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# Searching for Narrow Graviton Resonances with the ATLAS Detector at the Large Hadron Collider

## 1 Introduction

The recently proposed localized gravity model of Randall and Sundrum  has aroused great theoretical interest, and many possible extensions and elaborations of this type of theory are being discussed in the literature . The model was initially motivated because it solved the weak-Planck scale hierarchy via an exponentially suppressed warp factor in a non-factorisable geometry. Despite possible problems with negative tension branes and stability in some of the frameworks, these problems are solved in other models. For now, we ignore the details of particular models and concentrate on a measurement that should apply to a broad class of the models. Such scenarios are characterised by the existence of a series of graviton excitations, which may be detectable at present and future colliders. In some cases these excitations may be sufficiently well spaced to be detected as individual resonances.

This work will discuss the possibility of detecting such graviton resonances in as model independent a way as possible, using the scenario of  as a guide. However, the results derived do not depend on the validity of this particular scenario, but can be applied to any model giving rise to narrow graviton resonances.

In the scenario of  the massive graviton excitations couple with equal strength to the visible sector . However, the higher modes being suppressed by the falling parton distribution functions, we consider only the lightest mode. This does not in any way affect the generality of our approach, as our analysis can be applied to any such resonances, including the higher modes, so long as the resonances are narrow and sufficiently separated from the other modes. This is in contrast to studies in which many excitations, each with small coupling, contribute to some scattering process .

An event generator capable of simulating the production and decay of spin-2 resonances has been developed. This generator is an extension of the HERWIG 6.1  simulation package. The generated events are passed through the ATLAS fast simulation (ATLFAST ), in order to give a realistic description of detector resolution and efficiency. The decay channel $`Ge^+e^{}`$ is chosen for study, since the ATLAS detector has excellent energy and angular resolution for high energy electrons, and the Standard Model background comes dominantly from the well-understood Drell-Yan process. The observable cross section for this process is considered first, and limits on the discovery reach of ATLAS, based simply on the ability to detect the resonance above the Standard Model background, are derived. The angular distribution of the decay products is then considered, in order to study the ability of the detector to determine the spin of the resonance.

## 2 The event generator

In the model of , a 5-dimensional non-factorizable geometry is used, with two 3-branes of opposite tension. A graviton Kaluza-Klein spectrum is created, with a scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi =\overline{M}_{Pl}e^{kr_c\pi }`$, where $`\overline{M}_{Pl}`$ is the reduced effective 4-D Planck scale, $`r_c`$ is the compactification radius of the extra dimension, and $`k`$ is a scale of the order of the Planck scale. The geometrical exponential factor (dubbed the ‘warp factor’) generates TeV scales from fundamental Planck scales and hence offers a solution to the hierarchy problem, if $`kr_c12`$. The masses of the graviton resonances are given by $`m_n=kx_ne^{kr_c\pi }=x_n(k/\overline{M}_{Pl})\mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi `$ where $`x_n`$ are the roots of the Bessel function of order 1. The couplings of the massive resonances are given by $`1/\mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi `$. The properties of the model are determined by the ratio $`k/\overline{M}_{Pl}`$. We have chosen a value of 0.01 (at the bottom of the range suggested in ) for this ratio, which according to , is on the edge of 95% exclusion for a first graviton excitation mass of less than 2000 GeV. Thus, we assign a low coupling constant to the gravitons, and hence obtain a conservative estimate of the production cross section. This choice leads naturally to narrow resonances. This test scenario is used to illustrate the potential physics reach.

The implementation of the resonance is largely model independent, depending only on a universal coupling to the Standard Model fields. This is generally the case for models deriving from extra dimensions, and the effective Lagrangian is given at first non-trivial order in $`1/\mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi `$ as:

$$_I=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi }h^{\mu \nu }T_{\mu \nu },$$
(1)
where $`h^{\mu \nu }`$ is the spin-2 field and $`T_{\mu \nu }`$ is the energy-momentum tensor of the Standard Model fields. Here, we consider only the production and measurement of the lightest massive graviton excitation. We note however , that other heavier resonances are expected. In the case we consider here, they are well split in mass and hence the lightest resonance will be produced dominantly.

The decay $`Ge^+e^{}`$ is treated in the HERWIG implementation as a $`22`$ process, consisting of the two hard production subprocesses $`q\overline{q}e^+e^{}`$ and $`gge^+e^{}`$. For the $`q\overline{q}e^+e^{}`$ channel we do not consider interference with the Standard Model Drell-Yan subprocesses as the interference is negligible for our purposes. The code is available from the authors on request.

For calculating the matrix elements and the total decay width of the graviton resonance, we made use of the results in . We carried out our calculations both by hand and by using HELAS  incorporating subprograms with spin-2 particles . Our implementation of the decay widths corrects a typographical error in  for the decay into heavy vector bosons but this has only a small effect on the total decay width.

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(GVV)=\delta \frac{m_G^3}{40\pi \mathrm{\Lambda }_\pi ^2}(14r_V)^{1/2}\left(\frac{13}{12}+\frac{14}{3}r_V+4r_V^2\right),$$
(2)
where, as in , $`\delta =1/2`$ for identical particles and $`r_V=m_V^2/m_G^2`$.

The angular distributions of the possible subprocesses, in the centre-of-mass frame of the resonance, are shown in Table 1. Here $`\theta ^{}`$ is the angle between the decay electron and the beam direction in the dilepton centre-of-mass frame. The spin-2 distributions contrast strongly with the angular distributions resulting from spin-1 or scalar resonances. These distributions are shown in Figure 1.

## 3 Detection of the graviton resonance

The process $`ppGe^+e^{}`$ must be detected above the background from the Standard Model processes $`pp\mathrm{Z}/\gamma ^{}e^+e^{}`$. Samples of events were generated for a single graviton excitation with a mass ranging from 500 GeV to 2.2 TeV. The masses and widths of the graviton resonances are given in Table 2, as they are computed with the model parameters given above. The table also shows the cross-section times branching ratio $`\sigma B`$ in the test model and the width of the resonance reconstructed after the ATLAS detector simulation. In all the cases studied, the true width of the resonance is much smaller than the Gaussian experimental resolution $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_m`$ and can be neglected. Hence the results are valid for any model in which this condition is met. In our test model, this is the case for $`k/\overline{M}_{Pl}<0.06`$, at which point the width is approximately equal to the experimental resolution, and the cross section is 36 times larger than we have assumed. For larger values of $`k/\overline{M}_{Pl}`$, the very high signal cross sections would overwhelm the Standard Model background, making the resonance very easy to detect, and the spin simple to determine, even with a large width.

For each mass point, having determined the observed resonance width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_m`$, a mass window is defined as $`\pm 3\mathrm{\Gamma }_m`$ around the graviton mass. The Drell-Yan cross-section inside this mass window is then calculated using the HERWIG 6.1 event generator . The number of background events expected in the mass window is then computed, for an integrated luminosity of 100 fb-1, corresponding to one year of LHC running at design luminosity. The ATLFAST simulation of the ATLAS detector is used to compute the acceptance for the process, which is dominated by the pseudorapidity ($`\eta `$) coverage of the tracker, $`|\eta |<2.5`$. Cuts are also made on the isolation of the electrons to account for the effect of nearby hadrons on the detection efficiency. In addition to the cuts imposed by ATLFAST, a tracking efficiency of 90% was applied to each electron, to allow for track reconstruction losses which are not included in ATLFAST. These losses are estimated in  to be approximately 5% at high transverse momentum if the tracks are well isolated. Our efficiency value is therefore conservative. The number of Drell-Yan background events ($`N_B`$) inside each mass window after these cuts is given in Table 3.

The expected signal in the test model for $`m_G=1.5`$ TeV can be seen in Figure 2, showing the data expected for 100 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. The signal is prominent above the small Standard Model background.

We now consider the model-independent detection limit for such a resonance. The minimum number of signal events, $`N_S^{min}`$, needed to detect the resonance above the background is taken to be $`5\sqrt{N}_B`$ or 10 events, whichever is greater, in order to ensure that the signal is statistically significant. The minimum cross-section times branching ratio required to produce this number of events is also given in Table 3, after correcting for the detector acceptance and efficiency, and assuming an integrated luminosity of 100 fb-1.

It can be seen from these results that the background becomes negligible for graviton masses above 1800 GeV. It should be emphasised that these results are independent of the test model, and rely only on the assumption that the width of the resonance to be detected is negligible compared to the detector mass resolution. However, as an example, we can compare this cross-section limit with the values predicted by our test model, in order to determine the physics reach for ATLAS for this specific case. This is done in Figure 3, which displays $`\sigma B`$ for the test model and $`(\sigma B)^{min}`$. The test model could be detected for graviton masses up to 2080 GeV. Using Figure 3, similar estimates of the ATLAS search reach for other models can be determined without repeating the detector simulation or background analysis. The search reach for other collider experiments, such as CMS, would require a new simulation with the appropriate mass resolution.

Our results differ from those in  for the case of a $`Z^{}`$ with Standard Model couplings, both because of the acceptance difference arising from the spin of the resonance, and the $`Z^{}`$ width, which exceeds 50 GeV for a $`Z^{}`$ mass of 2 TeV.

## 4 Angular distributions

In order to demonstrate that the observed resonance is a graviton and not due to a spin-1 $`Z^{}`$, or similar exotic object, it is necessary to show that it is produced by a spin-2 intermediate state. The strong differences between the angular distributions shown in Figure 1 would allow the spin of the resonance to be determined given sufficient statistics. Information can also be gained on the relative production rate from the $`gg`$ and $`q\overline{q}`$ processes.

