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# 1. Neutron stars

## 1. Neutron stars

It is now widely believed that young INS can appear, in the Galactic disk, as sources of different nature: radio pulsars, soft-gamma repeaters (SGRs), anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), radio-quiet compact X-ray sources in supernova (SNa) remnants.

Here we will focus on seven ROSAT INSs, for which it was suggested that they are close-by sources showing no sign of pulsar activity.

### 1.1. Accretion versus cooling

In the early 70’s it was suggested by Shvartsman ,  and Ostriker et al.  that INSs and IBHs can be observable due to accretion of the interstellar medium (ISM). INSs can also be observed when they are young and incandescent due to thermal emission of their hot surface mainly in soft X-rays.

Soon after the discovery of the first of the seven sources , it was clear that two different mechanisms could equally explain the nature of the emission: accretion onto the (old) INS  or cooling of the young INS (see ,  for a recent discussion). Early in the study of the detectability of INSs, it seemed plausible that accretors by far outnumber coolers, since the stage during which a young cooling INS is hot enough to be observed in soft X-rays is very short, about 1 Myr or less, against few Gyr lifetime of a typical accreting NS. However, later it was recognized that accreting INSs might be rare objects and this holds if NSs acquire at birth very high peculiar velocities $`200`$ km s-1 (as observed in the pulsar sample , ). This would imply an exceedingly low accretion rate, and in turn a very low intrinsic luminosity, undetectable with present capabilities. Population synthesis studies  have show that with the inclusion of a velocity distribution function that accounts for the observed high kick velocities, most of the INSs are now in the stage of ejector (see  for detailed explanation of NS evolutionary stages or  for a brief description). It is worth noting that if strongly magnetized INSs with very high spatial velocities are situated in low density ISM regions then it is possible that most of them spend significant part of their lives as georotators, because the light cylinder radius, $`R_l=c/\omega `$, is larger than the radius of gravitational capture, $`R_G=2GM/v^2`$. Such INSs leave the ejector stage earlier than those that live in a normal ISM .

The periods $`P`$ of the observed objects (for four of the ROSAT INSs) have been found to fall in a rather narrow interval of 5-23 seconds, and they could be explained in both hypothesis. In the accretion scenario one has to allow for magnetic field decay , , because at a constant field $`B10^{12}`$ G, the periods of an old accretor is much longer , . Under the cooling hypothesis there are no restrictions on the period $`P`$, though its value can provide clues on the magneto-rotational evolution of the objects. Indeed, in the case of young cooling objects periods as long as such observed can be explained if the INSs are magnetars , i.e. has very strong magnetic field. The large braking implied by a high field would lead to an ”accelerated” slow-down of the pulsar. But to explain the clustering observed, the magnetic field later has to decay (as customarily advocated in magnetars for explaining the high quiescent luminosity of SGRs and AXPs ). This would lead to a saturation of $`P`$ occurring when the decay is advanced enough to almost freeze the action of braking torques . If ROSAT INSs are magnetars or are their close relatives (or descendant) than the fraction of magnetars among all NSs can be higher than previously estimated. Is the cooling hypothesis, which seem preferable on theoretical ground, testable from observation? Clues would come from any direct determination of the peculiar velocity for the seven sources. Accretion can be certainly excluded when the velocity exceeds 40-60 km s-1 under the most favorable conditions in the ISM.

With the determination of the proper motion of one of the seven sources, RX J1856-3754, (that implies a velocity at birth of 200 km s-1 ) it is now rather clear that the cooling hypothesis holds for this sources, and it is tempting to consider the possibility that the emission of all the seven ROSAT sources have the same nature. This calls again for a statistical study. To this purpose, in  we compared both hypothesis (accretors  and coolers) in an attempt to explain the observed Log N – Log S distribution for the ROSAT INSs. We obtained that at low fluxes ($`<10^{13}`$ erg cm-2 s-1) accretors outnumber coolers. But at brighter fluxes, where the seven ROSAT INSs are situated, coolers can be more abundant. Interestingly, we found that to explain these seven objects in terms of cooling INSs it is necessary to assume that the spatial density of NSs is about half an order of magnitude higher than what inferred from radio pulsars statistics. Are we then living in an over-dense region or is it a global feature? If global, we have to assume that most young NSs do not pass through the stage of a radio pulsar, or that this stage is shorter than we have estimated. Such hypothesis finds support in recent observations , but the fraction of radio-quiet INSs in the whole galactic population of NSs is a number quite uncertain. Most probably it is not as high as it is necessary to interpret the ”magnificent seven” ROSAT INSs. So it is more probable that such an over-density is a local phenomenon, both in space ($`<1`$ kpc) and in time ($`<100`$ Myr), and we next we will explore in more details the neighborhoods of the Sun.

### 1.2. The ROSAT sources and the Gould Belt

In connection with young INSs and IBHs we are mostly interested in massive stars and recent star formation activity close to the Sun (in our future calculations of coolers we plan to include the realistic distribution of young stellar complexes around the Sun). In that sense the solar vicinity is dominated by the Gould Belt and related OB-associations (see  for a detailed description of the Gould Belt).

The Gould Belt is a disk-like structure. Its inclination to the Galactic plane is about 18; the diameter is about 750-1000 pc, and its center is located about 150-250 pc from the Sun.

