text:
# Candidates for non–baryonic dark matter

## 1 Evidence of darkness

The presence of large amounts of non–luminous components in the Universe has been identified along the years by different means and on different scales: on the galactic scale, the flatness of the rotational curves of many galaxies indicates a dark component which is presumably distributed as a halo around the galaxies ; clusters points toward a sizeable contribution of unseen matter distributed around and between galaxies ; more recently, on cosmological scales, the combination of the results on high–redshift supernovae  and on the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation  is pointing toward a flat Universe whose energy density is dominated by a dark vacuum component (cosmological constant, quintessence) together with a sizeable dark component of matter. In terms of the density parameter $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, the current view can be summarized as follows : the total amount of matter/energy of the Universe is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{tot}}=1.02\pm _{0.05}^{0.06}`$, and this is composed of a matter component $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}=0.31\pm _{0.12}^{0.13}`$ and a vacuum–energy component $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.71\pm 0.11`$. Even though the actual numbers vary a little depending on the priors of the statistical analyses, the clear indication of the latest data is that the Universe is strongly dominated by dark (and unknown) components. In fact the numbers above cannot be reconciled with a Universe made only of standard components: from primordial nucleosynthesis studies, baryons can contribute only at the level of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{b}=0.037\pm 0.011`$ , while luminous matter is known to provide only a contribution of order $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{lum}}0.003`$ . We are therefore facing the presence of at least three dark components in the Universe: dark baryons, dark non–baryonic matter and dark energy. The existence of both dark (relativistic or non–relativistic) exotic matter and dark energy asks for extension of the standard model of fundamental interactions, since no known particle or field can explain either of these components.

In this review, we will discuss the current status of the non–baryonic dark matter problem. For reviews on dark baryons and dark energy, see Refs. . We will discuss the efforts to explain the amount of dark matter in the Universe, which we summarize as:

$$0.05<\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}h^2<0.3$$
(1)
and the studies related to the searches for dark matter particles.

## 2 Particle candidates to dark matter

Dark matter candidates must be looked for in schemes beyond the standard model. The interesting feature of many of these models is that they are extensions whose primary motivation is not related to dark matter: in spite of this, they contain particles which have the right properties to act as dark matter. This is especially true for supersymmetric theories, which are the ones with richer phenomenology for dark matter, but interesting candidates may also be found in theories which do not involve supersymmetry.

Among the non–supersymmetric candidates, the massive neutrino and the axion are the most direct possibilities.

A light massive neutrino represents the simplest extension of the standard model. The recent results on the atmospheric  and solar  anomalies strongly indicate that neutrinos do possess a mass: a consequence of this is that neutrinos could also compose at least a fraction of dark matter. From the atmospheric neutrino analyses , we deduce that neutrinos can provide $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\nu h^2>610^4`$, but very likely they cannot contribute more than $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\nu h^20.05`$ in order not to spoil the process of structure formation. Therefore, a massive neutrino can only be (and very likely is) present as a sub–dominant dark matter component. Although less economic from the point of view of particle physics, it is also possible to have very massive neutrinos ($`m_\nu >100`$ GeV) which again would contribute only partially, at the level of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\nu h^210^3`$$`10^2`$ . Sterile neutrinos with masses in the keV range and mixing angles of the order of $`10^{10}`$ rad may play a role, since they may provide $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\nu h^20.1`$$`0.2`$ , and therefore explain the dark matter amount of Eq.(1).

Axions arise in models where the strong CP problem is solved by the Peccei–Quinn mechanism. They may be produced in the early Universe by means of different mechanisms, either thermally or non–thermally (misalignment of the axionic field, decay of axionic strings) . The current limits  from axion searches and cosmology constrain this particle to have either a mass around 10 eV or in the mass range $`10^6`$$`10^2`$ eV. In both cases, axions can solve the dark matter problem stated in Eq.(1), but they can also be a sub–dominant component.

Supersymmetry with conserved R–parity offers a wide variety of dark matter candidates. The nature of the relic particle depends somehow on the way supersymmetry is broken. Gravity–mediated models predict as dark matter particle either the neutralino or the sneutrino . The neutralino may be the dark matter candidate also in anomaly–mediated models. In gauge mediated–models the role of dark matter may be played by the gravitino  or by messenger fields . In supersymmetric models where the strong CP problem is solved by the axion, its supersymmetric partner, the axino  is also present and can act as dark matter. Other possibilities that have been proposed are stable non–topological solitons, like the Q–balls , or heavy non–thermal relics . The most interesting candidate, and the one which has been more deeply investigated, is the neutralino, and in the following Sections we will concentrate our discussion on this particle. For the other supersymmetric candidates, we refer to the quoted references and the references quoted therein.

Finally, among other candidates which have been proposed, not necessarily related to supersymmetry, we finally recall mirror particles  or some type of scalar fields .

From the above discussion on particle dark matter candidates, a fact clearly arises: non–baryonic dark matter may naturally be multi–component. An example of this occurs, for instance, in models where the CP problem is solved by the axion and the hierarchy problem is explained by low–energy supersymmetry. In this case, the axion and the axino or the neutralino are all dark matter components, plus the massive neutrino which nowadays appears to be an unavoidable dark matter component. Which one would turn out to be the dominant candidate would depend on the characteristics of the specific model which one can build. But the possibility of multi–component dark matter is interesting, because the detectability of a specific candidate is not in general related to the fact that this particle is the dominant component of dark matter. Usually, at least for candidates like the neutralino in standard cosmology, it turns out that it is easier to detect a relic particle which is sub–dominant . This is related to the fact that detection rates rely on the cross sections of the processes of scattering or annihilation, while on the contrary the relic abundance is inversely proportional to the annihilation cross section. This roughly induces an anti–correlation between detection rates and cosmological abundance: therefore large detection rates are often related to low relic abundances. It is not trivial to have a relic particle which is at the same time a dominant dark matter component and potentially detectable. Clearly this last situation is the most appealing one.

As for the most studied candidate which is the neutralino, in the following it will be shown that this situation can occur in suitable classes of supersymmetric models. This is one of the properties that makes the neutralino a very appealing candidate.

## 3 Supersymmetry and dark matter: the neutralino

The existence of a relic particle in supersymmetric theories arises from the conservation of a symmetry, $`R`$–parity, which prevents the lightest of all the superpartners from decaying. The nature and the properties of this particle depend on the way supersymmetry is broken, and we have already seen that the neutralino can be the dark matter candidate in models where supersymmetry is broken through gravity– (or anomaly–) mediated mechanisms. The actual implementation of a specific supersymmetric scheme depends on a number of assumptions on the structure of the model and on the relations among its parameters. This induces a large variability of the phenomenology of neutralino dark matter. In this Section we briefly recall the supersymmetric models which have been mostly studied for neutralino dark matter, while in the next Sections we will give a few examples of calculations of relic abundance and detection rates in some of these schemes. For details concerning the models and their implementations for neutralino dark matter calculations, we refer to the list of references provided below and references quoted therein.

The simplest and most direct implementation of supersymmetry is represented by the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) scheme , where, in addition to requiring gauge coupling constant unification at the GUT scale, also all the mass parameters in the supersymmetric breaking sector are universal at the same GUT scale. The low–energy sector of the model is obtained by evolving all the parameters through renormalization group equations (RGE): this process also induces the breaking of the electroweak (EW) symmetry in a radiative way (rEWSB). This model is very predictive, since it relies only on four free parameters, but at the same time it induces a very constrained phenomenology at low–energy. It also appears to be quite sensitive to some standard model parameters, like the mass of the top and bottom quarks ($`m_t`$ and $`m_b`$) and the strong coupling constant $`\alpha _s`$.

A more relaxed implementation of this supersymmetric scheme is offered by non–universal supergravity (nuSUGRA) , where some of the unification conditions at the GUT scale are relaxed: non–universality has been studied in the Higgs, in the sfermion and in the gaugino sectors.

Specific patterns of non–universality may be originated through mechanisms which involve effects of extra–dimensions, like in D–brane  and string models . These models also may be very predictive, with very few free parameters, but the relations among them is different from what is postulated in mSUGRA models.

It has also been realized that unification conditions, both for gauge couplings and/or mass parameters, may occur at scales which are different from the standard GUT scale at about $`10^{16}`$ GeV. This unification scale may be lower than the usual GUT scale (intermediate unification scale models) , and this induces a modification of neutralino phenomenology at low energy.