Figure 4 shows the angular distribution expected in the test model for a graviton resonance mass of 1.5 TeV, after passing the events through the detector simulation and analysis cuts, using the statistics for 100 fb-1 of data. The contributions from Standard Model Background, $`gg`$ production and $`q\overline{q}`$ production of the graviton resonance are shown. In this case, 83% of the graviton production is from the $`gg`$ process. The distribution expected from a spin-1 resonance is also shown. The cutoff in the detector acceptance at $`|\eta |=2.5`$ removes events at large $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}|`$. For heavy gravitons, which are produced with little longitudinal momentum, the effect is relatively sharp in $`\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}`$, while for lighter gravitons and Drell-Yan processes, the acceptance loss reaches to lower $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}|`$ values.

A likelihood function was constructed to quantify the information in the angular distributions, defined as

$`L=`$ $`x_qf_q(\theta ^{})A_q(M,\theta ^{})/I_q(M)+x_gf_g(\theta ^{})A_g(M,\theta ^{})/I_g(M)`$ (3)
$`+x_{DY}f_{DY}(\theta ^{})A_{DY}(M,\theta ^{})/I_{DY}(M)`$
where $`x_i`$ is the fraction of the events from each contributing process, $`f_i(\theta ^{})`$ is the angular distribution of the process, $`A_i(M,\theta ^{})`$ is the acceptance of the detector as a function of the mass of the electron pair and $`\theta ^{}`$, and

$$I_i(M)=_1^1f_i(\theta ^{})A_i(M,\theta ^{})d\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}$$
(4)
$`i=q,g,DY`$ for the processes $`q\overline{q}G`$, $`ggG`$, and $`q\overline{q}Z/\gamma ^{}`$ respectively. Only the shape of the distribution is used in the statistical tests, and the coefficients $`x`$ are constrained such that

$$x_q+x_g+x_{DY}=1$$
(5)
In order to evaluate the discovery reach of the experiment, in terms of its ability to reveal the spin-2 nature of the resonance, the following procedure was followed, intended to mimic an ensemble of possible experimental runs:

1. $`N`$ events were generated, containing the expected number $`N_{DY}`$ background events, with a Poisson distribution, and the remainder being graviton resonance decays with the $`q\overline{q}`$ and $`gg`$ mixture of the test model at that mass point.
2. $`\mathrm{log}L`$ was evaluated for two hypotheses:

1. $`x_q=x_g=0`$, $`x_{DY}=1`$, corresponding to a spin-1 resonance, such as a $`Z^{}`$
    2. all the coefficients set to the values in the test model with the expected Standard Model background fraction.
3. $`N`$ was increased by adding graviton resonance events, until the difference in $`\mathrm{log}L`$ between the two hypotheses reached 1.34, then 1.92 and finally 3.32. At these points the spin-1 hypothesis can be eliminated with 90, 95 and 99% confidence respectively.
4. This procedure was repeated for many sets of events, and the average value of $`N`$ needed for discrimination was found for each confidence level.

This value of $`N`$ provides a measure of the statistics needed in a typical experiment in order to determine the spin-2 nature of the resonance. $`N_S^{min}=NN_{DY}`$ is the number of signal events in the sample at the confidence limit. Table 4 shows results of this procedure.

The 90% confidence limit for $`m_G=500`$ GeV is raised by the requirement that the sample contains at least $`5\sqrt{N_{DY}}`$ signal events. In this case, less events would be sufficient to establish the spin of the resonance, but would not meet our criterion for a discovery. At very high $`m_G`$, the discrimination becomes more difficult because of the increased fraction of the resonance production coming from the $`q\overline{q}`$ initial state.

Figure 5 shows the confidence limit curves and the corresponding cross-section times branching ratio in our test model. Smooth curves have been drawn through the points since some statistical fluctuations remain at high mass. These results are model independent, as long as the assumption that the coupling of the graviton resonance is univeral holds true. This assumption affects the fraction of graviton resonance production from $`gg`$ and $`q\overline{q}`$ initial states, and hence the shape of the angular distribution. The cross-section times branching ratio of the test model is shown for comparison. In this model, the spin of the resonance could be determined with 90% confidence for graviton resonance masses as high as 1720 GeV.

## 5 Conclusions

The discovery limits for the detection of the decay mode $`Ge^+e^{}`$, derived above, show that the resonance can be detected up to a graviton resonance mass of 2080 GeV in our test model. The limits are model independent as long as the graviton couplings are universal and give rise to narrow resonances, with widths less than the experimental resolution. The angular distribution of the lepton pair can be used to determine the spin of the state. In our test model, the angular distribution favours a spin-2 hypothesis over a spin-1 hypothesis at 90% confidence for graviton masses up to 1720 GeV. Once the spin of the resonance has been determined, it will be useful to check the universality of its couplings . Muon and jet production cross-sections in the resonance region as well as decays into photons, massive vector bosons, higgs bosons and top quarks could be used to check this universality. The bosonic final states would provide a further test of the spin, since their angular distributions will be different from that of the electrons considered above. They would also serve to rule out other models of high mass resonances. For example, the $`Z^{}`$ will not couple to a two photon final state.

###### Acknowledgments.

We would like to thank J. March-Russell for an interesting discussion and I. Vernon for helpful discussions on different scenarios. MAP would like to thank C.G. Lester for his technical help. This work was funded by the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.


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# Stretched exponential relaxation in the Coulomb glass

## 1 Introduction

The relaxation in most glassy systems such as structural glasses, ionic conductor, supercooled liquids, polymer, colloid, and spin glasses EJ1  deviates strongly from a single exponential relaxation at some temperature $`T^{}`$ well above the static transition. In the three dimensional Ising spin glass model Ogielski O85  observed that the long time regime of the relaxation functions is well approximated by the non-exponential function

$$f(t)=f_0t^x\mathrm{exp}\left[(t/\tau )^\beta \right],$$
(1)
below $`T^{}=T_G`$, where $`T_G`$ is the Griffiths temperature G69 . In supercooled liquids GS92  the characteristic features of the relaxation processes in the long time regime is captured by a stretched exponential or Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts KWW54  decay function

$$f(t)=f_0\mathrm{exp}\left[(t/\tau )^\beta \right],$$
(2)
with $`0<\beta 1`$. This behavior can be obtained by a superposition of purely exponential relaxation process but subject to a broad distribution of relaxation times RB94 .

The Coulomb glass PO85 ; SE84  is a prominent example of glassy systems. In heavily doped crystalline semiconductors, amorphous semiconductor-metal alloys, and granular metals, it plays an important role as a semiclassical model for systems of localized states. The out of equilibrium dynamical behavior of the Coulomb glass has been studied previously by Schreiber et al. ST94  and Pérez-Garrido et al. PO98 . They determined numerically the transition probabilities between low-energy many-particle states, and studied the eigenvalues of the transition probability matrix. A broad distribution of relaxation times over several orders of magnitude was found in both cases, which reflects the glassy behavior of this system. This broad distribution bring to a power law relaxation function PO98 . Moreover, Wappler et al. WS97  used the damage-spreading algorithm to study the temporal evolution of the system in thermal equilibrium, and found evidence for a dynamical phase transition at a temperature $`T^{}`$ which depended of the degree of disorder considered. Yu studied the time development of the Coulomb gap considering a self-consistent equation for the density of states Y99 . She also observed that very long time scales are involved. Díaz-Sánchez et al. DM98 ; DM99 , considering the dynamic in the configuration space, studied non-ergodic effects on the specific heat and found very long relaxation times. Pastor et al. PD99  predicted the existence of a glass phase for a mean-field model of interacting spinless fermions in the presence of disorder. Experimental measurement in electronic system of an Anderson insulator VO00  showed a glass phase with aging phenomenon appearing. There it was found that the common relaxation law can be fitted by a stretched exponential function.

The aim of this paper is to study the shape of the relaxation process of the specific heat and the entropy in the Coulomb glass at very low temperatures and in thermal equilibrium. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduces the Coulomb glass model. Section 3 describes the numerical procedure, i.e. how the low-energy many-particle states are obtained numerically, and the dynamic used in the simulation. In Section 4, we use this procedure for the investigation of the relaxation process of the specific heat and the entropy. Finally, in Section 5 we extract some conclusions.

## 2 The model

A practical model to represent the Coulomb glass problem for simulating an impurity band of localized states in lightly doped semiconductors, when quantum interference can be neglected, was proposed in references PO85 ; SE84 . Later it was also applied to simulate granular metals PA92  and conducting polymers LC93 . Following reference BE79 , we consider a three dimensional cubic lattice with $`N`$ sites. The sites can be occupied by $`KN`$ ($`0<K<1`$) electrons which are interacting via an unscreened Coulomb potential. Background charges $`K`$ are added at each of the lattice sites, guaranteeing electro-neutrality. The disorder is simulated by a random potential $`ϵ_i`$. Their values are uniformly distributed between $`B/2`$ and $`B/2`$. This model is represented by the Hamiltonian

$$H=\underset{i}{}(ϵ_i\mu )n_i+\underset{i<j}{}\frac{(n_iK)(n_jK)}{r_{ij}},$$
(3)
where $`n_i\{0,1\}`$ denotes the occupation number of site $`i`$, $`r_{ij}`$ is the distance between sites $`i`$ and $`j`$ according to periodic boundary conditions MR53 , and $`\mu `$ is the chemical potential. The lattice spacing is taken as unit of distance.

In this paper, we focus in the half-filled impurity band $`K=1/2`$, where there is particle-hole symmetry and the chemical potential $`\mu `$ equals zero at any temperature in the thermodynamic limit. We take $`B=2`$ in this paper, similar results to the ones presented here are found for other values of $`B`$ DM99 .

## 3 Numerical procedure

Our aim is to simulate the temporal evolution of the Coulomb glass at very low temperatures in thermal equilibrium. For that we first obtain a set $`𝒮`$ of low-energy many-particle configurations and later define a dynamic between these configurations. We apply this procedure to study the relaxation of the specific heat and the entropy to their equilibrium values.

