converted into the quantity of real interest—the probability of emission of individual $`\gamma `$ quantum. The only remaining difference consists in the following: the spectral component of the multipole moment, which varies according to a classical law, should, generally speaking, be replaced by the corresponding matrix element of its operator. They, however, coincide in the quasiclassical limit (see (1)) . Consequently, we can speak of a quasiparticle trajectory: it is in this case a straight line joining two points on the surface of the nucleus.

The basic formula of the classical theory of the electric dipole radiation has the form

$$I=\frac{2e_d^2}{3c^3}\ddot{𝐫}^2,$$
(2)
where $`e_d`$ is the charge of the radiating particle (the radiating quasiparticle, in the general case; see below) and $`\ddot{𝐫}`$ is its acceleration vector. Before proceeding to the spectral decomposition of $`I`$, let us note that in the thermal-equilibrium state the quasiparticle motion inside the nucleus does not change its qualitative character in time. Therefore, let us formally carry out the Fourier expansion over an arbitrary, but sufficiently long interval of time $`t`$ and then take the limit as $`t\mathrm{}`$ (see ):

$$\overline{\ddot{𝐫}^2}=\frac{1}{\pi t}_0^{\mathrm{}}\left|_0^t𝐫(t)e^{i\omega t}𝑑t\right|^2\omega ^4𝑑\omega .$$
(3)
In view of the independence of the different chords traced by the quasiparticles in their wall-to-wall motion, we have

$$\left|_0^t𝐫e^{i\omega t}𝑑t\right|^2=\overline{\left|_0^{t_1}𝐫e^{i\omega t}𝑑t\right|^2}n\overline{\left|_0^{t_1}𝐫𝑑t\right|^2}n,$$
(4)
where $`t_1=l/v_f`$ is the time it takes to travel from one end of a chord to the other, $`l=2\sqrt{R^2\rho ^2}`$ is the length of the chord, and $`n`$ is the number of chords. Here we have taken into account the fact that in the region of the radiation energy spectrum of interest to us

$$\omega t_11$$
(5)
(we shall return to the criterion (5) later). Furthermore, here and below the quasiparticle velocity $`v`$ is replaced everywhere by its limiting value $`v_f`$. The point is that because of the Pauli principle only those “elementary emitters” (i.e., quasiparticles) that are situated in the immediate neighborhood of the Fermi level play a role (see below).

The distribution of the chords over the impact parameters $`\rho `$ is easily found from considerations of isotropy and homogeneity of nuclear matter:

$$w(\rho )d\rho =\frac{3}{R^3}\sqrt{R^2\rho ^2}\rho d\rho ;_0^Rw(\rho )𝑑\rho =1.$$
(6)
Averaging, in accordance with (4) and (6), the square of the integral over the radius vector, we also express the number $`n`$ of quasiparticle—nuclear wall collision events in terms of the physical time $`t`$:

$$\overline{\left|_0^{t_1}𝐫𝑑t\right|^2}=\frac{4}{v_f^2}\overline{\rho ^2(R^2\rho ^2)}=\frac{24}{35}\frac{R^4}{v_f^2},n=t\frac{v_f}{\overline{l}}=\frac{2}{3}\frac{v_f}{R}t.$$
(7)
Taking into consideration the relations (2)-(7) and the relevant considerations, we obtain

$$f(\epsilon )d\epsilon =\frac{32}{105\pi }\frac{e_d^2}{\mathrm{}^5c^3}\frac{R^3}{v_f}\epsilon ^3d\epsilon .$$
(8)
This expression gives the probability per unit time of emission by one quasiparticle of a $`\gamma `$ quantum in the interval $`d\epsilon `$ of its energy values.

According to the theory of the Fermi fluid \[2-3\], the mean occupation numbers of the individual quantum states are given by the standard Fermi distribution

$$\overline{n}(\epsilon ^{})=\frac{1}{e^{\epsilon ^{}/T}+1},$$
(9)
where $`\epsilon ^{}`$ is the quasiparticle energy measured relative to the chemical potential and $`T`$ is the temperature. On the other hand, the number of actual single-quasiparticle states in the volume $`V=(4/3)\pi R^3`$ is equal to

$$d\stackrel{~}{N}=\frac{V}{\pi ^2\mathrm{}^3}\frac{p^2}{d\epsilon ^{}/dp}d\epsilon ^{}\frac{4R^3}{3\pi \mathrm{}^3}\frac{p_f^2}{v_f}d\epsilon ^{}$$
(10)
($`p_f=\mathrm{}k_f`$ is the limiting momentum in standard units), where allowance has been made for the additional spin doubling. In fact, even in the quasiclassical limiting case, (1) remains an important quantum effect due to the identity, the indistinguishability of identical fermions : the above-described classical picture of the process is actually realizable only in the case of radiative transitions that are compatible with the Pauli principle. Therefore, the product of the expressions (8), (9), and (10) should be supplemented by the factor

$$1\overline{n}(\epsilon ^{}\epsilon ),$$

which determines the fraction of the transitions admissible by this principle. Then integration over the energies $`\epsilon ^{}`$ of the radiating quasiparticles reduces to

$$_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}\overline{n}(\epsilon ^{})[1\overline{n}(\epsilon ^{}\epsilon )]𝑑\epsilon ^{}=\frac{\epsilon }{e^{\epsilon /T}1}.$$
(11)
Integration over the boson energies yields

$$_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{\epsilon ^4d\epsilon }{e^{\epsilon /T}1}=24\zeta (5)T^5,\zeta (z)=\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{n^z},$$
(12)
where $`\zeta `$ is the Riemann zeta function. Finally, the $`\gamma `$-quantum emission probability per unit time, appropriately summed over the entire set of quasiparticles of the same sort will be given by

$$W=\frac{1024}{105\pi ^2}\zeta (5)\frac{e_d^2m^2}{\mathrm{}^8c^3}R^6T^5,$$
(13)
where $`m^{}=p_f/v_f`$ is the effective mass of the quasiparticle.

Above, as the coordinate origin convenient for the calculations, we used the geometrical center of the nucleus. However, the role of the total charge $`Ze`$ of the whole system in processes induced by the oscillations of the radius vector of the individual nucleons (quasiparticles) is well known. Because of recoil, even the electrically neutral quasiparticles (i.e., the neutron quasiparticles) will appear to emit radiation during their motion relative to the center of the nucleus. The corresponding, well-known, “charge-renormalization” formulae have the form

$$e_d^Z=\left(1\frac{Z}{A}\right)e,e_d^N=\frac{Z}{A}e$$
(14)
(the “effective charges,” (14), of the two components are correct only for processes induced by the oscillations of the electric dipole moment of the nuclear system (see, for example, )). Summing, with allowance for (14), the expressions (13) or the proton and neutron components of the nuclear matter, and multiplying them by $`\mathrm{}`$ in order to convert them into the energy widths of interest, we finally obtain

$$\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma =\frac{1024}{105\pi ^2}\zeta (5)\frac{e^2m^2}{\mathrm{}^7c^3}\left[12\frac{Z}{A}\left(1\frac{Z}{A}\right)\right]R^6T^5$$
(15)
(notice that the numerical factor $`(1024/105\pi ^2)\zeta (5)1`$ is very close to unity). The law $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma T^5`$ was given in the preceding paper (see , formula (4)), where it was motivated by semi-phenomenological considerations.

To what extent can the result (15) be identified with the radiative widths of the individual resonance levels of a compound nucleus that is excited, say, in a reaction involving slow-neutron capture? It follows from its derivation that the formula (15) corresponds to a state in which at the temperature $`T`$ the quasiparticles of the nuclear Fermi liquid are in thermal equilibrium with each other. On the other hand, the width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ of a specific level can, reasoning abstractly, be conceived to have been computed from some very complicated, unknown (to us) wave function of the corresponding state of the nucleus as a whole. According to the fundamental principles of statistics, the two approaches lead to results that coincide to within the values of the fluctuations (see, for example, ).

Let us now rewrite the condition (5) of applicability of the theory in a more concrete form. Owing to the thermal nature of the radiation, the inequality (5) is equivalent to the following inequality:

$$T\epsilon _0,$$
(16)
where

$$\epsilon _0=\mathrm{}v_f/2R5\mathrm{M}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$$
(17)
is the characteristic energy corresponding to the reciprocal of the time it takes a quasiparticle to cross the nucleus along a diameter.

It is worth noting that in the opposite limiting case

$$T\epsilon _0,$$
(18)
because of the oscillations of the exponent $`e^{i\omega t}`$ along the chord traced by the quasiparticle (see (3) and (4)), the energy distribution of the $`\gamma `$-quantum emission probability acquires the form of the well-known Planck black-body radiation spectrum . The radiation width would, accordingly, become proportional to the cube of the temperature in the case of a sufficiently strict fulfilment of the condition (18). However, this “black-body radiation limit” defined by (18) is, in practice, hardly attainable in nuclear physics. At least the temperature of the compound nucleus should not exceed the nucleon binding energy, which is $`8`$ MeV—otherwise the neutrons would fly out of the nucleus “instantly,” escaping the thermal-equilibrium establishment phase 222Notice that the radiation due to collisions between the quasiparticles would then become dominant only at $`T\sqrt{\rho _f\epsilon _0}`$..