The age of the Gould Belt is estimated to be about 30-70 Myr. This implies that the most massive stars are now about 7-10 $`M_{}`$ and that recently there was a period of frequent explosions of massive stars, producing NSs and BHs, with nearly constant rate . The SNa rate in the Gould Belt is about 20-30 per Myr .

We see direct consequences of these explosions in the form of runaway stars. In 700 pc around the Sun 56 runaway stars are known . Only few of them can result from star-star interactions. Others are products of SNa explosions in binary systems. For some of them, the corresponding compact objects have been identified or suggested , , .

Clearly the seven ROSAT INSs can be the outcome of recent SNae in the Gould Belt and related OB-associations. In that case we can easily explain the increased rate of NS formation around the Sun, and it is not necessary to assume very a high fraction of radio-silent young INSs overall in the Galaxy. Also one can predict the existence of more radio-quiet INSs within 1 kpc around the Sun, which are remnants of $`>50`$ recent SNae. For objects with age $`1`$ Myr, the corresponding X-ray dim sources can be discovered (see for example objects HIP 22061, 29678 in table 5 in ), but as long as the NSs receive large kick velocities at birth it is very difficult to predict their present positions. For BHs the situation can be opposite as their kicks could be much lower.

All these explosions should leave their imprints on the structure of the local ISM. Indeed, several local cavities are observed. The most well known is the Local Bubble . It was suggested ,  that the Local Bubble is a result of 3-6 (or even more) recent SNa explosions. We argue that at least some of the ”magnificent seven” sources are remnants of these recent explosions.

## 2. Black holes and the Gould Belt

SNa explosions produce not only NSs, but also BHs. Having dozens of SNae in the solar vicinity during the last 10 Myr we can expect several BHs to have formed during the same period in the solar neighborhood.

Usually it is accepted that BHs are one order of magnitude less abundant than NSs. This estimate comes from the critical mass for BH formation. If this mass is about 35 $`M_{}`$ then the fraction of BHs is about 10% (see discussion on BH fraction in , ). So we can expect about 5 BHs correlated to 56 runaway stars. If there are 20-30 SNae per Myr in the Gould Belt, than we can expect $`6`$-$`12`$ IBHs younger than few Myr. Kick velocity for BHs is unknown, but it is reasonable to assume, that it is much lower than for NSs. If it is so, all these BHs still should be around us.

IBHs are not expected to be bright objects. Close-by IBH can be observed due to accretion from the ISM (, ), or due to a micro-lensing effect (, see also ). That is why it is important to know their positions on the sky. Close massive runaway stars give us a chance to calculate an approximate positions of close-by young IBHs. Among runaway stars we can distinguish the most massive: $`\lambda `$ Cep, $`\zeta `$ Pup, HIP 38518 and $`\xi `$ Per . Their masses are larger than $`33`$ $`M_{}`$. It means, that the companion (actually the primary in the original binary) was even more massive on the main sequence stage. So, the most likely product of the explosion of such a massive star should be a BH.

If the present velocities of runaway stars are known, one can estimate their ages and places of birth. This has been done by Hoogefwerf et al. . To calculate the present position of a BH we have to know the binary parameters, i.e., the masses of stars before the explosion, the BH mass, the eccentricity of the orbit before the explosion, the orbit orientation, and finally the kick velocity of the BH. Some parameters can be inferred from the observation of the secondary star. Also we can give a zero kick to the BH and zero orbital eccentricity. Below we briefly comment on that choice. Other parameters should be varied within assumed ranges.

As we do not know the exact mechanism of SNa explosion any value of a BH kick velocity would be speculative. But in all mechanisms BH kicks should be smaller than those of NSs. In particular, in  the authors argue that the magneto-rotational mechanism of SNae explosion (suggested in 70’s by Bisnovatyi-Kogan) is the most favored from the point of view of mass distribution of compact objects. In this mechanism fastly rotating protoNS form increasing superstrong toroidal magnetic field (up to $`10^{17}`$ G), which drives the envelope ejection. In this case BHs should receive kicks much smaller than those of NSs. We assume BH kick to be zero (but note, that in  it was suggested that in disrupted binaries one has to expect mostly low mass BHs, $`M_{bh}3M_{}`$, which receive a modest kick $`50`$ km s-1 at their birth). In the binary systems which are the progenitor of runaway stars we can expect circularization of orbits due to tidal interaction, i.e. eccentricity in such binaries should be zero. As far as the present velocities of secondaries are high we can expect close systems ($`a1000R_{}`$) with nearly ideal circularization.

Given these parameters and still leaving undetermined the orientation of the orbital plane of a binary, what remains to discuss are the masses of the primary component before the explosion and of the BH. In the case of two massive companions and in the most probable situation, the mass of the primary before the explosion is close to that of the secondary. These circularized systems with equal mass stars will survive the explosion if the kick is strictly zero, since less than one half of the total mass will be swept out. So, for systems producing run-away stars the most probable primary’s mass is as close as that requested for binary disruption, i.e.:

$$M_1=M_2+2M_{bh}.$$
(1)
That leads to restrictions on the orbital separation: it should be larger than about 100 $`R_{}`$ to avoid mass transfer. On the other hand it has to be smaller than $``$2000 $`R_{}`$, to guarantee that the velocity of the secondary component after SNa explosion is in agreement with observations.

