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# CCD Photometry of the Globular Cluster NGC 4833 and Extinction Near the Galactic Plane.

## 1 Introduction

The Galactic globular cluster NGC 4833 ($`\alpha _{2000}=12^h59^{}34.98\mathrm{"},\delta _{2000}=70^052^{}28.6\mathrm{"}`$) is located in the constellation of Musca inhabiting a dusty region near the Galactic plane $`(\mathrm{}=304\mathrm{°},b=8\mathrm{°})`$. Figure 1 (Kohle & Credner 2000) is an image of the sky showing the features surrounding NGC 4833. It is clear from this figure that NGC 4833 is likely to suffer from spatially variable extinction. In fact, based on Washington-band photoelectric photometry and high-dispersion spectroscopy of cluster red giants, Geisler et al. (1992) and Minniti et al. (1993), respectively, have suggested that the reddening varies significantly across NGC 4833. This may be one reason for the dearth of CCD photometry for this cluster.

Samus et al. (1995) present the most recent color magnitude diagram (CMD) of NGC 4833. Their photographic study includes BV photometry of 868 stars extending from the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) to the main sequence turnoff and reveals a predominantly blue horizontal branch (HB). Accounting for their measurement errors, the dispersion apparent in the principle sequences of their CMD is likely to be a result of differential reddening. They find $`V(HB)=15.6\pm 0.1`$ and a turnoff magnitude of $`V(TO)=19.2`$. Menzies (1972) and Alcaino (1971) give the only other CMDs of NGC 4833. Menzies derives a reddening of $`E(BV)=0.32\pm 0.05`$ and $`V(HB)=15.5\pm 0.05`$. The blue HB morphology of NGC 4833 suggests a metal poor cluster consistent with Geisler’s (1995) value for the mean metallicity of $`[Fe/H]=1.84\pm 0.04`$. Demers & Wehlau (1977) identify 24 cluster variable stars including confirmation of 13 RR Lyraes.

The CCD photometry presented in Section 3 extends $`3`$ magnitudes fainter than any previous study, allowing a first look at the main sequence turnoff of NGC 4833. The data include photometry of the crowded central regions of the cluster unattainable in the prior photographic studies. In addition, we improve on the previous photometry by correcting the problematic reddening variations across the face of NGC 4833 (Sec. 4). As a result, we are able to make more precise measurements of cluster characteristics, such as the horizontal branch magnitude, reddening, metallicity and the age (Sec. 5). An important by-product of our effort is the production of a reddening map in the region of NGC 4833, which we can use to investigate the correlation between dust and extinction using observations from the IRAS and COBE/DIRBE satellites. We begin with a description of the observations and data reduction.

## 2 Observations and Data Reduction

### 2.1 Observations

The data were obtained during two separate observing runs at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). On the night of 1996 May 30, using the 0.9m telescope and the Tek #3 2048$`\times `$2048 pixel CCD, we obtained fifteen images of NGC 4833 in the B (5 x 120s), V (5 x 60s), and I (5 x 90s) filters. The image scale was 0.396 arcsec pixel-1 with a field of view of 13.5 $`\times `$ 13.5 arcmin. The telescope was “dithered” between exposures to minimize systematic errors from chip defects and flat field features. Figure 2 shows a V band image of the cluster. Standard star fields, drawn from the Landolt (1992) list, were also observed.

Deeper images of NGC 4833 were secured with the CTIO 4.0-m telescope, PFCCD camera, and the Tek #4 2048$`\times `$2048 pixel CCD on the night of 1995 June 29. The scale was 0.43 arcsec pixel-1. Three frame pairs were obtained, each consisting of a 200 sec exposure in $`V`$ and a 160 sec exposure in $`I`$. Two short-exposure frame pairs were also obtained (10 sec in $`V`$ and 8 sec in $`I`$). In addition the pointing of the telescope was “dithered” a few arcsec between each frame pair. Tests showed that timing corrections for the iris shutter were unnecessary for images with these exposure lengths.

### 2.2 0.9m Data Reduction

For the photometric reduction of the 0.9m observations, we use a process similar to that employed by Neely et al. (2000); a brief summary follows. We made use of the DAOPHOT II (Stetson 1994) crowded-field photometry package. After initial runs of FIND and PHOT, we construct a preliminary point-spread function (PSF) from $``$ 40 uncrowded stars. We use the preliminary point spread function to subtract away the neighbors of the full set of $``$150 PSF stars. From these, we construct a final PSF which we use with ALLSTAR to perform profile fitting photometry for all the stars on the image. The PSF photometry measures most of the flux from a star. We apply an aperture correction to account for any missing light. Doing aperture photometry on $``$150 bright $`(V14.5)`$ uncrowded stars, we calculate an aperture correction for each image, looking for spatial variations over the field. All fields had a constant correction except for one of the V images which had a correction that varied linearly with radius from the center of the image with an amplitude of $`\pm `$0.01 mag. After editing the photometry using the image diagnostics output by DAOPHOT (Sarajedini & Da Costa 1991), we combine the aperture corrected photometry for stars found in at least 3 of 5 frames taken in a given filter. Using stars common to all three filters, we compile the BVI photometry list keeping only those stars with errors that do not exceed 0.1 mag. The final calibrated 0.9m photometry (see section 2.4) is presented in Table 1.

### 2.3 4m Data Reduction

The 4.0-m images were processed using standard techniques, including flattening with twilight sky flats. The FWHM near the center of the images was typically $``$1.0 arcsec, but the image quality degraded radially from the center. We therefore masked off the regions of the chip outside $``$6 arcmin from the center. Photometry of stars within this radius was obtained using a version of the DoPHOT PSF-fitting photometry code of Schechter et al. (1993) employing a 2-dimensionally variable point spread function (Mateo, private communication). For each frame pair, we then matched the instrumental photometry of spatially coincident stellar images.

### 2.4 Standard Stars

The reduction of the 0.9m standard stars and the presentation of the resultant transformation coefficients have already been discussed by Montegriffo et al. (1998). We used selected stars from the 0.9-m $`VI`$ photometry as secondary standards to transform the 4.0-m data to the standard Johnson $`V`$ and Kron-Cousins $`I`$ magnitudes. To determine the nature of the transformation required, we plotted the difference between our instrumental magnitudes ($`m`$) and the standard magnitude ($`M`$) as a function of magnitude, color, and spatial coordinates ($`X`$ and $`Y`$). A weak, linear residual in color and a residual that varied quadratically in $`X`$ and $`Y`$ were present, so we performed a photometric transformation of the form

$$mM=c_0+c_1(VI)+c_2X+c_3Y+c_4X^2+c_5XY+c_6Y^2,$$

where the coefficients $`c_i`$ were determined by the method of least squares using over 800 stars spread across the frame. The root-mean-square of the residuals was 0.03 to 0.05 mag. The corrections produced by the spatial terms were never more than $`\pm `$0.08 mag and were less than $`\pm `$0.03 mag within 3 arcmin of the cluster center. A simpler correction using only linear terms in $`X`$ and $`Y`$ would not have improved the ”U”-shaped pattern of the residuals. One can think of the spatial terms as a quadratically varying aperture correction resulting from the radially varying image quality and the use of the spatially varying PSF. Photometry from the individual frame pairs was combined using an error-weighted average. The results are presented in Table 2.

## 3 Color Magnitude Diagrams

### 3.1 0.9m Photometry

From the data in Table 1, we construct $`BV`$ and $`VI`$ CMDs as shown in Fig. 3. Based on the width of the principle cluster sequences, the proximity of the cluster to the Galactic plane, and the appearance of IRAS and COBE/DIRBE maps of NGC 4833 we find strong evidence for differential reddening across the frame. In addition, non-cluster stars contaminate the CMD with a characteristic column occurring at $`(BV)1.0`$. Figure 4 gives the CMD for stars within 3 arcmin of the cluster center. The predominately blue HB morphology in conjunction with the relatively steep RGB indicate a low cluster metal abundance.

### 3.2 4m Photometry

Figure 5 shows the deep $`VI`$ CMD yielded by the 4m observations in Table 2. Two artifacts of our reduction procedure are seen in Fig. 5. First, there is an overabundance of bright stars in the CMD due to the fact that the fainter stars are significantly incomplete near the center of the cluster. Second, the splice between the short and long exposures appears as a discontinuity in the CMD at $`I=17.0`$ mag. Taken together, these irregularities simply mean that we cannot reliably use the cluster luminosity function, but the locations of principal features in the CMD are unaffected.