### 3.1 Low-energy configurations

We find the low-energy many-particle configurations by means of a three-steps algorithm DM99 . This comprises local search PO97 ; MP96 , thermal cycling MN97 , and construction of “neighboring” states by local rearrangements of the charges PO97 ; MP96 . The efficiency of this algorithm is illustrated in reference DM99 . In the first step we create an initial set $`𝒮`$ of metastable states. We start from states chosen at random and relax these states by a local search algorithm which ensures stability with respect to excitations from one up to four sites. In the second step this set $`𝒮`$ is improved by means of the thermal cycling method, which combines the Metropolis and local search algorithms. The third step completes the set $`𝒮`$ by systematically investigating the surroundings of the states previously found.

### 3.2 Dynamic in the configuration space

We now present a method to study the influence of the duration of the measurement, i.e. the observation time $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$, on the expectation value of the specific heat $`c`$ and the entropy $`S`$ DM99 . This method defines a dynamic in the configuration space.

During $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$ the state of the sample travels randomly through its configuration space. A transition between configurations $`I`$ and $`J`$ is allowed if the transition time $`\tau _{IJ}`$ is shorter than $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$. So, at finite $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$ only transitions with characteristic time $`\tau _{IJ}`$ shorter than $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$ contribute to the specific heat. Thus, for a given $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$, we consider two configurations as connected if their $`\tau _{IJ}`$ is shorter than $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$, and we group the configurations in clusters according to these connections. These clusters correspond to regions of the configurations space being isolated from each other on the time scale $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$.

The characteristic transition time between configurations $`I`$ and $`J`$ is PO85 ; DM99 ,

$$\tau _{IJ}=\tau _0\mathrm{exp}\left(2r_{ij}/a\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(E_{IJ}/T\right)/Z.$$
(4)
In this equation, the quantity $`\tau _0`$ is a constant of the order of the inverse of the phonon frequency, $`\tau _010^{13}\mathrm{s}`$. The sum is the minimized sum over all hopping distances between sites which change their occupation in the transition $`IJ`$. $`a`$ denotes the localization radius, $`E_{IJ}=\mathrm{max}(E_I,E_J)`$ where $`E_I`$ is the energy of the state $`I`$, $`T`$ is the temperature, and $`Z`$ is the partition function.

Provided, at the beginning of the measuring process, the sample is in one of the states of the cluster $`\alpha `$, we measure as value of the mean energy in this cluster,

$$E_\alpha =\underset{I\alpha }{}E_IP_I,$$
(5)
with

$$P_I=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{E_I}{T}\right)Z_\alpha ^1,$$
(6)
where $`Z_\alpha `$ denotes the value of the the partition function of this cluster. The entropy of the cluster is given by

$$S_\alpha =\underset{I\alpha }{}P_I\mathrm{ln}\left(P_I\right).$$
(7)
Assuming that the clusters are in thermal equilibrium the specific heat for a cluster $`\alpha `$ of states is:

$$c_\alpha =\frac{E^2_\alpha E_\alpha ^2}{T^2N}.$$
(8)
The expectation value of $`c`$, $`c`$, that is the mean value of repeated measurements, is given by the weighted average of $`c_\alpha `$:

$$c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=\underset{\alpha }{}c_\alpha P_\alpha ,$$
(9)
where $`P_\alpha `$ is the probability to find the sample in one of the states belonging to the cluster $`\alpha `$. Similarly the expectation entropy,$`S`$, is given by

$$S(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=\underset{\alpha }{}S_\alpha P_\alpha .$$
(10)
Thus $`c`$ and $`S`$ depend via the cluster structure and $`P_\alpha `$ on $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$, and also on $`T`$. Both the cluster structure and $`P_\alpha `$ are influenced by the history of the sample. In our numerical experiments, we presume that the sample has reached thermal equilibrium before the measurements; thus $`P_\alpha =Z_\alpha /Z`$.

## 4 Relaxation functions

We study the process of relaxation of the specific heat and the entropy according to the methods presented in the previous section. To make the influence of $`\tau _\mathrm{m}`$ directly visible, we consider the rate of the values of the specific heat and the entropy for finite and infinite (equilibrium) duration of measurement, respectively:

$$q_c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=\frac{c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})}{c(T,\mathrm{})}=\frac{c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})}{c_{\mathrm{eq}}},$$
(11)
$$q_s(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=\frac{S(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})}{S(T,\mathrm{})}=\frac{S(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})}{S_{\mathrm{eq}}},$$
(12)
where $`c_{\mathrm{eq}}`$ and $`S_{\mathrm{eq}}`$ are the equilibrium values. Moreover, in order to characterize the shape of the relaxation process in the long time regime we study the following functions,

$$R_c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=1q_c(T,\tau _\mathrm{m}),$$
(13)
$$R_s(T,\tau _\mathrm{m})=1q_s(T,\tau _\mathrm{m}),$$
(14)
which go to zero at the equilibrium.

In our simulations we consider the localization radius $`a`$ equals always 0.2 MP91b . Investigating the physical properties of macroscopic systems, we have calculated ensemble averages, and have compared the results for different sample sizes. In order to ensure the convergence of the results on the number of low-energy many-particle configurations in the set $`𝒮`$, we have taken from $`25000`$ to $`75000`$ configuration into account for the cases studied here (the number of configurations to consider depends on the temperature and system size). This election ensures that the width of the related energy interval exceeds the temperature by at least a factor of 25. As in reference DM99  for $`N512`$ the result are free of finite-size effects. Here we present the simulations for $`N=512`$ taking into account 1000 samples for ensemble averages. In order to simplify the notation we consider the variable $`t=\tau _\mathrm{m}/\tau _0`$, i.e. our unit of time is $`\tau _0`$.

We first study the shape of the relaxation functions $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$. Figure 1 shows $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$ as a function of $`t`$, for five different temperatures. Here we can see that the long time regime, $`R_c0.5`$ and $`R_s0.5`$, may be reasonably fitted by a stretched exponential function. In the worse case, $`T=0.014`$, the $`75\%`$ of the stretched exponential function is compared with the data although for $`T=0.006`$ it becomes the $`80\%`$. For all temperatures considered here $`R_c`$ is equal to $`R_s`$ in the long time regime (within the errors). This form of the relaxation functions brings us to think in a broad distribution of relaxation times in the system, as it has been found in references ST94 ; PO98 . We have also attempted a fit of our results with equation (1) but the better fit is made with $`x0`$, i.e. we recover equation (2).

The influence of the temperature on the relaxation process is studied. The values of $`\beta `$, obtained by fitting $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$ with equation (2), are presented in Figure 2. We see that $`\beta `$ increases with the temperature and it is the same for both relaxation functions, $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$, at each temperature (within the errors). This behavior of $`\beta `$ is also found in other glassy systems FC99 . We could expect some temperature $`T^{}`$, higher than the temperatures studied here, where $`\beta =1`$, recovering the exponential relaxation process at $`T>T^{}`$. Unfortunately our method does not let to investigate higher temperatures because we must take a finite number of configurations into account in the set $`𝒮`$ (we have taken the maximum of configurations that we have been able in order to make the calculations in a reasonable time).

For an estimate of the long time relaxation we use $`\tau `$ from the fit of equation (2) of $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$. As we can see in Figure 3, $`\tau _r`$ is reasonably fitted by an Arrhenius behavior divergence as $`T0`$

$$\tau _r(T)=a\mathrm{exp}[T_0/T],$$
(15)
with $`a=1.4\times 10^8`$ and $`T_0=0.1106`$ for $`R_c`$; for $`R_s`$ we have $`a=1.2\times 10^9`$ and $`T_0=0.0946`$. The differences in $`a`$ and $`T_0`$ from both relaxation functions are because of the sensitivity of $`\tau `$ on the details of the fit.

We now consider the relation between the specific heat and the entropy in the long time regime. At the equilibrium both are connected by the relation

$$\frac{S}{T}=\frac{N}{T}c.$$
(16)
As we will see below due to the temperature dependence of $`R_c`$ and $`R_s`$ this thermodynamic relation only hold at the equilibrium, i.e. when $`t\tau _r`$. We have seen that $`R_cR_s=R`$ in the long time regime, so that $`q_cq_s=q`$ and we can write from equations (11) and (12)

$$c=q(T,t)c_{\mathrm{eq}},$$
(17)
and

$$S=q(T,t)S_{\mathrm{eq}},$$
(18)
after we have substituted $`c`$ and $`S`$ in equation (16) and regrouped terms we have

$$\left(\frac{S_{\mathrm{eq}}}{T}\frac{N}{T}c_{\mathrm{eq}}\right)q=S_{\mathrm{eq}}\frac{q}{T}.$$
(19)
The left term of this equation is zero while the right term is different of zero when the system is not at the equilibrium. So that we can write a new relation for the entropy and the specific heat. It follows as

$$\frac{S}{T}S_{\mathrm{eq}}\frac{q}{T}=\frac{N}{T}c.$$
(20)
At the equilibrium $`q/T`$ vanishes and we recover equation (16). In order to check this expression in Figure 4 we compare the specific heat calculated from this equation, and from the values of the entropy, with the specific heat calculated from equation (9). The derivatives are approximated with finite differences. We can see that both agree very well in the long time regime.