## 3 The mean-square fluctuation in the radiation width. The role of the relaxation time

The direct, quantum-mechanical computation of the characteristics of the individual states of the nucleus is inexpedient and practically impossible. Furthermore, as applied to macroscopic bodies (see the criterion (1)), this, as a rule, borders on the theoretical impossibility . Therefore, we are obliged here to treat the state of the occupation of the individual quantum states of the quasiparticles of the Fermi liquid as a randomly varying function of the time. We shall calculate the instantaneous “emissive power” $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma `$ of the nucleus in a manner completely similar to the computations of the preceding section. The “one-component” variant of the corresponding formula can be represented in the form

$$\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma =\frac{32}{105\pi }\frac{e_d^2}{\mathrm{}^4c^3}\frac{R^3}{v_f}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\epsilon _1\epsilon _1^3\underset{\epsilon ^{}}{}n(\epsilon ^{})[1n(\epsilon ^{}\epsilon _1)].$$
(19)
Here we have, for simplicity and convenience , written the discrete sum $`_\epsilon ^{}`$ over the fermion states. In case of need the transition to integration can easily be accomplished with the aid of (10).

The “instantaneous”, physically realizable values

$$n_\epsilon ^{}=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}$$
(20)
of the fermion occupation numbers differ from the mean occupation numbers (9). This circumstance is the obvious cause of fluctuations in Fermi systems. It is convenient to consider them with the aid of the simple relation (see )

$$\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }n^{}\mathrm{\Delta }n^{\prime \prime }}=\overline{n}^{}(1\overline{n}^{})\delta _{\epsilon ^{},\epsilon ^{\prime \prime }}.$$
(21)
Let us find the mean-square fluctuation of the expression (19)—the number of summations and integrations doubles upon squaring. One summation over the quasiparticle states is trivial owing to the presence of the $`\delta `$ symbol on the right-hand side of (21); the subsequent integration is elementary, although somewhat tedious. Adding, in accordance with (14), the squares of the fluctuations in the proton and neutron components and introducing the dimensionless variables $`x_{1,2}=\epsilon _{1,2}/T`$ in place of the $`\gamma `$-quantum energies, we obtain

$$\begin{array}{c}\hfill \overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma )^2}=\frac{8192J}{33075\pi ^3}\frac{e^4m^3}{\mathrm{}^{12}c^6}\left[\frac{(1Z/A)^4}{\rho _f^Z}+\frac{(Z/A)^4}{\rho _f^N}\right]R^{10}T^9,\\ \hfill J=_0^{\mathrm{}}\left[\frac{x_1e^{x_1}\mathrm{coth}(x_1/2)}{(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})}+\frac{x_2e^{x_2}\mathrm{coth}(x_2/2)}{(e^{x_2}e^{x_1})(e^{x_2}e^{x_1})}\right]x_1^3x_2^3𝑑x_1𝑑x_2.\end{array}$$
(22)
The details of the integration over the boson energies are given in the Appendix. The final result has the form

$$J=\frac{848}{1575}\pi ^8+576\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{n^4}\underset{k=n+1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{kn}{k^5}.$$
(23)
Notice that the term with the double sum is about half percent of the value of the integral, so that in practice we can restrict ourselves to the consideration of only the first term on the right-hand side of (23).

The problems pertaining to the fluctuations are relatively subtle and require a more careful physical treatment. In particular, there is no reason to equate $`\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma )^2}`$ to the mean square $`\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}`$ of the actually observable, physical fluctuation in the radiative widths of many close resonance levels. This becomes especially apparent when we consider the most important and interesting case in which thermal equilibrium in the nucleus is established long before the “decay” of the nucleus:

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau /\mathrm{}1.$$
(24)
Here $`\tau `$ is the relaxation time (see below) and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the total width of the initial state of the nucleus. Taking into account the fact that this quasistationary state decays according to the law $`\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{\Gamma }t/\mathrm{})`$, we express the number $`\nu `$ of emitted quanta and its fluctuation in terms of the instantaneous emissive power $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma `$:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \nu & =\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}_0^{\mathrm{}}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)e^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t/\mathrm{}}𝑑t,\hfill \\ \hfill (\mathrm{\Delta }\nu )^2& =\frac{1}{\mathrm{}^2}_0^{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t^{})\mathrm{exp}\left[\mathrm{\Gamma }(t+t^{})/\mathrm{}\right]𝑑t𝑑t^{},\hfill \\ \hfill \mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)& =\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma .\hfill \end{array}$$
(25)
Further, it is convenient to introduce the notation $`t^{}=t+\tau `$. According to the thermodynamic theory of non-equilibrium processes (and of the corresponding fluctuations in the thermal-equilibrium state; see, for example, ), the mean value of the time correlation of the fluctuations is given by the relation

$$\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t+\tau )}=\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma )^2}\mathrm{exp}(|\tau |/\overline{\tau }),$$
(26)
where $`\overline{\tau }`$ is the relaxation time. With allowance for (24), the substitution of (26) into (25) yields

$$\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\nu )^2}\frac{\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma )^2}}{\mathrm{}^2}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑t\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2\mathrm{\Gamma }}{\mathrm{}}t\right)_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{|\tau |}{\overline{\tau }}\right)𝑑\tau =\frac{\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma )^2}}{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Gamma }}\overline{\tau }.$$
(27)
Let us now consider the ensemble of the large number of close levels of a compound nucleus with radiative width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$: owing to the fact that the levels decay according to the single law $`\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{\Gamma }t/\mathrm{})`$, the equilibrium in the ensemble (the equipopulation of the levels) is not destroyed in time. The number of $`\gamma `$ quanta

$$\nu =\frac{1}{\mathrm{}}_0^{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma e^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t/\mathrm{}}𝑑t=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma }{\mathrm{\Gamma }}$$

has been pre-averaged over a group consisting of many levels with practically the same $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$. In the final averaging of the square of the fluctuations $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\nu )^2`$ over the entire ensemble of the groups differing in their radiative widths $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$, each group is taken into account with a weight proportional to the number of levels in it:

$$\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\nu )^2}=\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}/\mathrm{\Gamma }^2.$$
(28)
Equating the right-hand sides of the formulas (27) and (28), we finally obtain

$$\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}=(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau /\mathrm{})\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}.$$
(29)
(we shall no longer write the averaging sign over the relaxation time $`\tau `$). A striking feature of the relation (29) consists in the following: It turns out that the fluctuations in the probability of decay of the compound nucleus via the radiative channel depend on the total decay probability $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, including all the generally possible decay channels. The physical meaning of the formula (29) is simple: In the time picture the deviation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma (t)`$, the emissive power, from its mean value has time to average out to some extent provided the decaying exponential function varies sufficiently slowly (see the criterion (24)). The small factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau /\mathrm{}`$ on the right-hand side of (29) is precisely the quantity that determines the fraction of the physical, actually observable effect that remains after such a partial averaging.

## 4 Comparison with experiment

With the aid of the formula (15) we determined the temperatures of compound nuclei from the observed radiative widths of their resonance levels . The results of such an analysis for two well-known regions of nonspherical nuclei are given in the tables. We assumed in the computations that

$$R=1.210^{13}A^{1/3}\mathrm{cm}$$
(30)
and $`m^{}=m_n`$, where $`m_n`$ is the mass of the free nucleon. It is noteworthy that the temperature in the case of the actinide nuclei turns out consistently to be $`100`$ keV lower than the characteristic temperature for the lanthanide region. This may be due to both the decrease of the neutron attachment energy toward the end of the Mendeleev periodic table and the difference in the atomic weight $`A`$. A similar temperature decrease apparently occurs within the nonspherical-lanthanide region.

Spherical nuclei possess a number of unique features that must be taken into consideration (see the Introduction). However, the question of the applicability to them of the formula (15) is at present difficult to answer categorically. Indeed, nuclei of this sort apparently undergo a phase transition to the “normal”, nonspherical state at temperatures

$$T\mathrm{\Delta }\epsilon ^{},$$

where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\epsilon ^{}`$ is some characteristic width of the diffuse zone of the Fermi distribution, a zone which owes its existence to the residual interaction. Meanwhile, the spectrum of the emitted quanta (it is given by the integrand on the left-hand side of (12)) is such that the energy averaged over it is equal to

$$\overline{\epsilon }5T$$

(see also , formulae (5) and (6)). Thus, many of the radiative transitions can, roughly speaking, elude that region of the statistical distribution of the quasiparticles where the distribution differs significantly from (9). Therefore, the attempts to apply the formula (15) also to spherical nuclei, though not rigorous, is nevertheless of some interest. It is natural to suppose that spherical nuclei have higher temperatures (and, consequently, relatively low entropies; see also ). Comparison with the data on the radiative widths apparently corroborates this trend. For example, for the compound nucleus 79Au$`{}_{}{}^{198}{}_{119}{}^{}`$ we obtain $`T=0.45`$ MeV, in the case of 80Hg$`{}_{}{}^{202}{}_{122}{}^{}`$ we have $`T=0.56`$ MeV, and, finally, $`T=0.62`$ MeV for 81Tl$`{}_{}{}^{204}{}_{123}{}^{}`$.