Our photometry reveals the main sequence (MS) extending to V $``$23.5, or $``$3 magnitudes deeper than Samus et al. (1995). Figure 5 also illustrates the CMD for stars between 1.5 and 3 arcmin of the cluster center, where we find the MS turnoff at V $``$19.

### 3.3 Comparison to Previous Photometry

With 528 stars in common, we compare our 0.9m photometry to that of Samus et al. (1995) in Fig. 6. We find a mean V offset of $`0.192\pm 0.007`$, and a mean $`BV`$ difference of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)=0.026\pm 0.003`$. In addition, there are clear nonlinear distortions present in Fig. 6. We have seen similar behavior in previous papers (Sarajedini & Norris 1994; Sarajedini & Layden 1995; Neely et al. 2000) when we compare CCD and photographic photometry.

## 4 Differential Reddening Map

### 4.1 Generating the Map

In order to correct for the differential reddening across the frame, we need a two-dimensional reddening map of the cluster. To produce such a map, we began by fitting a fiducial sequence to the blue HB. In the case of little or no differential reddening, HB stars will cluster tightly about the fiducial, spread out only by the photometric errors and evolution away from the zero age horizontal branch. The 0.9m field was divided into square sections and a CMD was constructed for each section as shown in Fig. 7a and 7b. To ensure an adequate number of blue HB stars in each section, the squares around the edge of the frame are larger, $`3.3\times 3.3`$ arcmin, than the interior squares, which are $`2.6\times 2.6`$ arcmin. Nonetheless, there is one square that contains no blue HB stars. For each square, we calculate the mean $`\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)`$ necessary to bring each blue HB star in the 0.9m photometry onto the fiducial under the constraint that $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`V`$ = 3.2 $`\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)`$.111Note that we have adopted the traditional value of $`R_V=3.2`$. This agrees to within the errors with other determinations of $`R_V`$, which suggest a value closer to 3.1 (Cardelli et al. 1989). The results of our analysis do not depend sensitively on the precise value of $`R_V`$. This color correction is then associated with the (X,Y) position of the center of each square. We use stepwise regression (Kleinbaum et al. 1988) to fit the data with a polynomial of the following form

$`\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)=c_0+c_1X+c_2X^2+c_3Y+c_4Y^2+c_5XY,`$ (1)
where the (X,Y) positions are given in pixels. The coefficients of the fit, which features a root-mean-square deviation of 0.019 mag, along with their associated errors are given in Table 3. Note that the values of $`c_2`$ and $`c_5`$ were not statistically significant and have been dropped from the fit.

### 4.2 Comparison to IRAS and COBE/DIRBE Maps

Figure 8 shows our local reddening and extinction maps compared to dust maps generated by the COBE/DIRBE 222COBE datasets were developed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center under the guidance of the COBE Science Working Group and were provided by the NSSDC. satellite at 100 $`\mu `$m and the IRAS333NASA IPAC/Jet Propulsion Laboratory satellite at 60 $`\mu `$m as downloaded from SkyView444SkyView was developed and is maintained under NASA ADP Grant NAS5-32068 with P.I. Thomas A. McGlynn under the auspices of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at the GSFC Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics.. While the large scale distribution of dust (Fig. 1) suggests a higher reddening toward the Galactic plane (northeast), our map (Fig. 8a and 8b) and the dust maps produced by IRAS and COBE/DIRBE (Fig. 8c and 8d) suggest that the small scale reddening gradient is in the exact opposite direction. The reddening in our 13.5 arcmin field increases away from the Galactic plane (southwest). The lower panels of Fig. 8 show the result of dividing our extinction map by the IRAS (Fig. 8c) and COBE/DIRBE (Fig. 8d) dust maps scaled to unit mean. The latter maps are fairly coarse which means that the extinction pattern present in our map appears as a distinct remnant in the resultant quotient. However, we find remarkably good agreement in the overall shape between our photometrically derived extinction map and the aforementioned dust maps. The typical deviation is approximately $`\pm `$10%. The agreement is maximized in the center of the frame and then deviates near the edges.

### 4.3 Applying the Reddening Map

Our strategy in applying the reddening map to our photometry involves the application of a color and magnitude correction calculated using Equation 1 combined with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`V`$ = 3.2 $`\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }(VI)=1.345\mathrm{\Delta }(BV)`$ (Dean et al. 1978). This correction brings the photometry of each star in the field to the value it would have if it was located at the center of the cluster. Figures 9, 10 and 11 show radial CMD’s of our 0.9m and 4m data before and after the differential reddening correction. All of the principal sequences are significantly better defined after the differential reddening correction. Because these are radial CMDs, we see the maximum improvement in the radial annuli that are furthest from the cluster center. In all of the subsequent analysis, we will make exclusive use of this differential reddening corrected photometry.

## 5 Cluster Properties

### 5.1 The Horizontal Branch

Demers & Wehlau (1977) investigated the nature of 24 variable stars in NGC 4833. Based on an analysis of their light curves, they established or confirmed the presence of 13 RR Lyrae variables. We have photometry for 11 of these stars (Table 4), shown as circles in Fig. 12. All 11 appear on the HB. These stars give a mean HB magnitude of $`V(HB)=15.56\pm 0.063`$, in good agreement with the Samus et al. (1995) value $`V(HB)=15.6\pm 0.1`$. However, we caution that our V(HB) value is based on only a few observations that do not properly sample the light curves of the RR Lyrae stars. A proper CCD-based time-series analysis is required for a definitive value of V(HB).

We have photometry for 7 of the remaining 11 variable stars studied by Demers & Wehlau (1977). One of these was listed as a ‘red variable’ by Demers & Wehlau and the remaining 6 were of unknown type. These additional variable stars are plotted as triangles in figure 12. We confirm that star #16, listed as a red variable, is near the tip of the RGB. Star #9, unclassified by Demers, is also near the tip of the RGB and may be another red variable. We find that the remaining five unclassified stars (#’s 3, 7, 12, 15, and 24) are located on the HB in the instability strip and are most likely RR Lyrae variables. When we include the five additional RR Lyraes, we find a $`V(HB)=15.56\pm 0.059`$, which is unchanged from our previous estimate.

Because NGC 4833 possesses a predominantly blue HB and a significant population of RR Lyrae variables, it provides an opportunity to test the fiducial HB technique used by Sarajedini (1994a), Montegriffo et al. (1998) and Neely et al. (2000). The technique is used to estimate V(HB) for a cluster with a negligible RR Lyrae population but with a significant blue HB. It relies on the fact that the downward curvature of the blue HB is mainly a result of the increasing V band bolometric corrections at bluer colors. Fiducial blue HBs of well-observed clusters with RR Lyrae populations, are fit to the blue HB of the cluster in question. The expected location of the RR Lyraes is then inferred from such a comparison. Using a technique that is identical to that of Neely et al. (2000), we performed such a fit to the blue HB of NGC 4833 using fiducials from the globular clusters M15 (Buonanno, Corsi, & Fusi Pecci 1985) and M79 (Ferraro et al. 1992) in $`BV`$ and M92 and M5 (Johnson & Bolte 1998) in $`VI`$. The weighted average gives $`V(HB)=15.60\pm 0.056`$, which supports our value based on the cluster RR Lyraes.

### 5.2 Reddening and Metallicity

We have applied the simultaneous reddening and metallicity (SRM) method of Sarajedini (1994b; Sarajedini & Layden 1997). The SRM method is based on two empirically derived relationships. The first relates metallicity to the dereddened color of the RGB at V(HB) and the second correlates metallicity to the difference in magnitude between V(HB) and the RGB at a dereddened color of 1.2. Along with a polynomial describing the shape and location of the RGB, these relations allow an internally consistent measurement of the reddening and metallicity. Taking the average of the SRM results in $`BV`$ and $`VI`$, we derive a cluster metallicity of $`[Fe/H]=1.83\pm 0.14`$, on the Zinn & West (1984) scale, and a mean reddening of $`E(BV)=0.32\pm 0.03`$. These results compare favorably with those of Menzies (1971) who obtained $`E(BV)=0.32\pm 0.05`$ from a UBV two-color diagram and with the extinction maps of Schlegel et al. (1998), which yield $`E(BV)=0.33`$ at the position of NGC 4833. As for previously measured metal abundance values, Geisler et al. (1995) and Rutledge et al. (1997) both used Calcium triplet spectroscopy of giant stars and found $`[Fe/H]=1.84\pm 0.04`$ and $`[Fe/H]=1.92\pm 0.02`$, respectively; both of these estimates are in good agreement with our metallicity.