## 5 Conclusion

We have studied the relaxation process of the specific heat and the entropy for the three-dimensional Coulomb glass at very low temperatures and in thermal equilibrium. The long time relaxation regime follows a stretched exponential function, with the exponent $`\beta <1`$ increasing with the temperature, which is an indication of a broad distribution of relaxation times in the system. From these results, we could expect a dynamical transition at some temperature $`T^{}`$ (above of the temperatures studied here) where $`\beta =1`$. The exponential relaxation process would be recovered for $`T>T^{}`$. In reference WS97  it was found $`T^{}>0.03`$ for the two-dimensional Coulomb glass although the effects of distance-dependent transition probabilities were not taken into account. Moreover, the relaxation functions found here in the thermal equilibrium are very different from the power law relaxations found when the system is out of equilibrium PO98 . Nevertheless, in out of equilibrium experiments stretched exponential relaxation functions are found VO00 . The relaxation time diverges as an Arrhenius law when $`T0`$. Finally, we have found a relation between the specific heat and the entropy in the long time regime.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported by the European TMR Network-Fractals (Contract No. FMRXCT980183). A. Díaz-Sánchez acknowledges support from a Postdoctoral Grant from the European TMR Network-Fractals. We are indebted to M. Ortuño, A. Möbius, M. Pollak, and A. Coniglio for stimulating discussions.


text:
# Antimatter from supersymmetric dark matter

## 1 Introduction.

The dark matter in the Universe and, in particular, in our Galaxy, could be mostly made of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). The most appealing candidates to WIMPs are believed to be the heavy and neutral species predicted by supersymmetry, called neutralinos. The mutual annihilations of these relics in the halo of our Galaxy would produce an excess in the cosmic radiation of gamma rays, antiprotons and positrons. In particular, supersymmetric antiprotons should be abundant at low energy, a region where the flux of $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$ secondaries is a priori negligible. There is quite an excitement trying to extract from the observations a possible $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$ exotic component which would signal the presence of supersymmetric dark matter in the Galaxy. Unfortunately, it has been recently realized bottino98 ; bergstrom99 ; bieber99  that a few processes add up together to flatten out, at low energy, the spectrum of secondary antiprotons. Disentangling an exotic supersymmetric contribution from the conventional component of spallation antiprotons seems to be a very difficult task.

Antideuterons, i.e., the nuclei of antideuterium, are free from such problems. The two antinucleons must be at rest with respect to each other in order for fusion to take place successfully. For kinematic reasons, a spallation reaction creates very few low–energy particles and low-energy secondary antideuterons are very strongly suppressed. On the other hand, in neutralino annihilations, antinucleons are predominantly produced with low energies and supersymmetric $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$’s are manufactured at rest with respect to the Galaxy. This feature is further enhanced by their subsequent fusion into antideuterons: a fairly flat spectrum for supersymmetric antideuterium nuclei is expected.

Below a few GeV/n, secondary antideuterons are quite suppressed with respect to their supersymmetric partners. That low–energy suppression is orders of magnitude more effective for antideuterons than for antiprotons. This makes cosmic–ray antideuterons a much better probe of supersymmetric dark matter than antiprotons.

Unfortunately, antideuteron fluxes are quite small with respect to $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$’s. We will nevertheless show in Sect. 3 that a significant portion of the supersymmetric parameter space may be explored by measuring the cosmic–ray $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ flux at low energy, in particular by an AMS/ISS caliber experiment.

## 2 Production and propagation of antideuterons.

The processes at stake are both the spallation of a cosmic–ray high–energy proton on an atom at rest in the interstellar medium (secondary component) and the annihilation of a neutralino pair in the galactic dark halo (primary component). For each of the processes under concern, the differential probability for the production of an antiproton or an antineutron may be derived. The calculation of the probability for the formation of an antideuteron can proceed in two steps. We first need to estimate the probability for the creation of an antiproton–antineutron pair. Then, those antinucleons merge together to yield an antinucleus of deuterium. A fully description of the processes at stake is carried in Ref. citenoi.

Here we only report the final formula which we obtained for the differential multiplicity of an antideuteron when originated from a neutralino pair annihilation:

$$\frac{dN_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}}{dE_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}}=\left(\frac{4P_{\mathrm{coal}}^{}{}_{}{}^{3}}{3k_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}}\right)\left(\frac{m_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}}{m_{\overline{\mathrm{p}}}m_{\overline{\mathrm{n}}}}\right)\underset{\mathrm{F},\mathrm{h}}{}B_{\chi \mathrm{h}}^{(\mathrm{F})}\left\{\frac{dN_{\overline{\mathrm{p}}}^\mathrm{h}}{dE_{\overline{\mathrm{p}}}}\left(E_{\overline{\mathrm{p}}}=E_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}/2\right)\right\}^2.$$
(1)
It may be expressed as a sum, extending over the various quarks and gluons h as well as over the different annihilation channels F, of the square of the antiproton differential multiplicity. That sum is weighted by the relevant branching ratios. The antineutron and antiproton differential distributions have been assumed to be identical. Here $`m_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}},m_{\overline{\mathrm{p}}},m_{\overline{\mathrm{n}}}`$ are, respectively, the antideuteron, the antiproton and the antineutron mass, while $`k_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}`$ is the antideuteron momentum. $`P_{\mathrm{coal}}`$ is a critical value for the two–body reduced system momentum and is linked to the fusion model.

The propagation of cosmic–rays inside the Galaxy is strongly affected by their scattering on the irregularities of magnetic fields, leading to a diffusive transport. Our Galaxy can be reasonably well modelled by a thin disk of atomic and molecular hydrogen, with radius $`R20`$ kpc and thickness $``$ 200 pc. This gaseous ridge is sandwiched between two diffusion regions which act as confinement domains as a result of the presence of irregular magnetic fields. They extend vertically up to $`3`$ kpc apart from the central disk. We address to Refs. noi ; bottino98  for a careful description of the diffusion model we employed for the propagation of both the primary and secondary component.

In Fig. 1, the interstellar $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ spectrum (solid curve) has been modulated at solar maximum (dashed line) and solar minimum (dotted line). We have applied the forced field approximation perko  to estimate the effect of the solar wind on the cosmic–ray energies and fluxes. We can see that the antideuteron spectrum sharply drops below a few GeV/n. For kinematical reasons, the production of antinucleons at rest with respect to the Galaxy is extremely unprobable. The manufacture of a low–energy antideuteron is even more unprobable. It actually requires the creation of both an antiproton and an antineutron at rest. The momenta need to be aligned in order for fusion to succesfully take place. Low–energy antideuterons produced as secondaries in the collisions of high–energy cosmic–rays with the interstellar material are therefore extremely scarce, with a completely depleted energy spectrum below $``$ 1 GeV/n. The spallation background is negligible in the region where supersymmetric $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$’s are expected to be most abundant. This feature makes the detection of low–energy antideuterons an interesting signature of the presence of supersymmetric relics in the Galaxy.

To this aim, we have calculated the flux corresponding to four configurations (see Table 1 of Ref. noi  for details), aimed to illustrate the richness of the supersymmetric parameter space. As a theoretical framework, we use the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) (see noi  and references quoted therein) which conveniently describes the supersymmetric phenomenology at the electroweak scale, without too strong theoretical assumptions. We present our results in Fig.2.

We can see from this figure that the primary fluxes flatten at low energy where they reach a maximum. As the secondary $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ background vanishes, the supersymmetric signal is the largest. Neutralino annihilations actually take place at rest in the galactic frame. The fragmentation and subsequent hadronization of the jets at stake tend to favour the production of low–energy species. Therefore, the spectrum of supersymmetric antiprotons – and antineutrons – is fairly flat below $``$ 1 GeV. For the same reasons, the coalescence of the primary antideuterons produced in neutralino annihilations predominantly takes place with the two antinucleons at rest, hence a flat spectrum at low energy.

In Fig. 3, the supersymmetric–to–spallation interstellar flux ratios for antiprotons (lower curves) and antideuterons (upper curves) are presented as a function of the kinetic energy per nucleon, for the same configurations as before. In the case of antiprotons, the primary–to–secondary ratio is much smaller than for antideuterons. The supersymmetric antiproton signal is swamped in the flux of the secondaries. This is not the case for antideuterons. At low energies, their supersymmetric flux is several orders of magnitude above background. Antideuterons appear therefore as a much cleaner probe of the presence of supersymmetric relics in the galactic halo than antiprotons. The price to pay however is a much smaller flux. It is therefore crucial to ascertain which portion of the supersymmetric configurations will be accessible to future experiments through the detection of low–energy cosmic–ray antideuterons.

## 3 Discussion and conclusions.

In order to be specific, we have estimated the amount of antideuterons which may be collected by the AMS experiment ams , once it is on board ISS. The future space station is scheduled to orbit at 400 km above the sea level, with an inclination of $`\alpha =52^{}`$ with respect to the Earth equator. A revolution takes about 1.5 hours so that ISS should fly over the same spot every day. The AMS detector may be pictured as a cylindrical magnetic field with diameter $`D=110`$ cm. At any time, its axis points towards the local vertical direction.

Since the terrestrial magnetic field prevents particles from penetrating downwards, at any given geomagnetic latitude $`\varrho `$ there exists a rigidity cut-off $`_{\mathrm{min}}`$ below which the cosmic–ray flux is suppressed. The value of the effective solid angle through which the arriving particles are potentially detectable depends on the cosmic–ray rigidity $`p`$ as well as on the precise location of the detector along the orbit (see noi  for any detail).

The net number of cosmic–ray species which AMS may collect on board ISS is actually a convolution of the detector acceptance $`\mathrm{}`$ with the relevant differential flux at Earth. For antideuterons, this leads to

$$N_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}=\mathrm{}\left(p_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}^{}\right)\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}^{}𝑑T_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}^{},$$
(2)
where the integral runs on the $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ modulated energy $`T_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}^{}`$.

Integrating the secondary flux previously discussed leads respectively to a total of 12.3 and 13.4 antideuterons, depending on whether the solar cycle is at maximum or minimum. These spallation $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$’s are mostly expected at high energies. As is clear from Fig. 2, the secondary flux drops below the supersymmetric signal below a few GeV/n. The transition typically takes place for an interstellar energy of 3 GeV/n. Below that value, the secondary antideuteron signal amounts to a total of only 0.6 (solar maximum) and 0.8 (solar minimum) nuclei. Most of the supersymmetric signal is therefore concentrated in a low–energy band extending from the AMS threshold of 100 MeV/n up to an upper bound of 3 GeV/n in interstellar space.

For each supersymmetric configuration, the $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ flux has been integrated over that low–energy range. The resulting yield $`N_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}`$ which AMS may collect on board ISS is presented as a function of the neutralino mass $`m_\chi `$ in the scatter plot of Fig. 4. During the AMS mission, the solar cycle will be at maximum. A significant portion of the parameter space is associated to a signal exceeding one antideuteron – horizontal dashed line.

