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# The Spin Excitation Spectrum in Superconducting 𝐘𝐁𝐚_𝟐𝐂𝐮_𝟑𝐎_6.85

Science, 288 p 1234 (2000).

A comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering study of magnetic excitations in the near-optimally doped high-temperature superconductor $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$ is presented. The spin correlations in the normal state are commensurate with the crystal lattice, and the intensity is peaked around the wave vector characterizing the antiferromagnetic state of the insulating precursor $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_6`$. Profound modifications of the spin excitation spectrum appear abruptly below the superconducting transition temperature, $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{C}`$, where a commensurate resonant mode and a set of weaker incommensurate peaks develop. The data are consistent with models based on an underlying two-dimensional Fermi surface that predict a continuous, downward dispersion relation connecting the resonant mode and the incommensurate excitations. The magnetic incommensurability in the $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ system is thus not simply related to that of another high temperature superconductor, $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$, where incommensurate peaks persist well above $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{C}`$. The temperature dependent incommensurability is difficult to reconcile with interpretations based on charge stripe formation in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ near optimum doping.

Electronic conduction in the high temperature superconductors cuprate takes place predominantly in $`\mathrm{CuO}_2`$ layers. Most theories therefore regard the electronic state that forms the basis of high temperature superconductivity as an essentially two-dimensional (2D) strongly correlated metal. The $`\mathrm{CuO}_2`$ sheets in one family of copper oxides ($`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$) have, however, been shown to be unstable against the formation of 1D “charge stripes” even near doping levels where the superconducting transition temperature $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ is maximum. This observation has boosted models in which the underlying electronic instability is one-dimensional and the formation of (static or fluctuating) stripes is an essential precondition for high temperature superconductivity . However, $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ has some low energy phonon modes conducive to stripe formation that are not generic to the high-$`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{C}`$ compounds, and the maximum $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{C}`$ in this system is anomalously low. It is therefore important to test whether stripe based scenarios are viable in other cuprates with higher $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{C}`$, where this lattice dynamical peculiarity is not present.

The most salient signature of charge stripes is an associated (static or dynamic) spin density modulation that can be detected by neutron scattering. In $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ this modulation manifests itself as four well-defined incommensurate peaks at $`Q_\delta =(\pi (1\pm \delta ),\pi )`$ and $`(\pi ,\pi (1\pm \delta ))`$ (in square lattice notation with unit lattice constant) in the magnetic spectrum, which are interpreted as arising from two 1D domains . Neutron scattering experiments on the $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ system have, however, revealed excitations that are peaked at $`Q_{AF}=(\pi ,\pi )`$  , the ordering wave vector of the 2D antiferromagnetic state observed when the doping level is reduced to zero. In particular, the commensurate “resonance peak” at $`Q=(\pi ,\pi )`$ that dominates the spectrum in the superconducting state , is difficult to reconcile with scenarios based on fluctuating 1D domains incommensurate with the host lattice. Recently, an incommensurate pattern with a four-fold symmetry reminiscent of $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ has also been discovered in some constant-energy cuts of the magnetic spectrum of underdoped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.6}`$, which was taken as experimental support for stripe-based scenarios of superconductivity. We report a neutron scattering study of near-optimally doped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$ ($`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}=89`$K) demonstrating that (unlike in $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$) the incommensurate pattern appears only below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$. Magnetic excitations in the normal state are commensurate and centered at $`Q=(\pi ,\pi )`$. Our data are consistent with 2D Fermi liquid-like theories (not invoking stripes) , and especially that which predicts a continuous, downward dispersion of the magnetic resonance peak .

The experiments have been performed on a large twinned single crystal (mass $``$ 9.5 g) grown using the top seed melt texturing method . The sample was subsequently annealed in oxygen and displays a sharp superconducting transition ($`T_C`$) at 89 K measured by a neutron de-polarization technique that is sensitive to the entire bulk . Experiments were carried out on two triple axis spectrometers: IN8 at the Institut Laue Langevin, Grenoble (France), and 2T at the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, Saclay (France). Two different scattering geometries were used on both spectrometers. On IN8, the (130) and (001) reciprocal directions were within the horizontal scattering plane. \[We quote the wavevector Q=(H,K,L) in units of the tetragonal reciprocal lattice vectors $`2\pi /a=2\pi /b=1.63`$ Å-1 and $`2\pi /c=0.53`$ Å-1\]. On 2T, an unconventional scattering geometry has been employed with the (100) and (011) reciprocal directions spanning the scattering plane. In both scattering geometries in-plane wavevectors equivalent to $`(\pi ,\pi )`$ can be reached, with an out-of-plane wave vector component close to the maximum of the structure factor of low energy excitations . In addition, wavevectors of the form $`𝐐=(H,K,1.7)`$ around the antiferromagnetic wavevector were accessible on 2T by controlling the tilt angle, allowing a 2D mapping of the neutron intensity in the tetragonal basal momentum space and for a fixed energy transfer.

The magnetic resonance peak is observed at $`E_r=41`$ meV and $`Q=Q_{AF}`$ in our sample  in agreement with previous reports for similar oxygen content . Here we present data obtained at energies below the resonance where the magnetic signal is significantly weaker. Using established procedures, we use the temperature dependence of the magnetic intensity (which strongly decreases upon heating) to separate it from the phonon scattering that gradually increases with increasing temperature (Fig. 1A). Figs. 1B-D show constant-energy scans at E=35 meV performed along the (130) direction (arrow in the inset of Fig. 1B). The phonon contribution has been subtracted for clarity. At low temperature, deep in the superconducting state, the magnetic scattering exhibits a double peak structure along $`(H,3H,0)`$. At 70 K, the intensity is still peaked at incommensurate wavevectors, but the discommensuration is slightly reduced. A single broad feature peaked at $`H`$=0.5 is observed at 100 K in the normal state.

We have performed a comprehensive set of measurements in order to chart out in detail the spectral rearrangement indicated in Fig. 1. As an example, typical constant-energy scans were taken at low temperature along the $`H`$ direction with $`K`$=1.5 (Fig. 2A). The magnetic intensity is maximum at incommensurate wavevectors displaced from $`(0.5,1.5)`$ along $`H`$, and the incommensurability in this direction depends continuously on energy and forms a dispersing branch that closes at $`E_r`$. Accordingly, the maximum of the spin susceptibility at wave vector sufficiently far from ($`\pi ,\pi `$) is shifted to lower energy than the resonant peak energy. The profile shapes are influenced by the instrumental resolution, and a deconvolution is required to accurately extract the peak positions. We found that a good global fit to the peak positions in both scattering geometries could be obtained by a convolution of the spectrometer resolution with the dispersion relation $`E=\sqrt{E_r^2(\alpha q)^2}`$ with $`\alpha =(125\pm 15)`$ meV- Å. This downward dispersion (Fig. 2B) is shown along with the fitted peak positions. A neutron intensity map in the $`(H,K)`$ reciprocal lattice plane measured at E=35 meV and T=12 K (not shown here) indicates that the intensity is not uniform along the dispersion surface. As in more underdoped samples , the intensity pattern has fourfold symmetry, with maxima shown as full squares in the inset of Fig. 1B. Although the data have not been analyzed in this manner, the overall momentum dependence of the spin susceptibility reported in Fig. 3 below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ is consistent with that reported in Refs.  as well as that in Refs.  where the incommensurability was not resolved.

Similar scans were repeated in the normal state (Fig. 3B) where the data thus far reported are inconclusive about the incommensurability. For all energies reported in Fig. 2, the normal state response can be systematically fitted by a single broad line (as shown at E= 35 meV in Fig. 1D). Fig. 3 shows that the momentum width at T=100 K is energy independent up to 45 meV where the peaks begin to broaden . The $`q`$-width at low energy, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_q=`$ 0.21 Å-1 (HWHM) after deconvolution, agrees with previous reports for a similar oxygen content. Below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$, the spin dynamics exhibit a more complex momentum dependence (Fig. 3A). While the momentum shape at energies above 45 meV is largely unaffected by superconductivity, there is a large increase in intensity and narrowing of the $`q`$-width at $`E_r=41`$ meV which is accompanied by a much weaker incommensurate response in a narrow energy range below $`E_r`$. Finally, the intensity is strongly reduced below 30 meV, which could result from the opening of a ”spin-gap” below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ as suggested by previous measurements .