A different approach is offered by the low–energy supersymmetric model (effMSSM) , defined directly at the EW scale, which is where the phenomenology of neutralino dark matter is actually studied. Also in this case we have to make assumptions in order to reduce the number of free parameters to a manageable number. These assumptions must be mild enough not to represent an arbitrary over–constraint on the model, and all the relevant parameters at the EW scale must be represented. It is possible in this case to work with six or seven free parameters.

Other models which have been discussed in the literature in connection with neutralino dark matter are dilaton domination models , models with CP–violation  and anomaly mediated models .

The parameter space of all the models is constrained by a number of relevant experimental bounds which mostly come from accelerator physics. Negative searches of supersymmetry at LEP  and Tevatron  are currently constraining charginos to be heavier than about 105 GeV and sleptons and squarks to be heavier than 90–100 GeV. The bounds from LEP on the lightest supersymmetric Higgs boson $`h`$ indicate that its mass is larger than 90 GeV for small coupling of $`h`$ with $`b`$–quarks, while for intermediate and large values of this coupling the bound on the mass is about 114 GeV . Tevatron further constrains the mass of $`h`$ in some sectors of the supersymmetric parameter space (namely, large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, the ratio of the vev’s of the two neutral higgses) . Finally, an important constraint for all supersymmetric models comes from the measured values of the branching ratio of the radiative decay $`bs+\gamma `$, which, in addition to the standard model terms, can get sizeable contributions from supersymmetric loops . Notice that the requirement that the neutralino is a dark matter particle, implies that also cosmology imposes a limit on supersymmetric models: in fact, the relic abundance of neutralinos, which can be calculated in a given supersymmetric scheme, cannot exceed the upper limit of Eq.(1).

At present, there is no direct indication that supersymmetry has been found in Nature. However, we just want to mention a few recent results which have been considered as possible hints of supersymmetry. The first is the excess of signal–like events in the Higgs searches at LEP: an effect of about 2–$`\sigma `$ for a Higgs mass around 115 GeV has been reported . This light higgs may be interpreted as indicative of a supersymmetric higgs. Another indication for physics beyond the standard model comes from a global fit to the precision electroweak data: the analysis shows that the standard model is acceptable with a low (around 4%) confidence level . The agreement with the data improves considerably if low–energy supersymmetry is included in the analysis .

In the last year another anomaly raised a lot of attention: a possible deviation between the calculated and the measured value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. However, recent theoretical re–evaluations have shown that the evidence of deviation is very weak , and therefore instead of indicating a possible presence of supersymmetry, the results on the muon anomalous magnetic moment should be regarded as imposing bounds on the supersymmetric parameter space, as is the case for $`bs+\gamma `$.

## 4 Neutralino relic abundance

Neutralino relic abundance, like also neutralino detection rates, is sensitive to the specific supersymmetric model which is employed. In fig. 1 we show an example, taken from Ref. , which refers to a mSUGRA scheme  in the large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ regime. The regions of the parameter space shown in the figure as dark (blue and green) bands entail a relic neutralino with relic abundance in the range $`0.1\mathrm{\Omega }_\chi h^20.3`$. Therefore, in that sector of the parameter space the neutralino represents the dominant dark matter component since it is able to fulfill the cosmological requirement of Eq.(1). Instead, in the region which is between the thick and the thin (blue) bands, neutralino relic abundance is smaller than 0.1, and in a part of this region it falls below the lower limit of Eq.(1): in this last case, neutralino cannot account for all the dark matter in the Universe. On the contrary, in the other two large white regions of fig. 1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\chi h^2>0.3`$: these regions of the mSUGRA parameter space have to be considered as excluded by the requirement that neutralino relic abundance does not get in conflict with the experimental determination of the amount of dark matter in the Universe. In the same parameter space of fig. 1, another region has been identified where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\chi h^2`$ can fall in the range of Eq.(1): this can occur at large $`m_0/m_{1/2}`$ , a region which has been also called as “focus point model” ($`m_0`$ is the common soft scalar mass parameter at the GUT scale and $`m_{1/2}`$ is the common gaugino mass at the GUT scale).

The situation shown if Fig.1 can change substantially if one explores other sectors of the mSUGRA parameter space, like for instance small values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, where the region in which neutralino is the dominant component is quite constrained to values of $`m_0`$ and $`m_{1/2}`$ which do not exceed a few hundreds of GeV, except in very narrow corridors where coannihilation between neutralinos and staus occur .

It has to be noticed that mSUGRA models turn out to be somewhat sensitive to the standard model parameters $`m_t`$, $`m_b`$ and $`\alpha _s`$ and to the details of radiative effects (radiative corrections, radiative electroweak symmetry breaking). It is therefore difficult to derive definite conclusions on which are the intervals of the mSUGRA parameters where neutralino is a dominant dark matter component (except for small values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$).

The effects of non–universality  affect the low–energy sector of the theory through changes in the RGE and in the occurrence of rEWSB. This has the effect of modifying neutralino couplings and the mass spectrum of supersymmetric particles, with the consequence of modifying neutralino relic abundance and the cosmologically relevant regions in the nuSUGRA parameter space. Quite relaxed relic abundance regions are also obtained in the low–energy realization of supersymmetry, the effMSSM .

## 5 Relic neutralino searches

Neutralino relic particles can be searched for by means of different techniques. Basically, the detection methods are of two types: direct detection, which relies on the possibility to directly measure the interaction of neutralinos with a detector in the laboratory, or indirect detection, which tries to identify products of neutralino annihilation.

Dark matter particles are supposed to be bounded to the Galaxy, since they are part of the dark halo which is responsible for the observed flatness of the rotational curves. Therefore the best place to look for relic neutralinos is the halo of our Galaxy. The dynamics and distribution of these particles are described by a matter– and a velocity– distribution function, about which there are still large uncertainties.

The distribution in space of these bounded dark particles can be smooth and non–singular at the galactic center, but numerical simulations tend to indicate a cuspy behaviour toward the center of the Galaxy as well as a clumpy distribution of dark matter in the halo. Detection rates which depend on annihilation processes which occur in the galactic halo are therefore strongly affected by this uncertainty in the matter distribution. On the contrary, detection rates which rely on local properties, like direct detection, are not very much sensitive on how dark matter is distributed in the halo. In this case, the relevant parameter is the total local dark matter density $`\rho _l=(0.2÷0.7)`$ GeV cm-3 . Neutralinos can account for all or part of this amount, depending whether they are or not the dominant dark matter component. Therefore, the local neutralino matter density is: $`\rho _\chi =\xi \rho _l`$, where $`\xi 1`$ .

The velocity distribution of dark matter particles in the halo is even more uncertain than the matter distribution, since it is difficult to constrain the way these dark particles move in the halo. The usual assumption is to consider an isotropic Maxwell–Boltzmann (MB) distribution, as seen in the galactic rest frame. The relevant parameters in this case are only two: the local rotational velocity $`v_0=(220\pm 50)`$ km s-1 and the escape velocity $`v_{\mathrm{esc}}=(450÷650)`$ km s-1 . However, the velocity distribution can be quite different from the simple MB form: it can still be isotropic but non–maxwellian, as well as non–isotropic. Moreover, the halo can be affected by some amount of rotation. The way dark matter particles behave in velocity space affects mostly direct detection, which relies on the energy transfered from the dark matter particles to a detector.

Proposals of looking for extra–galactic neutralino dark matter have also been put forward. One possibility is to look for energetic gamma rays from neutralino annihilation in dense extragalactic systems, like M87 and local dwarfs spheroidal galaxies : in order to have potentially detectable signals, clumpiness is needed. Another possibility is the direct detection of dark matter particles coming from outside our Galaxy : these particles have a much lower flux than galactic neutralinos, but they posses some typical features, like an essentially unique velocity and very few flight directions, which can help in discriminating the extra–galactic particles from the ones bounded to the Galaxy.