A complementary information may be derived from Fig. 5, where the $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ modulated flux is featured as a function of the neutralino mass $`m_\chi `$. The antideuteron energy at the Earth has been set equal to 240 MeV/n. The flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}^{}`$ is larger at solar minimum – when modulation is weaker –than at maximum, the lower the cosmic–ray energy, the larger that effect. The supersymmetric configurations which an antideuteron search may unravel are nevertheless more numerous at solar minimum. Between the left and the right panels, the constellation of representative points is actually shifted upwards and, relative to the limit of sensitivity, the increase amounts to a factor $``$ 2. In spite of the low fluxes at stake, the antideuteron channel is sensitive to a respectable number of supersymmetric configurations.

As already discussed, it is still a quite difficult task to ascertain which fraction of the measured antiproton spectrum may be interpreted as a supersymmetric component. Notice however that as soon as the secondary $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$ flux is reliably estimated, low–energy antiproton searches will become a more efficient tool. Meanwhile, we must content ourselves with using observations as a mere indication of what a supersymmetric component cannot exceed. The vertical shaded band of Fig. 6 corresponds actually to the 1–$`\sigma `$ antiproton flux which the BESS 95 + 97 experiments bess\_2  have measured at a $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$ kinetic energy of 0.24 GeV. In Fig. 6, the supersymmetric antideuteron yield $`N_{\overline{\mathrm{D}}}`$ has been derived at solar maximum. This corresponds to the conditions of the future AMS mission on board the space station. The antideuteron yield is plotted as a function of the associated supersymmetric $`\overline{\mathrm{p}}`$ flux at Earth. The latter is estimated at solar minimum to conform to the BESS data to which the vertical band refers. The scatter plot of Fig. 6 illustrates the strong correlation between the antideuteron and the antiproton signals, as may be directly guessed from Eq. 1. The horizontal dashed line indicates the level of sensitivity which AMS/ISS may reach. Points located above that line but on the left of the shaded vertical band are supersymmetric configurations that are not yet excluded by antiproton searches and for which the antideuteron yield is potentially detectable. The existence of such configurations illustrates the relevance of an antideuteron search at low energies, appearing as a plausible alternative, worth being explored. A dozen spallation antideuterons should be detected by the future AMS experiment on board ISS above a few GeV/n. For energies less than $``$ 3 GeV/n, the $`\overline{\mathrm{D}}`$ spallation component becomes negligible and may be supplanted by a potential supersymmetric signal. The discovery of a few low–energy antideuterons should be taken seriously as a clue for the existence of massive neutralinos in the dark halo of our Galaxy.


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# Star formation in expanding shells

## 1 Introduction

HI shells (and holes) are structures found in the distribution of neutral hydrogen of many nearby galaxies. The density of the gas in their walls is higher than the average density of the unperturbed ambient medium; the star formation in rims of HI shells is observed, e.g. in LMC (Kim et al. 1999), SMC (Stanimirovic et al. 1999), IC 2574 (Walter & Brinks 1999), etc. Its significance for the evolution of galaxies was studied by Palouš, Tenorio-Tagle & Franco (1994) and others.

The gravitational instability of the shell may lead to the formation of a cloud and then to the star formation. This instability is discussed in this contribution. The density perturbation on the shell surface is stretched by the expansion, while its self-gravity supports its growth. The instantaneous maximum growth rate of the perturbation in the linear approximation is (Elmegreen 1994)

$$\omega =\frac{3v_{exp}}{R}+\sqrt{\frac{v_{exp}^2}{R^2}+\left(\frac{\pi G\mathrm{\Sigma }_{sh}}{c_{sh}}\right)^2},$$
(1)
where $`R`$ is the radius of the shell, $`v_{exp}`$ is its expansion speed, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{sh}`$ is its column density and $`c_{sh}`$ is the speed of sound within the shell. The perturbation grows only if $`\omega >0`$.

During the evolution, $`R`$, $`v_{exp}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{sh}`$ change. We may ask, which conditions ensure $`\omega >0`$ so that the gravitational instability may develop. One possibility is studied by Elmegreen (1994). Shells in galaxies with thin disks are not spherical but elongated and even cylindrical. With the assumption that the diameter of the cylinder and its height are equal to the height of the galactic disk, the parameter of the gravitational instability of expanding shells may be derived:

$$Q_{trigg}=\frac{\kappa c_{ext}}{\pi G\mathrm{\Sigma }_{gas}}$$
(2)
where $`c_{ext}`$ is the speed of sound in the unperturbed medium and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{gas}`$ is the surface density of the gaseous component of the galactic disk. This relation shows, that the star formation in expanding rings may be triggered, if the gas surface density $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{gas}`$ is sufficiently high.

In this paper we are interested in studying the fragmentation properties of HI shells without any assumptions on shapes and dimensions of the structures. For another application of the fragmentation of expanding shells see the contribution of G. Parmentier in this book.

## 2 Shells in the static homogeneous medium

During a majority of the evolution the thickness of the blastwave propagating into the ISM is much smaller than its radius. This is used by the thin shell approximation, in which the blastwave is described as the cold infinitesimally thin layer surrounding the hot medium and expanding. In case of the static homogeneous medium the blastwave is spherically symmetric and the analytical self-similar solution can be found (Sedov 1959; Weaver, Castor & McCray 1977).

The formula (1) for the instantaneous maximum growth rate of perturbations shows, that at early stages of the evolution the shell is stable, as the fast expansion stretches all perturbations which might appear. Only later, when $`v_{exp}`$ is small, $`R`$ large and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{sh}`$ high, the self-gravity begins to play a role and fragments may form. At the time $`t_b`$ the growth rate $`\omega `$ becomes positive. This is the first moment, when the shell starts to be unstable and the fragmentation process begins.

Using the analytical solution we can get relations for the radius $`R(t_b)`$, the expansion velocity $`v_{exp}(t_b)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{sh}(t_b)`$ at the time $`t_b`$, see Ehlerová et al (1997); or Ehlerová 2000. The radius $`R(t_b)`$ is a lower limit to the distance on which the fragmentation (and the triggered star formation) may take place; the expansion velocity $`v_{exp}(t_b)`$ is an upper limit to the random component of the velocity of newly created clouds (or stars).

So far we have assumed the supersonic motion, i.e. $`v_{exp}(t)>c_{ext}`$. If the shell becomes a sound wave before it starts to be unstable (i.e. before the time $`t_b`$), it will always remain stable. It is possible to derive the expression for the minimum energy input, which is able to trigger the fragmentation process. The condition, that $`v_{exp}`$ at $`t_b`$ is equal to the sound speed in the ambient medium $`c_{ext}`$, gives the critical luminosity $`L_{crit}`$ (the energy flux $`L`$ of the source is constant with time):

$$L_{crit}=\left(\frac{c_{ext}}{8.13kms^1}\right)^4\left(\frac{c_{sh}}{kms^1}\right)10^{51}ergMyr^1$$
(3)
If the energy input is greater than $`L_{crit}`$, the shell starts to fragment; if the input is smaller, the shell is always stable. $`L_{crit}`$ does not depend on the density of the ambient medium but it is a strong function of its speed of sound.

## 3 Shells in galactic disks

Numerical simulations must be used to describe the evolution of shells in $`z`$-stratified galactic disks with the gravitational field. The thin shell approximation has been applied in numerical simulations by many authors (see Ikeuchi 1998, for a review on this subject). The code, which we use in this paper, is an improved and extended successor to the code of Palouš (1990) described in Ehlerová et al (1997) and in Efremov, Ehlerová & Palouš (1999). The thin shell is divided into a number of elements; a system of equations of motion, mass and energy for each element is solved and the fragmentation condition (1) is evaluated.

Numerical simulations include some effects, which are neglected in the analytical solution. The most important are: 1) the pressure of the ambient medium and radiative cooling; 2) the finite, time-limited energy input from an OB association (life-time of the source is $`\tau `$); and perhaps the most obvious one 3) the stratification of the ISM in galaxies. In this contribution we do not take into account the gravitational field of the galaxy (see Ehlerová 2000, for the discussion of this subject).

Due to the disk-like ISM density distribution, shapes of expanding shells are not spherical, but elongated in the direction of the density gradient. For higher input energies and thin disks, large lobes extending to high $`z`$-distances form. A fraction of the energy supplied by the hot stars escapes to the galactic halo. This phenomenon, called the blow-out, decreases the effect of the OB association on the most dense parts of shells in the galactic plane.

Fragmentation properties vary with the position on the shell. Typically, for shells growing in a smooth distribution of gas with the $`z`$-gradient, a dense ring is created in the region of the maximum density, which is the most unstable part of the shell, while large lobes in low-density regions are stable. In the following we present results for the most unstable part of shells.

The ISM in galaxies is far from being smooth, it is turbulent (see a great deal of contributions in these proceedings). However, coherent shells and bubbles are observed even in a rather turbulent ISM. Our numerical experiments in a medium with a hierarchy of density fluctuations show, that shells are mostly influenced by the large-scale gradients in the ISM (with the possible exception of the very perturbed regions, where the coherent shock does not form). Therefore we think, that the discussion of shell properties in the smooth medium does not loose its relevance to the real situation.

## 4 The critical surface density

To study the influence of the $`z`$-stratification, we simulated shells in different types of the ISM distribution and different disk thicknesses $`n(z)=n_0\times f(\frac{z}{H})`$, where $`f`$ describes the profile of the disk and $`H`$ is its thickness. We do not assume any relation between $`H`$, $`n_0`$ and $`c_{ext}`$; we fix the velocity dispersion in the shell $`c_{sh}`$ to a constant value, $`c_{sh}=1kms^1`$. Results of calculations are as follows:

1. For a given total energy $`E_{tot}`$ and the sound speed $`c_{ext}`$ shells are unstable, if the surface density of the gaseous disk exceeds a certain value.
2. The minimum gas surface density of the disk needed for the onset of the fragmentation does not depend on the $`z`$-profile of the disk.
3. The value of the this critical surface density depends on the $`E_{tot}`$ and $`c_{ext}`$.
4. Exceptions to these three rules appear for i) very small shells, which are to a high degree spherical, and therefore does not feel the influence of the disk $`z`$-stratification; and ii) shells with a very profound blow-out, which enables an escape of a substantial part of the energy to the halo.