The incommensurate response thus appears to be intimately linked to the occurrence of the resonance peak below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ . In order to complete this picture, we now describe an accurate determination of the onset temperature of the incommensurate response and compare it to that of the resonance peak . The temperature dependence of the resonance intensity is reproduced for the present sample (Fig. 4A), and the raw neutron intensity (say without the phonon background subtracted) at the incommensurate position $`Q=(0.4,1.5,1.7)`$ and E=35 meV is shown versus temperature (Fig. 4B). Processed data at E=35 meV (phonons subtracted and converted to absolute units ) are shown (Fig. 4C) a series of wavevectors (sketched by the open diamonds in Fig. 2B) spanning the locus of maximum intensity at low temperatures. Remarkably, all curves show a precipitous upturn at $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$, demonstrating clearly that both the resonance peak and the incommensurability are induced by superconductivity. An indication of similar behavior had already been found in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.7}`$ ($`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$=67 K)  so that this behavior seems to be generic to the $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ superconductor.

Fig. 4C is also revealing in another respect. While all curves show the same sharp initial upturn below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$, $`\chi \mathrm{"}(𝐪,35\mathrm{meV})`$ generally goes through a maximum at a temperature $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{m}(𝐪)`$ that increases as $`𝐪(\pi ,\pi )`$. A monotonic temperature dependence ($`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{m}0`$) like the one of the resonance peak is seen only for q close to the low temperature incommensurate wave vector determined above. However, the difference $`\chi \mathrm{"}(\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{m})\chi \mathrm{"}(\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c})`$ is identical within the errors for the three q-points away from $`(\pi ,\pi )`$. This dramatic behavior can be straightforwardly understood as a consequence of the temperature (Fig. 1) and energy (Figs. 2 and 3) dependent incommensurability already indicated above. The resonance peak, together with the dispersion, forms quickly upon cooling below $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ and then sweeps sequentially through the wave vectors monitored in Figs. 4C.

In $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$ the incommensurate response is part of a continuous dispersion below the resonance peak that is strongly renormalized upon approaching $`\mathrm{T}_\mathrm{c}`$ and vanishes in the normal state. This is in stark contrast to the behavior reported for $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$  where no change of the peak position occurs across the superconducting temperature . Only around room temperature does the incommensurate structure begin to disappear . Further, $`\delta `$ is energy-independent in $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$, but depends strongly on doping over a wide range of the phase diagram . Because of the energy dependence of $`\delta `$ discussed above and the small number of samples investigated thus far, information about its doping dependence in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ is still very incomplete. We note, however, that the discommensuration at $`E=35`$ meV ($`=E_r6`$ meV) we found in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$, $`\delta =0.10`$ r.l.u. $`0.16`$ Å-1, is equal to that reported in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.6}`$  at $`E=24.5`$ meV ($`=E_r\stackrel{´}{}9.5`$ meV with $`E_r\stackrel{´}{}=34`$ meV) within the experimental error. Finally, the incommensurate fluctuations are only observed in a narrow energy range for fixed doping and are further substantially weakened in fully oxidized $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_7`$.

In the light of these observations, the analogy between the incommensurate spin excitations in $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ and $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ should not be overstated. Specifically, the interpretation in terms of stripe-domain fluctuations with a well-defined, doping dependent average periodicity, which is compelling and well documented in $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$, seems untenable in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ near optimal doping. Our data indicate that the incommensurate excitations are continuously connected to the commensurate resonance peak by a dispersion relation with a negative curvature (Fig. 1B). The temperature dependence of Fig. 4 strongly supports a common origin of both phenomena. Some aspects of the behavior we observed have, in fact, been anticipated in the framework of microscopic models where the resonance peak is interpreted as a collective mode pulled below the gapped particle-hole spin-flip continuum. In particular, a downward dispersion has been predicted to arise naturally as a result of a momentum dependent pole in the spin susceptibility due to antiferromagnetic interactions . This picture also accounts for the rapidly diminishing intensity of the magnetic peaks away from $`(\pi ,\pi )`$, as collective modes commonly lose oscillator strength upon approaching the continuum. Models based on dynamical nesting induced by a modification of the band dispersions  may also be consistent with our data. The models favored by our experimental results on near-optimally doped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ are based on an interplay between band dispersions, Coulomb interactions and the $`d`$-wave gap function in a two-dimensional correlated electronic state.

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# Synchronisation, binding and the role of correlated firing in fast information transmission

## 1 Introduction

Does synchronization (or more generally temporal correlations) between action potentials from different cells in the central visual system play a substantial role in solving crucial computational problems, such as binding of visual features or figure/ground segmentation? One theory suggests that synchrony between members of neuronal assemblies is the mechanism used by the cerebral cortex for associating the features of a coherent single object .

Although several groups have reported compelling experimental evidence from the visual system in support of this theory (for a review see ), the role played by synchronous firing in visual feature binding is still highly controversial , and far from being understood. In our view, it is possible that one or more methodological factors contribute to the continuing uncertainty about this issue. In fact, almost all the reported neurophysiological evidence in favor or against the temporal binding hypothesis relies upon the assessment of the significance of peaks in cross-correlograms (CCG, ) and of their modulation with respect to stimulus configuration. While investigating stimulus modulation of peaks (or of other features) of CCGs can clearly bear some evidence on the role of synchrony in binding, it does not address the crucial issue of how much synchrony tells the brain about the configuration of objects in the visual field. This question is particularly important as it is well known that firing rates of individual cells are commonly related to features of the sensory world , and even to perceptual judgements (see e.g. ). Firing rate modulations can potentially contribute to association of features through the use of population codes, or also in other ways. Therefore the specific contribution of synchrony (or in general of correlations between firing of cells) as a coding mechanism for binding should be assessed against the contribution of independent firing rate modulation to the encoding of object configurations in the visual field.

To address these issues, a pure analysis of CCG characteristics is insufficient. In addition to CCG quantification, information theory can be used to address the specific contribution of synchronized or correlated firing to visual feature binding, and to compare the contribution of synchrony against that of firing rates. In fact, Information theory  allows one to take the point of view of an ideal observer trying to reconstruct the stimulus configuration just based on the observation of the activity of neuronal population, and to determine how much the presence of correlated firing helps in identifying the stimulus.

In this paper we present and develop a rigorous information theoretic framework to investigate the role of temporal correlations between spikes. We first discuss how information theory could overcome the limitations of the pure CCG analysis. We then present a mathematical formalism that allows us to divide the information into components which represent the information encoding mechanisms used by neuronal populations – i.e. it determines how many bits of information were present in the firing rates, how many in coincident firing by pairs of neurons, etc., with all of these adding up to the overall available information. The mathematical approach developed here is valid for timescales which are shorter than or of the order of a typical interval between spike emissions, and it makes use of a Taylor series approximation to the information, keeping terms up to the second order in the time window length. This approximation is not merely mathematically convenient; short timescales are likely to be of direct relevance to information processing by the brain, as there is substantial evidence that much sensory information is transmitted by neuronal activity in very short periods of time . Therefore the mathematical analysis is relevant to the study of the computations underlying perceptual processes. In particular, it enables the quantitative study of the rapidly appearing correlational assemblies that have been suggested to underlie feature binding and figure/ground segmentation.