### 5.1 Direct detection

Direct detection relies on the scattering of dark matter particles off the nuclei of a low–background detector. This method is sensitive to the local properties of the neutralinos in the halo, i.e. its local abundance $`\rho _\chi `$ and its local velocity distribution, and depends on the neutralino–nucleus scattering cross section, which is usually dominated by the coherent interaction. The detection rate is proportional to the product $`[\rho _\chi \times \sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}]`$ for any given velocity distribution . The experimental results on direct detection are reviewed in Ref. . We only recall that the current sensitivity of direct detection experiments can be quoted in the following ranges for neutralino–nucleon cross section and mass: $`410^9\mathrm{nbarn}<\xi \sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}<\mathrm{few}10^8\mathrm{nbarn}`$ and $`30\mathrm{GeV}<m_\chi <200\mathrm{GeV}`$ . In the above, we have considered the uncertainties in the local values of the dark matter density and some uncertainties in the halo models, discussed in the previous Section. We recall that the quantity $`\xi `$ measures the fraction of local dark matter to be ascribed to the neutralino ($`\xi 1`$) . This experimental sensitivity of direct detection is shown in figs. 25 as a closed region.

The contour which is reported in these figures is actually the DAMA/NaI region which is obtained when the annual modulation effect observed by the DAMA Collaboration is interpreted as due to a dark matter particle . The presence of an annual modulation in the low–energy recoil spectrum is in fact a distinctive signature of direct detection searches .

Figs.2 and 3 show the comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical calculations in the mSUGRA scheme. The quantity $`\xi `$, which determines whether the neutralino is a dominant or sub–dominant component, is calculated according to its relic abundance as: $`\xi =\mathrm{min}(1,\mathrm{\Omega }_\chi h^2/0.05)`$ . The comparison of the two figures shows that in a constrained mSUGRA  scheme the calculation are very sensitive also to standard model parameters : in fig.2 $`m_t`$, $`m_b`$ and $`\alpha _s`$ are fixed at their own experimental central values, while in fig.3 these quantities are allowed to vary inside their 2–$`\sigma `$ intervals. We also comment that, especially in strict mSUGRA models, radiative effects are quite critical, especially in the higgs sector where light higgses ($`m_h`$ 90–100 GeV), not in conflict with the experimental bounds from LEP, can be obtained for large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$  and this can induce relatively large values for $`\xi \sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}`$ . Also the signal–like LEP higgs events may be compatible with interesting neutralino dark matter phenomenology for direct detection .

Non–universal models  are naturally more relaxed and values of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}`$ at the level of current sensitivies are more easily obtained, both for a dominant and a subdominant relic neutralino: an example is shown in fig.4. Also in D–brane models , and even more easily in the effMSSM , cross sections large enough to be probed by direct detection are obtained. Ax example for a D–brane model with intermediate unification scale is shown in fig.5.

The question whether current direct detection sensitivities are probing dominant or subdominant relic neutralinos may be answered in terms of the plot shown if fig.6, which translates directly in terms of astrophysical and cosmological quantities the direct detection results . By considering the current interval of sensitivities on the quantity $`[\rho _\chi \times \sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}]`$, the calculation of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{scalar}}^{(\mathrm{nucleon})}`$ allows us to determine the values of $`\rho _\chi `$ which are required for each supersymmetric configuration in order to provide a detectable signal (for details see for instance Ref.  ). Fig.6 shows the calculated values of $`\rho _\chi `$ vs. the neutralino relic abundance, for the effMSSM. We see that a fraction of supersymmetric models overlap with the region of main cosmological and astrophysical interest: $`0.05<\mathrm{\Omega }_\chi h^2<0.3`$ and $`0.2\rho _\chi /(\mathrm{GeVcm}^3)0.7`$. For points in this region, the neutralino is the dominant component of dark matter both in the Universe and at the galactic level. For points which fall inside the band delimited by the slant dot–dashed lines, the neutralino would provide only a fraction of the cold dark matter both at the level of local density and at the level of the average $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, a situation which would be possible if the neutralino is not the unique cold dark matter particle component. On the other hand, configurations above the upper dot–dashed line and below the upper horizontal solid line would imply a stronger clustering of neutralinos in our halo as compared to their average distribution in the Universe. This situation may be considered unlikely, since in this case neutralinos could fulfill the experimental range for $`\rho _\chi `$, but they would contribute only a small fraction to the cosmological cold dark matter content. Finally, configurations above the upper horizontal line are incompatible with the upper limit on the local density of dark matter in our Galaxy.

### 5.2 Indirect detection

Indirect detection relies on the possibility to identify signals which are originated by neutralino self–annihilations. There are two basic situations: annihilation inside the Earth or the Sun, or annihilation in the galactic halo.

The first type of signal, due to neutralino annihilation taking place in celestial bodies (Earth or Sun) where the neutralinos have been gravitationally captured and accumulated, is a neutrino flux, which can be detected in a neutrino telescope as a flux of up–going muons . Since the process relevant for accumulation of neutralino is capture, which relies on neutralino scattering off the nuclei of the Earth and the Sun, this detection technique is sensitive only to local properties of the Galaxy, like direct detection. In figs. 7 and 8 we show the flux of upgoing muons calculated in the effMSSM for the signal coming from the Earth and the Sun, respectively . The supersymmetric configurations which are shown are only the ones which are currently at the level of being explored by direct detection and the upper limit on the upgoing muon flux from MACRO is shown as a solid line. We can see that indirect detection at neutrino telescopes is partially competitive with direct detection, although a large fraction of configurations which are explored by direct detection require more sensitive neutrino telescopes in order to be probed.

Neutralino annihilations can take place also directly in the galactic halo. In this case the signals can consist in: a diffuse neutrino flux ; a diffuse gamma–ray flux or a gamma–ray line ; exotic components in cosmic rays: positrons , antiprotons  and antideuterium . For this type of signals, global properties of the halo are relevant, and therefore in this case the matter distribution of neutralinos is an important quantity. In particular, the overdensities which would be present in a clumpy halo have the effect of largely enhancing the predicted signals . Neutrino and gamma fluxes require clumpiness to reach detectable levels. Also the recent anomaly in the HEAT data  on positrons may be explained by a signal originated by neutralino annihilation if overdensities are present in the galactic halo . On the contrary, antiprotons and antideuterium may be detectable also in a smooth halo.

In fig. 9 we show the correlation between the antiproton and the antideuterium flux calculated in the effMSSM for a smooth halo . The vertical band represents the BESS 95+97 measurement of the antiproton flux. All the points on the right of this band have to be considered as excluded, since they provide a flux in excess of the measurements: this fact shows that the antiproton signal can be used to constrain the supersymmetric parameter space. At present, there are no measurement of an antideuterium component in cosmic rays, but the analysis of Ref.  shows that the antideuterium signature is quite promising and the next generation detectors may be able to probe a sizeable fraction of supersymmetric configurations. This is shown in fig. 9 by the horizontal line, which denotes the reaching capability of the AMS detector on a 3–year flight on board of the space station. Recently, a detector designed specifically to look for antideuterium in cosmic rays has been proposed .

Finally, fig. 10 shows the predicted gamma–ray line flux in the effMSSM for a NFW halo, compared with an estimation of the GLAST sensitivity.

## 6 Conclusions

We have seen that we can identify two main issues in particle dark matter studies: i) to explain the observed amount of dark matter in the Universe ($`0.05<\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}h^2<0.3`$) by finding suitable particle candidates; ii) to detect a relic particle. For both of them there appear to be good prospects of success.

As for the candidates, there are many proposed particles which could act as dark matter. Some of these candidates turn out to be quite natural, like e.g. the massive neutrino, the axion or the neutralino. Almost all of the proposed candidates can play the role of the dominant dark matter component, although for some of them a non–standard cosmology is required. An important remark is that, from the particle physics point of view, dark matter may naturally be multi–component. A multi–component dark matter scenario offers opportunity for interesting phenomenology not only to the dominant candidate, which would explain the cosmological observation on the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M}`$ parameter, but also to the sub–dominant candidates, since usually these are the ones which are easier to detect. The detection of a particle which is a relic from the early Universe would be a very important and exciting result.