### 5.3 Cluster Age

#### 5.3.1 Isochrone Comparisons

To investigate the age of NGC 4833, we will follow two approaches. First, there is the classical isochrone fitting technique. We make use of the Girardi et al. (2000) models along with the RR Lyrae distance scale advocated by Chaboyer (1999):

$`M_V(RR)=(0.23\pm 0.04)([Fe/H]+1.6)+(0.56\pm 0.12).`$ (2)
In order to make the isochrone comparisons as differential as possible, we will also perform the same technique on the globular clusters M5 and M92. Table 5 contains the relevant quantities for the clusters in question. The values for M92 and M5 are taken from Layden & Sarajedini (2000, and references therein). Figure 13 shows the isochrone fits to M5 and M92 while Fig. 14 displays the fit to NGC 4833, where we have utilized the differential reddening corrected photometry for stars located between 100 arcsec and 180 arcsec of the cluster center. For all three clusters, the unevolved main sequence is fit reasonably well by the isochrones, but the isochrones are systematically too red as compared with the data along the lower giant branch. This is not surprising given the fact that the mixing length parameter, which controls the efficiency of convective transport and thus the colors of these convectively unstable stars, is still a major uncertainty in the stellar models (Chaboyer et al. 1996). Examining the fit primarily in the turnoff region suggests that M5 has an age of $`13\pm 1`$ Gyr, M92 is $`14\pm 1`$ Gyr old, and NGC 4833 is $`15\pm 2`$ Gyr old. The estimated uncertainties are purely internal errors based only on the scatter of points in the turnoff region and do not include possible uncertainties in the models or errors in the adopted distance moduli, reddenings, or metallicities. The age errors are substantial making it difficult to reach a definitive conclusion. However, in the next section, we investigate a more quantitative age determination technique.

#### 5.3.2 The Magnitude of the Subgiant Branch

In Layden & Sarajedini (2000), we used an age determination technique that relies upon the magnitude difference between the HB and the subgiant branch ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`V_{SGB}^{HB}`$) at a point 0.21 mag bluer than $`(VI)_g`$. This is primarily useful when the turnoff region is difficult to define because of field contamination. Originally, this age diagnostic was applied to the CMD of the globular cluster M54, which suffers from contamination from field stars belonging to the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and bulge stars in the line of sight. In the present context, it is useful to apply it to NGC 4833 because of the heavy contamination from Galactic disk stars in the cluster’s CMD.

Using the NGC 4833 photometry shown in Fig. 14, we construct a luminosity function centered at $`(VI)=(VI)_g0.21=1.15`$ with a width of $`\pm 0.03`$ mag. Fitting a Gaussian to this distribution yields $`V(SGB)=18.44\pm 0.02`$ which then gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`V_{SGB}^{HB}`$=$`2.88\pm 0.07`$. Using the RR Lyrae distance scale described above, we follow the technique described by Layden & Sarajedini (2000) in order to parameterize age as a function $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`V_{SGB}^{HB}`$ and metallicity. To effect this calibration, we have utilized two different grids of models - the Revised Yale Isochrones (Green et al. 1987, RYI) to allow a comparison to the age scale of Layden & Sarajedini (2000) and the most recent Girardi et al. (2000, GirI) isochrones representing the ‘state of the art.’ Our results are shown in Table 5. We note that both the RYI and GirI suggest that NGC 4833 is $`2\pm 1`$ Gyr older than M92 and M5. However, this conclusion is rather tentative until higher resolution imaging of the cluster core becomes available allowing the construction of a CMD that does not require such dramatic corrections for differential reddening.

## 6 Conclusions

We presented CCD photometry for the Galactic globular cluster NGC 4833. The cluster is located behind a dusty region southwest of the Galactic plane. Interestingly, the local reddening increases to the southwest, away from the Galactic plane. Our reddening map is in good agreement with dust emission as measured by the IRAS and COBE/DIRBE satellites with a maximum deviation of $`\pm `$10%. After correcting our photometry for the effects of differential reddening we used the simultaneous reddening and metallicity method of Sarajedini (1994) to find the mean reddening of the cluster $`E(BV)=0.32\pm 0.03`$ and the mean metallicity $`[Fe/H]=1.83\pm 0.14`$ on the Zinn & West (1984) scale. The cluster contains 13 RR Lyrae variables with confirmed periods. Using the 11 RR Lyraes available in our photometry, we calculated $`V(HB)=15.56\pm 0.063`$. Five additional unclassified variables appear on the HB in the instability strip and are probably RR Lyraes. Finally, we used our main sequence photometry to determine an age for NGC 4833 relative to those of M92 and M5. We found provisional evidence that NGC 4833 is 2 $`\pm `$ 1 Gyr older than the comparison clusters. A more definitive conclusion must await higher resolution imaging of the cluster core where the effects of differential reddening are minimized.


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# The Impact of External Tidal Fields on the ISM of Dwarf Spheroidals

## 1. Observational data

Figure 1 shows the HI distribution integrated over certain intervals of velocities for three dwarfs spheroidal (dSph) galaxies — Cetus, Sculptor, and Tucana. The HI data have been obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (Sculptor and Tucana, with the Tucana data presented by Oosterloo, Da Costa, & Staveley-Smith, 1996), and the Parkes Multibeam System (Cetus). Monte-Carlo simulated projections of the principal (“stretching”) tidal axis are shown as vertical lines. One sigma error ellipses are shown for the apparent location of points on the tidal axis, located at spatial distances $`r_t`$, $`2r_t`$, $`3r_t`$, …from the center of the galaxy ($`r_t`$ is the tidal radius.) Tidal tensor components were assumed to be constant within the dSph, and included contributions from all Local Group members. The images (Figure 1) were rotated and rescaled to make 1) their projected principal tidal axes vertical, and 2) their projected tidal radii equal. Normalized in such a way, neutral hydrogen maps manifest one common feature — the associated HI gas appears to follow the tidal “stretching” axis direction.

## 2. The model, and discussion

To test the intuitive idea that fragments of expanding HI shells resulting from supernovae type Ia explosions in dwarf spheroidals are removed from the galaxy preferentially along the strongest tidal force direction, 2D hydrodynamic simulations have been conducted. The evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in a dSph galaxy has been followed with the ZEUS-2D hydrodynamical code (Stone & Norman, 1992). Figure 2 shows the density distribution (logarithmic scale; black corresponds to the densest gas) obtained for a few time steps. (One quarter of the whole distribution is shown). The box size is 5 kpc. The axial symmetry with the axis of symmetry directed along the strongest tidal force direction (horizontal in Figure 2) has been adopted. The parameters of the dSph model and of the tidal field correspond to the Sculptor galaxy. Initially the hydrostatic gas with a mass $`2\times 10^5`$ M and a temperature T=500 K was perturbed by 10 supernova type Ia explosions occuring in the center of the galaxy at random moments of time over the interval of 1 Gyr. The assumed spatially distributed mass input from red giants was $`1.65\times 10^5`$ M$`{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{yr}_{}^{1}`$. Radiative cooling was taken into account. The energy and mass inputs from the SNe was $`10^{51}`$ erg and $`1.4`$ M per SN.

The simulations showed that repeated SNe Ia can completely expel the ISM from a dSph with most of the mass being removed as relatively dense clouds along the tidal axis direction. This is in accordance with the observed HI distribution in three Local Group dwarf spheroidals. The results obtained emphasize the impact of the tidal field on the evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (even for relatively “isolated” systems such as Tucana and Cetus), and might shed some more light upon the complex star formation history of dSphs.