## 2 Problems with conventional Cross-Correlogram analysis

The CCG represents a histogram of the probability of a spike from one neuron at a given time relative to a reference spike of a second neuron . Whilst cross-correlation is capable of identifying synchrony between neurons, several aspects of the analysis of CCGs present problems or are incomplete. First, CCG analysis itself does not provide a criterion to choose which periods of a response epoch should be analysed. Since, in many cases, moving stimuli are employed, the response varies with time and it may be that correlations are present or are stimulus modulated for only a short part of the response . This short period is not necessarily related simply to the response peak, although some studies have analysed only the period in which the peak of the response is made to a moving stimulus . Second, the width of the time window over which correlations should be assessed is arbitrary. CCG analysis does not entirely address over which time scales correlations contribute most information about object configuration. Using long windows (e.g. much larger than the width of CCG peaks) may “wash out” transient correlations. Narrow windows centered upon the PSTH peak may ignore the part of the responses that contains most of the information about the stimuli (e.g. in firing rate modulations). Third, if the window length used to assess correlations is varied between stimulus conditions (e.g ) then an undesirable extra source of variation is introduced when the stimulus conditions are compared. Information theory can mitigate some of these problems by providing a criterion for the selection of time windows, by identifying the windows in which most information is actually transmitted.

Many previous studies also differ in the methods used to quantify the temporal structure in CCGs. Some studies rely on the fitting of a damped sine wave to the CCG (e.g. ). Other methods quantify solely the likelihood that the peak in the CCG did not arise by chance . Analysis of the significance of a peak, or of structure in the CCG must be made in relation to the flanks of the CCG. What length of flank is chosen will affect the significance of peaks. However, downstream neurons are unlikely to be able to compare the likelihoods of spikes occurring at lags of tens of milliseconds against the likelihood of simultaneous spikes.

The parameters of a CCG do not themselves quantify the informational contribution of synchronous firing. Conventional CCG analysis techniques attempt to assess correlation in a manner independent of the firing rate in order to disambiguate synchronous modulations from firing rate variations. It is unlikely, though, that any downstream detector of the synchronous discharge of neurons would be capable of assessing the significance of correlation independent of the firing rate. It is more likely that it would make use of the actual number of coincident spikes available in its integration time window. Therefore cross-correlation peaks and firing rate modulation are probably intrinsically linked in transmitting information to downstream neurons, and an analysis of the functional role of synchrony should be able to take this into account. Most studies that appear to show stimulus-dependent synchrony have employed relatively strongly stimulated cells. An important prediction of the temporal correlation hypothesis is that synchrony should encompass the responses of sub-optimally stimulated neurons . A thorough test of this hypothesis requires the study of cells that fire very few spikes. The number of spikes included in the calculation of a CCG of course affects the precision with which correlations can be detected . Variations in the number of evoked spikes, rather than a true change in correlation between the neurons, could thus affect comparisons between optimal and sub-optimal stimuli. While analysing cells firing at low rates may be a challenge for CCG analysis, it is tractable for analyses developed from information theory, as we shall see in Section 4.

## 3 Information Theory and Neuronal Responses

We believe that the methodological ambiguities that attend studies purely based on quantification of spike train correlograms can be greatly reduced by employing in addition methods based upon information theory , as we describe in this Section.

Information theory  measures the statistical significance of how neuronal responses co-vary with the different stimuli presented at the sensory periphery. Therefore it determines how much information neuronal responses carry about the particular set of stimuli presented during an experiment. Unlike other simpler measures, like those of signal detection theory, which take into account only the mean response and its standard deviation, information theory allows one to consider the role of the entire probability distributions. A measure of information thus requires sampling experimentally the probabilities $`P(r|s)`$ of a neuronal population response $`r`$ to all stimuli s in the set, as well as designing the experimental frequencies of presentation $`P(s)`$ of each stimulus. The information measure is performed by computing the distance between the joint stimulus-response probabilities $`P(r,s)=P(r|s)P(s)`$ and the product of the two probabilities $`P(r)P(s)`$, ($`P(r)`$ being the unconditional response probability) as follows:

$$I(S;R)=\underset{s}{}\underset{r}{}P(s,r)\mathrm{log}_2\frac{P(s,r)}{P(s)P(r)}$$
(1)
If there is a statistical relationship between stimuli and responses (i.e. if $`P(r,s)`$ is dissimilar from $`P(r)P(s)`$) , our knowledge about what stimulus was presented increases after the observation of one neuronal spike train. Eq. (1) quantifies this fact. The stronger the statistical relationship between stimuli and responses, the higher is the information value. Eq. (1) thus quantifies how well an ideal observer could discriminate between different stimulus conditions, based on a single response trial. There are several advantages in using information theory to quantify how reliably the activity of a set of neurons encodes the events in the sensory periphery . First, information theory puts the performance of neuronal responses on a scale defined at the ratio level of measurement. For example, an increase of 30% of on the peak height of a cross-correlogram does not tell us how this relates to synchrony-based stimulus discrimination, but values of information carried by synchronous firing have a precise meaning. Information theory measures the reduction of uncertainty about the stimulus following the observation of a neuronal response on a logarithmic scale. One bit of information corresponds to a reduction by a factor of two in the stimulus uncertainty. A second advantage of information theory in this context is that it does not require any specific assumption about the distance between responses or the stationarity of the processes, and it can therefore lead to objective assessments of some of the hypotheses.

In the above discussion we have mentioned that we are calculating information ‘about a stimulus’. In fact, more generally it can be information ‘about’ any quantifiable external correlate, but we shall continue to use the word stimulus in an extended sense. If we were studying information about the orientation of a grating, we would define our stimulus to be which of a number of different orientations the grating appeared at on any given experimental trial. If we wish to study problems such as binding or figure-ground segregation within this framework, we have to specify our stimulus description accordingly. An illustration of this is shown in the scene of Fig. 1, which contains two objects in front of a background. Also shown are a number of receptive fields, which are taken to be those of cells from which we are simultaneously recording the activity (‘spike trains’). We can define our stimulus, or external correlate, as a multidimensional variable representing the object to which each receptive field is associated. The dimensionality of our stimulus is in this case the number of cells from which we are recording at once. By quantifying the information contained in the spike trains about this variable, and breaking it down into individual components reflecting firing rates and correlations (or synchronisation), we can determine the aspects of the spike train which best encode the figure-ground (or object-object-ground) segregation. Furthermore, by examining how this relationship scales with the stimulus dimensionality (number of receptive fields recorded from), it may be possible to determine whether enough information is present in correlations to support binding in perceptually realistic environments.

It is worth noticing that information values are always relative to the stimulus set used, and that testing a neuron with different stimuli may lead to rather different information values. This has some interesting implications. On the one hand, it allows us to characterise neuronal selectivity by searching for a stimulus set that maximises the neuronal information transfer, a more rational characterisation strategy than searching for stimuli eliciting sustained responses. On the other hand, the intrinsic dependency of mutual information values on the nature of stimulus set allows us to test whether different encoding strategies are used by visual cortical neurons when dealing with external correlates of a different nature. The last property is of interest because one of the predictions of the binding-by-synchrony hypothesis is that synchrony is particularly important when stimulus configurations requiring some kind of associations are included, and less important in other situations. Information theory thus provides a natural framework to test this theory.

## 4 Series expansion of the mutual information

Although information theory is, as explained, a natural framework to address the role of correlated firing on e.g. binding of visual features, some work is needed to separate out of the total information contained in a population response $`r`$ into components, each reflecting the specific contribution of an encoding mechanism. We perform this separation in the limit in which the relevant window for information encoding is short enough that the population typically emits few action potentials in response to a stimulus. As discussed in the introduction and in , there is evidence that this is a relevant limit for studying the computations underlying perception, as cortical areas in several cases perform their computations within a time frame which is shorter than one typical interspike interval .

We examine a period of time of duration $`t`$, in which a stimulus $`s`$ is present. The neuronal population response $`r`$ during this time is taken to be described by the number of spikes fired by each cell111The additional temporal information contained in the spike times is studied in  in the window $`t`$. We study the information carried by the responses of a neuronal population about which stimulus is presented. It can be approximated by a power series

$$I(t)=tI_t+\frac{1}{2}t^2I_{tt}+O(t^3).$$
(2)
The problem is thus to compute the first two time derivatives of the information, $`I_t`$ and $`I_{tt}`$, which are all that survive at short timescales.