As for detection, perspectives are good, both for direct and for indirect detection techniques, especially for the most interesting and studied candidate, the neutralino. The possibility to have detectable rates for neutralinos depends on the specific supersymmetric model which is considered, and quite generally it appears simpler to detect a relic neutralino which is a sub–dominant dark matter component. Nevertheless, there are many supersymmetric schemes where relic neutralinos can provide enough cosmological abundance to explain the observed amount of dark matter, and at the same time they can have detection rates large enough to be accessible to direct, and also to some indirect, detection methods. The positive indication of annual modulation in the detection rate of the DAMA/NaI Collaboration can be interpreted as pointing towards a direct detection of a relic massive particle. This effect is, at the moment, the most compelling indication for a particle dark matter signal. When interpreted as originated from relic neutralinos, the annual modulation effect can be explained in a number of realization of supersymmetry. It is worth noticing that the presence of a signal from dark matter, like the annual modulation effect or signals which could hopefully come in future experiments, can be very important not only for astrophysics and cosmology but also for particle physics, since the need to explain the effect can help in deriving properties of particle physics models and possibly discriminate among different realizations, for instance of supersymmetry.

Acknowledgements. This work was partially supported by the Research Grants of the Italian Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (MURST) within the Astroparticle Physics Project. I also wish to thank the Organizers for inviting me to deliver this talk at the TAUP 2001 Conference.


format: text

text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

One of the major tests for any prospective theory of quantum gravity will be its ability to explain the Bekenstein-Hawking (black hole) entropy  from a microscopic perspective. That is to say, the definitive statistical-mechanical explanation for this entropy, which has its origins in purely thermodynamic principles, is still conspicuously lacking. For a general overview on this puzzlement and various attempts at its resolution, we refer the reader to Ref.. It is worth noting, however, that many such attempts have, in fact, reproduced the anticipated Bekenstein-Hawking form. The implied “failure” has, rather, been at the interpretative level; in particular, a lack of clarity as to what degrees of freedom are being counted from the perspective of a black hole.

Significantly, many state-counting formulations of black hole entropy have utilized the well-known Cardy formula  as a key, intermediate step. In fact, some interesting treatments by Carlip  and Solodukhin  have shown that the Cardy formula is relevant to the entropic calculation of any theory that admits a black hole horizon. (Although there may be some yet-unknown pathological exceptions.) What is both intriguing and, at the same time, puzzling is that, strictly speaking, the Cardy formula counts the degrees of freedom in a two-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT). Paradoxically, the cited methods apply to virtually any black hole of arbitrary dimensionality. That is to say, the black hole horizon should, naively, only be expected to host a two-dimensional effective theory in the special case of a three-dimensional spacetime. This logic follows from the holographic principle , which implies that a $`d`$+1-dimensional bulk theory can effectively be described by a $`d`$-dimensional boundary theory.111Alternatively, this logic follows from a commonly accepted viewpoint: the degrees of freedom of a black hole will predominantly live at or near the horizon .

Interestingly, the Cardy formula plays a significant role in yet another facet of black hole entropy. Not too long ago, Verlinde , exploiting the well-known duality between anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes and CFT’s , was able to show that the entropy of an AdS-Schwarzschild black hole can be expressed in a Cardy-like form. That is, given such a $`d`$+1-dimensional asymptotically AdS spacetime, the thermodynamic properties of an appropriately dual ($`d`$-dimensional) CFT can be arranged into a replica of the Cardy formula; provided that a suitable identification with the Cardy “central charge”  has been made. It just so happens that this Cardy-like entropy of the CFT is identical to that of the AdS-black hole bulk . (Note that the dual nature of such a CFT, which lives on a $`d`$-dimensional timelike boundary of the AdS bulk, follows from the AdS/CFT correspondence . This correspondence, in turn, can be viewed as a direct consequence of the holographic principle .)

Verlinde’s particular formulation  of the AdS/CFT entropy is now commonly referred to as the Cardy-Verlinde formula. This basic outcome has since been generalized for a plethora of asymptotically AdS theories (for instance, ), including dynamical-boundary scenarios (for instance, ).222For a thorough list of many of the relevant citations, see Ref.. Furthermore, the Cardy-Verlinde formula has even been extended to asymptotically de Sitter (dS) spacetimes (for instance, 333For further citations along this line, consult Ref..), although with only qualified success.444In this regard, it is worth noting that the (proposed) dS/CFT correspondence  remains on somewhat weaker ground than its AdS analogue. This can especially be attributed to the lack of a globally timelike Killing vector and the lack of a string-theoretical description. For further references on the dS/CFT duality, see Ref..

Just like the microscopic entropy calculations of (for instance) Carlip and Solodukhin , the success of the Cardy-Verlinde formula (and its myriad of generalizations) leads to a puzzling issue. Namely, why can the degrees of freedom for a $`d`$-dimensional field theory (albeit a conformal one) be consistently explained in terms of two-dimensional conformal formalism? This will undoubtedly be a difficult question to answer, given the current absence of any reliable theory of quantum gravity. Very recently, however, Halyo did manage to shed some light on the matter . In the context of a $`d`$+1-dimensional asymptotically dS bulk, this author demonstrated that a dual ($`d`$-dimensional) CFT exhibits string-like behavior. In particular, the CFT (or dS-bulk) entropy was shown to be linearly related to the extensive energy of the boundary theory. On the basis of this result, Halyo identified an effective string tension for the CFT. With this stringy description, it follows that the $`d`$-dimensional boundary theory can alternatively be viewed as having only two relevant dimensions.

Halyo went on to show  that the CFT thermodynamic properties (including the effective string tension) are directly related to those of a string that lives on the “stretched” (cosmological) horizon555A stretched black hole (or cosmological) horizon  refers to a timelike surface that lies at a distance of about the fundamental string scale ($`l_s`$) above the event horizon. of the asymptotically dS bulk. (This latter picture follows from a black hole-string correspondence that was originally proposed by Susskind .) Moreover, when the thermodynamic properties of the stretched horizon have properly been renormalized (see below), then the two stringy descriptions turn out to be essentially equivalent. That is, the CFT can, at least effectively, be interpreted as a horizon-based string with a renormalized tension. Within this inherently two-dimensional framework, a Cardy-like formulation of the CFT entropy begins to make sense.

Before proceeding to an outline of the current paper, a brief discussion on the black hole-string correspondence is in order. Roughly a decade ago, Susskind conjectured  a one-to-one correspondence between sufficiently massive black holes and highly excited fundamental strings. This notion was based on the observation  that, as string coupling increases, the size of a string state must eventually become less than its Schwarzschild radius and, hence, the string state must evolve into a black hole. Conversely, as string coupling decreases, the size of a black hole will fall below the string scale and, hence, the near-horizon geometry can no longer be interpreted as a black hole. It follows that a black hole and some sort of string configuration must be strongly and weakly coupled manifestations of the same entity. Now consider that, at large enough mass, a typical string state consists of a small number of highly excited strings. However, as such a configuration approaches the high-temperature conditions of the horizon, the state of a single string will become entropically preferred. Alternatively, an external observer might say that the strings have melted together into a single string that ultimately fills up the stretched horizon . Given these arguments, there should indeed be a one-to-one correspondence between black holes and strings.

Contrary to the above philosophy, there is, of course, an observed discrepancy between black hole and string thermodynamics. In particular, the entropy of a string has a linear energy dependence while, for instance, the entropy of a four-dimensional Schwarzschild black hole depends quadratically on its mass. However, Susskind proposed  that this discrepancy can be accounted for when the energy of the string has properly been renormalized. Such a renormalization follows naturally by virtue of a large gravitational red shift that occurs between the stretched horizon and an external observer. Exploiting the Rindler-like near-horizon geometry (of a Schwarzschild black hole), Susskind went on to demonstrate the feasibility of this proposal.

The validity of this black hole-string correspondence has since been rigorously substantiated for a wide range of black hole (as well as brane) scenarios . Generally speaking, the entropy obtained from the counting of string states has been shown to describe the anticipated Bekenstein-Hawking form up to some ambiguity in the numerical coefficient. It is worth noting that the same philosophy has been applied to special classes of supersymmetric extremal and near-extremal black holes. (See, for instance, Ref. and, for a review, Ref..) For these calculations, the Bekenstein-Hawking form has been reproduced exactly. However, a special property of such models (namely, supersymmetry protects the mass against renormalization ) prevents a more general application of these particular methods.