Strong mass loss due to stellar winds also leads to relatively low masses for BH progenitor (before the explosion), as far as more massive stars loose mass due to stellar winds faster than low mass stars, so for two stars with initially very different masses this difference will become smaller before the explosion.

Results of ,  suggest that massive stars with $`M>40M_{}`$ produce BHs without SNae, so for such cases binaries will survive BH formation. This argument once again brings us to require the lowest masses for the primaries that are permitted according to the condition of binary disruption. Masses should then fall within a relatively narrow interval close to critical mass of BH formation.

Masses of BHs are determined now for nearly a dozen of candidates in binary systems, mainly with low-mass companions. Most of these determinations are concentrated around $`7`$-$`10`$ $`M_{}`$, but the potentially cover a relatively wide range from 3 up to 50 solar masses ,  (see the theoretical expectations of the BH mass spectrum, which is different from the observed one due to selection effects ).

Given these constrains we are in the process of studying the dynamics of the runaway BHs in the solar proximity and work is in progress.

## 3. Conclusions

We conclude that the seven radio-quiet ROSAT INSs can be connected with recent SNa explosions, which produced nearby runaway stars and peculiar features in the local ISM including the Local Bubble.

We suggest a way to find approximate positions of close IBHs from knowledge of nearby runaway stars and from calculations of binary disruptions. We estimate a number of close IBHs as $`>5`$ with ages $`<3`$-$`4`$ Myr.

### Acknowledgement

We thank Luca Zampieri for discussions. S.P. thanks Universitá degli Studi dell’Insubria, Universitá degli Studi di Padova and Universitá degli Studi di Milano Bicocca for hospitality and support.

The work of S.P. and M.P. was supported by RFBR (grants 01-02-06265, 01-15(02)-99310).


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# Truncation of power law behavior in “scale-free” network models due to information filtering

## Abstract

We formulate a general model for the growth of scale-free networks under filtering information conditions—that is, when the nodes can process information about only a subset of the existing nodes in the network. We find that the distribution of the number of incoming links to a node follows a universal scaling form, i.e., that it decays as a power law with an exponential truncation controlled not only by the system size but also by a feature not previously considered, the subset of the network “accessible” to the node. We test our model with empirical data for the World Wide Web and find agreement.

There is a great deal of current interest in understanding the structure and growth mechanisms of global networks Strogatz01 ; BarabasiRMP ; MendesRev  such as the world-wide-web (WWW) Albert99 ; WWW  and the Internet Internet . Network structure is critical in many contexts such as Internet attacks BarabasiRMP , spread of e-mail virus Cohen94  or dynamics of human epidemics MayBook . In all these problems, the nodes with the largest number of links play an important role on the dynamics of the system. It is therefore important to know the global structure of the network as well as its precise distribution of number of links.

Recent empirical studies report that both the Internet and the WWW have scale-free properties, that is, the number of incoming links and the number of outgoing links at a given node have distributions that decay with power law tails Albert99 ; WWW ; Internet . It has been proposed Barabasi99  that the scale-free structure of the Internet and the WWW may be explained by a mechanism referred to as “preferential attachment” Simon  in which new nodes link to existing nodes with a probability proportional to the number of existing links to these nodes. Here we focus on the stochastic character of the preferential attachment mechanism, which we understand in the following way: New nodes want to connect to the existing nodes with the largest number of links—i.e., with the largest degree—because of the advantages offered by being linked to a well-connected node. For a large network it is not plausible that a new node will know the degrees of all existing nodes, so a new node must make a decision on which node to connect with based on what information it has about the state of the network. The preferential attachment mechanism then comes into play as nodes with larger degree are more likely to become known.

This picture has one underlying and unstated assumption, that the new nodes will process (i.e., gather, store, retrieve and analyze) information concerning the state of the entire network. For very large networks, such as the WWW or the scientific literature, this would correspond to the unrealistic situation in which new nodes can process an extremely large amount of information—i.e., have unlimited information-processing capabilities. Indeed, it is likely that nodes have limited information-processing capabilities and so must filter incoming information according to their particular “interests”. Thus, new nodes of a large growing network will only process information concerning a subset of existing nodes, since there is a cost associated with processing information. The new nodes will then make decisions on with whom to link, based on filtered information. From the standpoint proposed here, most models studied in the literature work under the unrealistic assumption of unfiltered information—i.e., a new node processes information about all the existing nodes in the network.

Here we consider for the first time the effect on network growth of filtering information due to limited information-processing capabilities. First, we calculate the in-degree distributions of web-pages using two databases. The first database, which comprises $`2\times 10^8`$ pages Barabasi99 , surveys a very significant fraction of the entire WWW, while the second, which comprises $`3\times 10^5`$ pages, lists the University of Notre Dame domain Albert99 —i.e. the set of URLs containing the string “nd.edu”. For the first database, we calculate the cumulative in-degree distributions $`P(k)=_{k^{}>k}p(k^{})`$ where $`p(k)`$ is the probability distribution. We confirm that the in-degree distribution decays as a power law Barabasi99  of the form

$$P(k)k^{\gamma _{in}}$$
(1)
with an exponent $`\gamma _{in}=1.25\pm 0.05`$ (Fig. 1). Further we find an exponential truncation of the scale-free behavior for $`k>k_\times 2\times 10^5`$, in contrast with the plateau reported in other studies BarabasiRMP ; Bianconi01 . For the second database, we also find a power-law regime with the same exponent, but the exponential truncation appears to be absent, suggesting that the truncation is not due to the finite size of the databases.