From simulations we derive the fit for the critical surface density of the gaseous disk:

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}=0.27\left(\frac{E_{tot}}{10^{51}erg}\right)^{1.1}\left(\frac{c_{ext}}{kms^1}\right)^{4.1}10^{20}cm^2.$$
(4)
## 5 Conclusions

There exist a critical value of the disk gas surface density $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$, shells expanding in disks with the lower gas surface density are stable, shells expanding in disks with the higher density are unstable, can fragment and form gaseous clouds and stars. The value of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ depends on the $`E_{tot}`$ and $`c_{ext}`$. How does it agree with other criteria for spontaneous or triggered star formation?

The Q criterion for the radial instability of the gaseous disk

$$Q_{sp}=\frac{\kappa c_{ext}}{\pi G\mathrm{\Sigma }}$$
(5)
(Safronov 1960), or similar criterion for stellar particles by Toomre (1964), predicts, that the critical surface density is linearly dependent on the sound speed. Similarly, the Elmegreen criterion (2) for the fragmentation of expanding shells shows the same behavior. The critical surface density (eq. 4) derived by us depends on a fourth power of the sound speed in the ISM. The main difference is, that we do not study effects of the gravitational field of the galaxy (which leads to the dependence on the epicyclic frequency $`\kappa `$), but instead we ask, that the expansion of the shell must be supersonic, otherwise the evolution of instabilities is not described well by the equation (1), and moreover (and more importantly) the accumulation of mass by the blastwave is stopped and the growth of density perturbations is significantly slower or inhibited.

Values of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ for reasonable values of $`E_{tot}`$ and $`c_{ext}`$ are of the order of $`(10^{20}10^{21})cm^2`$, which coincides with the value of observed threshold surface densities for the star formation in galaxies (Kennicutt 1997; Hunter, Elmegreen & Baker 1998). The agreement of these two quantities may indicate, that the contribution of the star formation induced by shells to the total star formation may be important.

The very steep dependence of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ on $`c_{ext}`$, as given by the equation (4), indicates the importance of the self-regulating feedback for the triggered star formation mode. Young stars in OB associations release the energy and compress the ambient ISM, creating shells. In dense walls of shells, the star formation may be triggered, if the disk surface density surpasses a critical value $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$. The star formation is accompanied by the heating of the ISM, i.e. increasing $`c_{ext}`$. This leads to the increase of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ and a subsequent reduction of the star formation rate. The energy dissipation and cooling of the ISM decreases $`c_{ext}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ and increases the star formation, closing the self–regulating cycle of the triggered mode of the star formation.

The Q criterion (5) describes the spontaneous mode of the star formation. Our condition (4) describes the triggered star formation (and even more precisely, the self-propagating star formation). Then the less steep dependence of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{crit}`$ on $`c_{ext}`$ for the spontaneous star formation means, that this mode may keep its effectivity in regions, where $`c_{ext}`$ has been increased and the triggered mode of star formation has been stopped.

Authors gratefully acknowledge a financial support by the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic under the grant No. A300305/1997 and a support by the grant project of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic No. K1-003-601/4.


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# Kodaira dimension of symmetric powers

## 1. Proof of main theorem

Recall \[Re\] that a variety $`Y`$ has canonical singularities provided that

1. $`Y`$ is normal
2. $`\omega _Y^{[r]}:=(\omega _Y^r)^{}`$ is locally free for some $`r>0`$, where $`\omega _Y=(\mathrm{\Omega }_Y^{dimY})^{}`$.
3. If $`f:Y^{}Y`$ is a resolution of singularities, then $`f_{}\omega _Y^{}^r=\omega _Y^{[r]}`$.

The smallest such $`r`$ is called the index. If $`Y`$ is canonical, then the third condition holds for all $`r1`$ \[Re, 1.3\], thus the index is the smallest $`r`$ for which $`\omega _Y^{[r]}`$ is locally free. It’s enough to test the last condition for a particular resolution of singularities. This condition is equivalent to a more widely used condition involving pullbacks of canonical divisors.

###### Lemma 1.

Let $`Z`$ be a smooth variety on which a finite group $`G`$ acts. Let $`Y=Z/G`$. If $`Y`$ has canonical singularities of index dividing $`r`$, then

$$H^0(Y,\omega _Y^{[r]})H^0(Z,\omega _X^r)^G.$$

If the fix point locus has codimension greater than one, equality holds.

###### Proof.

Construct a commutative diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccc}Z^{}& & Z\\ g^{}& & g\\ Y^{}& \stackrel{f}{}& Y\end{array}$$

where $`Y^{}Y`$ is a desingularization, and $`Z^{}`$ is a $`G`$-equivariant desingularization of the fiber product. Then there are inclusions

$$\omega _Y^{[r]}=f_{}\omega _Y^{}^r(fg^{})_{}(\omega _Z^{}^r)^G=g_{}(\omega _Z^r)^G.$$

This implies the first part of the lemma. The inclusion $`\omega _Y^{[r]}g_{}(\omega _Z^r)^G`$ is an equality on the complement of the fixed point locus. Since $`\omega _Y^{[r]}`$ is locally free (hence reflexive) and $`g_{}(\omega _Z^r)^G`$ is torsion free, the second statement follows. ∎

###### Proposition 1.

Let $`X`$ be a smooth variety of dimension $`n>1`$, then $`S^dX`$ has canonical singularities of index one if $`n`$ is even, and canonical singularities of index at most $`2`$ if $`n`$ is odd.

###### Proof.

As the result is local analytic for $`X`$, we may replace it by $`^n`$. Consider the action of the symmetric group $`S_d`$ on $`^{nd}=^n\times \mathrm{}\times ^n`$ by permutation of factors, and let $`h:S_dGL_{nd}()`$ be the corresponding homomorphism. This action is equivalent to a direct sum of $`n`$ copies of the standard representation $`^d`$ where $`S_d`$ acts via permutation matrices. Therefore $`h(S_d)`$ does not contain any quasi-reflections (because $`n>1`$) and $`det(h(\sigma ))=sign(\sigma )^n`$. When $`n`$ is even, $`h(S_d)SL_{nd}()`$. This implies that $`S^dX=^{nd}/S_d`$ is Gorenstein by \[W\], and therefore canonical of index one \[Re, 1.8\].

The case when $`n`$ is odd is more laborious. For any element $`\sigma S_d`$ of order $`r`$, define $`S(\sigma )`$ as follows: choose a primitive $`r`$th root of unity $`ϵ`$ and express the eigenvalues of $`h(\sigma )`$ as $`\lambda _i=ϵ^{a_i}`$ where $`0a_i<r`$, set $`S(\sigma )=a_i`$. By \[Re, 3.1\], to prove that $`S^dX`$ is canonical it will suffice to verify that $`S(\sigma )r`$ for every element $`\sigma `$ of order $`r`$. Let $`^d`$ be the permutation representation of $`S_d`$. If $`e_1,\mathrm{}e_d`$ is the standard basis then $`\sigma e_i=e_{\sigma (i)}`$. If $`ϵ`$ is a primitive $`r`$th root of unity, then it is easy to see that the eigenvectors of the cycle $`\sigma =(12\mathrm{}r)`$ acting on $`^d`$ are $`e_1+ϵ^ie_2+\mathrm{}ϵ^{(r1)i}e_r`$ and $`e_{r+1},\mathrm{}e_d`$. Therefore the nonunit eigenvalues are $`ϵ,\mathrm{},ϵ^{r1}`$ and these occur with multiplicity one. Hence $`S(\sigma )=nr(r1)/2r`$ as required. The general case is similar. Let $`\sigma `$ be a permutation of order $`r`$ and $`ϵ`$ as before. Write $`\sigma `$ as a product of disjoint cycles of length $`r_i`$. Therefore $`r`$ is the least common multiple of the $`r_i`$, and let $`r_i^{}=r/r_i`$. A list (with possible repetitions) of the nonunit eigenvalues of $`\sigma `$ acting on $`^d`$ is

$$ϵ^{r_1^{}},\mathrm{}ϵ^{r_1^{}(r_11)},ϵ^{r_2^{}}\mathrm{}ϵ^{r_2^{}(r_21)},\mathrm{}$$

Therefore

$$S(\sigma )=\frac{n}{2}[r_1^{}r_1(r_11)+r_2^{}r_2(r_21)+\mathrm{}]r$$

and this proves that $`S^dX`$ is canonical. It remains to check that the index is at most $`2`$. For this it suffices to observe that if $`x_i`$ are coordinates on $`^{nd}`$, then

$$(dx_1\mathrm{}dx_{nd})^2$$

is $`S_d`$ invariant. This determines a generator of $`\omega _{S^dX}^{[2]}(X)`$, which shows that this module is free.

###### Proof of main theorem.

Let $`m`$ be an integer such that $`mn`$ is even (hence a multiple of the index of $`S^dX`$). Then

$$H^0(\omega _{\mathrm{\Sigma }_d}^m)=H^0(\omega _{S^dX}^{[m]})=H^0(\omega _{X^d}^m)^{S_d}$$

By Künneth’s formula, this equals

$$[H^0(\omega _X^m)\mathrm{}H^0(\omega _X^m)]^{S_d}=S^dH^0(\omega _X^m).$$


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# 1 Magnetization of the Fe8 powder at 2 K for the magnetic field parallel to the orientation axis (the empty triangles) and perpendicular to the orientation axis (the empty circles).