## References

Oosterloo, T., Da Costa, G. S., & Staveley-Smith, L. 1996, AJ, 112, 1969

Stone, J. M., & Norman, M. L. 1992, ApJS, 80, 753


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# Sensitivity of a micromechanical displacement detector based on the radio-frequency single-electron transistor

## Abstract

We investigate the tunneling shot noise limits on the sensitivity of a micromechanical displacement detector based on a metal junction, radio-frequency single-electron transistor (rf-SET). In contrast with the charge sensitivity of the rf-SET electrometer, the displacement sensitivity improves with increasing gate voltage bias and, with a suitably optimized rf-SET, displacement sensitivities of $`10^6\mathrm{\AA }/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}`$ may be possible.

Recent advances in microfabrication technology have lead to renewed interest in demonstrating quantum behavior in small mechanical systems. Proposals include quantum tunneling, quantum superposition states, and the generation of nonclassical, squeezed states. A common requirement is the need to resolve sub-Ångstrom displacements at radio frequencies. Considering, for example, a micron-sized cantilever with a realisable resonant frequency of 100 MHz and a quality factor $`Q10^4`$, a displacement sensitivity of about $`10^4`$ Å is required to detect quantum squeezing. Two methods for detecting motion of (sub)micron-scale structures are the magnetomotive technique and the optical interferometric technique, where sensitivities before signal averaging of around $`10^2\mathrm{\AA }/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}`$ at 1 MHz were reported.

In the present letter, we consider the possibility of a metal junction single-electron transistor (SET)-based displacement detector for resolving sub-Ångstrom motion of micron-scale and smaller mechanical resonators with fundamental frequencies up to a few hundred MHz. A radio-frequency single-electron transistor (rf-SET) was developed a few years ago to overcome the limited bandwidth available in conventional SETs, and a rf-SET was recently used to investigate charge noise in an AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dot. In the original device, a bandwidth of around 100 MHz was demonstrated, a considerable improvement over conventional SET bandwidths of typically only a few kHz. The charge sensitivity of the rf-SET was $`1.2\times 10^5e/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}`$ at $`1.1`$ MHz, comparable to the best sensitivities of low frequency SETs. In a recent theoretical analysis, Korotkov and Paalanen established that an additional order of magnitude improvement in the charge sensitivity could be expected with a suitably optimized device.

With the ability to operate at signal frequencies in the radio frequency range, we can expect considerable improvements in $`1/f`$ noise which limits the sensitivity of conventional SETs. Taking as our starting point the noise analysis of Korotkov et al., we show below that metal SET displacement sensors may achieve shot-noise limited sensitivities of $`10^6\mathrm{\AA }/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}`$. For the above cantilever example, this corresponds to an absolute displacement sensitivity of $`10^4`$ Å at 100 MHz, adequate for detecting quantum-squeezed motion.

With such improvements in displacement sensitivity, significant advances could also be made in understanding how mechanical energy is dissipated in micromechanical resonators. This problem is motivated in part by the increasing use of (sub)micron-sized cantilevers as sensors in new forms of force microscopy, such as the magnetic resonance force microscope, where the need to detect extremely weak forces requires smaller mass cantilevers with longer mechanical damping times. Recent experiments which measure $`Q`$ have provided strong evidence for surface defect relaxation as the dominant mechanism limiting the quality factor. However, more information could be gained about the relaxation dynamics if the damping motion of a micromechanical resonator could be measured with sufficient time and displacement accuracy to resolve the mechanical, random telegraph signals due to single defects undergoing relaxation.

The schema of the rf-SET displacement detector is shown in Fig. 1. The basic principle of the device involves locating one of the gate capacitor plates of the SET on the cantilever so that, for fixed gate voltage bias, a mechanical displacement is converted into a polarization charge fluctuation. The stray capacitance $`C_\mathrm{s}`$ of the leads contacting the SET and an inductor $`L`$ form a tank circuit with resonant frequency $`\omega _\mathrm{T}=(LC_\mathrm{s})^{1/2}`$, loaded by the SET. A monochromatic carrier wave is sent down the cable. At the resonant frequency the circuit impedance is small and the reflected power provides a measure of the SET’s differential resistance $`R_d`$. When the gate capacitor is biased, mechanical motion of the cantilever is converted into differential resistance changes, hence modulating the reflected signal power.

Consider an incoming wave of the form $`V_{\mathrm{in}}\mathrm{cos}\omega t`$ at the end of the cable. The reflected wave is $`V_{\mathrm{ref}}(t)=v(t)V_{\mathrm{in}}\mathrm{cos}\omega t`$, where the voltage $`v(t)`$ at the end of the cable satisfies the differential equation

$$\ddot{v}LC_s+\dot{v}R_0C_s+v=2(1\omega ^2LC_s)V_{\mathrm{in}}\mathrm{cos}\omega tR_0I_{SD}(t),$$
(1)
with $`R_0`$ the impedance of the cable and $`I_{SD}(t)`$ the SET source-drain current. Setting $`\omega =\omega _\mathrm{T}`$ and substituting the Fourier decomposition $`v(t)=_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}(X_n\mathrm{cos}n\omega t+Y_n\mathrm{sin}n\omega t)`$ into Eq. (1), we obtain for the Fourier coefficients

$`X_1`$ $`=`$ $`2\sqrt{L/C_s}I_{SD}(t)\mathrm{sin}\omega t,`$ (2)
$`Y_1`$ $`=`$ $`2\sqrt{L/C_s}I_{SD}(t)\mathrm{cos}\omega t,`$ (3)
where $`\mathrm{}`$ denotes the time average and we restrict the analysis to the first harmonic of the reflected wave. The current $`I_{SD}(t)`$ depends on the voltage $`V_{SD}(t)`$ across the SET, which in turn depends on $`v(t)`$:

$$V_{SD}(t)=LR_0^1[2V_{\mathrm{in}}\omega \mathrm{sin}\omega t+\dot{v}(t)]+v(t).$$
(4)
The Fourier coefficients $`X_1`$, $`Y_1`$ are found by solving iteratively Eqs. (2) and (3). However, in the regime $`R_d\sqrt{C_s/L}Q_\mathrm{T}1`$, where the tank circuit quality factor $`Q_\mathrm{T}=R_0^1\sqrt{L/C_s}`$, we can approximate Eq. (4) as $`V_{SD}(t)=2Q_\mathrm{T}V_{\mathrm{in}}\mathrm{sin}\omega t`$, thus the coefficients $`X_1`$, $`Y_1`$ are approximately solved for once the $`I_{SD}(t)`$ dependence on $`V_{SD}(t)`$ is known. We will also assume that the carrier frequency satisfies $`\omega \sqrt{I_{SD}^2}/e`$. Under these conditions the current $`I_{SD}(t)`$ maintains a fixed phase relationship with respect to $`V_{SD}(t)`$ and, from the approximate form of $`V_{SD}(t)`$ and Eq. (3), we see that the time-averaging gives $`Y_1=0`$.

At the mechanical signal frequency $`f_s`$, where $`2\pi f_s\omega _\mathrm{T}/Q_\mathrm{T}`$ (for example, with $`\omega _\mathrm{T}=2\pi \times 1`$ GHz and $`Q_\mathrm{T}=10`$, we have $`f_s`$ 100 MHz), the minimum detectable displacement $`\delta x`$ in terms of the spectral density $`S_X(f_s)`$ of fluctuations in $`X_1(t)`$ is

$$\delta x=\sqrt{S_X(f_s)\mathrm{\Delta }f}/|dX_1/dx|,$$
(5)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }f`$ is the signal bandwidth and $`x`$ denotes the displacement from equilibrium separation of the gate capacitor plates. The fundamental limit on $`\delta x`$ is given by the intrinsic shot noise due to the SET tunneling current. Using the shot noise formula $`S_I=2eI`$, which is approximately valid close to the tunneling threshold, and using Eq. (2) to relate $`S_X`$ to the current spectral density $`S_I`$, Eq. (5) becomes

$$\delta x=\sqrt{2e|I_{SD}(t)|\mathrm{sin}^2\omega t\mathrm{\Delta }f}/|dI_{SD}(t)/dx\mathrm{sin}\omega t|.$$
(6)
All that remains is to determine the $`I_{SD}(t)`$ dependence on $`V_{SD}(t)`$ and substitute into Eq. (6). We use the “orthodox” theory and the method of analytic solution given in Ref. . Refering to Fig. 1, and as usual defining $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }=C_1+C_2+C_g`$, when the voltage amplitude across the SET $`A=2Q_\mathrm{T}V_{\mathrm{in}}`$ is small compared to the voltage $`e/C_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, and also the thermal energy $`k_BTeA`$, then the current in the tunneling region between stable regions of $`n`$ and $`n+1`$ excess electrons on the SET island can be well-approximated as

$`I_{SD}`$ $`=`$ $`e[b_1(n)t_1(n)]\rho (n)+e[b_1(n+1)t_1(n+1)]\rho (n+1)`$ (7)
$`=`$ $`e[b_2(n)t_2(n)]\rho (n)+e[b_2(n+1)t_2(n+1)]\rho (n+1).`$ (8)
Here the probabilities $`\rho (n)`$, $`\rho (n+1)`$ are given approximately as:

$`\rho (n)`$ $`=`$ $`[t_1(n+1)+b_2(n+1)]/[b_1(n)+t_2(n)+t_1(n+1)+b_2(n+1)],`$ (9)
$`\rho (n+1)`$ $`=`$ $`[b_1(n)+t_2(n)]/[b_1(n)+t_2(n)+t_1(n+1)+b_2(n+1)].`$ (10)
In this approximation the tunnel current peaks are well-separated in gate voltage $`V_g`$. The tunneling rates $`b_i(t_i)`$ from the bottom (top) across the $`i`$th junction of the SET take the usual form.