The experimental study of radiative-width fluctuations became possible only recently as a result of an increase in the accuracy of their measurement, and comparison of the theoretical formulas with experiment meets for the present with certain practical difficulties. Let us discuss three specific nuclei, for which a selection of resonance levels with accurately measured radiative widths nevertheless allowed the estimation of the relaxation time $`\tau `$ from the formula (29) (see also (22) and (23)). Data on two gadolinium isotopes are given in ; we took into consideration only the levels for which the error in the radiative width is less than $`10^2`$ eV. In the case of 64Gd$`{}_{}{}^{156}{}_{92}{}^{}`$ (10 levels) $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma =0.11`$ eV, $`[\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}]^{1/2}=0.016`$ eV, and $`\mathrm{}/\tau =26`$ eV. For 64Gd$`{}_{}{}^{158}{}_{94}{}^{}`$ (11 levels) we have $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma =0.089`$ eV, $`[\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}]^{1/2}=0.0087`$ eV, and $`\mathrm{}/\tau =52`$ eV. Let us also give the results of a similar analysis of the data on holmium : 87Ho$`{}_{}{}^{166}{}_{99}{}^{}`$ (21 levels) $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_\gamma =0.091`$ eV, $`[\overline{(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma )^2}]^{1/2}=0.0099`$ eV, and $`\mathrm{}/\tau =39`$ eV. Thus, as far as we can judge, $`\mathrm{}/\tau 50`$ eV and $`\tau 10^{17}`$ sec, which is a remarkably long time on the nuclear scale. We must, however, not forget that the longest of the relaxation times $`\tau `$ of the system enters into the thermodynamic theory (see formula (26)). The “partial equilibrium” at each moment of time was understood to have been established over the significantly shorter relaxation times 333From the data of the recent paper  we find that $`\mathrm{}/\tau 20`$ eV for the compound nuclei Th233 and U239..

## 5 Discussion. Is there enough time for the establishment of thermal equilibrium in a nucleus?

The question of relaxation in nuclear matter is of considerable interest. Thus far, as far as we know, it has not been possible to estimate the characteristic time of this process on the basis of any direct analysis of the experimental data. Therefore, the observed fluctuations in the radiative widths can be a valuable source of such information, and even the preliminary, tentative figures ($`\tau 10^{17}`$ sec; see the preceding section) need to be discussed. For the above-mentioned particular cases of resonance excitation by neutrons of energy $`<1`$ keV, the condition (24) was satisfied with three orders of magnitude to spare—in other words, total thermal equilibrium was attained in the nucleus. The situation can, however, change when we go over to higher kinetic energies of the bombarding particles (see below).

It would, apparently, be somewhat naive to regard the time $`t_1=\mathrm{}/\epsilon _010^{22}`$ sec of transit of a quasiparticle through the nucleus as an estimate for the relaxation time. Indeed, for example, the system is not in the least drawn nearer to the state of thermal equilibrium by a coherent, reversible, purely elastic act of collision between a quasiparticle and the surface of the nucleus 444Besides, a characteristic time $`t_1`$ is quite capable of playing an important role at the earliest stage of the development of the nuclear reaction. Here, however, we are discussing only the late, final phase of the thermal-equilibrium establishment process—see the end of the preceding section. In particular, it is extremely doubtful that there will, at such times, remain reasonable physical criteria for distinguishing the initial bombarding particle (or the corresponding quasiparticle).. On the other hand, inter-quasiparticle collisions appear to be quite an effective relaxation mechanism; it may well turn out to be the dominant mechanism.

For obvious reasons, the thermal-radiation data used in the present paper actually pertained to an extremely narrow part of the energy spectrum of the system. Let us now qualitatively consider how the real conditions under which the relaxation process proceeds in the nucleus should change upon further increase in the excitation energy of the nucleus. The neutron width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_n`$ increases first in proportion to the square root of the distance from the neutron-detachment threshold; then there we come into the stage of much more rapid exponential growth. It is well known that owing to this phenomenon the resonance levels merge, forming a continuous spectrum. But then whether the lifetime $`\mathrm{}/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of the compound nucleus will be long enough for the establishment of total thermal equilibrium in the nucleus may become doubtful, beginning from 555It is possible that the so-called Erickson fluctuations in the nucleon-nucleus interaction cross sections  are also due to this circumstance.

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }_n100\mathrm{eV}.$$

In this connection, it is desirable to try critically reinterpret the method, based on the neutron “evaporation” process, for determining nuclear temperatures. It is difficult for the present to judge how the fact that the state of the neutron-emitting nucleus is not a totally equilibrium state will influence such an analysis. Not much doubt has thus far been expressed about the evaporation temperatures probably because their order of magnitude is quite plausible (and, in so far as we can judge, indeed correct). However, as the experimental investigation of the reactions $`(n,n^{})`$ goes on, attention will have to be paid not only to the absolute figures, but also to the behavior of the relevant quantities. Of special interest, in particular, is the case when the temperature of the compound nucleus as a function of its excitation energy is an almost horizontal, non-monotonic in detail, and often simply a decreasing function. Unfortunately, the authors of the corresponding publications give this remarkable circumstance comparatively little consideration (see, for example ). We could have attempted to interpret the decrease of the temperature with increasing excitation energy as some giant random fluctuation, but it would have been difficult to conceive it as a phenomenon that would occur with any degree of consistency. On the average, however, negative specific heat is impossible for the nucleus. A state with negative specific heat is totally unstable, and cannot be realized in nature .

We express our thanks to A.I. Baz’, V.K. Voitovetskii, I.I. Gurevich, A.G. Zelenkov, L.P. Kudrin, V.M. Kulakov, A.A. Ogloblin, I.M. Pavlichenkov, N.M. Polievktov-Nikoladze, and K.A. Ter-Martirosyan for a discussion of the results of the paper.

## Appendix

Let us expound in some detail the integration over the boson energies in the formula (22). The terms of the integral $`J`$ are identical in form, but individually each of them contains a pole at $`x_1=x_2`$. Therefore, it is sufficient to evaluate any of these integrals in the principal value sense:

$$J=2_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑x_1x_1^4e^{x_1}\mathrm{coth}\frac{x_1}{2}\mathrm{P}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{x_2^3dx_2}{(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})}.$$
(A.1)
Let us transform the inner integral with the aid of the substitution $`y=e^{x_2}`$, representing it as a derivative with respect to some parameter:

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{P}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{x_2^3dx_2}{(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})(e^{x_1}e^{x_2})}& =e^x\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{(\mathrm{ln}y)^3dy}{(ye^x)(ye^x)}\hfill \\ & =e^x\frac{^3}{\nu ^3}\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{y^\nu dy}{(ye^x)(ye^x)},\nu 0\hfill \end{array}$$
(A.2)
($`x=x_1`$). In the decomposition

$$\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{y^\nu dy}{(ye^x)(ye^x)}=\frac{1}{2\mathrm{sinh}x}\left\{J_\nu ^+(x)J_\nu ^{}(x)\right\},$$
(A.3)
in which the integrand is expressed in partial fractions, the integrals

$$J_\nu ^+(x)=\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{y^\nu dy}{ye^x},J_\nu ^{}(x)=\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{y^\nu dy}{ye^x}$$
(A.4)
can conveniently be expressed as series. For this purpose, let us represent the fractions by the corresponding geometric progressions, and let us also take into consideration the formula

$$\underset{n=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{n+\nu }=\pi \mathrm{cot}\pi \nu .$$

We then have

$$J_\nu ^+(x)=\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{e^{nx}}{n+\nu },J_\nu ^{}(x)=e^{\nu x}\pi \mathrm{cot}\pi \nu +\frac{1}{\nu }\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{e^{nx}}{n\nu }.$$
(A.5)
Taking the limit in accordance with (A.2), we obtain

$$J=192_0^{\mathrm{}}\left\{\frac{\xi ^8}{3}\frac{\pi ^2}{3}\xi ^6\frac{\pi ^4}{90}\xi ^4\right\}\frac{d\xi }{\mathrm{sinh}^2\xi }+6\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{n^4}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{\xi ^4e^{n\xi }}{\mathrm{sinh}^2(\xi /2)}𝑑\xi .$$
(A.6)
It is easy to see that the integral standing under the summation sign

$$_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{\xi ^4e^{n\xi }}{\mathrm{sinh}^2(\xi /2)}𝑑\xi =4_0^1\frac{(\mathrm{ln}y)^4y^n}{(y1)^2}𝑑y=4\frac{^4}{\nu ^4}\mathrm{P}_0^1\frac{y^{n+\nu }dy}{(ye^x)(ye^x)},\nu 0$$
(A.7)
is essentially of the same type as (A.2), except that it is differentiated once more with respect to $`\nu `$ and that the additional passage to the limit $`x0`$ will also be necessary. The subsequent simple computations, besides the passages to the limit, also include convenient re-designations of the indices of the double summation. As a result, we obtain the formula (27).


format: text

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# The Intimate Link Between Accretion and BELR

## 1. Introduction

In the framework of orientation-based unificaton schemes (Antonucci, 1993), type-2 AGN are believed to be intrinsically the same as type-1 AGN, but seen at different angles (i.e. edge-on versus pole-on). This scenario was first proposed by Antonucci & Miller (1985) to explain the presence of polarized broad lines in the archetypical Seyfert 2 (Sy2), NGC 1068, and is now supported other than by spectropolarimetric observations of Hidden Broad Emission Line Regions (HBLRs) in several other sources, also by X–ray observations, which demonstrate that Sy2s have usually absorption columns largely exceeding the Galactic ones.