Two kinds of correlations influence the information. These are the “signal” (mean response to each stimulus) correlation and the “noise” (variability from the mean across different trials with the same stimulus) correlation between cells. In the short timescale limit the noise correlation can be quantified as

$$\gamma _{ij}(s)=\frac{\overline{n_i(s)n_j(s)}}{(\overline{n}_i(s)\overline{n}_j(s))}1,(ij)\gamma _{ii}(s)=\frac{(\overline{n_i(s)^2}\overline{n_i(s)})}{\overline{n_i(s)}^2}1,$$
(3)
where $`n_i(s)`$ is the number of spikes emitted by cell $`i`$ in a given trial in response to stimulus $`s`$, and the bar denotes an average across experimental trials to the same stimulus. The signal correlation can be measured as

$$\nu _{ij}=\frac{<\overline{r}_i(s)\overline{r}_j(s)>_s}{<\overline{r}_i(s)>_s<\overline{r}_j(s)>_s}1,$$
(4)
where $`\overline{r}_i(s)`$ is the mean firing rate of cell $`i`$ to stimulus $`s`$, and $`<\mathrm{}>_s`$ denotes an average across stimuli. These are scaled correlation densities ranging from -1 to infinity, which remain finite as $`t0`$. Positive values of the correlation coefficients indicate positive correlation, and negative values indicate anti-correlation.

Under the assumption that the probabilities of neuronal firing conditional upon the firing of other neurons are non-divergent, the $`t`$ expansion of response probabilities becomes an expansion in the total number of spikes emitted by the population in response to a stimulus. The probabilities of up to two spikes being emitted are calculated and inserted into the expression for information. This yields for the information derivatives

$`I_t`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{C}{}}}\overline{r}_i(s)\mathrm{log}_2{\displaystyle \frac{\overline{r}_i(s)}{\overline{r}_i(s^{})_s^{}}}_s`$ (5)
$`I_{tt}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{ln}2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{C}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{C}{}}}\overline{r}_i(s)_s\overline{r}_j(s)_s\left[\nu _{ij}+(1+\nu _{ij})\mathrm{ln}({\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+\nu _{ij}}})\right]`$ (6)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{C}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{C}{}}}\left[\overline{r}_i(s)\overline{r}_j(s)\gamma _{ij}(s)_s\right]\mathrm{log}_2({\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+\nu _{ij}}})`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{C}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{C}{}}}\overline{r}_i(s)\overline{r}_j(s)(1+\gamma _{ij}(s))\mathrm{log}_2\left[{\displaystyle \frac{(1+\gamma _{ij}(s))\overline{r}_i(s^{})\overline{r}_j(s^{})_s^{}}{\overline{r}_i(s^{})\overline{r}_j(s^{})(1+\gamma _{ij}(s^{}))_s^{}}}\right]_s.`$
The first of these terms is all that survives if there is no noise correlation at all. Thus the rate component of the information is given by the sum of $`I_t`$ (which is always greater than or equal to zero) and of the first term of $`I_{tt}`$ (which is instead always less than or equal to zero). The second term is non-zero if there is some correlation in the variance to a given stimulus, even if it is independent of which stimulus is present; this term thus represents the contribution of stimulus-independent noise correlation to the information. The third component of $`I_{tt}`$ is non-negative, and it represents the contribution of stimulus-modulated noise correlation, as it becomes non-zero only for stimulus-dependent correlations. We refer to these last two terms of $`I_{tt}`$ together as the correlational components of the information.

In any practical measurement of these formulae, estimates of finite sampling bias must be subtracted from the individual components. Analytical expressions for the bias of each component are derived in the online appendix of .

## 5 Correlations and fast information processing

The results reported above for the information derivatives show that the instantaneous rate of information transmission (related to the leading order contribution to the information) depends only upon the firing rates. Correlations contribute to information transmission, but they play only a second order role. This has interesting implications for the neural code, that we develop further here.

It was argued  that, since the response of cortical neurons is so variable, rapid information transmission must imply redundancy (i.e. transmitting several copies of the same message). In other words, it should necessary to average away the large observed variability of individual interspike intervals s by replicating the signal through many similar neurons in order to ensure reliability in short times. Our result, eq. (6), shows that to have a high information rate, it is enough that each cell conveys some information about the stimuli (because the rate of the information transmitted by the population is the sum of all single cell contributions); therefore we conclude that it is not necessary to transmit many copies of the same signal to ensure rapidity.

Also, since firing rates convey the main component of information, correlations are likely to play a minor role in timescales of the order of 20-50 ms, in which much information is transmitted in the cortex. As an example, Fig. 2 shows the information conveyed by a population of simulated Integrate and Fire neurons, which share a large proportion (30%) of their afferents (see  for details of the neuronal model used). It can be seen that, despite the strong correlations between the cells in the ensemble correlations play only a minor role with respect to firing rates.

To model a situation where stimulus dependent correlations conveyed information, we generated simulated data using the Integrate-and-Fire model for another quintuplet of cells which had a stimulus dependent fraction of common input. This might correspond to a situation where transiently participate in different neuronal assemblies, depending on stimulus condition. This is therefore a case that might be found if the binding-by-synchrony theory is correct. There were ten stimuli in the sample. The spike emission rate was constant (20 Hz) across stimuli. One of the stimuli resulted in independent input to each of the model cell, whereas each of the other nine stimuli resulted in an increase (to 90%) in the amount of shared input between one pair of cells. The pair was chosen at random from the ensemble such that each stimulus resulted in a different pair being correlated The change in responses of one such pair of cells to changes in the amount of common input is shown in Fig. 3a. The upper panel of Fig. 3a shows the fraction of shared connections as a function of time; the central and lower panel of Fig. 3a show the resulting membrane potentials and spike trains from the pair of neurons. This cross-correlation is also evident in the cross-correlograms shown in Fig. 3b. The results for the information are given in Fig. 3c: all terms but the third of $`I_{tt}`$ are essentially zero, and information transmission is in this case almost entirely due to stimulus-dependent correlations. This shows that the short time window series expansion pursued here is able to pick up the right encoding mechanisms used by the set of cells. Therefore it is a reliable method for quantifying the information carried by the correlation of firing of small populations of cells recorded from the central nervous system in vivo. Another point that is worth observing is that Fig. 3c also shows that the total amount of information that could be conveyed, even with this much shared input, was modest in comparison to that conveyed by rates dependent on the stimuli, at the same mean firing rate. This again illustrates that correlations typically convey less information than what can be normally achieved by rate modulations only. Therefore they are likely to be a secondary coding mechanism when information is processed in time scales of the order of one interspike interval.

## 6 Optimality of correlational encoding

In the preceding sections we have shown that the correlational component is only second order in the short time limit, essentially because the probability of emission of pairs of spikes, and the reliability of this process, are much smaller than the corresponding quantities for single spikes. For this reason, one can expect a correlational code to carry appreciable information only when it is efficient, i.e. when each correlated spike pair carries as much information as possible.

In this section we investigate the statistical conditions that have to be satisfied by a correlational code in order to be efficient in the short time limit. If the population code is purely correlational (i.e. the firing rates are not modulated at all by the stimuli), then it is possible to show that the mean information per coincidence $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ carried by a pair of cells (obtained dividing the total information by the mean number of observed coincidences) is bounded only by the sparseness of the distribution of coincident firing across stimuli $`\alpha `$:

$$0\mathrm{\Psi }\mathrm{log}_2(1/\alpha )$$
(7)
The maximal (most efficient) value of information per coincidence $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\mathrm{max}}=\mathrm{log}_2(1/\alpha )`$ is reached by a binary distribution of correlations across stimuli, with a fraction of stimuli $`\alpha `$ eliciting positively correlated firing, and the other $`1\alpha `$ stimuli eliciting fully anti-correlated firing (i.e. coincident firing is never observed when presenting one of the latter stimuli). Nearly uniform, or strongly unimodal distributions of correlations across stimuli would give poor information, $`\mathrm{\Psi }0`$.