In Fig. 2 we show the dependence of the minimum detectable mechanical displacement $`\delta x`$ on the gate voltage $`V_g`$, ranging over the first few current peaks. These results assume junction capacitance and resistance values $`C_1=C_2=0.25\mathrm{fF}`$ and $`R_1=R_2=50\mathrm{k}\mathrm{\Omega }`$, and a static gate capacitance $`C_g=0.1\mathrm{fF}`$. We have also explored the dependence of $`\delta x`$ (optimized over $`V_g`$ for given $`n`$) on the SET voltage amplitude $`A`$ and also on an applied dc-voltage component. As was found for the charge sensitivity analysis, further improvements in the optimized $`\delta x`$ are small.

Table I shows a sampling of $`\delta x`$ values optimized with respect to $`V_g`$ over a range corresponding to the rising (left) side of a given current peak. Importantly, the optimized minimum displacement resolution improves with increasing current peak number $`n`$. This is in marked contrast to the optimized minimum detectable charge which is independent of peak number. This trend begs the question of how large a gate voltage can be applied to a metal junction SET. Given that electrometry is the most often considered SET application, for which there is no gain in charge sensitivity with increasing $`V_g`$ (one current peak is as good as any other), this question has apparently received little attention. For displacement detection on the other hand, the optimized sensitivity improves with increasing $`V_g`$. There are no obvious reasons why the periodic current oscillations for a metal SET should not survive all the way up to the breakdown voltage between the gate capacitor plates. As $`V_g`$ increases, progressively more electrons tunnel onto the island, screening the increasing polarization charge so that the periodicity in the $`V_g`$ dependences of source-island and island-drain junction voltages is maintained. Assuming the gate capacitor plates are separated by a vacuum, and taking a typical vacuum breakdown voltage of $`10^8`$ V/m, this suggests a maximum $`V_g`$ of around 10 V across a $`0.1\mu \mathrm{m}`$ gap, on the order of the upper limit considered in the above noise analysis (Table I).

An alternative scenario to the one just outlined is suggested by the fact that fluctuators in the vicinity of the SET island can result in a strong gate-voltage dependence for the $`1/f`$ source-drain current noise. This raises the possibility of an optimum gate bias beyond which a further improvement in displacement sensitivity as predicted by the above shot noise analysis is offset by an increase in $`1/f`$ noise. Induced stresses in the gated cantilever as a result of its flexing motion may also affect the $`1/f`$ noise levels.

To conclude, we have obtained the fundamental, shot noise limiting sensitivity of an rf-SET based displacement detector. In contrast with the charge sensitivity of an rf-SET electrometer, the optimized displacement sensitivity improves with increasing gate voltage. Sensitivities of $`10^6\mathrm{\AA }/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}`$ may be possible, depending on one or other of the $`1/f`$ noise gate voltage dependence or the gate capacitance breakdown characteristics.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Chris Berven for helpful conversations.


text:
# Introduction

## Introduction

In modern physics one has two main mechanisms which contribute to the energy of the vacuum. One is due to the condensates of various fields or operators when certain symmetries are spontaneously broken. This is essentially a classical effect. The other one, which we will consider here, is the zero-point energy. It is a direct consequence of quantum mechanics. In the canonical formulation of Heisenberg and Schrödinger it arises from a certain ambiguity in the ordering of field operators while in the functional formulation of Feynman it arises from a corresponding ambiguity in defining the path integral in a continuous spacetime. Since the birth of modern quantum mechanics a central question has been if these ambiguities can have physical consequences in the sense of being measureable.

One of the most remarkable manifestations is the attractive force between two parallel metallic plates in vacuum induced by the fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. It was first calculated by Casimir and has now been experimentally confirmed in two independent experiments. Higher precision in such experiments are within sight and it will now become necessary to take a closer look at the theory behind this important phenomenon and also the experiments. Here we will not discuss the latter except to point out that they are not done in the original geometry of two parallel plates for which the force has been calculated, but with a spherical surface above a metal plane for which the effects of vacuum fluctuations are not known. Instead one relates this unknown situation to the first one by the use of a classical proximity theorem. This should be analyzed more carefully in a quantum context.

The energy of a free quantum field with mass $`m`$ in a certain state characterized by the occupations numbers $`\{n_𝐤\}`$ is

$`E={\displaystyle \underset{𝐤}{}}(n_𝐤+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}})\omega _𝐤`$
where $`\omega _𝐤=(𝐤^2+m^2)^{1/2}`$ is the energy of a particle with momentum $`𝐤`$. In the vacuum all the modes are empty and one gets only a contribution from the last zero-point term

$`E_0={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{𝐤}{}}\omega _𝐤`$ (1)
This is a divergent constant which is usually just neglected or removed by other more theoretical constructions invoking the argument that we are only interested in energy differences. In the absence of gravity and in homogeneous spaces this is justified, but in general it is not.

Replacing the sum over discrete modes in (1) in an open space with the corresponding integral, we see that the divergence is quartic. For very large momenta the particle mass can be ignored. Imposing an exponential cutoff $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, we thus have for the resulting vacum energy density $`=E_0/V`$ a finite result

$`={\displaystyle \frac{d^3k}{(2\pi )^3}\omega e^{k/\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{2\pi ^2}}`$ (2)
It has the same value everywhere and is therefore a contribution to the cosmological constant. The recent supernova observations can be explaned by such a vacuum energy with a value $`_{observ}=\mu ^4`$ where the mass $`\mu 10^3`$ eV. From the point of view of effective field theory, the cutoff $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ represents the energy scale where the applicapability of the above theory ceases. Taking it to be the Planck mass $`M10^{19}`$ GeV where the classical spacetime picture breaks down, we thus find the ratio of the theoretical to the observed cosmological constant to be

$`{\displaystyle \frac{_{theory}}{_{observ}}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\mu }}\right)^410^{124}`$ (3)
This is usually called the worst theoretical prediction ever in modern physics. But it is really not that bad. A naive calculation of the self-energy of a particle will also give a huge result depending on a cutoff as long as the physics at short scales is not handled consistently. The same applies here. The above cutoff is just a reflection of our ignorance of physics at the shortest scales. When that is understood in terms of strings, branes or something more fundamental, this apparent failure will be replaced by predictive power.

## Casimir vacuum energy

The vacuum fluctuations between two parallel plates shown in the Fig. 1 normal to the $`z`$-axis and separated by the distance $`L`$ with the left plate at $`z=0`$, gives rise to an attractive Casimir force between the plates. It is most simply described for a massless scalar field $`\varphi (𝐱,t)`$ with the wave equation $`^2\varphi =0`$.