Spin Tunneling in Fe8 molecular nanomagnets\[Comment on Europhys. Lett. 47, 722 (1999) by DEL BARCO et al\]
G. Bellessa

Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Bâtiment 510, Universit Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France

Chudnovsky and Tejada have published without asking for my agreement a paper in Europhysics Letters (Ref. ) on an experiment done in my research group in Orsay by Del Barco, Vernier and myself. The Fe8 sample was furnished by Tejada.

I shall not comment on this behavior, but I want to notice two important points:

$``$ The first one is about the way the experiment is presented in Ref.  as the observation of mesoscopic quantum coherence, when it is more simply an EPR experiment that allows to observe the transitions inside the fundamental doublet of the Fe8 cluster splitted by the magnetic field perpendicular to the easy magnetic axis of this one, as described by Korenblit and Shender .

$``$ The second point is about the assertion that “the orientation of the powder was done by solidifying an epoxy (Araldit) with Fe8 micrometric crystallites buried inside, in a 5.5 T field at 290 K during 12 hours”. This assertion is suspicious because the interaction energy between magnetic ions inside the Fe8 clusters is much smaller than the thermal energy at room temperature. Therefore, I have measured the magnetization of *the sample that was used in the experiment of Ref. * with a SQUID magnetometer at 2 K. The results are reported in Fig. 1. It can be seen that there is no significant difference between the magnetization curve for the magnetic field parallel to the powder orientation axis and the one for the magnetic field perpendicular to the powder orientation axis. It is the same in Fig. 1 of Ref. . The main peaks for the two orientation axes appear different on the high-field side but they are similar on the low-field side. So, the difference between the two curves is rather due to a change in the base-line.

To conclude, the susceptibility peak reported in Ref.  is observed in a non-oriented powder. Only the crystallites that have their easy axis almost perpendicular to the magnetic field take part in the susceptibility peak. This explains why the signal corresponds to a quite small part of the magnetic moments in the sample.


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# Theory of Transition Temperature of Magnetic Double Perovskites

## Abstract

We formulate a theory of double perovskite coumpounds such as Sr2FeReO6 and Sr2FeMoO6 which have attracted recent attention for their possible uses as spin valves and sources of spin polarized electrons. We solve the theory in the dynamical mean field approximation to find the magnetic transition temperature $`T_c`$. We find that $`T_c`$ is determined by a subtle interplay between carrier density and the Fe-Mo/Re site energy difference, and that the non-Fe same-sublattice hopping acts to reduce $`T_c`$. Our results suggest that presently existing materials do not optimize $`T_c`$.

Identification of a ferromagnet with high spin polarization at room temperature and stable surface properties is an important goal in the field of magnetic materials. Such a system would allow, for example the fabrication of ’spin-valve’ devices of greatly improved efficiency for magnetic field sensing, the development of new magnetic recording media, and perhaps the construction of improved sources of spin-polarized electrons for ’spin-tronic’ applications. One promising family of materials are the ’double perovskites’ . These are compounds of chemical formula $`ABB^{}O_6`$, with $`A`$ an alkaline earth such as $`Sr`$, $`Ca`$ or $`Ba`$, and $`B,B^{}`$ two different transition metal ions. Double perovskites in which $`B`$ is $`Fe`$ and $`B^{}`$ is $`Mo`$ or $`Re`$ are of particular recent interest because they seem to be metallic ferrimagnets with very high magnetic transition temperatures and highly spin-polarized conduction bands. However, neither the physics nor the materials science of these compounds is yet well understood. The magnetic transition temperature and whether the ground state is metallic or insulating vary as A is changed from Ba to Sr to Ca . Mis-site ($`BB^{}`$) disorder has a pronounced effect.

In this paper we take a step towards a theoretical understanding for these materials. We derive a many-body Hamiltonian, using band theory calculations to fix important parameters. We calculate the magnetic transition temperature $`T_c`$, and determine how different material parameters affect it. Our results should provide guidance in attempts to design double perovskite materials with improved properties, and an appropriate starting point for calculations of other properties.

Double perovskites have a crystal structure which generalizes the familiar $`ABO_3`$ perovskite structure by having two B-site ions, which in the ideal structure alternate in a simple two sublattice pattern. The band theory has been determined. The conduction bands are derived from transition metal $`B`$-site $`t_{2g}`$ d-orbitals, in agreement with quantum chemical considerations. There are six conduction bands per spin direction per unit cell; roughly, one triplet arises mainly from the $`d_{xy,xz,yz}`$ orbitals on the $`Fe`$ and the other from the same orbitals on Mo/Fe. The occupied bands are fully polarized at $`T=0`$.

Because the near-fermi-surface bands are derived from transition metal d-orbitals, we argue that a simple tight-binding parametrization of the band theory is adequate. We therefore model the ideal compound as a cubic lattice of transition metal sites, divided in the usual way into two interpenetrating sublattices, which we denote as A(Mo/Re) and B(Fe). On each site we include 3 $`t_{2g}`$ orbitals, $`d_{xy},d_{xz},d_{yz}`$. A good fit to the band structure requires both first and second neighbor hoppings, probably because the Mo/Re conduction electrons come from the $`4d`$ shell, which is spatially extended. If only first and second neighbour hoppings are considered, then the $`t_{2g}`$ orbital symmetry implies that a given orbital can mix only with orbitals of the same symmetry and only with orbitals in the appropriate plane ($`d_{xy}`$ couples only to $`d_{xy}`$ orbitals in the $`xy`$ plane).

The band theory is thus a sum of three two dimensional tight binding models, which we write as $`H_{band}=H_{onsite}+H_{xy}^{hop}+H_{yz}^{hop}+H_{xz}^{hop}`$, with $`a_{im\sigma }^{}`$ creates an electron on site $`i`$ of orbital state $`m`$ and spin $`\sigma `$. The on-site term $`H_{onsite}`$ consists of an $`AB`$ site energy difference, which has a spin-independent term $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m`$ (independent of orbital $`m`$ in cubic symmetry) and a spin dependent term $`J\sigma `$.

$$H_{xy}^{hop}=\underset{p,\sigma }{}\left(\begin{array}{cc}a_{p(xy)\sigma }^{}& b_{p(xy)\sigma }^{}\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{cc}4t_{aa}cos(p_x)cos(p_y)& t_{ab}\left[cos(p_x)+cos(p_y)\right]\\ t_{ab}\left[cos(p_x)+cos(p_y)\right]& 4t_{bb}cos(p_x)cos(p_y)\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}a_{p(xy)\sigma }\\ b_{p(xy)\sigma }\end{array}\right)$$
(1)
We now fix parameters by computing the density of states (shown in Fig. 1) and comparing to band calculations. The calculated tight-binding band structure displays features that depend sensitively on parameters. The parameters which best fit ref. are shown in Fig. 1, with uncertainties of $`1015\%`$ on all quantities.

For the $`|t_{aa}|<|t_{ab}|`$ case of relevance here the band minima and maxima are at $`\frac{1}{2}\left[(\mathrm{\Delta }J)4(t_{aa}+t_{bb})\right]\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\left[4(t_{aa}t_{bb})+(\mathrm{\Delta }J)\right]^2+4t_{ab}^2}`$. As $`\omega `$ is increased through $`\mathrm{\Delta }J`$, the density of states has a step up. For $`t_{bb}=0`$, the hybridization vanishes along a line in $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-space which intersects the van-Hove point, causing the density of states $`N(\omega )`$ to diverge as $`N(\omega \mathrm{\Delta }J)(\omega \omega ^{})^{1/2}\mathrm{ln}\left[1/(\omega \omega ^{})\right]`$ as $`\omega \omega ^{}=\mathrm{\Delta }J`$ from above. A nonzero $`t_{bb}`$ eliminates the square-root divergence and moves the van-Hove singularity away from $`\omega =\mathrm{\Delta }J`$. Thus the leading edge of the sharp peak in the density of states fixes $`\mathrm{\Delta }J`$ and the upper and lower band edges determine $`t_{ab}`$ and $`t_{aa}`$. Changing $`t_{bb}`$ from $`0.05eV`$ to $`0`$ changes the best fit $`t_{ab}`$ from $`0.5eV`$ to $`0.4eV`$, and cause the density of states in the $`\omega \mathrm{\Delta }`$ region to be dominated by the $`(\mathrm{ln}\omega )/\sqrt{\omega }`$ singularity, making it asymmetric (unlike the published band structure calculation ). For later use we note that the ”$`t_{aa}`$-only” bandwidth is slightly less than the ”$`t_{ab}`$-only” bandwidth.

The band structure is strongly spin-polarized. In the majority spin sector, one band (dominantly $`B`$ i.e. $`Fe`$ states) is full and the other band is empty; In the minority spin sector one band (dominantly $`A`$, i.e. $`Re/Mo`$) is partly filled and the other ($`B`$) is empty. In other words, the B-site adopts a fully polarized filled-shell configuration, and motion of A-carriers onto B sites depends on the spin, providing the connection between carrier motion and spin alignment which favors ferromagnetism.