By analyzing Eq. (7), it is easy to realize that there are two statistical requirements that are necessary to achieve high values of information per coincidence. The first one is that the correlational code should be em sparse (i.e. the fraction of stimuli leading to a “high correlation state” should be low). The sparser the code, the more information per coincidence can be transmitted. The second important factor for fast and efficient transmission of correlational information, is that the low correlational state must be strongly anti-correlated in order to achieve an information per coincidence close to its maximum $`\mathrm{log}_2(1/\alpha )`$. In fact correlations in short times have fluctuations that may be big compared with their mean value, and therefore for any observer it is difficult to understand in less than one ISI if an observed coincidence is due to chance or neuronal interaction. This is why low correlational states with no coincidences are so helpful in transmitting information. We note here that states of nearly complete anticorrelation have never been observed in the brain. Therefore the “low state correlational state” of a realistic correlational assembly should be the “random correlation state” (i.e. the state in which the number of coincident spikes is on average that expected by chance).

We have quantified the reduction in the information per coincidence, compared to its maximum $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\mathrm{max}}`$, that arises as a consequence of the presence of the random correlation state. Fig. 4 plots the ratio between the information per coincidence carried when the “low correlation state” is random and the optimal amount of information per coincidence $`\mathrm{log}_2(1/\alpha )`$ obtained when the low correlation state is totally anticorrelated. The plot is shown as a function of the fraction $`\alpha `$ of stimuli eliciting a “highly correlated state”. Fig. 4 shows clearly that, if the “low correlation state” of the assembly elicits uncorrelated firing, then the information per coincidence is far from its maximum, unless the correlation in the “high state” is extremely high and the correlational code is not sparse at all. However, in which case the information per coincidence is very low anyway (see eq. (7)).

Therefore correlational assemblies in the brain, if any, are likely to be inefficient in the short time limit. This consideration further limits the possible role played by correlations in fast information encoding.

## 7 Discussion

If cells participate in context-dependent correlational assemblies , then a significant amount of information should be found in the third component of $`I_{tt}`$ when analysing data obtained from the appropriate experiments. The series expansion approach thus enables the testing of hypotheses about the role of correlations in solving the binding problem, as opposed to other solutions, and about information coding in general. Data analyses based on the time-expansion approach have the potential to elucidate the role of correlations in the encoding of information by cortical neurons.

It is worth noticing that the formalism presented here evaluates the the information contained in the neuronal responses themselves, it does not make assumptions about the system that is going to read the code. For this reason, the information computed “directly” from neuronal responses is an upper bound to what any type of decoder can extract from the responses themselves. Therefore it is termed the information that an “ideal observer” can extract . Of course, the relative contribution of rate and synchrony modulations to information transmission will depend on the specific read-out mechanism used by a downstream neural system that listens to the neuronal code. However, if the information that an ideal observer is able to extract from the synchrony code is small, as the mathematical analysis indicates for the fast information processing limit, one can be sure that any decoding device cannot extract more information in the synchrony than that small amount evaluated from the responses.

Whether this small amount is sufficient to support computational processes such as figure-ground segregation remains to be seen, and depends upon how it scales empirically with the number of receptive fields examined. Ultimately, as suggested by , the only way we will achieve any degree of confidence in a proposed solution to the binding problem will be to study recordings made from a monkey trained to make behavioural responses according to whether individual features are bound to particular objects. The information theoretic approach described here would be a natural way to analyse such data.

In conclusion, the methodology presented here can provide interesting and reliable bounds on the role of synchrony on cortical information encoding, and we believe that its application to neurophysiological experiments will advance our understanding of the functional interpretation of synchronous activity in the cerebral cortex.

## 8 Acknowledgements

We would particularly like to thank Alessandro Treves and Malcolm Young for useful discussions relating to this work.


text:
# On universal minimal compact 𝐺-spaces

## 1. Introduction

With every topological group $`G`$ one can associate the universal minimal compact $`G`$-space $`M_G`$. To define this object, recall some basic definitions. A $`G`$-space is a topological space $`X`$ with a continuous action of $`G`$, that is, a map $`G\times XX`$ satisfying $`g(hx)=(gh)x`$ and $`1x=x`$ ($`g,hG`$, $`xX`$). A $`G`$-space $`X`$ is minimal if it has no proper $`G`$-invariant closed subsets or, equivalently, if the orbit $`Gx`$ is dense in $`X`$ for every $`xX`$. A map $`f:XY`$ between two $`G`$-spaces is $`G`$-equivariant, or a $`G`$-map for short, if $`f(gx)=gf(x)`$ for every $`gG`$ and $`xX`$.

All maps are assumed to be continuous, and ‘compact’ includes ‘Hausdorff’. The universal minimal compact $`G`$-space $`M_G`$ is characterized by the following property: $`M_G`$ is a minimal compact $`G`$-space, and for every compact minimal $`G`$-space $`X`$ there exists a $`G`$-map of $`M_G`$ onto $`X`$. Since Zorn’s lemma implies that every compact $`G`$-space has a minimal compact $`G`$-subspace, it follows that for every compact $`G`$-space $`X`$, minimal or not, there exist a $`G`$-map of $`M_G`$ to $`X`$.

The existence of $`M_G`$ is easy: consider the product of a representative family of compact minimal $`G`$-spaces, and take any minimal closed $`G`$-subspace of this product for $`M_G`$. It is also true that $`M_G`$ is unique, in the sense that any two universal minimal compact $`G`$-spaces are isomorphic . For the reader’s convenience, we give a proof of this fact in the Appendix.

If $`G`$ is locally compact, the action of $`G`$ on $`M_G`$ is free  (see also , Theorem 3.1.1), that is, if $`g1`$, then $`gxx`$ for every $`xM_G`$. On the other hand, $`M_G`$ is a singleton for many naturally arising non-locally compact groups $`G`$. This property of $`G`$ is equivalent to the following fixed point on compacta (f.p.c.) property: every compact $`G`$-space has a $`G`$-fixed point. (A point $`x`$ is $`G`$-fixed if $`gx=x`$ for all $`gG`$.) For example, if $`H`$ is a Hilbert space, the group $`U(H)`$ of all unitary operators on $`H`$, equipped with the pointwise convergence topology, has the f.p.c. property (Gromov – Milman); another example of a group with this property, due to Pestov, is $`H_+()`$, the group of all orientation-preserving self-homeomorphisms of the real line. We refer the reader to beautiful papers by V. Pestov  on this subject.

Let $`S^1`$ be a circle, and let $`G=H_+(S^1)`$ be the group of all orientation-preserving self-homeomorphisms of $`S^1`$. Then $`M_G`$ can be identified with $`S^1`$ , Theorem 6.6. The question arises whether a similar assertion holds for the Hilbert cube $`Q`$. This question is due to V. Pestov, who writes in , Concluding Remarks, that his theorem “tends to suggest that the Hilbert cube $`I^\omega `$ might serve as the universal minimal flow for the group $`\mathrm{Homeo}(I^\omega )`$”. In other words, let $`G=H(Q)`$ be the group of all self-homeomorphisms of $`Q=I^\omega `$, equipped with the compact-open topology. Are $`M_G`$ and $`Q`$ isomorphic as $`G`$-spaces?

The aim of the present paper is to answer this question in the negative. Let us say that the action of a group $`G`$ on a $`G`$-space $`X`$ is 3-transitive if $`|X|3`$ and for any triples $`(a_1,a_2,a_3)`$ and $`(b_1,b_2,b_3)`$ of distinct points in $`X`$ there exists $`gG`$ such that $`ga_i=b_i`$, $`i=1,2,3`$.

###### Theorem 1.1.

For every topological group $`G`$ the action of $`G`$ on the universal minimal compact $`G`$-space $`M_G`$ is not 3-transitive.

Since the action of $`H(Q)`$ on $`Q`$ is 3-transitive, it follows that $`M_GQ`$ for $`G=H(Q)`$. Similarly, if $`K`$ is compact and $`G`$ is a 3-transitive group of homeomorphisms of $`K`$, then $`M_GK`$. This remark applies, for example, if $`K`$ is a manifold of dimension $`>1`$ or a Menger manifold and $`G=H(K)`$.