To explain these empirical results, we hypothesize that the authors of new web-pages filter some of the information regarding existing web-pages, that is, the new nodes make linking decisions under information-filtering conditions. To investigate this process, we consider network growth models in which new nodes process information from only a fraction of existing nodes which one may view as matching the “interests” of the new nodes. If the fraction $`f`$ of “interesting” nodes in the network is much less than one, then the attachment of new links is a random process, so the generated network will be a random graph with an exponentially-decaying in-degree distribution. In contrast, if $`f1`$, then preferential attachment is recovered and the in-degree distribution is scale-free.

We first define the network growth rule: At time $`t=0`$, one creates $`n_o`$ nodes with $`n_o1`$ links each. At each time step, one adds to the network a new node with $`n_o1`$ outgoing links. These $`n_o`$ links can connect to a randomly selected subset $`𝒞`$ containing $`n(t)=(t+n_o)f`$ nodes. The links to the nodes in the subset are selected according to the preferential attachment rule, i.e., the probability that node $`i`$ belonging to $`𝒞`$ is selected is proportional to the number of incoming links $`k(i)`$ to it

$$p(i,t)\frac{k(i)}{_{jϵ𝒞}k(j)}.$$
(2)
In Fig. 2(a), we show our numerical results for the in-degree cumulative distributions for networks with $`S=5\times 10^5`$ nodes and $`n_o=1`$, for a sequence of $`f`$ values. For $`f=1`$, we reproduce the results reported for the scale-free model Barabasi99 —i.e. we observe an in-degree distribution that decays as a power law with an exponent $`\gamma _{in}2`$. For $`f<10^2`$, we observe a crossover at $`k=k_\times `$ from power-law behavior to exponential behavior.

To further investigate the effect of changes in $`f`$ on the cut-off degree $`k_\times `$, we plot in Fig. 2(b) the in-degree distributions for different network sizes $`S`$ and a fixed value of $`f`$. We find that $`k_\times `$ increases as a power law with $`S`$. All of our numerical results can be expressed compactly by the scaling form

$$P(k,f,S)k^{\gamma _{in}}_1\left(\frac{k}{k_\times }\right)$$
(3)
with $`k_\times (Sf)^{\theta _1}`$. We find $`\gamma _{in}=1.97\pm 0.05`$, $`\theta _1=0.45\pm 0.04`$ and $`_1(x)\mathrm{const}.`$ for $`x1`$, $`_1(x)e^x`$ for $`x1`$. As a test of the scaling form Eq. (3), we plot in Fig. 1(c) the scaled cumulative distribution versus the scaled in-degree. The figure confirms our scaling Ansatz, since all data “collapse” onto a single curve, the scaling function $`_1(x)`$.

We consider next a situation in which new nodes are not processing information from a constant fraction $`f`$ of nodes but from a constant number $`n`$ of nodes. That is, as the network grows, the new nodes are able to process information about a smaller fraction of existing nodes. This model may be more plausible for networks that have grown to a very large size, since the fraction $`f`$ of all nodes represents a very large number. In the case of the scientific literature, this effect leads to the fragmentation of a scientific field as it grows vanRaan00 .

For the constant $`n`$ case, the fraction of known nodes at time $`t`$ is $`f(t)=n/(t+n_o)`$, implying that as the networks grows there are two antagonistic trends affecting $`k_\times `$. The first is a tendency to increase due to the growing size of the network, and the second is a tendency to decrease due to the decreasing value of $`f`$. Hence, one may hypothesize that there will be a characteristic network size $`S_c`$ above which $`k_\times `$ will no longer depend on $`S`$.

We now test these arguments with numerical simulations. In Fig. 2(d)-(e), we show our results for growing networks for which new nodes process information only from $`n`$ randomly selected existing nodes. We find, in agreement with our scaling arguments, that for $`SS_c`$ the in-degree distribution obeys the scaling relation

$$P(k,n,S)k^{\gamma _{in}}_2\left(\frac{k}{k_\times }\right),$$
(4)
with $`k_\times n^{\theta _2}`$, $`\gamma _{in}=2.00\pm 0.03`$, $`\theta _2=0.65\pm 0.04`$, and where the scaling function $`_2(x)`$ has the same limiting behavior as $`_1(x)`$. To test the scaling form Eq. (4), we plot in Fig. 2(f) the scaled cumulative distribution versus the scaled in-degree. This confirms our scaling Ansatz since the data collapse onto a single curve, the scaling function $`_2(x)`$.

Comparison of the two scaling relations Eq. (3) and Eq. (4) reveals an unexpected result. By replacing $`Sf`$ by $`n`$ in (3) one would naively expect to obtain (4) with $`\theta _1=\theta _2`$ and $`_1(x)=_2(x)`$. Surprisingly, we find that $`\theta _1`$ is significantly different from $`\theta _2`$ and that $`_1(x)`$ is significantly different from $`_2(x)`$. In order to understand this result, consider two growing networks that have reached size $`S`$. For the first, new nodes process information from a fraction $`f`$ of existing nodes, while, for the second, new nodes process information from $`n=fS`$ existing nodes. At a time $`t`$, prior to the network having reached its final size $`S`$, there are $`t+n_o<S`$ sites, and the preferential attachment is acting for the first network on a number of nodes $`(t+n_o)f<Sf=n`$. The preferential attachment mechanism can operate effectively only when it acts on a number of nodes comparable to $`S`$, so the fact that for the first network new nodes have always processed information from fewer existing nodes suggests the first network will not develop nodes with as large a degree as the second network. Thus, we expect that (i) the two resulting networks have different in-degree distributions, and (ii) the in-degree distribution for $`f`$ fixed has a sharper truncation and a smaller cut-off than for $`n`$ fixed, which is indeed what we find.