Despite observations do generally support orientation-based unification models for AGNs, important exceptions do exist. Purely orientation based unification schemes, for example, fail to account for all of the observed differences between two sub-classes of type 1 AGN: normal Seyfert 1s (Sy1s), and the so called Narrow Line Seyfert 1s (NLSy1s). NLSy1s have \[OIII\]/H$`\beta `$ ratio typical of type-1 sources, but also BEL FWHM narrower than 2000 km s-1. They also differ significantly from Sy1s in the X-rays, where they show much steeper soft (0.1-2 keV: Boller et al., 1996) and hard (2-10 keV: Brandt et al. 1997; Leighly, 1999a) continua, as well as faster variability (Leighly, 1999b). It has been suggested that the black hole mass, or the accretion rate, or both (e.g. Pounds et al. 1995; Laor et al. 1997; Nicastro, 2000: hereinafter N00) are responsible for the observed differences between Sy1s and NLSy1s.

More importantly, orientation-based models fail in their fundamental prediction: only about 50 % of the brightest Seyfert 2s show the presence of HBLRs in their polarized optical spectra, while the remaining half do not (Tran, 2001; Gu & Huang, 2002).

Here I present evidence that suggests that the absence or presence of HBLRs is regulated by the ratio between the X-ray luminosity and the Eddington luminosity which, in the accretion–powered scenario, is a measure of the rate at which matter accretes onto the central supermassive black hole. This evidence is consistent with the model proposed by N00, in which the BLRs are formed due to accretion disk instabilities occurring in proximity of the critical radius at which the disk changes from gas pressure dominated to radiation pressure dominated. This radius diminishes with decreasing $`\dot{m}`$; for low enough accretion rates (and therefore luminosities), the critical radius becomes smaller than the innermost stable orbit, the disk is not longer unstable, and so BLRs do not form. Under the Keplerian assumption, this model is able to reproduce the whole range of observed BEL FWHM in AGN, as a function of the accretion rate in units of Eddington, and so also to explain the observed difference in BEL-FWHM between Sy1s and NLSy1s.

### 1.1. The Model

The model is based on two basic assumptions: (a) a vertical disk wind, originating at a critical distance in the accretion disk, is the origin of the BEL-Clouds (BELCs), and (b) the widths of the BELs are the Keplerian velocities of the accretion disk at the radius where the wind arises. The wind forms because of the existence of Lightman-Eardley (Lightman & Eardley, 1974) instabilities in the radiation pressure dominated region of a Shakura-Sunyaev (SS) disk (Shakura & Sunyaev, 1973), and so for external accretion rates higher than a minimum value below which a standard SS-disk is stable and extends down to the last stable orbit. The region of the disk where the wind forms is bound internally by the transition radius between the radiation pressure and gas pressure dominated parts of the disk,

$$r_{tran}f^{16/21}15.2(\alpha m)^{2/21}\left(\frac{1}{\eta }\dot{m}\right)^{16/21},$$
(1)
and externally by the radius at which, in the context of the dynamical disk-corona model proposed by Witt, Czerny and Zycki in 1997 (WCZ97), the fraction of energy dissipated in the corona ($`(1\beta )0.034(\alpha f\frac{1}{\eta }\dot{m})^{1/4}r^{3/8}`$) is maximum (see N00 for additional details) 111In the WCZ97 model a transonic vertical outflow from the disk develops where the fraction of total energy dissipated in the corona is close to unity :

$$r_{max}f^{2/3}8,000\left(\alpha \frac{1}{\eta }\dot{m}\right)^{2/3}.$$
(2)
In the above equations all quantities are dimensionless: $`m=M/M_{}`$, $`\dot{m}=\dot{M}/\dot{M}_{EDD}`$, $`r=R/R_0`$, with $`\dot{M}_{EDD}=1.5\times 10^{17}\eta ^1m\text{ }`$ g s-1, and $`R_0=6GM/c^2`$, for a non-rotating black hole; here $`\eta `$ is the maximum efficiency. Finally, $`f`$ gives the boundary conditions at the marginally stable orbit: $`f=f(r)=(1r^{0.5})`$.

The critical radii $`r_{tran}`$ and $`r_{max}`$ (equations 1 and 2) depend both on the accretion rate and, interestingly, with similar powers. This results in a quasi-rigid radial shifting of the region delimited by these two distances as the accretion rate (in critical units) varies. Finally, for the transonic disk outflow (and so for the BELRs), the model adopts an intermediated radius $`r_{wind}`$ computed weighting the radial distance between $`r_{tran}`$ and $`r_{max}`$ by $`(1\beta )`$.

Equation 1 allows us to define the minimum external accretion rate needed for a thermally unstable radiation pressure dominated region to exist. From the condition $`r>1.36`$ (the limit of validity of the SS-disk solution) we have: $`\dot{m}\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}\dot{m}_{min}(m)0.3\eta (\alpha m)^{1/8}`$. Throughout this paper I assume $`\eta =0.06`$, and a viscosity coefficient of $`\alpha =0.1`$, which give a minimum external accretion rate of $`\dot{m}_{min}(14)\times 10^3`$, for $`m`$ in the range $`10^610^9`$ (see Fig. 1 of N00). At lower accretion rates a SS-disk (SS73) is stable down to the last stable orbit: we propose that all the available energy is dissipated in the disk and no radiation pressure supported and driven wind is generated. AGN accreting at these low external rates should show no BELs in their optical spectra.

## 2. Testing the Model at Low Accretion Rates

One of the consequences of the N00 model predictions is that a fraction of optically classified Sy2s should exist, which show no BELs in polarized light: all those source accreting at rates lower than the minimum allowed rate for the formation of BELRs. To test this prediction, we extracted a sub-sample of Sy2s from the Tran (2001; ’primary’ sample) and Gu & Huang (2002; ’secondary’ sample) spectropolarimetric samples, which were observed in the X-rays at least once with imaging X-ray satellites (Nicastro, Martocchia & Matt, 2003: NMM03). The goal was to derive reliable X-ray (i.e. ’nuclear’) luminosities and central black hole masses for the sources of our sample, to get an estimate of the external accretion rate in units of Eddington. Details on the sample selection criteria and the techniques used to derive the black hole masses can be found in NMM03. Our final sample containes 15 Sy2s, 9 HBLRs and 6 non-HBLRs.

Results are summarized in Figure 1 that shows fractional luminosities in units of Eddington, versus black hole masses for all the 15 sources of our sample. We first note that a very broad range of accretion rates is spanned by the sources of our sample (more than three orders of magnitude), which are otherwise powered by central black holes with rather homogeneous masses (only a factor of about 15 across the entire sample). Most importantly, Figure 1 clearly shows that HBLR sources are accreting at much faster rates compared to non-HBLR sources.

The threshold value of $`\dot{m}_{thres}10^3`$ divides up HBLR from non-HBLR sources in the $`M_{BH}`$ vs $`\dot{m}`$ plane (dashed vertical line in Fig. 1). The only exceptions are NGC 3081 and NGC 3281, both sources from our “secondary” sample (but see N00 for details and comments on the reliability of the X-ray and spectropolarimetric optical data of these two sources).

## 3. Conclusion

In this contribution I presented a model that links the physical mechanism responsible for the AGN activity (i.e. the accretion) with the existence and width of the BELs. This model seems to naturally (a) reproduce the Sy1-versus-NLSs1 observed differences, and (b) account for those 50 % of Sy2s for which no HBLRs has been observed. Additional testing of this model is needed, and requires larger samples both in the optical (e.g. SDSS photometry and spectra), and in the X-rays (e.g. Chandra and Newton-XMM spectra).

## References

Antonucci, R. 1993, ARA&A, 31, 473

Antonucci, R. & Miller, J.S. 1985, ApJ, 297, 621

Boller, T., Brandt, W.N. & Fink, H., 1996, A&A, 305, 53

Brandt, W.N., Mathur, S. & Elvis, M., 1997, MNRAS, 285, L25

Gu, Q. & Huang, J. 2002, ApJ, 579, 205

Laor, A., et al. 1997, ApJ, 477, 93

Leighly, K.M., 1999a, ApJS, 125, 317

Leighly, K.M., 1999b, ApJS, 125, 297

Lightmnan A.P. & Eardley D.M., 1974, ApJ, 187, L1

Nicastro, F. 2000, ApJ, 530, L65: N00

Nicastro, F., Martocchia, A. & Matt, G., 2003, ApJ, 589, L13: NMM03

Pounds, K.A., Done, C. & Osborne, J.P., 1995, MNRAS, 277, L5

Shakura N.I. & Sunyaev R.A., 1973, A&A, 24, 337

Tran, H.D. 2001, ApJ, 554, L19

Witt H.J., Czerny B. and Zycki P.T., 1997, MNRAS, 286, 848: WCZ97


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# 1 Rare events

## 1 Rare events

In many complex systems of physical importance transitions take place between stable states separated by a high (free) energy barrier. Examples are isomerizations in clusters, chemical reactions, protein folding and crystal nucleation. Molecular simulations techniques such as molecular dynamics (MD) in principle enable the computation of the reaction rate constants, the search for transition states and the exploration of reaction mechanisms. But since the rate constant of the transition depends exponentially on the activation barrier height, the expectation time of a transition can easily become orders of magnitude longer than the molecular timescale which is usually measured in femtoseconds. Hence, when using straightforward MD the study of these rare events is far beyond current computer capabilities.