###### Question 1.2.

Let $`G=H(Q)`$. Is $`M_G`$ metrizable?

A similar question can be asked when $`Q`$ is replaced by a compact manifold or a Menger manifold.

Let $`P`$ be the pseudoarc (= the unique hereditarily indecomposable chainable continuum) and $`G=H(P)`$. The action of $`G`$ on $`P`$ is transitive but not 2-transitive, and the following question remains open:

###### Question 1.3.

Let $`P`$ be the pseudoarc and $`G=H(P)`$. Can $`M_G`$ be identified with $`P`$?

## 2. Proof of the main theorem

The proof of Theorem 1.1 depends on the consideration of the space of maximal chains of closed sets. For a compact space $`K`$ let $`\mathrm{Exp}K`$ be the (compact) space of all non-empty closed subsets of $`K`$, equipped with the Vietoris topology. A subset $`C\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is a chain if for any $`E,FC`$ either $`EF`$ or $`FE`$. If $`C\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is a chain, so is the closure of $`C`$. It follows that every maximal chain is a closed subset of $`\mathrm{Exp}K`$ and hence an element of $`\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$. Let $`\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$ be the space of all maximal chains. Then $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is closed in $`\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$ and hence compact. Let us sketch a proof. Clearly the closure of $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ consists of chains. Assume $`C\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is a non-maximal chain. We construct a neighbourhood $`𝔚`$ of $`C`$ in $`\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$ which is disjoint from $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. One the following cases holds: (1) the first member of $`C`$ has more than one point, or (2) the last member of $`C`$ is not $`K`$, or (3) the chain $`C`$ contains “big gaps”: there are $`F_1,F_2C`$ such that $`|F_2F_1|2`$ and for every $`FC`$ either $`FF_1`$ or $`F_2F`$. For example, consider the third case (the first two cases are simpler). Find open sets $`U`$, $`V_1`$, $`V_2`$ in $`K`$ with pairwise disjoint closures such that $`F_1U`$ and $`F_2`$ meets both $`V_1`$ and $`V_2`$. Let $`𝔚=\{D\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K:\text{every member of }D\text{ either is contained in }U\text{ or meets both }V_1\text{ and }V_2\text{ }\}`$. Then $`𝔚`$ is a neighbourhood of $`C`$ which does not meet $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. Indeed, suppose $`D𝔚\mathrm{\Phi }`$. Let $`E_1`$ be the largest member of $`D`$ which is contained in $`\overline{U}`$. Let $`E_2`$ be the smallest member of $`D`$ which meets both $`\overline{V}_1`$ and $`\overline{V}_2`$. For every $`ED`$ we have either $`EE_1`$ or $`E_2E`$, and $`|E_2E_1|2`$. Pick a point $`pE_2E_1`$. The set $`E_1\{p\}`$ is comparable with every member of $`D`$ but is not a member of $`D`$. This contradicts the maximality of $`D`$. We have proved that $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is compact.

Suppose $`G`$ is a topological group and $`K`$ is a compact $`G`$-space. Then the natural action of $`G`$ on $`\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is continuous, hence $`\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is a compact $`G`$-space, and so is $`\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$. Since the closed set $`\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}K`$ is $`G`$-invariant, $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is a compact $`G`$-space, too.

###### Proposition 2.1.

Let $`G`$ be a topological group. Pick $`pM_G`$, and let $`H=\{gG:gp=p\}`$ be the stabilizer of $`p`$. There exists a maximal chain $`C`$ of closed subsets of $`M_G`$ such that $`C`$ is $`H`$-invariant: if $`FC`$ and $`gH`$, then $`gFC`$.

Note that members of an $`H`$-invariant chain need not be $`H`$-invariant.

###### Proof.

Every compact $`G`$-space $`X`$ has an $`H`$-invariant point. Indeed, there exists a $`G`$-map $`f:M_GX`$, and since $`p`$ is $`H`$-invariant, so is $`f(p)X`$.

Let $`\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{Exp}\mathrm{Exp}M_G`$ be the compact space of all maximal chains of closed subsets of $`M_G`$. We saw that $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is a compact $`G`$-space. Thus $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ has an $`H`$-invariant point. ∎

Theorem 1.1 follows from Proposition 2.1:

Proof of Theorem 1.1. Assume that the action of $`G`$ on $`X=M_G`$ is 3-transitive. Pick $`pX`$, and let $`H=\{gG:gp=p\}`$. According to Proposition 2.1, there exists an $`H`$-invariant maximal chain $`C`$ of closed subsets of $`X`$. The smallest member of $`C`$ is an $`H`$-invariant singleton. Since $`G`$ is 2-transitive on $`X`$, the only $`H`$-invariant singleton is $`\{p\}`$. Thus $`\{p\}C`$, and all members of $`C`$ contain $`p`$. Our definition of 3-transitivity implies that $`|X|3`$. Thus there exists $`FC`$ such that $`F\{p\}`$ and $`FX`$. Pick $`aF\{p\}`$ and $`bXF`$. The points $`p,a,b`$ are all distinct. Since $`G`$ is 3-transitive on $`X`$, there exists $`gG`$ such that $`gp=p`$, $`ga=b`$ and $`gb=a`$. Since $`aF`$ and $`bF`$, we have $`b=gagF`$ and $`a=gbgF`$. Thus $`aFgF`$ and $`bgFF`$, so $`F`$ and $`gF`$ are not comparable. On the other hand, the equality $`gp=p`$ means that $`gH`$. Since $`C`$ is $`H`$-invariant and $`FC`$, we have $`gFC`$. Hence $`F`$ and $`gF`$ must be comparable, being members of the chain $`C`$. We have arrived at a contradiction. ∎

###### Example 2.2.

Consider the group $`G=H_+(S^1)`$ of all orientation-preserving self-homeomorphisms of the circle $`S^1`$. According to Pestov’s result cited above, $`M_G=S^1`$. This example shows that the action of $`G`$ on $`M_G`$ can be 2-transitive. Pick $`pS^1`$, and let $`HG`$ be the stabilizer of $`p`$. Proposition 2.1 implies that there must exist $`H`$-invariant maximal chains of closed subsets of $`S^1`$. It is easy to see that there are precisely two such chains. They consist of the singleton $`\{p\}`$, the whole circle and of all arcs that either “start at $`p`$” or “end at $`p`$”, respectively.

###### Remark 2.3.

Let $`P`$ be the pseudoarc, and let $`G=H(P)`$. Pick a point $`pP`$, and let $`HG`$ be the stabilizer of $`p`$. Then there exists an $`H`$-invariant maximal chain $`C`$ of closed subsets of $`P`$. Namely, let $`C`$ be the collection of all subcontinua $`FP`$ such that $`pF`$. Since any two subcontinua of $`P`$ are either disjoint or comparable, it follows that $`C`$ is a chain. The chain $`C`$ can be shown to be maximal, and it is obvious that $`C`$ is $`H`$-invariant. Thus Proposition 2.1 does not contradict the conjecture that $`M_G=P`$. This observation motivates our question 1.3.

## 3. Appendix: Uniqueness of $`M_G`$

We sketch a proof of the uniqueness of $`M_G`$ up to a $`G`$-isomorphism.

Let $`G`$ be a topological group. The greatest ambit $`X=𝒮(G)`$ for $`G`$ is a compact $`G`$-space with a distinguished point $`e`$ such that for every pointed compact $`G`$-space $`(Y,e^{})`$ there exists a unique $`G`$-morphism $`f:XY`$ such that $`f(e)=e^{}`$. The greatest ambit is defined uniquely up to a $`G`$-isomorphism preserving distinguished points. We can take for $`𝒮(G)`$ the Samuel compactification of $`G`$ equipped with the right uniformity, which is the compactification of $`G`$ corresponding to the algebra of all bounded right uniformly continuous functions. The distinguished point is the unity of $`G`$. See  for more details.