Now that the necessary background has (hopefully) been covered, let us focus on the purpose of the current study. Here, we will essentially be extending Halyo’s priorly discussed treatment  to the case of an asymptotically AdS bulk (of arbitrary dimensionality). That is, we will demonstrate that an appropriately dual CFT can effectively be described by a string that lives on a stretched black hole horizon. Although this is, perhaps, a trivial extension, we believe that it is important to clarify the success (or lack thereof) of this procedure for an AdS-bulk scenario. Our rationale being as follows. If any progress is to be made in extrapolating this outcome towards a microscopic realization of black hole entropy, then it will likely come in an AdS (rather than dS) context, where the holographic duality is much better understood.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we begin by introducing the bulk solutions of interest; namely, arbitrary-dimensional AdS-Schwarzschild black holes and their topological variants . Next, we derive the relevant black hole thermodynamics and, following Verlinde , obtain the corresponding expressions for a dually related CFT. We then demonstrate the anticipated string-like behavior of the CFT  and accordingly identify an effective string tension and energy.

In Section 3, we consider a boundary theory of a rather different nature; the boundary now being the AdS-black hole horizon. Following Susskind’s proposal of a black hole-string correspondence , we show that the near-horizon geometry can effectively be described by a single fundamental string that lives on the stretched horizon. In this process, the associated thermodynamics (including the string tension) are unambiguously identified.

In Section 4, we ultimately show that these two stringy descriptions of the AdS-bulk are, indeed, thermodynamically equivalent. This entails a pair of coordinate rescalings with respect to the thermodynamic properties of the stretched horizon. The first rescaling is essentially a renormalization that accounts for the gravitational red shift occurring between the horizon and a cosmological observer. The second rescaling is necessary so that our hypothetical observer is located precisely at the CFT boundary.

Finally, Section 5 contains a summary and some commentary.

## 2 A CFT Description of AdS

Let us begin by considering the model of interest. Namely, Schwarzschild-like black hole solutions in an $`n`$+2-dimensional anti-de Sitter background (i.e., $`D=n+2`$ Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant). In a suitably static gauge, such asymptotically AdS solutions can be described by the following line element :

$$ds_{n+2}^2=h(r)dt^2+\frac{1}{h(r)}dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_n^2,$$
(1)
where:

$$h(r)=k+\frac{r^2}{L^2}\frac{\omega _nM}{r^{n1}},$$
(2)
$$\omega _n=\frac{16\pi G}{n𝒱_n}.$$
(3)
Here, $`L`$ is the curvature radius of the AdS background ($`L^2=2\mathrm{\Lambda }/n(n+1)`$, with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ as the negative cosmological constant), $`d\mathrm{\Omega }_n^2`$ denotes the line element of an $`n`$-dimensional hypersurface with a constant curvature $`kn(n1)`$ and a volume $`𝒱_n`$, $`G`$ is the $`n`$+2-dimensional Newton constant, and $`M`$ and $`k`$ are constants of integration. $`M`$ is directly related to the ADM (or conserved) mass of the associated black hole, which we will assume is always non-negative.666Although, technically speaking, black hole solutions having negative mass are allowable in the case of a hyperbolic horizon geometry (i.e., the case of negative $`k`$) . Meanwhile, $`k`$ describes the horizon geometry and, without loss of generality, can be set equal to +1,0 or -1. These three choices correspond to a horizon geometry that is respectively spherical, flat or hyperbolic.

For a non-vanishing (positive) $`M`$, there will be a single black hole horizon, which corresponds to the positive root of $`h(r)`$. Denoting this horizon by $`r=R`$, we thus obtain the following useful relation:

$$k+\frac{R^2}{L^2}\frac{\omega _nM}{R^{n1}}=0.$$
(4)
The associated black hole thermodynamics can readily be identified. For instance, if we disregard the energy of the $`M=0`$ vacuum spacetime (which is non-vanishing if $`n`$ is odd), then the excitation energy of the black hole is simply given as follows :

$$E_{AdS}=M=\frac{1}{\omega _n}\left[\frac{R^{n+1}}{L^2}+kR^{n1}\right].$$
(5)
Furthermore, the Hawking temperature  can be obtained with the usual prescription: the inverse temperature is equivalent to the periodicity of Euclidean time . This identification yields:

$$T_{AdS}=\frac{1}{4\pi }\frac{dh}{dr}|_{r=R}=\frac{R}{4\pi L^2}\left[(n+1)+k(n1)\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right].$$
(6)
Finally, the black hole entropy can be expressed in terms of its “area” (i.e., the $`n`$-dimensional volume of the horizon hypersurface) via the Bekenstein-Hawking definition :

$$S_{AdS}=\frac{𝒱_nR^n}{4G}=\frac{4\pi }{n\omega _n}R^n.$$
(7)
Let us now reconsider the thermodynamics from a new perspective: an $`n`$+1-dimensional conformal field theory living on a timelike boundary of the bulk spacetime. In view of the well-established AdS/CFT correspondence , such a boundary theory can capably provide a holographic description of the asymptotically AdS geometry. In particular, the CFT thermodynamic quantities should be identifiable with those of the bulk black hole up to a simple red-shift factor. Because of the conformal symmetry of the dual theory, this red shift can vary depending on the choice of boundary coordinates. Here, we follow Verlinde 777Verlinde’s analysis was for $`k=+1`$ only. The $`k0`$ case was first considered by Cai . and fix the scale by setting the radial distance of the boundary equal to $`R`$ (i.e., equal to the radius of the black hole horizon). This choice requires the bulk time to be rescaled (on the boundary) such that $`ttR/L`$, which directly translates into a corresponding red-shift factor of $`L/R`$.

On the basis of the above discussion, the CFT thermodynamics can be expressed as follows:

$$E_{CFT}=\frac{L}{R}E_{AdS}=\frac{1}{\omega _n}\left[\frac{R^n}{L}+kLR^{n2}\right],$$
(8)
$$T_{CFT}=\frac{L}{R}T_{AdS}=\frac{1}{4\pi L}\left[(n+1)+k(n1)\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right],$$
(9)
$$S_{CFT}=S_{AdS}=\frac{4\pi }{n\omega _n}R^n.$$
(10)
Note that the entropy of the boundary theory is never affected by the choice of scale , as one might anticipate from the first law of CFT thermodynamics.

Again following Verlinde , we will view the CFT energy as having arisen from a pair of separable contributions. More specifically, $`E_{CFT}=E_E+E_C`$, such that:

$$E_E=\frac{1}{\omega _n}\frac{R^n}{L},$$
(11)
$$E_C=\frac{1}{\omega _n}kLR^{n2}.$$
(12)
Significantly to this split, $`E_E`$ can readily be identified as the extensive contribution to the total energy. Hence, the remaining portion, $`E_C`$, is the sub-extensive contribution, which is also known as the Casimir energy.888Note that there is a factor of two difference between this definition of $`E_C`$ and that of Verlinde’s study .

With these definitions, it is not difficult to confirm a Cardy-like form for the entropy ; that is, the renowned Cardy-Verlinde formula  (slightly modified in allowing for $`k+1`$):

$$S_{CFT}=\frac{4\pi }{n}R\sqrt{\frac{E_C}{k}\left[E_{CFT}E_C\right]}.$$
(13)
Note that $`E_C/k`$ is to be regarded as a positive, non-vanishing quantity.

It is also straightforward to verify the following form:

$$S_{CFT}=\frac{4\pi L}{n}E_E.$$
(14)
The significance of the above expression is the direct proportionality that exists between the CFT entropy and a well-defined energetic quantity, $`E_E`$. Such linearity is a characteristic behavior of strings , rather than black holes (for which entropy typically depends on mass as $`M^p`$, with $`p>1`$). With this in mind, we can re-interpret Eq.(14) as the equation of state for an “effective string” having an energy:

$$_{CFT}=\frac{2C}{n}E_E$$
(15)
and having a tension:

$$𝒯_{CFT}=\frac{C^2}{2\pi L^2}.$$
(16)
Here, $`C`$ is a yet-to-be-determined parameter that is possibly a constant; however, we anticipate that, in general, $`C=C(R;n,k,L)`$ .

The above string-like behavior is quite surprising, considering that the boundary theory has at least three spacetime dimensions (unless $`n=1`$). On the other hand, there has been considerable evidence that the relevant degrees of freedom for any black hole can be described by a two-dimensional conformal theory .999Also in support of this notion is the Cardy-Verlinde description itself (13), given that the original Cardy formula  has its genesis in two dimensions. It is possible that the above outcome is yet another manifestation of some unknown, universal principle that seems to be at work.