Our numerical results are in qualitative agreement with empirical data. However, the value of the power law exponent $`\gamma _{in}1.25`$ found for the WWW is significantly smaller than the value $`\gamma _{in}=2`$ predicted by the model. This fact prompts the question of the effect of the cost of information filtering on models generating an in-degree distribution closer to the empirical results. To answer this question, we investigate two possible explanations for the observed value $`\gamma _{in}1.25`$.

(i) Effect of out-degree distribution on $`\gamma _{in}`$. The scale-free modelBarabasi99  is missing an important ingredient: a heterogeneous distribution of number of outgoing links. Indeed, the out-degree distribution considered so far is restricted to a single value $`m=n_o1`$ , i.e. $`p_{out}(m)=\delta _{m,n_o1}`$, while for the empirical data of the WWW it decays as a power law of the form $`p_{out}(m)m^{\gamma _{out}}`$ with $`\gamma _{out}=1.68\pm 0.05`$. We show in Fig. 3 the computed value of the exponent $`\gamma _{in}`$ of the in-degree distribution as a function of $`\gamma _{out}`$ gammanote . We find that $`\gamma _{in}`$ increases approximately linearly with increasing values of the exponent $`\gamma _{out}`$ until it reaches the limiting value $`\gamma _{in}=2`$. For $`\gamma _{out}1.7`$, which is the empirically-observed value for the WWW, we find $`\gamma _{in}1.8`$, which does not agree with the empirical value of 1.25, so the power-law decaying out-degree distribution alone cannot explain the results obtained for the WWW.

(ii) Effect of fitness on $`\gamma _{in}`$. The preferential attachment mechanism is modified by a “fitness” factor Bianconi01 : Nodes have different fitness, and fitter nodes are more likely to receive incoming links than less fit nodes with the same value of $`k`$. Uniformly-distributed fitness is known to lead to a smaller exponent $`\gamma _{in}=1.255`$ Bianconi01 , which is quite close to the value measured for the WWW. Hence, we assign to each node a fitness $`\eta (i)`$ Bianconi01 , reflecting the fact that for equal values of $`k`$ some nodes are more “attractive” than othersfootnote . The probability that a new node will link to node $`i`$ is

$$p(i,t)\frac{\eta (i)k(i)}{_{j=1}^{t+n_o}\eta (j)k(j)}.$$
(5)
We consider here the case in which $`\eta (i)`$ is a uniformly distributed random variable fitnessnote . Figure 3 shows that the in-degree distribution decays as a power law with values of $`\gamma _{in}<1.25`$. For $`\gamma _{out}>1.9`$, the exponent approaches the limiting value $`\gamma _{in}1.25`$. Interestingly, for $`\gamma _{out}1.7`$, the empirical value for the WWW, we find $`\gamma _{in}1.2`$, in agreement with the empirical value $`\gamma _{in}1.25`$.

Our results for the model with fitness show that information filtering and node fitness are both necessary in order to approximate the empirical results. An open question is which type of filtering is more appropriate for the WWW, constant $`f`$ or constant $`n`$? To answer this question one would need WWW data for a different sample size, which are not available to us at present. However, due to the sheer size of the WWW, it seems plausible that constant $`n`$ would be the more appropriate case.

Our key finding is that limited information-processing capabilities have a significant and quantifiable effect on the large-scale structure of growing networks. We find that information filtering leads to an exponential truncation of the in-degree distribution for networks growing under conditions of preferential attachment. Surprisingly, we find simple scaling relations that predict the in-degree distribution in terms of (i) the information-processing capabilities available to the nodes, and (ii) the size of the network.

We also quantify the effect of a heterogeneous out-degree distribution on the in-degree distribution of networks growing under conditions of preferential attachment. We find that for a power law decaying out-degree distribution with exponents $`\gamma _{out}<2`$, the exponent $`\gamma _{in}`$ characterizing the tail of the in-degree distribution will take values smaller than those predicted by theoretical calculations BarabasiRMP ; MendesRev .

The exponential truncation we find may have dramatic effects on the dynamics of the system, especially for processes where the nodes with the largest degree have important roles. This is the case, for example, for virus spreading Cohen94 , where for networks with exponentially-truncated in-degree distributions there is a non-zero threshold for the appearance of an epidemic. In contrast, scale-free networks are prone to the spreading and the persistence of infections no matter how small the spreading rate. Our finding of a mechanism leading to an exponential truncation even for systems where before none was expected Amaral00  indicates that the most connected nodes will have a smaller degree than predicted for scale-free networks leading, possibly, to different dynamics, e.g., for the initiation and spread of epidemics.

In the context of network growth, the impossibility of knowing the degrees of all the nodes comprising the network due to the filtering process —and hence the inability to make the optimal, rational, choice—is not altogether unlike the “bounded rationality” concept of Simon Simon97 . Remarkably, it appears that for the description of WWW growth, the preferential attachment mechanism, originally proposed by Simon Simon , must be modified along the lines of another concept also introduced by him—bounded rationality Simon97 .