The greatest ambit $`X`$ has a natural structure of a left-topological semigroup. This means that there is an associative multiplication $`(x,y)xy`$ on $`X`$ (extending the original multiplication on $`G`$) such that for every $`yX`$ the self-map $`xxy`$ of $`X`$ is continuous. Let $`x,yX`$. There is a unique $`G`$-map $`r_y:XX`$ such that $`r_y(e)=y`$. Define $`xy=r_y(x)`$. If $`y`$ is fixed, the map $`xxy`$ is equal to $`r_y`$ and hence is continuous. If $`y,zX`$, the self-maps $`r_zr_y`$ and $`r_{yz}`$ of $`X`$ are equal, since both are $`G`$-maps sending $`e`$ to $`yz=r_z(y)`$. This means that the multiplication on $`X`$ is associative. The distinguished element $`eX`$ is the unity of $`X`$: we have $`ex=r_x(e)=x`$ and $`xe=r_e(x)=x`$. If $`gG`$ and $`xX`$, the expression $`gx`$ can be understood in two ways: in the sense of the exterior action of $`G`$ on $`X`$ and as a product in $`X`$; these two meanings agree. If $`f:XX`$ is a $`G`$-self-map and $`a=f(e)`$, then $`f(x)=f(xe)=xf(e)=xa=r_a(x)`$ for all $`xX`$. Thus the semigroup of all $`G`$-self-maps of $`X`$ coincides with the semigroup $`\{r_y:yX\}`$ of all right multiplications.

A subset $`IX`$ is a left ideal if $`XII`$. Closed $`G`$-subspaces of $`X`$ are the same as closed left ideals of $`X`$. An element $`x`$ of a semigroup is an idempotent if $`x^2=x`$. Every closed $`G`$-subspace of $`X`$, being a left ideal, is moreover a left-topological compact semigroup and hence contains an idempotent, according to the following fundamental result of R. Ellis (see , Proposition 2.1 or , Theorem 3.11):

###### Theorem 3.1.

Every non-empty compact left-topological semigroup $`K`$ contains an idempotent.

###### Proof.

Zorn’s lemma implies that there exists a minimal element $`Y`$ in the set of all closed non-empty subsemigroups of $`K`$. Fix $`aY`$. We claim that $`a^2=a`$ (and hence $`Y`$ is a singleton). The set $`Ya`$, being a closed subsemigroup of $`Y`$, is equal to $`Y`$. It follows that the closed subsemigroup $`Z=\{xY:xa=a\}`$ is non-empty. Hence $`Z=Y`$ and $`xa=a`$ for every $`xY`$. In particular, $`a^2=a`$. ∎

Let $`M`$ be a minimal closed left ideal of $`X`$. We have just proved that there is an idempotent $`pM`$. Since $`Xp`$ is a closed left ideal contained in $`M`$, we have $`Xp=M`$. Thus the $`G`$-map $`r_p:XM`$ defined by $`r_p(x)=xp`$ is a retraction of $`X`$ onto $`M`$. In particular, $`xp=x`$ for every $`xM`$.

###### Proposition 3.2.

Every $`G`$-map $`f:MM`$ has the form $`f(x)=xy`$ for some $`yM`$

###### Proof.

The composition $`h=fr_p:XM`$ is a $`G`$-map of $`X`$ into itself, hence it has the form $`h=r_y`$, where $`y=h(e)M`$. Since $`r_pM=\text{Id}`$, we have $`f=hM=r_yM`$. ∎

###### Proposition 3.3.

Every $`G`$-map $`f:MM`$ is bijective.

###### Proof.

According to Proposition 3.2, there is $`aM`$ such that $`f(x)=xa`$ for all $`xM`$. Since $`Ma`$ is a compact $`G`$-space contained in $`M`$, we have $`Ma=M`$ by the minimality of $`M`$. Thus there exists $`bM`$ such that $`ba=p`$. Let $`g:MM`$ be the $`G`$-map defined by $`g(x)=xb`$. Then $`fg(x)=xba=xp=x`$ for every $`xM`$, therefore $`fg=1`$ (the identity map of $`M`$). We have proved that in the semigroup $`S`$ of all $`G`$-self-maps of $`M`$, every element has a right inverse. Hence $`S`$ is a group. (Alternatively, we first deduce from the equality $`fg=1`$ that all elements of $`S`$ are surjective and then, applying this to $`g`$, we see that $`f`$ is also injective.) ∎

We are now in a position to prove that every universal compact minimal $`G`$-space is isomorphic to $`M`$. First note that the minimal compact $`G`$-space $`M`$ is itself universal: if $`Y`$ is any compact $`G`$-space, there exists a $`G`$-map of the greatest ambit $`X`$ to $`Y`$, and its restriction to $`M`$ is a $`G`$-map of $`M`$ to $`Y`$. Now let $`M^{}`$ be another universal compact minimal $`G`$-space. There exist $`G`$-maps $`f:MM^{}`$ and $`g:M^{}M`$. Since $`M^{}`$ is minimal, $`f`$ is surjective. On the other hand, in virtue of Proposition 3.3 the composition $`gf:MM`$ is bijective. It follows that $`f`$ is injective and hence a $`G`$-isomorphism between $`M`$ and $`M^{}`$.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

###

It is well known that higher derivative Chern-Simons extensions in a background of gravitation  in $`D=1+2`$ dimensions are possible. Such action has some pecularities compared to the usual Chern-Simons gravitational or Abelian Chern-Simons theory. Perhaps the most interesting fact associated with an extension for Chern-Simons theory in $`D=1+2`$ is that the energy-momentum tensor is non zero. Considering the action given by Deser-Jackiw  it is not difficult to calculate the entropy for black holes in $`D=1+2`$ dimensions .

Despite the fact that the Chern Simons theory appears only in odd dimensions  we attempt to write here an analogous action in a background of gravitation in $`D=1+1`$ dimensions and compute the entropy of black holes in such a case.

This action in $`D=1+1`$ dimension may be called a “quasi-topological action as Chern-Simons” in the same sense as suggested earlier .

The quantities such as Hawking’s temperature, inverse temperature and entropy correction are shown as in the corresponding case given before .

The “quasi topological action” is different from the one suggested earlier  and depends locally on the potential vector in flat space time.

Let us start by writing the functional integral following the analogy of the Euclidean field theory and statistical mechanics as

$$Z_T=𝒟ge^{\left(I[g,\phi ]+I[f,g]\right)}$$
(1)
where

$$I[g,\phi ]=\frac{1}{4G}d^2x\sqrt{g}e^{2\phi }\left[R+4(\phi )^2+4\lambda ^2\right].$$
(2)
Here $`I[g,\phi ]`$ is the two dimensional dilaton action motivated by the string theory  and

$$I[f,g]=d^2x\epsilon ^{\mu \nu }f_\mu \mathrm{}^2f_\nu $$
(3)
It’s a “quasi topological term” in $`1+1`$ dimensions. In equation (3) $`f_\mu `$, is a covariant vectors with $`f_\mu `$ given as

$$f_\mu =g^{1/2}g_{\mu \beta }\epsilon ^{\beta \lambda }A_\lambda .$$
(4)
The quantities $`R`$, $`\phi `$, $`g,\epsilon ^{\beta \lambda }`$ and $`A_\lambda (x)`$ are respectively scalar curvature, dilaton field, determinant of the metric, the Levi-Cevita tensor $`\epsilon ^{01}=+1`$ and the vector potential respectively.

A general solution of the Einstein’s equation is parametrized by one constant  and it is given by

$$ds^2=Adt^2+\frac{dr^2}{A}$$
(5)
where

$$A=1\frac{M}{\lambda }e^{\alpha \lambda r}$$
(6)
and

$$\phi =\lambda r.$$
(7)
The metric describes a static, asymptotically flat two dimensional black hole with event horizon at $`r=r_+`$ where

$$r_+=\frac{1}{2\lambda }\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{M}{\lambda }\right).$$
(8)
with the parameter $`M`$ being identified with the mass of a black hole.