## 3 A Stringy Description of AdS

In the preceding section, we ultimately demonstrated that a dual CFT (with respect to an asymptotically AdS bulk) exhibits an intriguing string-like behavior. This observation segues nicely into our next topic; namely, a stringy description of asymptotically AdS spacetimes. Here, we will be applying the one-to-one correspondence principle, as first advocated by Susskind , between black holes and strings. The underlying premise is that a black hole and a fundamental string can respectively be regarded as strongly and weakly coupled versions of the same entity . On this basis, Susskind has proposed that a massive black hole state can effectively be described by a highly excited string which (from the perspective of a cosmological observer) fills up the so-called stretched horizon . Furthermore, Susskind has argued that the obvious differences (between black hole and string thermodynamics) can be attributed to a large gravitational red shift that occurs between the stretched horizon and an outside observer. (For subsequent work along these lines, see Refs..)

The Susskind program  appears to apply quite naturally given any black hole (or black object for that matter) with a near-horizon geometry that can conform to a Rindler-like description. Let us now see how this plays out for a black hole in a AdS background of arbitrary dimensionality.

We begin here by reconsidering the asymptotically AdS geometry as described by Eqs.(1-3). To study the near-horizon form, let us introduce a new radial coordinate, $`y`$, in accordance with $`r=R+y`$ (where $`y<<R`$ has been assumed). Up to first order in $`y/R`$, the metric function $`h(r)`$ can now be written as:

$$h(y)\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{L}y,$$
(17)
where we have defined:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(R)(n+1)\frac{R}{L}+k(n1)\frac{L}{R}.$$
(18)
Applying the above, we find the following near-horizon form for the line element (1):

$$ds_{NH}^2=y\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{L}dt^2+\frac{L}{y\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}dy^2+R^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_n^2.$$
(19)
It is useful if $`y`$ is replaced with a coordinate that directly measures the proper distance from any given point to the horizon. Denoting this proper distance as $`\rho `$, we have (up to the first perturbative order):

$$\rho \sqrt{\frac{L}{\mathrm{\Delta }}}^y\frac{dy}{\sqrt{y}}=2\sqrt{\frac{Ly}{\mathrm{\Delta }}}.$$
(20)
The near-horizon line element (19) now adopts the following Rindler-like form:

$$ds_{NH}^2=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }^2}{4L^2}\rho ^2dt^2+d\rho ^2+R^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_n^2.$$
(21)
To obtain a near-horizon geometry that is identically Rindler spacetime:

$$ds_{NH}^2=\rho ^2d\tau ^2+d\rho ^2+R^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_n^2,$$
(22)
we simply redefine the time coordinate as follows:

$$\tau \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{2L}t.$$
(23)
Hence, $`\tau `$ is the dimensionless Rindler time.

Next, we consider thermodynamics as measured by a hypothetical Rindler observer at the stretched horizon. The dimensionless horizon temperature is known to be :

$$T_R=\frac{1}{2\pi }.$$
(24)
Meanwhile, the horizon entropy should still be given by the Bekenstein-Hawking area law (or its $`n`$+2-dimensional analogue) . Hence:

$$S_R=S_{AdS}.$$
(25)
To determine the dimensionless Rindler energy, we simply apply the first law of thermodynamics; that is, $`dE_R=T_RdS_R`$. This process yields:

$$E_R=\frac{1}{2\pi }S_R=\frac{2L}{n}E_E,$$
(26)
with the right-most relation following from Eqs.(10,14,25).

The linear relation between Rindler entropy and energy is (once again) indicative of a string; in this case, one that lives on the stretched horizon . Note that the associated string tension, in dimensionless Rindler coordinates, is trivially given by:

$$𝒯_R=\frac{1}{2\pi }.$$
(27)
Of course, the dimensionless string energy is simply $`_R=E_R`$.

Clearly, the fundamental length scale for this effective theory is just the string length, $`l_s`$ (as this determines the radial extent of the stretched horizon). Hence, we can obtain the “true” thermodynamics of the stretched horizon by rescaling the dimensionless Rindler quantities in terms of this length. That is, quantities with units of energy (or inverse length) should be divided by $`l_s`$. On this basis, the following identifications can readily be made:

$$T_{SH}=\frac{T_R}{l_s}=\frac{1}{2\pi l_s},$$
(28)
$$S_{SH}=S_R=S_{AdS},$$
(29)
$$_{SH}=\frac{_R}{l_s}=\frac{2L}{nl_s}E_E,$$
(30)
$$𝒯_{SH}=\frac{𝒯_R}{l_s^2}=\frac{1}{2\pi l_s^2}.$$
(31)
Note that, as expected, $`T_{SH}`$ corresponds precisely with the Hagedorn temperature of a string .

We again point out that, according to Susskind , the discrepancy between the above thermodynamic quantities and those of the corresponding black hole (in this case, Schwarzschild-AdS or a topological variant) should be attributable to the effects of an immense gravitational red shift. This conjecture has, in fact, been rigorously demonstrated for a number of models (for instance, ) up to some ambiguity in the numerical coefficients. Alternatively, we will, in the next section, indirectly demonstrate the validity of this conjecture (in an AdS-black hole context) by comparing the thermodynamic properties for a pair of stringy descriptions. These descriptions being the the apparent string living on the stretched horizon and the effective string located at the CFT boundary.

## 4 A String/CFT Correspondence?

So far, we have seen two different descriptions of an asymptotically AdS spacetime that are indicative of a string living on a boundary; with the boundaries in question being that which hosts a dual CFT and the stretched black hole horizon. The purpose of the current section is to demonstrate the equivalence of these effective theories, with thermodynamics serving as the testing ground. Keep in mind that there is no reason, a priori, to believe that these seemingly unrelated pictures should fundamentally coincide.

As an initial step, it is necessary that the thermodynamics of the stretched horizon be rescaled for an external or cosmological observer (who is presumed to be far away from the horizon in terms of all relevant length scales). The simplest way to accomplish this task is to rescale the Rindler thermodynamic quantities (24-27) so that they are directly measured in terms of the “cosmological” time coordinate, $`t`$. Utilizing Eq.(23) (which directly relates $`t`$ to the Rindler time, $`\tau `$), we obtain the following rescaled quantities:

$$T_{SH}^{}=\frac{d\tau }{dt}T_R=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{4\pi L},$$
(32)
$$S_{SH}^{}=S_R=S_{AdS},$$
(33)
$$_{SH}^{}=\frac{d\tau }{dt}_R=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{n}E_E,$$
(34)
$$𝒯_{SH}^{}=\left(\frac{d\tau }{dt}\right)^2𝒯_R=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }^2(R)}{8\pi L^2}.$$
(35)
Note that a prime indicates that a rescaling has taken place.

It is worthwhile for us to compare the above outcomes with those of Eqs.(28-31); that is, the thermodynamic properties of the stretched horizon as measured by a local observer. In going from the horizon perspective to the cosmological one, we observe an effective renormalization of roughly $`ł_s^1L^1`$. Since it is usually assumed that $`L>>l_s`$, this translates to a significant reduction in the energy, string tension and temperature as measured by a distant observer. Such a renormalization is, however, expected and can be attributed to a large gravitational red shift that naturally occurs between the horizon and an external vantage point .

Next, for the sake of comparison, we will consider an observer who is specifically located at the CFT boundary. Thus, to maintain consistency, it is necessary that the coordinates be rescaled so that the observer in question lives on a timelike hypersurface of fixed radial distance $`R`$ (i.e., the radius of the black hole horizon). As previously discussed, this translates into a red-shift factor of $`L/R`$ for any quantity having units of inverse length.

Let us begin here with the stretched-horizon entropy. As usual, this dimensionless quantity is unaffected by any coordinate rescalings, and so we trivially achieve the following agreement:

$`S_{SH}^{\prime \prime }=S_{SH}^{}`$ $`=`$ $`S_{AdS}`$ (36)
$`=`$ $`S_{CFT}.`$
Next, let us consider the temperature at the stretched horizon. The appropriate red shifting yields the following:

$`T_{SH}^{\prime \prime }={\displaystyle \frac{L}{R}}T_{SH}^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{4\pi R}}`$ (37)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi L}}\left[(n+1)+k(n1){\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{R^2}}\right].`$
Comparing with Eq.(9), we are able to make the anticipated identification: $`T_{SH}^{\prime \prime }=T_{CFT}`$.