In the past decade, a number of methods has been proposed that aim to tackle this timescale problem from different points of view. One class of methods focusses on escaping the initial state without making assumptions on the final state. This can be achieved by, for instance, artificially increasing the frequency of the rare event in a controlled way. The methods of Voter and collaborators follow this approach: hyperdynamics  aims at lowering the energy difference between the top of the barrier and the initial basin, the parallel replica method  exploits the power of parallel processing to extend the molecular simulation time, and temperature-accelerated dynamics  speeds up the event by raising the temperature. The idea of driving energy into the system to escape the basin of the energy minimum in which the system is initially prepared is also at the basis of conformational flooding , the Laio-Parrinello method , and the enhanced sampling of a given reaction coordinate . Another possible route is to coarse-grain the molecular dynamics on the fly and explore the resulting free-energy landscape . Several methods are devoted to the exploration of the full potential energy surface through all its minima and saddle points. Examples are eigenvector following , the activation-relaxation technique of Barkema and Mousseau, , the dimer method of Henkelmann and Jónsson , the kinetic Monte Carlo (MC) approach , and the discrete path sampling of Wales .

When the initial and final state are known it is possible to generate paths connecting the two in the form of a discretized chain of states. This is the basis of a second class, the so-called two point boundary methods. One option is to find a minimal energy path on the potential energy surface, as in the Nudged Elastic Band method of Jónsson and collaborators  and in the string method of E et al. , or to find a true dynamical path by minimizing a suitably chosen action . Another possibility is to use modified stochastic equations of motion that guide the system from the initial to the final state .

To summarize, one can say that each of the above methods is well suited in one specific subclass of systems, but they also have their specific drawbacks. Some are inefficient for high dimensional systems or only give structural information and neglect the dynamics. Others are designed to find only one transition or make heavily use on assumptions or prior knowledge of the system. In complex systems at finite temperature, concepts like the minimum energy (or action) path or the lowest saddle point are not very useful. The reaction is rather described by a ensemble of paths. Similarly, one cannot speak of a particular transition state but only of an ensemble of transition states.

An important quantity describing the kinetics of rare events is the rate constant. The traditional way to calculate rate constants in complex condensed matter system is by the reactive flux method based on Transition State Theory . This method consists of two stages. First, the free energy is computed as a function of selected degrees of freedom describing the reaction from the initial to the final state (the reaction coordinate), for instance by biased sampling techniques . This step is complemented with the calculation of a dynamical transmission coefficient, by starting short trajectories from the maximum of the free energy barrier. However, in complex systems the correct reaction coordinate can be exceedingly difficult to find. If the reaction coordinate does not capture the molecular mechanism, the biased sampling methods will suffer from substantial hysteresis when following the system over the barrier. Moreover, even if the free energy profile is obtained correctly for this particular (but wrong) reaction coordinate, the corresponding transmission coefficient will be very low, making an accurate evaluation problematic.

To overcome these problems, Chandler and collaborators developed the Transition Path Sampling (TPS) method. This technique gathers a collection of true dynamical trajectories connecting the states without any *a priori* assumption of the reaction coordinate. From the ensemble of pathways rate constants can be calculated and reaction mechanisms can be extracted . The method can be combined with parallel tempering  and stochastic dynamics can be used for the case of diffusive barriers . Successful applications of TPS are, among others, ion pair dissociation in water , alanine dipeptide in vacuum and in aqueous solution , neutral  and protonated  water clusters, autoionization in water , and the folding of a polypeptide . For a detailed review on TPS see Refs. . Similar techniques by Elber and Olender  and Doniach et al  sample discretized stochastic pathways based on the Onsager-Machlup action. Finally, we mention the topological method of Tănase-Nicola and Kurchan  in which they suggest to use TPS in combination with saddle point searching vector walkers.

In this paper we focus on transition path sampling, and in particular on the Transition Interface Sampling (TIS) method, a recent improvement over the TPS rate constant calculation . We briefly review the TIS method and give an example of its application. Further details on the derivations, algorithms and applications can be found in Ref. .

## 2 Transition Interface Sampling

Consider a dynamical system prepared in the initial state $`A`$. The state is stable in the sense that trajectories will stay in that state for a time long compared to the molecular time scale (e.g. vibrations). Eventually, the trajectories cross the barrier and reach the final state $`B`$. If the barrier is sufficiently high the system shows exponential relaxation and the rate constant $`k_{AB}`$ is well defined. In what follows we assume that we can compute the evolution of trajectories in phase space, without further specifying the details of the dynamics. For instance, we could use deterministic integration of Hamilton’s equations of motion or stochastic dynamics generated by a Langevin equation.

The starting point of TIS is the partitioning of phase space by interfaces. We define an order parameter $`\lambda (x)`$ as a function of the phase space point $`x`$ (consisting of positions and momenta of all particles in the system) and the interfaces $`i=0\mathrm{}n`$ as the hypersurfaces $`\{x|\lambda (x)=\lambda _i\}`$. We assume that the interfaces do not intersect, that $`\lambda _{i1}<\lambda _i`$, and we describe the boundaries of state $`A`$ and $`B`$ by $`\lambda _0`$ and $`\lambda _n`$ respectively. In the same spirit of TPS, the TIS method has the non-trivial advantage that the order parameter $`\lambda (x)`$ does not have to be a properly chosen reaction coordinate capturing the essence of the dynamical mechanism. Instead, it is sufficient that this function is able to characterize the basins of attraction of the stable states . The basis of the TIS method is the microscopic equation for the rate constant

$$k_{AB}=\varphi _{n,0}/h_𝒜.$$
(1)
Here $`\varphi _{i,0}`$ is the *effective positive* flux from interface 0 – i.e. from state $`A`$ – through interface $`i`$, where effective means that recrossings are not being counted. Equivalently, it is an average over all phase points that are first crossings through interface $`i`$ but belong to trajectories that originated in $`A`$. The denominator $`h_𝒜`$ is a normalization factor taking into account all the phase points for which the corresponding trajectories come directly from $`A`$ without having visited $`B`$ (naturally, this includes the entire region A, and most part of the basin of attraction of A). In a simulation the ratio in Eq. (1) is computed by starting a MD simulation in state $`A`$ and counting the number of effective crosses with interface $`n`$, i.e. the number of times it reaches state $`B`$, per time unit. Since the transitions are rare, Eq. (1) is of no practical use in this form, because the simulation would have to be long enough to see at least one spontaneous event. We can improve efficiency by relating the effective flux $`\varphi _{i,0}`$ through an interface $`i`$ to the effective flux $`\varphi _{i1,0}`$ through an interface $`i1`$ closer to $`A`$:

$$\varphi _{i,0}=\varphi _{i1,0}P_A(\lambda _i|\lambda _{i1}).$$
(2)
Here, $`P_A(\lambda _i|\lambda _j)`$ is the conditional probability that a trajectory coming from $`A`$ crosses interface $`i`$ provided that it has passed interface $`j`$. Iteratively substituting Eq. (2) in Eq. (1) we can write

$$k_{AB}=\frac{\varphi _{1,0}}{h_𝒜}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n1}{}}P_A(\lambda _{i+1}|\lambda _i)\frac{\varphi _{1,0}}{h_𝒜}P_A(\lambda _n|\lambda _1),$$
(3)
which is the key equation of TIS. Similar equations can be written for the backward rate constant $`k_{BA}`$.

We compute the first term in Eq. (3) by starting a simulation in $`A`$ and counting the number of crossings with interface 1 per unit time. A statistically accurate value can be obtained by choosing the interface close enough to the initial state. The second term $`P_A(\lambda _n|\lambda _1)`$ is computed using the factorization in Eq. (3). First, we generate an ensemble of paths that start in $`A`$, cross interface 1 and eventually return to $`A`$ or, alternatively, continue to cross the next interface 2. The probability $`P_A(\lambda _2|\lambda _1)`$ is the ratio of the number of paths that reach interface 2 to the total number of sampled paths. Subsequently, we generate an ensemble of paths starting in $`A`$ and crossing interface 2, from which the next term $`P_A(\lambda _3|\lambda _2)`$ can be obtained, and so on until we reach interface $`n`$ and thus state $`B`$. Each step consists of a sampling of paths starting in $`A`$ and crossing interface $`i=1\mathrm{}n1`$. This procedure is similar in spirit to the umbrella sampling technique in which different windows are employed to obtain free energy profiles . Note that the final rate constant $`k_{AB}`$ is independent of the choice of the interfaces as long as the first and last one are inside the basin of attraction of the stable states $`A`$ and $`B`$ respectively.

The path ensembles are generated by constructing a random walk in path space employing a MC algorithm. Fundamental for both the TPS and TIS methods is the MC move that generates a new path from an existing one, the *shooting move* . An existing path between the initial and final state is stored as collection of discrete time-slices. In a shooting move, a time slice is chosen at random, the momenta of all particles are slightly changed, and a new trajectory is created by integrating the system forward and backward in time. The new path is accepted with a probability chosen such that detailed balance is obeyed. In contrast to TPS, the path length does not have a prefixed value , but is allowed to vary because the integration of the equations of motion is stopped when one of the two interfaces of the corresponding ensemble is reached .

## 3 Discussion

We tested the TIS method on the isomerization of a diatomic molecule immersed in a repulsive fluid, a simple model system used before to test the TPS algorithms . We report some details and the results in Fig. 1; more details can be found in Ref . The forward rate constant for the isomerization corresponds to an average transition time $`k_{AB}^1=(3.6\pm 0.1)s`$ in real units for argon, which is indeed many orders of magnitude beyond the MD time-step $`4fs`$. In Ref.  we showed that TIS is at least a factor 2 more efficient than TPS when computing the rate constant at equivalent conditions and same final relative error. The efficiency increases to 5 or more in systems with many recrossings.