A mode with energy $`\omega `$, i.e. $`\varphi (𝐱,t)=u(𝐱)\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t)`$, is therefore given by the solution of the Helmholtz equation $`(^2+\omega ^2)u(𝐱)=0`$. In order to quantize the field between the plates, we need to know the boundary conditions it satisfies at the plates. They must be arrived at from some physical or mathematical requirement imposed on the system. If we choose to use Dirichlet boundary conditions, i.e. $`\varphi (𝐱,t)|_{z=0}=\varphi (𝐱,t)|_{z=L}=0`$, the corresonding eigenmodes are

$`u_{n𝐤_T}^D(𝐱)=\mathrm{sin}k_zze^{i𝐤_T𝐱_T}`$ (4)
where $`𝐱_T=(x,y)`$. The component of the wavenumber along the $`z`$-axis is now quantized with the values $`k_z=(\pi /L)n`$ where $`n=1,2,3,\mathrm{}`$. Each such mode thus has the energy $`\omega _{n𝐤_T}=(𝐤_T^2+(\kappa n)^2)^{1/2}`$ with $`\kappa =\pi /L`$.

The total vacuum energy (1) between the plates is now

$`E_0^D=A{\displaystyle \frac{d^2k_T}{(2\pi )^2}\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{2}\omega _{n𝐤_T}}`$ (5)
where $`A`$ is the cross-sectional area of one plate. Replacing $`k_T`$ with $`\omega `$ as a new integration variable and using that $`k_Tdk_T=\omega d\omega `$, we have

$`E_0^D={\displaystyle \frac{A}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle _{\kappa n}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑\omega \omega ^2`$
In order to regularize the divergences both in the integral and the sum, we impose an exponential cutoff $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=1/ϵ`$. Then it follows

$`E_0^D`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle _{\kappa n}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑\omega \omega ^2e^{\epsilon \omega }={\displaystyle \frac{A}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{\epsilon ^2}}{\displaystyle _{\kappa n}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑\omega e^{\epsilon \omega }`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{\epsilon ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\epsilon }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}e^{\epsilon n\kappa }={\displaystyle \frac{A}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{\epsilon ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\epsilon }}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{e^{\kappa \epsilon }1}}`$
We can now isolate a pure vacuum divergence in the limit $`\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{}`$ by using the Bernoulli expansion

$`{\displaystyle \frac{x}{e^x1}}={\displaystyle \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{B_n}{n!}}x^n=1{\displaystyle \frac{x}{2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{x^2}{12}}{\displaystyle \frac{x^4}{720}}+\mathrm{}`$
when $`x0`$. It gives for the energy density $`=E_0/AL`$ with pure Dirichlet boundary conditions the result

$`^D={\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{2\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^3}{4\pi L}}{\displaystyle \frac{\pi ^2}{1440L^4}}`$ (6)
It is seen that the first term is the divergent vacuum energy (2) in empty space which is recovered in the limit $`L\mathrm{}`$ when the plates are removed away from each other. While the second term contains the ultraviolet cutoff, the last term is finite and is said to be the Casimir energy density between the plates.

The troublesome middle term is usually not seen or argued away by introduction of corresponding counterterms. For instance, if we use dimensional regularization where the transverse integration in (5) is done in $`d`$ dimensions which are taken to be so small that the integral is convergent, one obtains

$`E_0^D={\displaystyle \frac{A}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa ^{d+1}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{1+d}{2})}{(4\pi )^{d/2}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{1}{2})}}`$
Now analytically continuing back to the physical situation where $`d=2`$, we find

$`E_0^D={\displaystyle \frac{A}{12\pi }}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{L}}\right)^3{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}n^3={\displaystyle \frac{A\pi ^2}{1440L^3}}`$ (7)
when the divergent sum is regularized by Riemann’s zeta-function to be $`\zeta (3)=1/120`$. We have thus recovered the finite Casimir energy found as the last term in (6). The divergent, $`L`$-independent term is absent which we consider to be an attractive aspect of this regularization scheme since it corresponds to subtracting a universal, constant part. But the absence of also the middle term is a peculiarity of this particular regularization scheme and most likely does not reflect any underlying physics. A believeable, physical result should be obtained with the same value independent of the regularization scheme used.

Recently Hagen has raised some criticism against the regularization methods used in the calculation of the Casimir energy. Although most of his arguments have now been countered, one should still be careful in making too rapid mathematical conclusions about vacuum fluctuations whose physical existence still requires much experimental work. As an example, we can return to the scalar field considered above for which we imposed the Dirichlet boundary conditions. But there is nothing sacred about them. In fact, we could instead choose to work with Neumann conditions so that the normal derivative of the field vanishes at the plates, i.e. $`_z\varphi (𝐱,t)|_{z=0}=_z\varphi (𝐱,t)|_{z=0}=0`$. The eigenmodes are then

$`u_{n𝐤_T}^N(𝐱)=\mathrm{cos}k_zze^{i𝐤_T𝐱_T}`$ (8)
where now $`n=0,1,2,\mathrm{}`$ and the mode energies are obviously the same. The total energy is therefore again given by (5) where now the sum starts at $`n=0`$. With dimensional and zeta-function regularization one then gets the same result (7) as before while with an exponential cutoff we obtain

$`^N={\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{2\pi ^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^3}{4\pi L}}{\displaystyle \frac{\pi ^2}{1440L^4}}`$ (9)
instead of (6). The troublesome term thus appears with opposite sign. One can show that the fluctuation in the field now diverges near the plates with opposite sign compared with the previous Dirichlet case. Also the energy density between the plates is different and should be calculated including the conformal term in the scalar Lagrangian describing a massless field.

This suggests a new approach to the Casimir energy for scalar fields. One should always consider the contribution from actually two fields, one with Dirichlet and one with Neumann boundary conditions. Combined, we then have the physically meaningful result

$`^{D+N}={\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\pi ^2}{720L^4}}`$ (10)
which now agrees with what one also obtains with dimensional regularization. This point of view is also consistent with a more detailed investigation by Symanzik. Or alternatively, we must have two scalar fields as members of a larger multiplet where each satisfies one of the above two boundary conditions. This is the case in the Wess-Zumino supersymmetric theory where they appear together with a massless fermion field. The total vacuum energy from all three fields is then finite and actually zero as it should be from supersymmetry.

In order to calculate the Casimir energy for the electromagnetic field $`(𝐄,𝐁)`$ one must first find the modes satisfied by the wave equation with the standard metallic boundary conditions $`𝐧𝐄=𝐧𝐁=0`$ where the unit vector $`𝐧`$ is normal to the plates in Fig. 1. The modes can then be classified in terms of electromagnetic multipole fields. In fact, the transverse electric multipoles TE with longitudinal quantum numbers $`n=1,2,3,\mathrm{}`$ correspond to the Dirichlet modes (4) while the transverse magnetic multipoles TM with $`n=0,1,2,\mathrm{}`$ correspond to the Neumann modes (8). Without the special TEM Neumann modes with $`n=0`$, one would not have obtained a finite result for the vacuum energy. The same applies to the field fluctuations $`𝐄^2`$ and $`𝐁^2`$ which actually varies with position between the plates, their sum being constant.

## Radiative corrections

The above Casimir energies have been calculated with free fields. Interactions have been considered in the scalar case by Symanzik, while radiative corrections to the total vacuum energy for the electromagnetic field between parallel plates have been calculated by Bordag et al. within full QED. The photon field satisfies standard boundary conditions while the electron field is assumed not be affected by the presence of the plates. It is a technically very demanding calculation which more recently has been confirmed in a somewhat simpler approach. They find that the Casimir force is modified by a small term going like $`\alpha /mL^5`$ where $`m`$ is the electron mass. It results from contributions at a very short distance scale of the order $`1/m`$.

In the meantime the same problem had been considered from the point of view of effective field theory. For energies well below the electron mass, one can integrate out the electron field and thus obtain the derivative expansion of the effective Lagrangian,

$`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}F_{\mu \nu }^2{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{60\pi m^2}}^\lambda F^{\mu \nu }_\lambda F_{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha ^2}{90m^4}}\left[(F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu })^2+{\displaystyle \frac{7}{4}}(F_{\mu \nu }\stackrel{~}{F}^{\mu \nu })^2\right]+\mathrm{}`$ (11)
where $`\stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }=\frac{1}{2}ϵ_{\mu \nu \rho \sigma }F^{\rho \sigma }`$ is the dual field strength. In open space the middle term, which gives the Uehling effect of vacuum polarization, can be removed by a field redefinition. One is thus left with the last term which is the Euler-Heisenberg interaction. It allows a simple calculation of the radiative correction to the Stefan-Boltzmann energy density for black-body radiation which is seen by inspection of the Lagrangian to be of the order $`(\alpha ^2/m^4)T^8`$ where $`T`$ is the temperature.