One sees from ref.  that in the majority-spin sector the A-derived states form a much narrower band than do the A-derived states in the minority sector. This shows that virtual processes which take the B-site from $`d^5`$ to $`d^4`$ state are much less important than those which take the B-site from $`d^5`$ to $`d^6`$. Further, Hund’s rules indicate that a $`d^4`$ or $`d^6`$ state of less than maximal $`Fe`$-spin must be even less favorable than a maximal spin $`Fe`$ $`d^4`$ configuration. Therefore, the local physics on the B($`Fe`$) site is described by

$$H_{loc}^B=\underset{iB,a\alpha \beta }{}b_{ia\alpha }^{}(\mathrm{\Delta }+J\widehat{S}_i\stackrel{}{\sigma }_{\alpha \beta })b_{ia\beta }$$
(2)
where $`\widehat{S}`$ is a unit vector representing the direction of the spins on the $`Fe`$. Here we have chosen the zero of energy to be the A-level energy and have restricted to cubic symmetry. Our approximation treats the $`d^5`$-maximal spin $`d^6`$ energy splitting correctly but is only an approximate representation of the unimportant higher energy states. We further argue that the small filling and high degree of spin polarization of the A( Mo/Re ) site means that we may neglect electron-electron interactions on this sublattice. Thus we propose the many body Hamiltonian

$$H=H_{xy}^{hop}+H_{xz}^{hop}+H_{yz}^{hop}+H_{loc}^B$$
(3)
We solve this model via the dynamical mean field approximation (DMFT). This method has been widely applied to models, such as the Hubbard or Kondo-lattice model, with one atom per unit cell. In this situation, one formulates a local problem specified by the local action $`S_{loc}=\mathrm{\Sigma }_\omega g(\omega )c^{}(\omega )c(\omega )+H_{int}`$, where $`g(\omega )`$ is a mean field function to be determined by a self-consistency condition. To generalize this structure to the situation of present interest we introduce two mean field functions, $`𝐚(\omega )`$ and $`𝐛(\omega )`$ for the A and B sublattices respectively. We use boldface to denote tensors depending on spin and orbital indices. Our choice of interaction Hamiltonian allows us to integrate over the fermion fields, yielding

$$S_{loc}=Tr\mathrm{ln}[𝐚]+Tr\mathrm{ln}[𝐛+\mathrm{\Delta }+J\stackrel{}{S}\stackrel{}{\sigma }]$$
(4)
Here the trace is over the frequency, spin and orbital indices, and an average over the orientation of the core spin must still be performed. We now write the self-consistency conditions. Because an electron on site A may hop to either another A-site ion or to another B-site ion but the spin and orbital indices are conserved by the band part of $`H`$, we require three couplings ($`W_{AA}`$ connecting $`A`$ site to $`A`$ bath; $`W_{AB}`$ connecting $`A`$ site to $`B`$ bath and conversely, and $`W_{BB}`$ connecting $`B`$ site to $`B`$ bath). We define the local Green functions $`𝐆_a=𝐚^1`$ and $`𝐆_𝐛=(𝐛+\mathrm{\Delta }+J\stackrel{}{S}\stackrel{}{\sigma })^1`$ ($``$ means average over the partition function constructed from Sloc) and obtain

$`𝐚`$ $`=`$ $`\omega +\mu W_{AA}^2𝐆_𝐚W_{AB}^2𝐆_𝐛`$ (5)
$`𝐛`$ $`=`$ $`\omega +\mu W_{AB}^2𝐆_𝐚W_{BB}^2𝐆_𝐛`$ (6)
These equations are the generalization to the present case of the widely-used semicircular density of states equations . They differ from the equations successfully used to describe CMR manganites in that the ’core spin’ interaction occurs only on the B-site. Note that because $`H^{hop}`$ is diagonal in the orbital index, these equations are diagonal as well. However, the partition function which determines the spin average involves all orbitals. We shall consider only ferrimagnetic states with magnetization direction specified by a unit vector $`\widehat{m}`$, for which it is convenient to express the spin dependence as $`a_{\alpha \beta }(\omega )=a_0(\omega )+a_1(\omega )\widehat{m}\stackrel{}{\sigma }_{\alpha \beta }`$ (and similarly for $`𝐛`$).

We fix parameters by comparing the calculated $`T=0`$ DMFT density of states to the tight-binding one. Our fits are shown in Fig. 1; we are able to reproduce the general structure, including the upper and lower band edges reasonably well, but there are some differences of detail. The DMFT always exhibits a square root singularity at $`\omega =J\mathrm{\Delta }`$. Because this is integrable, and indeed is above the chemical potential, it is not important for our subsequent considerations. The DMFT is more likely to exhibit a gap in the density of states for $`\omega `$ slightly smaller than $`J\mathrm{\Delta }`$. In the band theory, the $`AB`$ hybridization vanishes along lines in $`k`$-space ( for $`H_{xy}^{hop}`$, this is along $`cos(p_x)+cos(p_y)=0`$ ); this feature is absent in DMFT. Finally, van Hove singularities are present in the band theory but not in DMFT. The ”$`W_{AA}`$-only” $`T=0`$ bandwidth is $`4W_{AA}`$, the ”$`W_{AB}`$-only” bandwidth is $`4W_{AB}`$; comparison to the tight-binding model suggests $`W_{AB}2W_{AA}`$.

We now evaluate the magnetic transition temperature, $`T_c`$, which we define as the temperature at which the paramagnetic solution becomes linearly unstable to a ferrimagnetic one. The spin structure of the mean field parameters is expressed by the non-magnetic ($`a_0`$) and the magnetic ($`a_1`$) components, and at $`T_c`$ nonzero values of $`a_1,b_1`$ become possible. Linearizing the equations in $`a_1,b_1`$ we obtain for $`T_c`$:

$$1=\underset{n}{}2J^2\frac{W_{AB}^4+(a_0^2W_{AA}^2)W_{BB}^2}{(a_0^2W_{AA}^2)\left[\left((b_0+\mathrm{\Delta })^2J^2\right)^2\left((b_0+\mathrm{\Delta })^2\frac{1}{3}J^2\right)W_{BB}^2\right]W_{AB}^4\left((b_0+\mathrm{\Delta })^2\frac{1}{3}J^2\right)}$$
(7)
Our two different DMFT fits to the tight-binding model (Fig. 1), yield $`T_c`$’s of $`495K`$(DMFT fit 1) and $`200K`$(DMFT fit 2), for the band filling appropriate for Mo. Eq.( 7) is a mean-field result. Our previous experience comparing DMFT to Monte Carlo results for double-exchange models shows that the mean-field expression overestimates $`T_c`$ by about 25$`\%`$, implying physical $`T_c`$’s of $`370`$ and $`150K`$ for these two fits. It is interesting that $`T_c`$’s are comparable to or larger than $`T_c`$’s observed in the manganese perovskites. We attribute this to the higher orbital degeneracy (which allows each and to be partially filled, favoring ferromagnetism) and very strong Fe-Mo/Re overlap.

We see that the calculated $`T_c`$’s depend sensitively on parameters. To elucidate this, we study this dependence in more detail. We begin with the effects of varying $`W_{AA}`$ shown in Fig. 2, considering first the limit $`W_{AA}W_{AB}`$. In this case one has a wide band of $`A`$ site carriers, weakly coupled to a spin-polarized ”resonant level” on the $`B`$-site, a situation familiar from heavy-fermion physics. Known results for this problem imply a carrier-spin coupling $`IW_{AB}^2/(J\mathrm{\Delta })`$ and a $`T_cI^2/W_{AA}`$. The DMFT equations can be solved in this limit, leading to precisely this behavior (shown as stars in Fig. 2). Thus $`T_c`$ is maximized at $`W_{AA}=0`$.

We now turn to the effects of varying the Fe-$`d^6`$/Mo energy difference $`J\mathrm{\Delta }`$, and the carrier density, $`n`$. We measure the carrier density as number added beyond the Fe $`d^5`$ configuration; thus Mo corresponds to $`n=1`$ and Re to $`n=2`$. Numerical results are shown in Fig. 3; a complicated non-monotonic behaviour is evident, which may be understood by consideration of the simplifying limits $`W_{AA}0`$ and $`(\mathrm{\Delta }+J)W_{AB}`$. In this ”double-perovskite-double-exchange” limit carrier motion is strongly constrained by the need to have carrier and core spins parallel. Now specialize further to the limit $`|J\mathrm{\Delta }|W_{AB}`$, so that the carriers are essentially confined to one sublattice, with effective bandwidth $`W_{AB}^2/|J\mathrm{\Delta }|`$. The model then maps onto the standard double-exchange one, with three orbitals per cell and Hund’s coupling $`J+\mathrm{\Delta }`$. The standard arguments  then show that at low $`n`$ one has a ferromagnet with a $`T_c`$ determined by bandwidth (so increasing as $`|J\mathrm{\Delta }|`$ decreases), while as $`nn_{orb}`$ (one electron per orbital) some other non-ferromagnetic (probably incommensurate cf ) arrangement of spins becomes favorable. The density range over which a non-ferromagnetic ground state is preferred increases as $`J\mathrm{\Delta }`$ decreases, essentially because the greater effective bandwidth increases the energy gain from populating ’wrong-spin’ orbitals, and this accounts for the decrease in the ferromagnetic $`T_c`$ with decreasing $`|J\mathrm{\Delta }|`$ at larger n. This trend is in qualitative agreement with the variation in $`T_c`$ on changing Mo ($`n=1`$) for Re (n=2) in Ba and Sr-based double perovskites .

To summarize, we have formulated a many-body Hamiltonian which contains the essential physics of the Fe-based double perovskite compounds, and have used it to determine the factors affecting the ferro(or ferri)-magnetic transition temperature. Same-sublattice (Mo-Mo) hopping is not small in the actual materials, and acts to lower $`T_c`$. The higher band fillings of the Re compounds make it more difficult to realize high ferri-magnetic $`T_c`$s, essentially because o fother competing forms of magnetic order. We therefore suggest that a search for higher $`T_c`$ materials focus on $`4d^1`$ systems and on ways to reduce the same sublattice hopping, as well as more to closely match the Fe $`d^6`$ and B site energies. On the other hand, systems based on $`4d^2`$ ions are more likely to exhibit interesting many-body physics and non-trivial ground states.

The Hamiltonian and approximation scheme we have proposed allows a number of immediate extensions. From the tight-binding band-theory and the DMFT self energy, the dc and optical conductivities may be calculated. The effects of a lattice distortion which lifts the degeneracy of the three $`t_{2g}`$ orbitals  can be computed by allowing the site energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ to depend on orbital index. Finally, the ”cavity field” interpretation of dynamical mean field theory allows a straightforward investigation of the effects of mis-site ( Re-Fe interchange) disorder. Work in all of these directions is in progress.

We thank S. B. Ogale, J. Gopalakrishnan and S. W. Cheong for helpful discussions and the University of Maryland MRSEC and NSF-DMR-9705482 for support.