The TIS algorithm makes use of the MC moves developed for TPS, and in this sense TIS can be considered an extension of TPS. TIS retains the good features, such as the independence of prior knowledge of a reaction coordinate , and improves on the weaker points, for example, minimizing computational effort by allowing a variable path length. The spirit behind the TIS methodology for computing rate constants, however, is different. The concept of a positive effective flux gives a faster convergence because only positive terms contribute to the rate. The implementation of the computer algorithm becomes easier and one can apply multidimensional or discrete interface order parameters. These advantages make TIS more efficient in terms of computational effort. Finally, in some cases a better characterization of true reactive paths can be achieved and non-true recrossings can be avoided through a proper choice of the interfaces, for instance, imposing kinetic energy constraints .

The TIS method has been successfully applied to two realistic cases, the folding of a polypeptide  and hydration of ethylene . In this last case the method was combined with quantum ab-initio MD simulations. A recent variation of the TIS method for diffusive systems exploits very efficiently the loss of long time scale correlation by using a recursive reformulation of the crossing probability and the sampling of much shorter paths . These results show that TIS is capable of studying rare event processes in complex systems efficiently and encourage even more challenging applications, such as isomerization in clusters and crystal nucleation, on which we plan to report in the future.


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# A Face–On Tully-Fisher Relation

## 1 Introduction

One common characteristic of Tully-Fisher (TF; Tully & Fisher 1977) studies of the relation between luminosity and rotation speed is the selection of spiral galaxies with inclinations ($`i`$) above $`45^{}`$, and typically with $`i60^{}`$. The inability to determine accurate and precise inclinations for galaxies with $`i<40^{}`$ has limited studies attempting to link structural parameters, such as lopsidedness and ellipticity, to TF scatter (Franx & de Zeeuw 1992, Zaritsky & Rix 1997). Likewise, combining vertical stellar velocity dispersions and disk rotation speeds has been thwarted for lack of precise inclinations for nearly face-on galaxies (e.g., Bottema 1997). Hence, non-degenerate dynamical mass-decompositions of galaxies have not yet been made.

One solution to the above problems is to use nearly face-on galaxies to study the TF relation. Here the detailed planar structure of the disk can be studied unprojected, while the vertical component of the disk stellar velocity dispersion is favorably projected. The problem is now observational: How can accurate and precise inclinations be measured for small inclination angles?

For most TF studies, inclinations are calculated from photometric axis-ratios, assuming circular disks, and correcting for a constant, intrinsic flattening (e.g. Tully & Fouqué 1985; Courteau 1996). Bars, spiral structure, and intrinsic ellipticity cause systematic errors in photometric inclination and position angles (PA), dominate the apparent ellipticity at low inclination, and skew apparent inclinations to larger values (Andersen et al. 2001; Courteau et al. 2003). Hence there is a triple penalty at low inclinations for TF studies: (1) Erroneously large inclinations lead to under-correcting the velocity projection. (2) Random errors diverge since photometric disk axis ratio measurements have constant errors as a function of axis ratio. (3) For long-slit studies, PA-mismatch will always yield systematic underestimates of the projected rotation speed.

These pitfalls can be mitigated if kinematic inclinations are derived from two-dimensional velocity fields (e.g., Schommer et al. 1993; Verheijen 2001) because disk scale heights are irrelevant, and velocity fields between 1 and 3 scale lengths are typically less aberrated than the light distribution by spiral structure, bars or warps (Courteau et al. 2003; Briggs 1990). A limit of $`40^{}`$ had been set on the minimum derived kinematic inclinations for nearby galaxies from HI maps (Begeman 1989), but this minimum value is not fundamental; it is notionally adopted as such.

We have discovered that kinematic inclinations, derived from high-quality, optical kinematic data collected with integral field units, are sufficiently accurate and precise to construct a TF relation at inclinations as low as 15. In this letter we present an analysis of the first TF relation for a sample of nearly face-on galaxies.

## 2 The Photometric and Kinematic Data Set

We obtained $`R`$ and $`I`$-band images and H$`\alpha `$ velocity fields of 39 spiral galaxies meeting the criteria of Andersen et al. (2001): Galaxies appear nearly face-on ($`i<30^{}`$), are of intermediate type (Sab-Sd), with no clear signs of interactions, bars or rings, and are in regions of low Galactic extinction. Our sample and observations are described in Andersen (2001).

CCD images were acquired over 17 nights between May, 1998 and January, 2001 at the WIYN 3.5m111The WIYN Observatory is a joint facility of the U. of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana U., Yale, and NOAO., the KPNO 2.1m, and the McDonald Observatory 2.7m telescopes. Total magnitudes are defined as asymptotic fluxes, as measured from growth curves, calibrated on the Kron-Cousins system using Landolt (1983) standards observed on four photometric nights. Zeropoints for other nights are internally boot-strapped, where possible, from repeat observations. We use $`H_0=70`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 and correct magnitudes for Galactic absorption (Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis 1998). (Virgo in-fall affects recession velocities by $`<`$1%; Paturel et al. 1997.) We use the mean $`RI`$ color of $`0.52\pm 0.08`$ mag for our calibrated sample to estimate the $`R`$ magnitude for several galaxies with only accurate $`I`$-band photometry, and add the 0.08 mag range in $`RI`$ in quadrature as an additional uncertainty for these sources.

H$`\alpha `$ velocity fields were obtained at an instrumental resolution of $`\frac{\lambda }{\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda }13,000`$ using the DensePak integral field unit (Barden, Sawyer & Honeycutt 1998) on the WIYN 3.5m telescope over 11 nights between May, 1998 and January, 2000. \[PGC 56010, a low surface-brightness galaxy, was re-observed using SparsePak (Bershady et al. 2003) in May, 2001.\] The H$`\alpha `$ emission lines were resolved, with typical signal-to-noise levels of $`35`$ and centroid precision of $`1.5`$ km s-1. DensePak observations yield velocity centroids for $`140`$ independent positions within each galaxy out to 2.2 to 5.8 disk scale lengths (typically 3.3).

## 3 Measuring Inclinations Below $`40^{}`$

The most critical measurement required to construct a “face-on” TF (FOTF) relation is the derivation of accurate and precise disk inclinations. As we have argued, there are fundamental reasons why two-dimensional kinematic maps provide the only viable data for measuring these inclinations. Using a method similar to that described in Andersen et al. (2001), we fit the DensePak data with a single, hyperbolic-tangent velocity-field model. From these fits, we derive measurements of kinematic inclinations, rotation speeds ($`V_{\mathrm{rot}}`$), and recession velocities for our sample.

Of the 39 galaxies in our sample we measure reliable deprojected rotation velocities, $`V_{\mathrm{circ}}V_{\mathrm{rot}}/\mathrm{sin}i`$, for 26 (see Table 1; two galaxies lacking calibrated $`R`$ and $`I`$-band magnitudes are excluded). This subsample has $`V_{\mathrm{rot}}<120`$ km s-1 with inclinations and errors from 16$`{}_{10}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+5}`$ to 41$`{}_{6}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+5}`$. Ten additional galaxies have measured, deprojected rotation velocities, but kinematic inclinations consistent with zero within 68% confidence intervals. Their mean inclination is $`8^{}`$. Three remaining galaxies have no projected circular velocity field; they appear truly face-on. Our results paint a consistent picture of being able to measure inclinations reliably down to $`i15^{}`$.

Why can we measure accurate inclinations for nearly face-on galaxies? For disks with inclinations between $`20^{}`$ and $`30^{}`$, the peak difference in projected velocity is only 2 to 3 km s-1 between disks with inclinations differing by 5. To measure this difference requires $`<2`$ km s-1 centroiding precision per fiber, or many samples of the velocity field at a precision at least comparable to this difference. The latter, which we achieve, is preferable because of random motions. We find typically 3 km s-1 rms variations between our model and the data (Andersen 2001).

Historically, HI data have been claimed to be of insufficient quality for deriving galaxy inclinations below 40 (Begeman 1989). One aspect of the problem has been that tilted ring models include a weighting scheme which, when typically implemented, minimizes the importance of velocity measurements at azimuthal angles which are most influenced by changes in inclination. For example, Begeman’s simulations use a $`\mathrm{cos}\theta `$ weighting scheme, where $`\theta `$ is the angle from the major axis in the galaxy plane. This weighting is done to minimize the effects of warps, but in so doing over half of the signal is thrown out. For the same reason, data are often not considered beyond $`\theta `$ of 30 or 45, throwing out yet more of the signal.

Our DensePak observations sample the inner disks of galaxies, where warps tend to be negligible. Hence we can use the entire velocity field to maximize the influence of inclination in the model velocity fields. Figure 1 shows deprojected position-velocity diagrams for two representative galaxies in different bins of $`\theta `$. Excellent agreement between azimuthal bins indicates a good model fit and lack of systematics. We find bidimensional echelle spectroscopy to be of sufficient quality to yield deprojected rotation velocities, $`V_{\mathrm{rot}}/\mathrm{sin}i`$ at precisions better than 10% at inclinations above 28; a 20% precision on $`V_{\mathrm{rot}}/\mathrm{sin}i`$ is reached for inclinations of $`20^{}`$.