Since the calculation of finite-temperature effects corresponds to a Casimir calculation with parallel plates normal to the imaginary time axis with periodic boundary conditions, it was therefore natural to assume that the same Euler-Heisenberg effective Lagrangian also would give the leading order corrections to the Casimir effect with real plates normal to the $`z`$-axis. One thus finds a result for the correction to the Casimir force which goes like $`\alpha ^2/m^4L^8`$. Needless to say, it is in strong disagreement with the result obtained by Bordag et al.. Such a discrepancy would be one of the very few known cases where there is a disagreement between results derived in an effective theory and those derived from the underlying and more fundamental theory.

There is a way out of the above conflict. The effective Lagrangian must in general be constructed from the degrees of freedom involved at the scale we consider and made to satisfy the symmetries present in the problem. In our case it must therefore involve the gauge invariant field tensor $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ and derivatives thereof. While the Lagrangian (11) is Lorentz-invariant, this is not really a symmetry present in the Casimir problem since translational invariance along the $`z`$-axis is destroyed by the presence of the plates. As recently suggested by Thomassen, this can be compensated by the introduction of the 4-vector $`n^\mu =(0,𝐧)`$ which in the effective theory is to be considered as a remnant of the boundary conditions in the full theory. With this vector in addition to the gradient operator $`_\lambda `$, we can now construct new, effective interactions like

$`\mathrm{\Delta }=C_0n^\lambda F^{\mu \nu }n_\lambda F_{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{C_1}{m}}n^\lambda F^{\mu \nu }_\lambda F_{\mu \nu }+\mathrm{}`$ (12)
where $`C_0`$ and $`C_1`$ are dimensionless coupling constants. The first term will give a correction to the leading order Casimir force varying like $`1/L^4`$, while the second term will give a result varying with the plate separation as $`1/mL^5`$ in agreement with the result of Bordag et al.. The unknown couplng constants appearing in this effective description can be obtained from matching to suitable quantities calculated in full QED. When these are established, one can then investigate how the energy and pressure is distributed between and outside the plates.

## Vacuum energy on $`S^3`$

A non-zero vacuum energy can not only be caused by the presence of boundaries which disrupt the free modes, but also by a non-trivial topology of spacetime. One of the simplest examples which was first considered by Ford, is the massless scalar field on $`S^3`$. The conformally invariant Klein-Gordon equation is

$`(\mathrm{}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}R)\varphi (x)=0`$ (13)
where $`\mathrm{}`$ is the covariant d’Alembertian and $`R`$ is the scalar curvature $`R=R_\mu ^\mu `$. For the static spacetime on $`S^3`$ with radius $`a`$, the Ricci tensor is $`R_{ij}=2g_{ij}/a^2`$ so that $`R=6/a^2`$. The isometry group of this homogeneous space is $`SO(4)`$ and thus one can label the modes by the quantum numbers $`n=1,2,3,\mathrm{}`$ and $`\mathrm{}=0,1,\mathrm{},n1`$ as for the energy levels in the hydrogen atom. Each mode with energy $`\omega =n/a`$ thus has a degeneracy of $`n^2`$ and the total vacuum energy is

$`E_0={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2a}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}n^3`$ (14)
Using zeta-function regularization as in (7), we therefore find $`E_0=1/240a`$ in full agreement with Ford who used an exponential cutoff.

For the electromagnetic Casimir energy on $`S^3`$ one would intuitively expect twice this energy because of the two spin degrees of freedom and conformal invariance. However, Ford finds the mode energies $`\omega =n/a`$ now with quantum numbers $`n=2,3,\mathrm{}`$ and degeneracy $`2(n^21)`$. Obviously, this will not give the expected vacuum energy although it is finite with zeta-function regularization. On the other hand, it is not finite using an exponential cutoff and thus according to our previous discussions, there may be something wrong in the present description of the problem. An obvious remedy is to locate some missing $`\mathrm{}=0`$ modes in the solutions of the vector wave equation on $`S^3`$ so that the range of the quantum number $`n`$ and the degeneracy come out as in the scalar case. These would then play the same crucial rôle here as the TEM mode with $`n=0`$ does for the electromagnetic Casimir energy between parallel plates.

When this problem is settled, it would be interesting to consider the radiative corrections to the vacuum energy. The structure of the result can be analyzed from the point of view of effective field theory. From the requirements of general covariance and gauge invariance, the effective Lagrangian must then depend on the field and curvature tensors. The derivative expansion will be in terms of the covariant gradient $`_\mu `$. In this way one can construct a leading order effective theory of the form

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }`$ (15)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{m^2}}\left(C_1^\lambda F^{\mu \nu }_\lambda F_{\mu \nu }+C_2F_\sigma ^\mu R_\rho ^\sigma F_\mu ^\rho +C_3F^{\mu \nu }F^{\rho \sigma }R_{\mu \nu \rho \sigma }+\mathrm{}\right)`$
A common factor of $`\alpha /m^2`$ is taken out from the coupling constants because these contributions will arise from Feynman diagrams involving two electron propagators. Together they will thus give a correction to the leading order Casimir energy which will vary as $`\alpha /m^2a^6`$. The precice value of the coefficient can be obtained by determining the unknown, effective coupling constants $`C_1,C_2,\mathrm{}`$ by matching to the underlying theory which is QED on this compact space.

## Conclusion

With the recent impressive experimental investigations of the Casimir effect, we will also need a better understanding on the theoretical side. Soon we will have measurements of such an accuracy that thermal effects must also be included. The underlying quantum vacuum fluctuations are known to become very large near confining boundaries. Similar divergences will be found in most components of the energy-stress tensor, in particular when interactions are included. Most of the theoretical work so far has been concentrated mainly on the total Casimir energy. Much more information and physics to understand is hidden in the energy density and how it varies with position. For this purpose effective field theory seems to be a most promising theoretical approach.


text:
# WHY A CONJECTURE OF POINCARE DOESN’T WORK

## Abstract

Poincare had conjectured that the fact that closed loops could be shrunk to points on a surface topologically equivalent to the surface of a sphere can be generalised to three (and more) dimensions. After nearly a century the conjecture has remained unproven. We given arguments below to show that the conjecture doesn’t work in three dimensions.

00footnotetext: Email:birlasc@hd1.vsnl.net.in; birlard@ap.nic.in

Nearly a hundred years ago, Poincare had conjectured that the fact that closed loops could be shrunk to points on a two dimensional surface topologically equivalent to the surface of a sphere can be generalised to three dimensions also. After all these years the conjecture has remained unproven. We will now see why the three dimensional generalisation is not possible.
We firstly observe that a two dimensional surface on which closed smooth loops can be shrunk continuously to arbitrarily small sizes is simply connected. On such a surface we can define complex coordinates following the hydrodynamical route exploiting the well known connection between the two. If we consider laminar motion of an incompressible fluid we will have

$$\stackrel{}{}\stackrel{}{V}=0$$
(1)
Equation (1) defines, as is well known, the stream function $`\psi `$ such that

$$\stackrel{}{V}=\stackrel{}{}\times \psi \stackrel{}{e}_z$$
(2)
where $`\stackrel{}{e}_z`$ is the unit vector in the $`z`$ direction.
Further, as the flow is irrotational, as well, we have

$$\stackrel{}{}\times \stackrel{}{V}=0$$
(3)
Equation (3) implies that there is a velocity potential $`\varphi `$ such that,

$$\stackrel{}{V}=\stackrel{}{}\varphi $$
(4)
The equations (2) and (4) show that the functions $`\psi `$ and $`\varphi `$ satisfy the Cauchy-Reimann equations of complex analysis.
So it is possible to characterise the fluid elements by a complex variable

$$z=x+ıy$$
(5)
The question is can we generalise equation (5) to three dimensions? Infact as Hamilton concluded a long time ago, a generalisation leads not to three but to four dimensions, with the three Pauli spin matrices $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }`$ replacing $`ı`$. Further these Pauli spin matrices do not commute, and characterise spin or vorticity.
This is not surprising - the reason lies in equation (2) or equivalently in the multiplication law of complex numbers. (Infact, there is a general tendency to loverlook this fact and this leads to the mistaken impression that complex numbers are just an ordered pair of numbers, which latter are usually associated with vectors.)
The above considerations give an explanation for the $`3+1`$ dimensionality of space time. Infact it is well known that it is the entanglement of the spin of electrons (spin half) that implies three dimensionality of physical space.


text:
# Critical Behavior of the Thermoelectric Transport Properties in Amorphous Systems near the Metal-Insulator Transition

11institutetext: Institut für Physik, Technische Universität, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany 22institutetext: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, Prince Consort Rd., London SW7 2BZ, U.K.