Following  we can find the Hawking’s temperature $`\alpha `$, inverse temperature as well the Euclidean time period $`\beta `$, and entropy $`S`$ as

$`\alpha ={\displaystyle \frac{df(r)}{dr}}|_{r=r_+},`$ (9)
$`\beta ={\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{\alpha }},`$ (10)
$`S={\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{A}_0}{4}}`$ (11)
with $`f(r)`$ being equal to $`A`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{A}_0`$ meaning the area of the event horizon in $`D=1+1`$ dimensions and $`\stackrel{~}{A}_0=r_+`$ respectively. These quantities are then given as

$`\alpha =2\lambda ,`$
$`\beta ={\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{\lambda }},`$ (12)
$`S={\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\lambda }}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{M}{\lambda }}\right).`$
It is usual to redefine the Hawking’s temperature as

$$T_H=\frac{1}{\beta },$$
(13)
thus, in this case the temperature is given as

$$T=\frac{\lambda }{\pi }.$$
(14)
The equation (3) may be expressed as

$$I[f,g]=d^2x(f_0\mathrm{}^2f_1f_1\mathrm{}^2f_0)$$
(15)
using equation (4), the two contributions $`f_0`$ and $`f_1`$ are given as

$`f_0=\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{M}{\lambda }}e^{2\lambda r}\right)A_1(x)`$
(16)
$`f_1=\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{M}{\lambda }}e^{2\lambda r}\right)^1A_0(x).`$
It is important to remember that equation (15) was obtained considering only the static configuration for $`f_0`$ and $`f_1`$ fields.

Then we have

$$Z_Te^{f_0\mathrm{}^2f_1f_1\mathrm{}^2f_0}𝒟ge^{\left(I[g,\phi ]+I[f,g]\right)}$$
(17)
where only two terms in integrand (15) are given as

$$f_0\mathrm{}^2f_1f_1\mathrm{}^2f_0\mathrm{}\frac{4Me^{2\lambda r}}{\left(1\frac{M}{\lambda }e^{2\lambda r}\right)}F(A_1,A_0)$$
(18)
and

$$F(A_1,A_0)=A_1\left(\frac{A_0}{r}\right)+A_0\left(\frac{A_1}{r}\right).$$
(19)
Considering now the following approximation: $`f_0\mathrm{}^2f_1f_1\mathrm{}^2f_0\mathrm{}\left(f_0\mathrm{}f_1f_1\mathrm{}f_0\right)`$ where we wish to imply that the operator $`\mathrm{}`$ will act only on the second part of each term of the expression $`f_0\mathrm{}f_1f_1\mathrm{}f_0`$, i.e, it acts on $`\mathrm{}f_1`$ and $`\mathrm{}f_0`$ only.

We approximate the partition function associated with the “quasi topological term” as

$$Z_{Simons}^{Chern}e^{f_0\mathrm{}^2f_1f_1\mathrm{}^2f_0}$$
(20)
$$Z_{Simons}^{Chern}=e^{\mathrm{}\left({\displaystyle \frac{4\pi F(A_1,A_0)}{\beta e^{2\lambda r}\pi /\lambda }}\right)}$$
(21)
The contribution to entropy is found from

$$S=\mathrm{ln}Z\beta \frac{}{\beta }\mathrm{ln}Z$$
(22)
and we get

$$S\mathrm{}\left[\frac{4\pi F(A_0,A_1)}{\left(\beta e^{2\lambda r}\frac{\pi }{\lambda }\right)}+\frac{4\pi \beta F(A_0,A_1)e^{2\lambda r}}{\left(\beta e^{2\lambda r}\frac{\pi }{\lambda }\right)^2}\right]$$
(23)
The average energy is obtained from

$$M=\frac{}{\beta }\mathrm{ln}Z$$
(24)
and is

$$M\mathrm{}\left[\frac{4\pi F(A_1,A_0)e^{2\lambda r}}{\left(\beta e^{2\lambda r}\frac{\pi }{\lambda }\right)}\right]$$
(25)
It is assumed that all fields at infinity go to zero i.e. $`F(A_0,A_1)0`$ when $`r\mathrm{}`$.

The entropy, (23), and mass, (25), are zero in that case and we can recover the results (12) for Einstein-Hilbert theory only. For $`r=r_+`$ the equations (23) and (25) diverge then we have a mechanism for generation of mass and entropy. Finally, for $`0<r<r_+`$ a positive value for $`S`$ is obtained.

In the general case, however, the total entropy is

$$S_TS_{Hilbert}^{Einstein}S_{Simons}^{Chern}$$
(26)
with $`S_{Hilbert}^{Einstein}`$ given by (12) and $`S_{Simons}^{Chern}`$ given by eq. (23).

Again the source of entropy from action (3) is traced to the fact that the energy momentum tensor is not zero but is given by

$$T^{\mu \lambda }=\frac{2\mathrm{}}{g^2}\epsilon ^{\nu k}\epsilon ^{\theta \gamma }\epsilon ^{\xi \delta }g^{\mu \lambda }g_{k\theta }g_{\nu \xi }A_\gamma A_\delta $$
(27)
or using (4) it can be written as

$$T^{\mu \lambda }=\frac{2\mathrm{}}{g}g^{\mu \lambda }f_kf^k$$

Then $`T^{00}g^{00}`$ and at $`r=r_+`$, the stress energy momentum tensor diverges. On the other hand, in the limit $`r\mathrm{}`$, $`T^{\mu \lambda }`$ is null due to our assumption that all fields are zero at infinity; so the metric (5) reduces to the flat space time with eq. (4) going to zero along with eq. (3).

The conservation of $`T^{\mu \lambda }`$ on-shell is easily checked with the equation of motion given as

$$\epsilon ^{k\nu }\epsilon ^{\theta \gamma }\epsilon ^{\xi \delta }g_{k\theta }g_{\nu \epsilon }A_\gamma A_\delta =0$$
(28)
or still yet

$$\epsilon _\theta ^\nu \epsilon ^{\theta \gamma }\epsilon _\nu ^\delta A_\gamma A_\delta =0$$
(29)
and finally using again (4) it is given as

$$\epsilon ^{k\nu }f_kf_\nu =0$$

and thus, independent of the metric. The complete metric dependence is on the field $`f_\mu `$ given by eq, (4).

Hence, the action (3) or (15) is clearly not completly a topological action as in  but is a “quasi-topological in the sense that the metric dependence is entirely contained in $`f_\mu `$ in the same way as . It is only with this meaning that we are calling the action (3) “A quasi-chern-simons action” or “quasi-topological term”. The action (3) has the same form as that of Jackiw’s action in , but there taking the limit of $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ for $`\eta _{\mu \nu }`$, flat space time, the higher derivative Chern-Simons extension can be written as $`I_{ECS}d^3xf_\alpha _\beta f_\gamma \epsilon ^{\alpha \beta \gamma }`$ and $`f^\alpha ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\epsilon ^{\alpha \mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }`$ where the extension depends locally on the field strength and not on the vector potential. In our present case, the equation (4) is reduced to $`f^\alpha =\epsilon ^{\lambda \beta }A_\beta `$ and then the action (3) depends locally on the vector potential directly, while the equation of motion is independent of metric, thus, our case being different than that of . However, the best analogy with $`D=2+1`$ we can do is through considering the equation (3) and some quasi-topological aspects such in .

Hence, for $`D=1+1`$ dimension we can’t write an exact topological Chern-Simons action but one can evaluate some contribution for entropy of black holes by constructing an action analogously to  and improving the same approach as in .

## Conclusions and Comments

###

We had introduced a “quasi topological action” as in  and with an appropriate definition of a vector in $`D=1+1`$ dimension. The contribution to entropy of black holes in two dimensions is found.

The correction for average energy has been written as a function of $`F(A_0,A_1)`$ with the assumption that all fields at infinite are zero.

The contribution to entropy is attributed to a non-null energy momentum tensor (27). We justify the source of entropy as the stress-energy tensor.

## Acknowledgements

###

I would like to thank the Department of Physics, University of Alberta for their hospitality. This work was supported by CNPq (Governamental Brazilian Agencie for Research.

I would like to thank also Dr. Don N. Page for his kindness and attention with me at Univertsity of Alberta.