## 4 FOTF vs Conventional TF Relations

To evaluate our FOTF data, we compare to the TF samples of Courteau (1997) and Verheijen (2001). The salient difference between our sample versus Courteau’s and Verheijen’s is that their galaxies have $`i>40^{}`$ and $`\overline{i}65^{}`$. Courteau’s sample shares comparable scale lengths, colors, surface brightnesses, distances and uses spatially-resolved H$`\alpha `$ long-slit emission as the kinematic tracer. We use the cleaner “Quiet Hubble Flow” (QHF) subset of Courteau’s sample and convert Courteau’s Lick $`r`$-band photometry to Cousins $`R`$-band using $`Rr=0.36`$ (Fukugita et al. 1995). Verheijen collected multi-band (including Cousins $`R`$-band) photometry and HI synthesis maps for a volume-limited sample from the nearby Ursa Major cluster. We select the Ursa Major subsample with $`M_R<19`$, corresponding to the faint end of the FOTF and Courteau samples, and adopt the HST Key Project distance (Sakai et al. 2000). Both Courteau and Verheijen use an internal-absorption correction of the form $`A_i=\gamma \mathrm{log}a/b`$ which minimizes the apparent TF scatter. (We have subtracted from Courteau’s data his zeropoint correction of 0.40 mag, which corresponds to his absorption correction at $`i=70^{}`$.) Since our sample is nearly face-on, we apply no internal-absorption corrections to our photometry.

An inspection of the three samples in $`M_R`$ versus $`\mathrm{log}(2V_{rot}/\mathrm{sin}i)`$ of Figure 2 highlights the differences and similarities in their TF relations. There is excellent agreement between the Courteau and Verheijen TF slopes and zeropoints. There is also an excellent agreement in the zeropoint of the FOTF with Verheijen and Courteau TF relations near L\* at $`M_R22`$, but the shallower slope of the FOTF appears striking. However, slopes vary between $`7`$ and $`9`$ for both the Courteau and Verheijen samples depending on the method of velocity measurement, the extinction correction prescription and the sample selection. Verheijen (2001) notes the above absorption corrections steepen TF slopes. However, these corrections do not alter the slope of the FOTF relation. While empirical corrections (e.g., Giovanelli et al. 1994, Tully et al. 1998) work well for galaxies with $`40^{}<i<80^{}`$, the corrections for galaxies with $`i<30^{}`$ are small ($`A_R0.1`$ mag). Since in practice one can systematize velocity measurements, a larger FOTF spanning a broader range in luminosity may provide a new test of the veracity of TF-based internal-extinction corrections.

When we restrict our sample by luminosity or $`V_{\mathrm{rot}}`$, we find slopes between -5 and -8; a FOTF subsample with $`2.3<\mathrm{log}(2V_{\mathrm{circ}})<2.7`$ shares the same slopes and zeropoints as the Courteau and Verheijen culled samples (Figure 1). This implies that only the extreme rotators, fast and slow, differ. This may be due to luminosity-dependent extinction corrections discussed above. It is more difficult to present a plausible systematic error whereby the high luminosity objects rotate faster and the low luminosity objects rotate slower, and the intermediate objects are unaffected. However, with only six galaxies in these regimes, the discrepancy between slopes may be influenced by our small-number statistics coupled with relatively large errors on $`\mathrm{log}V/\mathrm{sin}i`$.

If the FOTF is to be a useful tool for studying internal extinction or, e.g., correlations of galaxy properties to TF scatter, the impact of inclination measurements on TF residuals needs to be examined. Figure 3 shows the relation between TF residuals and inclination along with the predicted envelope of TF residuals introduced by inclination error. We find the scatter for our sample is comparable to the scatter in the culled Courteau and Verheijen samples: 0.42 mag for ours versus 0.38 mag for the Verheijen and Courteau samples used here, each about their respective regressions (Figure 2). Six galaxies labeled in Figures 2 and 3 are noted in Table 1 as either being photometrically or kinematically asymmetric, or having small recession velocities (hence uncertain distances). Inclination errors alone aren’t the cause of their large TF residuals. Removing these six galaxies, the scatter for our face-on sample about its shallow regression drops significantly to 0.3 mag, and is consistent with our measurement errors.

## 5 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

We have presented a TF relationship for 24 galaxies with a mean inclination of 26 – the first time the TF relation has been measured for a sample of galaxies with inclinations less than $`40^{}`$. Accurate and precise kinematic inclinations are the key to studying TF relation at low inclination, and velocity fields are the essential ingredient for their measurement. We are able to construct this FOTF relation from integral-field H$`\alpha `$ velocity fields for four primary reasons: (1) DensePak and SparsePak are efficient for gathering H$`\alpha `$ velocity fields with moderately high spatial resolution and medium spectral resolution at high signal to noise. (2) H$`\alpha `$ velocity fields generally extend out to $`3`$ disk scale-lengths so that warping, which dominates the outer radii of some galaxy disks, is unimportant. (3) Instead of using multiple tilted rings, we successfully fit galaxy disks with a single velocity-field model, simultaneously using data at all radii and phase angles. (4) We equally-weight all data, making our fits sensitive to the signal constraining inclination, which peaks in the velocity field at $`45^{}`$ from the major axis.

The FOTF relation measured from our data has a zeropoint and scatter comparable to conventional TF relations but possibly a shallower slope. The bulk of the FOTF scatter is consistent with measurement errors, as found by Verheijen (2001). Of the four galaxies which show large kinematic and photometric asymmetries, three fall well off the TF relation. While our statistics are small, this is consistent with the claim by Barton et al. (2000) that kinematic asymmetries are an important source of TF scatter.

The FOTF can play an important role in understanding the nature and interpretation of the TF slope, zeropoint and scatter in three ways. First, internal extinction is less important for face-on galaxies minimizing inclination-dependent effects. For inclined TF samples, if correlated errors exist between de-reddened luminosities and de-projected rotation-speeds, TF scatter will be increased. If extinction depends on luminosity or velocity (mass), the corrected TF slopes may differ from their true values.

Second, measurements of asymmetry, ellipticity, and lopsidedness ideally are made at low inclinations. Several studies have suggested non-axisymmetric dark halo mass distributions such as lopsidedness (Zaritsky & Rix 1997; Swaters et al. 1999) or ellipticity (Franx & de Zeeuw 1992; Andersen et al. 2001) could be sources of TF scatter. However, without access to inclination measurements for face-on systems, these claims could not be directly evaluated. Our small FOTF sample suggests such links are possible, and show that such studies can now be pursued wholesale.

Finally, the mass-to-light ratio of spiral disks is an essential ingredient for interpreting the TF zeropoint, slope, and scatter. Only limits can be placed on mass decompositions (Bell & de Jong 2001) without direct dynamical estimates of total and disk mass. This can be accomplished via rotation curves and vertical stellar velocity dispersions of disks. The latter are best measured in face-on systems, and hence the FOTF unlocks the door for determining the fundamental mass-budget of spiral galaxies.

We thank E. Bell, S. Courteau, and B. Tully for helpful comments. We acknowledge NSF AST-9970780 and AST-0307417.


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# Clock Synchronization based on Second-Order Quantum Coherence of Entangled Photons

## Abstract

We present an algorithm for synchronizing two clocks based on second-order quantum interference between entangled photons generated by parametric down-conversion. The procedure is distinct from the standard Einstein two-way clock synchronization method in that photon correlations are used to define simultaneous events in the frame of reference of a Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer. Once the HOM interferometer is balanced, by use of an adjustable optical delay in one arm, arrival times of simultaneously generated photons are recorded by each clock. Classical information on the arrival times is sent from one clock to the other, and a correlation of arrival times is done to determine the clock offset.

preprint: ver 7

High-accuracy synchronization of clocks plays an important role in fundamental physics and in a wide range of applications such as communications, message encryption, navigation, geolocation and homeland security. There are two classical methods of time synchronization of spatially separated clocks: Eddington slow clock transportEddingtonClockTransport , and Einstein synchronizationLLClassicalFields  by exchange of light signals. In Eddington slow clock transport, two co-located clocks are initially synchronized, and then one of these clocks is slowly transported to another location to synchronize a distant clock. For most technological applications today, this method is not practical because it requires transport of hardware as well as conflicting requirements: on the one hand clock transport must be slow to reduce the effect of time dilation, but on the other hand it must be fast enough so that significant time differences do not accrue from unavoidable timing errors due to the limited frequency stability of the transported clock’s mechanism or due to gravitational potential differences along the path of the transported clockLLClassicalFields .

Einstein synchronization consists of a round-trip exchange of classical light signals between two spatially separated clocksLLClassicalFields . A signal is sent from clock B (which is to be synchronized with clock A) and reflects off the face of clock A, and then returns to clock B. The signal that reflected off the face of clock A carries classical information, from clock A to clock B, consisting of the time on clock A at the event of signal reflection. In practical applications today, a satellite system, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), is used for synchronizing two spatially separated clocksParkinsonSpilker1996 ; Kaplan96 ; Hofmann-Wellenhof93 . The GPS is a satellite system based on Einstein synchronization, since signals are sent from satellite-to-ground and from ground-to-satellite to synchronize the satellite clocks with a master clock on EarthBahder2003 . The time-synchronization accuracy provided by a GPS receiver is on the order of 20 ns. However, there are many applications, such as coherent detection of electromagnetic signals, where time synchronization is required to an accuracy that cannot be provided by the GPS. Recently, there have been several clock synchronization schemes proposed that are based on quantum mechanical principlesChuang2000 ; Jozsa2000 ; Giovannetti2001 ; Giovannetti2002 ; ShihPRL2003 . The hope is that quantum mechanical methods can provide a higher clock synchronization accuracy than classical methods.