Also on the agenda is the rescaled value of the string tension. Here, we find:

$`𝒯_{SH}^{\prime \prime }={\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{R^2}}𝒯_{SH}^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }^2(R)}{8\pi R^2}}`$ (38)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi L^2}}\left[(n+1)+k(n1){\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{R^2}}\right]^2.`$
Let us assume that this recaled string tension matches up with the CFT-inspired tension of Eq.(16). (The validity of this assumption will be tested via the energy.) This allows us to fix the parameter $`C=C(R)`$, and this process yields:

$$C(R)=\frac{1}{2}\left[(n+1)+k(n1)\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right]=\frac{L\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{2R}.$$
(39)
Finally, let us consider the rescaled value of the string energy. This calculation goes as follows:

$`_{SH}^{\prime \prime }={\displaystyle \frac{L}{R}}_{SH}^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{L\mathrm{\Delta }(R)}{nR}}E_E`$ (40)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2C(R)}{n}}E_E,`$
where we have incorporated the identification of $`C(R)`$ into the lower line. Remarkably, this outcome is in complete agreement with the CFT-inspired string energy, $`_{CFT}`$ of Eq.(15).

As an aside, it is interesting to consider the special case of $`n=1`$ (i.e., three-dimensional AdS spacetime), which (if $`k=1`$) describes a theory that admits BTZ black hole solutions . In this event, $`C`$ takes on the simple value of $`1`$ and, hence, $`_{SH}^{\prime \prime }=_{CFT}=2E_E`$.

Clearly, we have observed a precise correspondence between the renormalized thermodynamics of the stretched horizon and the thermodynamics of the conformal boundary theory. This apparent duality suggests that the string which lives on the CFT boundary (cf. Eqs.(15,16)) is really just the string at the stretched horizon as viewed by a CFT-based observer. This is a remarkable outcome, considering that we have utilized a pair of descriptions with no a priori relationship.

In spite of the success of this program, one might argue that the CFT “total” energy (i.e., $`E_{CFT}`$ of Eq.(8)), rather than the CFT-inspired string energy ($`_{CFT}`$), should have been used to test the duality. If this is an accurate assessment, then there is an apparent failing in the correspondence, inasmuch as $`_{SH}^{\prime \prime }=E_{CFT}`$ can clearly not be satisfied (except for the very special case of $`M=0`$ and $`k=1`$; i.e., pure AdS). On the other hand, such a discrepancy seems very similar to the difference in energy when one compares calculations in, for instance, global and Poincare AdS coordinates . That is to say, conserved charges in an AdS background are not so well defined (as they are in asymptotically flat spacetimes) and may indeed be subject to an ambiguous observer dependence.

Regardless of the viewpoint one takes on the above matter, it is still an interesting exercise to calculate the explicit difference between $`_{SH}^{\prime \prime }`$ and $`E_{CFT}`$. First, let us apply Eqs.(39,40) and re-express the renormalized energy of the stretched horizon as follows:

$$_{SH}^{\prime \prime }=\frac{R^n}{nL\omega _n}\left[(n+1)+k(n1)\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right].$$
(41)
Also, let us recall Eq.(8) for the total energy of the CFT:

$$E_{CFT}=\frac{R^n}{nL\omega _n}\left[n+kn\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right].$$
(42)
Defining $`\delta E_{SH}^{\prime \prime }E_{CFT}`$, we then have:

$$\delta E=\frac{R^n}{nL\omega _n}\left[1k\frac{L^2}{R^2}\right]=\frac{1}{n}\left[E_EE_C\right],$$
(43)
where Eqs.(11,12) have also been incorporated.

The simplicity of the above expression is quite intriguing. We suspect that there is some profound explanation as to why the “energy shift” takes on such a concise, universal form; however, the answer remains a mystery at the present time.

## 5 Conclusion

In summary, we have been studying an asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime of arbitrary dimensionality. In particular, we have concentrated on static solutions having a single black hole horizon; that is, Schwarzschild-AdS black holes and their topological variants . To begin the analysis, we introduced the relevant formalism and then derived the black hole thermodynamic expressions for this somewhat generic model. Following these preliminary considerations, we proceeded to investigate a pair of effective boundary theories that are related to the bulk theory via commonly accepted dualities. (We once again note that this work has been inspired by Halyo’s similar treatment in a de Sitter context .)

The first boundary theory under consideration was a conformal field theory that lives on a timelike hypersurface of the AdS bulk. Exploiting the AdS/CFT duality , we were able to identify the corresponding thermodynamic properties. In particular, we verified the celebrated Cardy-Verlinde formula  and, moreover, demonstrated a linear relation between the entropy and extensive energy of the CFT. Significantly, this linear relationship indicates that the CFT can effectively be viewed as a string that lives on this cosmological boundary. On this basis, we were able to identify an effective tension and energy for this stringy version of the conformal boundary theory.

The second boundary theory of interest was based on Susskind’s proposed correspondence  between any sufficiently massive black hole and a highly excited string that fills up the stretched horizon. This duality becomes evident when one transforms the near-horizon geometry of a black hole into a Rindler-like form. Following this program, we are able to calculate the thermodynamic properties of the (conjectured) string at the stretched horizon (which follow directly from the thermodynamics of the associated Rindler space). The black hole-string correspondence  then implies that a large gravitational red shift should account for the thermodynamic differences between this string state and the associated black hole.

The final portion of our analysis focused on comparing this pair of (seemingly unrelated) boundary theories. Such a comparison necessitated a two-step procedure. Firstly, we reconsidered the stretched-horizon thermodynamics from the perspective of a bulk observer (far away from the horizon). This required a coordinate transformation from Rindler time to “cosmological” time, for which the net effect was a significant renormalization of the dimensional thermodynamic properties. Such a renormalization (or red shifting) is expected by virtue of the long-range gravitational field that intervenes between the stretched horizon and the external observer. Secondly, for a direct comparison of these effective theories, it was necessary for our bulk observer to be located at the CFT-based hypersurface. This consideration was accounted for with one additional red shifting of the stretched-horizon thermodynamics.

Ultimately, we were able to show that the renormalized thermodynamics of the stretched horizon are indeed equivalent to the “stringy” CFT thermodynamics (provided that an arbitrary parameter has been suitably fixed). These identifications included the temperature, string energy, string tension and, trivially, the entropy. This remarkable equivalence implies that the thermodynamics on the CFT boundary can directly be attributed to a string that lives on the stretched horizon. This is a significant outcome given that the two boundary theories are a priori unrelated.

One issue of note is a finite shift that occurred between the (renormalized) string energy and the “standard energy” which is usually attributed to the CFT . We have interpreted this discrepancy as being analogous to an ambiguous observer dependence that is inherent to asymptotically AdS spacetimes. That is, different AdS coordinate systems can often give rise to different definitions of energy (and other conserved charges) . Interestingly, this energy shift took on a universal, simple form: essentially, the difference between the extensive and sub-extensive (or Casimir) contributions to the CFT energy. We expect that there is some profound explanation for this outcome and hope to return to this issue in a future study.

In conclusion, it is quite puzzling that a CFT of arbitrary dimensionality can be explained, at least effectively, by a single fundamental string; that is, a two-dimensional entity. On the other hand, this outcome nicely complements the success of the ($`n`$+1-dimensional) Cardy-Verlinde formula ; insofar as the original Cardy formula should, in principle, only apply to two-dimensional CFTs . The notion that a black hole can holographically be described by a two-dimensional CFT is certainly not a new one . In fact, Carlip  and Solodukhin  have demonstrated that this is truly a universal feature of black hole geometries. The pertinent point is that, near a black hole horizon, the relevant physics appears to be restricted to the $`r`$-$`t`$ plane. It is remarkable that so many treatments, which are otherwise unrelated, can reach the same conclusion. (What is, perhaps, even more remarkable is the apparent encoding of this near-horizon information on a distant boundary. This, in a nutshell, is the power of the Holographic principle.) It seems most likely that these various viewpoints represent different descriptions of one fundamental theory. A better understanding of this phenomena would go a long way towards resolving the microscopic origin of black hole entropy.