We thank R. Albert, P. Ball, A. -L. Barabási, M. Buchanan, J. Camacho, and R. Guimerà for stimulating discussions and helpful suggestions. We are especially grateful to R. Kumar for sharing his data. We thank NIH/NCRR (P41 RR13622) and NSF for support.


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# Fracton pairing mechanism for “strange” superconductors: Self-assembling organic polymers and copper-oxide compounds

## I Introduction

The physics of two-dimensional electron gases has been influential in condensed-matter research since the discovery of highly correlated liquid states, such as electron liquids with fractionally charged excitations,  and high-temperature superconducting fluid phases in copper-oxide compounds.  The trademark of copper oxides is challenging superconducting transition temperature  (up to $`T_c160`$ K); this somehow involves the specific microscopic organization of the cuprate superconductors composed of the alternating conducting-insulating planes.

The fundamental properties of correlated electrons have received attention with the observation of quantum Hall effect in polymeric materials (such as pentracene)  and superconducting behavior in molecular crystals  and organic polymer films.  The discovery of superconducting organic polymers  addressed the correlations between the current-carrying electrons in presence of the multiscale structural disorder associated with the complex microscopic texture of the polymer system.

Organic polymer films  were made to superconduct through charge injection in a field-effect-transistor geometry. In field-effect transistors, a voltage applied to the gate electrode controls the charge flow along the surface of the active (conducting) layer. The active material in the experiment in Ref.  was solution-cast regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) deposited on an insulating substrate. A superconducting flow was observed below $`T_c2.35`$ K for the high gate-induced carrier concentration of about one charge per 12 thiophene rings. The superconducting behavior in P3HT was related to the self-assembly properties of the polymer, which forms thin regular films owing to self-organization.

Remark that the gate-induced charge doping introduces no additional disorder into the material, enabling a direct observation of the superconducting transition as a function of temperature and charge carrier concentration.  Conversely, chemical doping (i.e., injection of suitable impurities such as chlorine or alkali metals, leading to a surplus or deficit of free electrons) inevitably increases the disorder.  This changes the properties of the conducting system and can suppress the inherent self-organization mechanisms that make organic polymers superconduct. With increasing concentration of the impurities, the superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$ shifts to lower values, while the transition region becomes generally broader.  Chemical doping has thus defied attempts to turn polymers into superconductors.  Until the field-effect experiments in Ref.,  the only polymeric material exhibiting superconductivity was a crystalline inorganic polymer polysulfur nitride (SN)X having a transition temperature of $`0.26`$ K.

The key issue on the superconducting organic polymers is the comprehension of the electron pairing mechanism. The main problem is that electronic properties of the polymers are dominated by the intrinsic spatial disorder which supports charge localization at low temperatures.  (The effect of the disorder can be provided, for instance, by a multiscale braiding of the polymer molecules.) Superconducting transition in organic polymers have been discussed  in connection with both the conventional picture of Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer (BCS) superconductivity relying on the electron-phonon interactions in regular crystals,  and Little’s exciton mechanism, in which phonons are replaced by other electrons.  An alternative approach could be based on a spin-triplet, even-parity superconductivity for disordered, interacting electron systems.  While strong arguments in favour of the traditional explanation in terms of phonon-mediated superconductivity have been proposed,  the formation of the Cooper pairs on the disordered polymer patterns (revealing no regular monocrystalline configuration, contrary to the BCS scenario) remains so far generally unclear.

In this paper, we propose a feasible electron pairing mechanism for the “strange” materials like organic polymer P3HT that may observe superconducting behavior in spite of the intrinsic structural disorder. We suggest that electron-electron interactions in such materials are mediated by fractons, quantum oscillations of the multiscale conducting arrays organized in a fractal lattice. The fracton pairing mechanism thereby profits from the complex geometry of the effective conducting set.

It is instructive to emphasize that fracton-mediated interactions between the current-carrying particles could be characteristic of the disordered solids as a whole, rather than specifically of the polymeric materials. Self-assembling organic polymers are considered in our study as a suitable guide to the “strange” superconducting properties of complex systems, while the fracton mechanism is not attributed only to the polymers.

We assume, as a general condition, that the material posseses complex microscopic organization that supports a well-defined branch of fracton excitations. We argue that the fracton modes may then effectively confine the current-carrying electrons in couples below a certain temperature, thus leading to the occurrence of the marginal superconducting fluid state. We demonstrate, furthermore, that replacing electrons with “holes” in the fracton scenario leads to the intriguing hints regarding the nature of the high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxide materials. The fracton approach may thereby indicate that the superconducting properties of organic polymers and of copper oxides are both parts of the same problem.

The paper is organized as follows. The basic assumptions of our study are formulated in Sec. II. A short summary on fracton dynamics is condensed to Sec. III. The fundamental topological properties of percolating fractal lattices giving rise to a well-defined fracton spectrum, are analyzed in Secs. IV$``$V. The fracton wave function is derived in Sec. VI from a fractional kinetic equation in the harmonic approximation. Based on the results obtained, the superconducting transition in self-assembling electron-doped organic polymers is discussed in Secs. VII$``$VIII. A case for high-temperature superconductivity is analuzed in Sec. IX; both hole-doped complex systems and copper-oxide compounds are considered. Implications of the fracton pairing mechanism on ac conduction properties of the strange superconductors above the marginal transition temperature $`T_c`$ are addressed in Sec. X. The principal conclusions are given in Sec. XI.