## Abstract

The scaling behavior of the thermoelectric transport properties in disordered systems is studied in the energy region near the metal-insulator transition. Using an energy-dependent conductivity $`\sigma `$ obtained experimentally, we extend our linear-response-based transport calculations in the three-dimensional Anderson model of localization. Taking a dynamical scaling exponent $`z`$ in agreement with predictions from scaling theories, we show that the temperature-dependent $`\sigma `$, the thermoelectric power $`S`$, the thermal conductivity $`K`$ and the Lorenz number $`L_0`$ obey scaling.

The scaling description AbrALR79  of disordered systems, e.g. the Anderson model of localization, has cultivated our understanding of transport properties in such systems KraM93 ; LeeR85 . According to the scaling hypothesis, the behavior of the d.c. conductivity $`\sigma `$ near the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in the Anderson model can be described by only a single scaling variable. As a result of the scaling theory, the dynamical conductivity in the three-dimensional (3D) Anderson model behaves as Weg76 ; BelK94

$$\frac{\sigma (t,T)}{T^{1/z}}=\left(\frac{t}{T^{1/\nu z}}\right),$$
(1)
where $`T`$ is the temperature and $`t`$ is the dimensionless distance from the critical point. For example, $`t=\left|1E_F/E_c\right|`$ where $`E_F`$ and $`E_c`$ are the Fermi energy and the mobility edge, respectively. The parameter $`\nu `$ is the correlation length exponent, which in 3D is equivalent to the conductivity exponent, $`\sigma t^\nu `$, and $`z`$ is the dynamical exponent, $`\sigma T^{1/z}`$. It was further demonstrated that not only $`\sigma (t,T)`$ obeys scaling in the 3D Anderson model but also the thermoelectric power $`S(t,T)`$ SivI86 ; VilRS99b , the thermal conductivity $`K(t,T)`$ and the Lorenz number $`L_0(t,T)`$ VilRS99b . However, despite the quality of the scaling of $`\sigma `$, we obtained an unphysical value for $`z`$ VilRS99b . Scaling arguments for noninteracting systems predict $`z=d`$ in $`d`$ dimensions Weg76 ; BelK94 . But we found VilRS99b  $`z=1/\nu 3`$. In addition, values of $`S(T)`$ EndB94 ; VilRS99a  are at least an order of magnitude larger than in measurements of doped semiconductors LakL93  and amorphous alloys LauB95 ; SheHM91 .

In what follows, we show that we obtain the right order of magnitude VilRSM00  and good scaling for these thermoelectric transport properties by using a ”modified” critical behavior of $`\sigma `$ in the linear-response formulation for the Anderson model based on experimental data.

In the linear-response formulation, the thermoelectric transport properties can be determined from the kinetic coefficients $`L_{ij}`$ VilRS99a , i.e.,

$`\sigma =L_{11},`$ $`K={\displaystyle \frac{L_{22}L_{11}L_{21}L_{12}}{e^2TL_{11}}},`$
$`S={\displaystyle \frac{L_{12}}{|e|TL_{11}}},`$ and $`L_0={\displaystyle \frac{L_{22}L_{11}L_{21}L_{12}}{(k_BTL_{11})^2}}.`$
The $`L_{ij}`$ relate the induced charge and heat current densities to their sources such as a temperature gradient VilRS99a . In the absence of interactions and inelastic scattering processes, the $`L_{ij}`$ are expressed as CheT61 ; Kub57 ; Gre58

$`L_{ij}=(1)^{i+j}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}A(E)\left[E\mu (T)\right]^{i+j2}`$
$`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{f(E,\mu ,T)}{E}}\right]dE,`$ (3)
for $`i,j=1,2`$, where $`\mu `$ is the chemical potential of the system, $`f(E,\mu ,T)`$ is the Fermi distribution function, and $`A(E)`$ describes the system dependent features. In the Anderson model, one sets $`A(E)`$ to be equal to the critical behavior of $`\sigma (E)|1E/E_c|^\nu `$ KraM93 . Note, however, that this behavior near the MIT does not contain a $`T`$ dependence. Hence, the $`T`$ dependence of the $`L_{ij}`$ in Eq. (3) is merely due to the broadening of $`f`$ and the $`T`$ dependence of $`\mu `$. The latter stems from the structure of the density of states, variations in which yield only negligible changes in $`L_{ij}`$ VilRSM00 . Thus, in order to model a correct $`T`$ dependence of the $`L_{ij}`$ and, consequently, the transport properties, we need to reconsider what $`A(E)`$ should be.

A suitable $`\sigma (E)`$ may be obtained from appropriate experimental data. The recent measurements of $`\sigma `$ by Waffenschmidt et alWafPL99  in Si:P at the MIT under uniaxial stress show that $`\sigma (t,T)`$ obeys scaling with $`\nu =1\pm 0.1`$ and $`z=2.94\pm 0.3`$. Obtaining (i) $`zd=3`$ in good agreement with scaling arguments Weg76 ; BelK94  and (ii) $`\nu `$ which also agrees reasonably well with the numerical results for noninteracting systems SleO99 ; MilRS99a ; MilRSU00  makes the experimental data in Ref. WafPL99  an excellent empirical model for $`A(E)`$. In those experiments, $`t`$ in $`\sigma (t,T)`$ is given in terms of the uniaxial stress and its critical value near the MIT. Here, we derive a functional form of $`\sigma (E)`$ by constructing a polynomial fit or a spline curve of the experimental data and setting $`t=|1E/E_c|`$. When using this data as input for Eq. (Critical Behavior of the Thermoelectric Transport Properties in Amorphous Systems near the Metal-Insulator Transition) the difference in the order of magnitude in $`S`$ as compared to experiments is removed VilRSM00 . Thus, following the approach of Ref. VilRSM00 , we now study whether the $`T`$ dependence of $`\sigma (E,T)`$ can be scaled as in Eq. (1) and whether $`S`$, $`K`$ and $`L_0`$ also obey scaling.

In Fig. 1 we show that $`\sigma `$, $`S`$, $`K`$ and $`L_0`$ data for different $`t`$ and $`T`$ parameters collapse onto scaling curves when plotted as a function of $`|1E_F/E_c|/T^{0.31}`$. For each figure, we clearly obtain two branches, one for the metallic regime and another for the insulating regime. As depicted in Fig. 1a, $`\sigma `$ satisfies Eq. (1). With $`\nu =1`$ in accordance with the experiment in Ref. WafPL99 , $`1/\nu z=0.31`$ gives $`z=3.2`$. This is in good agreement with the prediction $`z=3`$ for 3D noninteracting systems. Furthermore, it indicates that the Harris criterion Har74 , $`\nu z>1`$, is satisfied which in turn implies a sharp MIT.

The prefactor in $`K`$ in Fig. 1c verifies that $`\sigma `$ and $`K/T`$ behave similarly as the MIT is approached. This confirms earlier results in the 3D Anderson model from various methods VilRS99a ; StrC87 . Meanwhile, the prefactors in both $`S`$ and $`L_0`$ in Figs. 1b and 1d have not been observed in the respective scaling curves in the 3D Anderson model VilRS99b . The prefactors serve as corrections to the scaling of $`S`$ and $`L_0`$ when an appropriate $`\sigma (E,T)`$ is used as input in Eq. (3).

As shown in Fig. 1d in accordance also with the results in Ref. VilRSM00 , $`L_0\pi ^2/3`$, as the MIT is approached from the metallic or the insulating regime. This is the expected value in the Sommerfeld free electron theory. It is different from the result for the unmodified 3D Anderson model VilRS99a  for which the magnitude of $`L_0`$ depends on $`\nu `$ VilRS99a .

In conclusion, we find that by modifying $`\sigma (E,T)`$ in our calculations, the thermoelectric transport properties near the MIT obey scaling.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors are grateful for the support of the DFG through Sonderforschungsbereich 393, the DAAD, the British Council and the SMWK.