In this letter, we present a simple quantum mechanical algorithm to synchronize two spatially separated clocks to an accuracy limited by the resolution of the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer, which has been demonstrated to be better than one hundred femtosecondsHOM . Our algorithm for clock synchronization has four key features. First, no information is needed on the geometric distances between clocks. Second, the algorithm works in vacuum because it does not rely on the presence of an optical medium, and hence is applicable to space-based systems. Third, rather than using massive particlesJozsa2000 , the algorithm is based on entangled photon pairs, which are weakly coupled to the environment so the synchronization can be carried out over large distances. Finally, the essential elements that are contained in the algorithm, such as single-photon detection, time of arrival tagging, and signal time delay techniques, have already been demonstrated in the laboratory at various levels of precision.

Our synchronization algorithm uses photon coincidence counting in the frame of reference in which the entangled photon source is at restInertialFrame . The underlying method is based on second order quantum interference between two entangled photons, rather than on classical exchange of information, as used in classical Einstein synchronization. The synchronization algorithm is shown schematically in the Minkowski diagram in Figure 1. The goal is to synchronize clock B with clock A. Clocks A and B are assumed stationary in the frame of reference in which the source of correlated photons is at rest. The HOM interferometer is spatially co-located with the photon source, and both are on world line O. Also shown in Figure 1 in grey is the world volume of an optical medium which has an adjustable index of refraction, $`n`$, which is located between the world line O and world line of clock B.

We use “hardware time”, $`\tau ^{}`$, to mean the elapsed time (since some epoch) kept by a real hardware clockClockDefinition . Proper time, $`\tau `$, is the elapsed time that is kept by an ideal clock and it depends on the world line, or history, of the ideal clock. The difference between “hardware time” and proper time is that a real hardware clock can have mechanical imperfections that make “hardware time” deviate from proper time. On the other hand, coordinate time, $`t`$, is a global quantity, which is associated with the metric of space-time, $`g_{ij}`$, and enters in the definition of the system of 4-dimensional coordinates. It is coordinate time that provides the connection between proper times on two different world lines. However, it is well-known that coordinate time is not a measureable quantityPirani57 ; Synge1960 ; Soffel89 ; Brumberg91 ; Guinot97 .

A synchronization algorithm must deal with synchronization of time kept by real hardware clocks, which means it must deal with “hardware time”. In what follows, we assume that our hardware clocks are sufficiently stable so that “hardware time” is a good approximation of proper time: $`\tau ^{}=\tau `$, over the times of interest in the synchronization procedure. We also assume that both clocks A and B have the same rate with respect to coordinate time, and with respect to each otherCoordinateTimeChoice

$$\frac{d\tau ^{(A)}}{dt}=1=\frac{d\tau ^{(B)}}{dt}$$
(1)
so we are neglecting the effect of gravitational potential differences between the locations of clock A and B during the synchronization time. Therefore, we assume that both clocks A and B keep proper time, but they have an unknown constant offset between them, which we seek to determine by our synchronization algorithm.

The algorithm is as follows. Correlated photon pairs are generated in a crystal by parametric down-conversion Burnham1970 ; Ghosh1986 ; KlyshkoBook1988 ; Rubin1994  at event P. The pairs are created simultaneously at a unique event in space-time, within the crystal to an accuracy of better than 100 femtosecondsHOM . One photon from the pair arrives at clock A at coordinate time $`t_o^{(A)}`$, is reflected back toward the world line O, and arrives at event $`M_o`$. The other member of the photon pair travels through an adjustable optical medium to clock B, shown in grey in Figure 1, and is reflected back toward world line O, again traveling through the optical medium. This procedure is continued while the index of refraction $`n`$ of the optical medium is adjusted, until both photons from the pair arrive at a single event $`M_o`$. The event $`M_o`$ is identified by a minimum observed in the HOM interferometer, indicating that the interferometer is balanced. The balance condition means that the coordinate time of photons arriving at clock A and B are equal,

$$t_o^{(A)}=t_o^{(B)}$$
(2)
indicating that these events are simultaneous in the system of coordinates in which the interferometer is at restInertialFrame . We define simultaneous events as events with the same coordinate time in the given system of inertial coordinatesLLClassicalFields . Once the interferometer is balanced, correlated photon pairs are emitted on the world line O at events $`M_1`$, … $`M_N`$. Photons detected at clock B have passed through the optical device, whose delay has been adjusted to obtain the balanced interferometer condition. Data consisting of the arrival time of photons at clock A and B is recorded on the world lines of clocks A and B, consisting of the sets of numbers, $`\{\tau _i^{(A)}\}`$ and $`\{\tau _i^{(B)}\}`$$`i=1\mathrm{}N`$, as measured with respect to clocks A and B, respectively. We use the notation $`\tau _i^{(A)}`$ and $`\tau _i^{(B)}`$ for the proper times of photon arrival at clock A and B, as distinct from coordinate time of photon arrival, $`t_i^{(A)}`$ and $`t_i^{(B)}`$.

Photons that are “coincident at clock A and clock B” are defined to be those that are simultaneous in the inertial system of space-time coordinates in which the HOM interferometer is at rest. Our definition of simultaneous photon arrival times on world lines A and B means that the coordinate times of photons arriving on world line A and B are the same

$$t_i^{(A)}=t_i^{(B)}$$
(3)
for photons $`i=1,\mathrm{},N`$. On the world line of clock A, the proper time elapsed between the events at coordinate time of reception $`t_i^{(A)}`$ and $`t_1^{(A)}`$ is given by

$$\tau _i^{(A)}+\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(A)}=t_i^{(A)}t_1^{(A)}$$
(4)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(A)}`$ is the clock correction that relates coordinate time to proper time of clock A. A similar relation exists for clock B:

$$\tau _i^{(B)}+\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(B)}=t_i^{(B)}t_1^{(B)}$$
(5)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(B)}`$ is the clock correction that relates coordinate time to proper time for clock B. It is clear from Eq.(3)-(5) that the proper times of clocks A and B are related by

$$\tau _i^{(B)}\tau _i^{(A)}=\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(A)}\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(B)}$$
(6)
for all received photon pairs $`i=1,\mathrm{},N`$.

The data taken by clock A and clock B is a series of $`N`$ photon arrival times, tagged at the detector, with respect to each clock’s respective hardware times, $`\tau _i^{(A)}`$ and $`\tau _i^{(B)}`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},N`$. Both clocks record photon arrival time data for a time $`T`$ measured with respect to their local clock. The time $`T`$ is long compared to the expected clock difference between clock A and clock B. The photon arrival time data, $`\{\tau _i^{(A)}\}`$ and $`\{\tau _i^{(B)}\}`$, are assembled into functions $`f_A(t)`$ and $`f_B(t)`$:

$$f_A(t)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\delta (t\tau _i^{(A)})$$
(7)
where $`\delta (t)`$ is the Dirac delta function, and the analogous definition for $`f_B(t)`$. Classical information consisting of the function $`f_A(t)`$ is transmitted from clock A to clock B via a classical information channel, see Figure 2. A correlation is then performed at clock B of the data functions $`f_A(t)`$ and $`f_B(t)`$:

$$g(\tau )=_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}f_A(t)f_B(t\tau )𝑑t$$
(8)
Substituting the values of the data functions $`f_A(t)`$ and $`f_B(t)`$ into Eq.(8) and doing the integral gives

$$g(\tau )=\frac{1}{N}\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}\delta (\tau \tau _j^{(A)}+\tau _i^{(B)})$$
(9)
For most values of $`\tau `$, the correlation function $`g(\tau )`$ is $`O(1/N)`$. However, the diagonal terms in the sums, for $`i=j`$, contribute $`N`$ terms at the same value of $`\tau `$ , since the value of the terms $`\tau _i^{(A)}\tau _i^{(B)}`$ $`=\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(B)}\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(A)}`$ , as given by Eq.(6), and the correlation function is of order unity at a value of $`\tau =\tau _o=\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(B)}\mathrm{\Delta }\tau ^{(A)}`$. According to Eq.(6), if $`\tau _o`$ is added to the value of the current clock time $`\tau ^{(B)}`$, then clock B will be synchronized to clock A. Note that the clock time on clock B after synchronization is, in general, not equal to coordinate time in the chosen system of coordinates.

In summary, we have defined a simple algorithm to synchronize two real clocks that are spatially separated. The accuracy of the algorithm is based on accurate control of an optical delay line and on the accuracy of second order quantum interference exhibited by correlated photons in a HOM interferometer, which is below 100 femtosecondsHOM . Each experimental element in the algorithm, such as the source of correlated photons, photon detection, arrival time tagging, and the HOM interferometer, have been separately experimentally demonstrated during the past several years. Consequently, this algorithm is today a viable method of synchronizing two spatially separated clocks. This algorithm may be useful in applications, such as communications, message encryption, navigation, geolocation systems, to achieve synchronization accuracy that is beyond the current reach of classical synchronization methods.

Acknowledgement This work was sponsored by the Advanced Research Development Agency (ARDA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). One of the authors (W. M. G.) performed part of this work while at the Naval Research Laboratory. The authors wish to acknowledge helpful discussions and suggestions from Pete Hendrickson.


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# Untitled Document

Figure Captions

Figure 1: The thick-walled bubble profile.

Figure 2: The spectrum of created particles.