## 6 Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank V.P. Frolov for helpful conversations.


text:
# STAR Strangeness Results from √𝑠_{𝑁𝑁} = 130 GeV Au+Au Collisions (and first results from 200 GeV)

## 1 Introduction

Hadron production in a wide variety of colliding systems and energies has been well-described by statistical models . Deviations from these models may be an indication of new physics, perhaps the production of quark gluon plasma . It is therefore important to test for such deviations in new data from RHIC.

The STAR experiment can measure a wide variety of hadron yields at mid-rapidity. While statistical models for particle production generally ask for global yields ($`4\pi `$ measurements), this may not be necessary at RHIC. Particle yields at high rapidities are expected to have significant content from the initial colliding nuclei, leading to truly different sources with different statistical descriptions at mid-rapidity and at high rapidity. Because beam rapidity is large ($``$5-6) in the center-of-mass frame at RHIC energies, contamination from the high-rapidity hadron sources should be small at mid-rapidity. This should allow a rather clean measurement of the source there, provided that global equilibrium is approximated by local equilibrium.

In order to allow the use of data from different RHIC experiments in model fits and comparisons, taken at varying definitions of a central-collision selection, it is helpful to take particle ratios instead of absolute yields. This has the side benefit of also reducing some common-mode errors in particle yield measurements.

## 2 Models & $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$ = 130 GeV Data

### 2.1 Thermal Statistical Models

For a thermal model to make predictions about particle ratios, it must have a description of the equation of state (EOS) of the system at chemical freezeout. In the field of heavy ion physics, the commonly used parameters to describe the EOS are those of baryo-chemical potential ($`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$) and temperature ($`T`$), along with the requirement that net strangeness is zero. The authors of Ref.  chose two phenomenological parameterizations to provide these quantities for central heavy ion collisions:

$`\mu _\mathrm{B}(\sqrt{s_{NN}}){\displaystyle \frac{1.27\mathrm{GeV}}{1+\sqrt{s_{NN}}/(4.3\mathrm{GeV})}}`$ (1)
$`E/N1\mathrm{GeV}`$ (2)
Constrained by the strangeness neutrality, $`E/N`$ depends only upon $`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$ and $`T`$ , so $`T`$ is determined by the above equations for any collision energy $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$. Via a canonical partition function (necessary, at least at low energies, to ensure exact strangeness conservation ), they arrive at ratios of particles as a function of $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$. Their predictions for the energy dependence of these ratios hold rather well at AGS and SPS energies , and lead to an expected slight drop in ratios of strange to non-strange particles going from SPS to RHIC energies (see Ref.  for an explanation). The drop is most notable for the ratio of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ to $`\pi `$ yields. Although preliminary $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ yields have been presented by STAR at this conference , the proper comparison requires full understanding of feeddown contributions to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ yields and is still in progress.

Though not as large, the $`\mathrm{\Xi }^{}`$/$`\pi ^+`$ ratio is still expected to drop by more than 30% in this model. The $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ does not have significant feeddown corrections, so the comparison is easier. STAR has also presented preliminary $`\mathrm{\Xi }^{}`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Xi }}^+`$ yields at this conference , and using a STAR preliminary $`\pi ^{}`$ yield  (which we know approximates the $`\pi ^+`$ yield well ), we can evaluate the prediction.

The result is a measured ratio nearly twice as large as that predicted! One must, of course, consider the significance of the difference. The statistical error on the ratio is $``$7%, with a systematic error expected to be $``$20%, so the data point is close to two standard deviations away from the prediction.

Conversely, one might ask how sensitive the statistical models are to these ratios. In Ref. , the authors apply a grand canonical model to many particle ratios from 130 GeV RHIC data. They find that the model fits the measured data well (with chemical potential not too different from the parameterization of (1)), and go on to show the expected range of several strange/non-strange particle ratios given their fit parameters, as well as the sensitivity of these ratios to their temperature parameter T. This sensitivity is demonstrated by the theoretical curves shown in figure 1. The STAR preliminary values for some of these ratios are also shown. It is worthwhile to note that the two measured ratios shown are both too high by approximately the same amount from the model calculations simply because the $`K/\pi `$ ratios are in the fit, leaving only the over-abundance of $`\mathrm{\Xi }^{}`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Xi }}^+`$ to offset the ratios (the relative abundance between $`\mathrm{\Xi }^{}`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Xi }}^+`$ being rather well-constrained by the chemical potential). It is clear that these models cannot accommodate the preliminary yields of the $`\mathrm{\Xi }^{}`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Xi }}^+`$.

### 2.2 Quark Coalescence Model

ALCOR (a quark coalescence model) has demonstrated that it can fit STAR mid-rapidity antiparticle/particle ratios involving strangeness well . Because it is also a statistical model, although not an equilibrium model, these ratios are driven primarily by the relative difference in the abundance of quarks and antiquarks. Transported numbers of valence quarks (or baryon number) to mid-rapidity are smaller than those from pair production processes at RHIC collision energies, so this relative difference becomes smaller, driving the ratios towards one and diminishing statistical sensitivity to small differences. It is therefore not surprising that all statistical models fit antiparticle/particle ratios rather well at these (and higher) energies.

More powerful in distinguishing between models are ratios between highly dissimilar particle species. Differences may include quark flavor content, mass, spin, and general abundance, for example (although these are not completely independent quantities). The $`K/\pi `$ ratios exemplify some of these dissimilarities, and already have shown good agreement with ALCOR (given some assumptions on $`s\overline{s}`$ production) . Even more highly dissimilar are the $`\mathrm{\Xi }/\pi `$ ratios. ALCOR over-predicts the ratio by more than 10%, although taking into account the $``$20% systematic error of the measured ratio brings the data into agreement with the model for the $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ yields .

## 3 First Results from $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$ = 200 GeV Data

### 3.1 Quality of New Data

Figure 2 shows the preliminary invariant mass peaks for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}`$ in 50,000 minimum bias $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$ = 200 GeV events taken from the 2001 run. It is simple to extract a preliminary $`\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ ratio from this data because most of the inefficiencies cancel out, resulting in a value only slightly higher than the ratio from 130 GeV . However, it is important to note that this number is not corrected for absorption of antiprotons in the detector apparatus. The correction for this data is now quite significant as there is more material in the detector due to the addition of the Silicon Vertex Tracker and associated components, raising the ratio further.

### 3.2 Comparison with Model Prediction

Using the parameterization given in (1), $`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$ at 200 GeV should be $``$26.7 MeV. The authors of Ref.  use a ”strangeness-canonical” scheme (a grand canonical model modified to include exact strangeness conservation) and the parameterization of (2) to arrive at predictions for antiparticle/particle ratios as a function of $`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$. One can read off the value from their calculations for a small range of temperatures that $`\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ should be slightly above or close to 0.8. It appears that the preliminary STAR data from 200 GeV will be in this range after correcting for absorption. This says little about the statistical model because of its loss of sensitivity to antiparticle/particle ratios at these energies, but it indicates that the parameterization of (1) is at least close. If this parameterization is correct, it implies that we must go to very high collision energies to legitimately approximate a net-baryon-free region at mid-rapidity.

## 4 Conclusions

All statistical models do rather well at fitting antiparticle/particle ratios at RHIC. This comes in part from the approach of these ratios to a value of one. Not only do the models begin to lose sensitivity to these ratios as this happens, the experimental measures of these ratios also lose their resolving power due to inherent measurement errors. Ratios between highly dissimilar particles become more and more important for distinguishing between models, the $`\mathrm{\Xi }/\pi `$ ratios being a good example.

It is clear that the preliminary measurements of the $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ yields from STAR in central Au+Au collisions at $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}`$ = 130 GeV are not in agreement with thermodynamic statistical models. If the multiple strange quarks in the $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ are the source of this enhancement, it would be very interesting to see the results of the $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ yields, even if the measurement errors are very large. Nonetheless, the quark coalescence model appears to provide a better match for the values of $`\mathrm{\Xi }/\pi `$, without sacrificing other particle ratios. Because the prediction of this model is in clear disagreement with the thermal models, it will be very important to finalize these results.

Finally, the parameterization given by (1) and (2) appear to hold at both RHIC energies run so far, indicating that these energies are still not producing a net-baryon-free region at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions.

## References