## II Fractal Geometry of Percolation

We start with a suitable geometric description of the disordered molecular (polymeric) structures. Our basic assumptions are, 1) self-organization of organic polymers results in development of a multiscale conducting network of molecules, 2) the self-organized conducting networks form percolating sets, and 3) these sets are critical, i.e., at the threshold of percolation. A percolating network is defined as an infinite connected web-like configuration embedded in an Euclidean space $`E^d`$, where $`d`$ is ambient (integer) dimension; in what follows, $`d2`$. The term “percolating” is synonymous with “infinite connected” and guarantees that the molecular network conducts on the macroscopic scales. The threshold character means that the percolating web, although infinite in size, is minimally developed in $`E^d`$, i.e., observes a sort of a structural extremum. More precisely, assume the effective conducting web is composed of multiscale conducting links whose concentration in the space $`E^d`$ is quantified by the parameter $`0q1`$.  For $`q0`$, no connected structure can exist as the web lacks conducting elements on all scales; conversely, for $`q1`$, the multiscale conducting links densely fill the ambient space. As $`q`$ continuously grows from 0 to 1, an infinite connected structure (which occupies only a fraction of the embedding space $`E^d`$) first appears for $`q=q_c`$, where $`0<q_c<1`$ is some critical concentration of the links. (Roughly speaking, $`q_c`$ is “of the order of one half”.) The value $`q=q_c`$ can be identified with the percolation threshold in the system, corresponding to a minimal (critical) network which conducts on large scales. As $`q`$ approaches $`q_c`$, the percolation correlation (i.e., pair connectedness) length diverges as $`\xi |qq_c|^\nu `$, where $`\nu `$ is the percolation length exponent depending solely on the embedding dimension $`d2`$. For $`q>q_c`$, the probability to belong to the infinite connected network behaves as $`Q_{\mathrm{}}(q)(qq_c)^\beta \xi ^{\beta /\nu }`$, while dc conductivity goes to zero as $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(0)(qq_c)^\mu \xi ^{\mu /\nu }`$. Along with the exponent $`\nu `$, the percolation indices $`\beta `$ and $`\mu `$ completely characterize the structural properties of the effective conducting set for $`q+q_c`$. Both $`Q_{\mathrm{}}(q)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(0)`$ vanish for $`q<q_c`$.

The microscopic conducting mechanism operating in the polymeric materials such as P3HT is supported by the conjugated structure of alternating single and double bonds linking the carbon atoms in their backbone.  This bonding structure allows one electron from each carbon atom to move along the molecule and become conducting.  The multiscale braiding of the polymer molecules gives rise to a complex spatial distribution of the conducting links, modeled in our study by a percolating web-like pattern.

A remarkable property of percolating networks at criticality (i.e., near the marginal threshold $`q=q_c`$) is their self-similar (fractal) geometry.  In a physical system, the fractal geometry approximation holds in a wide but finite range of spatial scales $`\chi `$, which vary between the microscopic (“lattice”) distance $`\chi _{\mathrm{min}}a`$ and the percolation correlation length $`\chi _{\mathrm{max}}\xi a`$. Given arbitrary length scale $`a\chi \xi `$, one finds the number of the links that belong to the percolating network within the volume $`\chi ^dE^d`$ to be $`N_\chi \chi ^{d_f}`$. The quantity $`d_f`$ is the generalized (Hausdorff) dimension of the network which is not larger than $`d`$, i.e., $`d_fd`$.  Specifically, $`d_f=d\beta /\nu `$ for $`a\chi \xi `$.  Note that $`d_f1`$ for fractal networks admitting connected pathes to infinity.

The value of the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$ is in one-to-one correspondence with the topological entropy of the fractal network, $`S_f`$:

$$S_f=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/d_f.$$
(1)
The topological entropy $`S_f`$ measures the structural disorder in complex systems.  For well-ordered conducting polymer chains without braiding, $`d_f1`$ and $`S_f0`$. Such conditions could be realized at low absolute temperatures $`T0`$. For the multiscale path-connected braided structures, $`d_f>1`$ and $`S_f>0`$. Similar to the conventional, thermodynamic entropy, the topological entropy $`S_f`$ is a non-decreasing function of $`T`$, i.e., $`S_f/T0`$. From Eq. (1) one obtains

$$d_f/T\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}.$$
(2)
At length scales $`\chi `$ exceeding the correlation length $`\xi `$, the fractal geometry of percolation crosses over to a statistically homogeneous distribution of the conducting links. This means $`N_\chi \chi ^d`$ for $`\chi \xi `$. At the short length scales $`\chi a`$, the material may reveal regular crystalline structure; in polymers like P3HT, this structure can be associated with ordered nanocrystals embedded in a disordered matrix.  The typical size of the nanocrystals is, $`a10^6`$ cm.  Note that the ratio $`\xi /a`$ in real fractal materials is at most $`10^3`$ due to the limitations imposed by thermal vibrations and by gravitational stability.

The formation of fractal conducting networks in the range of scales $`a\chi \xi `$ may be explained by self-organized criticality (SOC), a phenomenon which often underlies the development of fractal structures in complex nonlinear dynamical systems.  Here, the concept of SOC is understood as a synonymous with “self-organization to a state of critical percolation.”  The inherent dynamics of the ideal SOC state is manifested in the low frequency $`f^1`$ fluctuation spectrum  customarily referred to as flicker noise. The feasible existence of the anomalously large flicker noise in resistance fluctuations for disordered solid materials was addressed in Ref. .

## III Fracton Dynamics

At the quantum level, the dynamics of a percolating fractal network can be described in terms of elementary (quasi)acoustic excitations termed fractons.  Fractons are considered as quantum oscillations of the local disorder in the system. In the harmonic approximation, fractons are well defined quantum states with infinite inelastic lifetimes.  Statistical properties of fractons were reviewed by Nakayama et al.  in connection with the topological characteristics of fractal sets. A direct experimental observation of fracton modes in real complex materials was reported in Ref.

Fracton excitations of the critical percolating networks form a well-defined (quasi)acoustic branch representing vibrations of multiscale fractal blobs.  In fractal geometries, such vibrations acquire the role of ordinary phonons propagating through periodic crystal lattices. (In polymeric materials like P3HT, the “blobs” may be identified with the disordered polycrystalline matrices.) Note that phonons having wavelengths shorter than the percolation correlation length $`\xi `$ are strongly scattered by the structural inhomogeneitites associated with the fractal geometry of the underlying pattern. Hence phonons cannot be eigen vibrational modes of a fractal. Conversely, fractons are localized states, in the Anderson sense,  with a localization length larger than the characteristic phonon scattering length.

The defining feature of the fracton branch is the nonlinear relationship

$$\omega q^\sigma $$
(3)
between angular frequency $`\omega `$ and wave vector $`q=2\pi /\lambda `$. Here, $`\lambda `$ is the fracton wavelength, which lies between the characteristic fractal cutoff scales $`\chi _{\mathrm{min}}a`$ and $`\chi _{\mathrm{max}}\xi `$, i.e., $`a\lambda \xi `$. The power exponent $`\sigma `$ in the dispersion relation (3) equals

$$\sigma =(2+\theta )/2,$$
(4)
where $`\theta `$ is the index of connectivity of the fractal. The index of connectivity determines the microscopic composition of the fractal object through the marginal links between the constituent elements.  The value of $`\theta `$ does not depend on the way the fractal is folded in the embedding Euclidean space $`E^d`$ (as opposed to the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$ which relies on the embedding properties of the fractal). Contrary to the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$, the index of connectivity $`\theta `$ is a topological invariant of the fractal structure, i.e., remains unchanged under the homeomorphic deformations that preserve the property of self-similarity.  The index of connectivity $`\theta `$ can be expressed in terms of the percolation exponents $`\nu `$, $`\beta `$, and $`\mu `$ via $`\theta =(\mu \beta )/\nu `$.  In Euclidean geometries, $`\theta 0`$.

The fracton phase velocity, $`c_\sigma `$, scales with wave vector $`q`$ as $`c_\sigma (q)\omega /qq^{\theta /2}`$. For $`q\xi /2\pi 1`$, the fracton branch crosses over to the long-wave phonons, whose phase velocity, $`c`$, is a constant function of $`q`$, i.e., $`c\omega /q=`$ const $`(q)`$.  Note that phonons are characterized by the linear dispersion relation $`\omega q`$, which follows from Eq. (3) in the Euclidean geometry limit $`\theta 0`$. In the fractal domain, we have, consequently,

$$c_\sigma (q)c\times (q\xi /2\pi )^{\theta /2},$$
(5)
where the fracton wave vector $`q`$ varies from $`q_{\mathrm{min}}2\pi /\xi `$ to $`q_{\mathrm{max}}2\pi /a`$. Considering Eq. (5), one concludes that the fracton phase velocity cannot exceed the maximum of

$$c_{\sigma \mathrm{max}}c\times (\xi /a)^{\theta /2},$$
(6)
corresponding to the shortest-wave fractons with $`qq_{\mathrm{max}}`$. Accordingly, the fracton frequecies range through

$$\omega _{\mathrm{min}}\omega \omega _{\mathrm{min}}\times (\xi /a)^\sigma ,$$
(7)
where $`\omega _{\mathrm{min}}2\pi c/\xi `$ is the long-wave phonon crossover scale.

The fracton density of states (DOS) behaves with frequency $`\omega `$ as

$$𝒟_{\text{fr}}(\omega )\omega ^{d_s1},$$
(8)
where $`d_s=2d_f/(2+\theta )=d_f/\sigma `$ is the so-called spectral fractal dimension  (to be distinguished from the Hausdorff dimension of the fractal, $`d_f`$). The value of $`d_s`$ determines the effective (fractional) number of degrees of freedom on a fractal geometry.  In the limit $`d_sd`$, expression (8) crosses over to the phonon DOS

$$𝒟_{\text{ph}}(\omega )\omega ^{d1}.$$
(9)
## IV The Percolation Constant

Near the threshold of percolation, $`q=q_c`$, the value of the spectral dimension $`d_s`$ can be obtained from topological arguments.  In fact, let $`𝒩_c`$ and $`𝒩_c`$ denote the critical and fat percolating networks, respectively. The fat percolating network is defined as the set of points which can be path connected  to $`𝒩_c`$ for all $`q<q_c`$. Obviously, $`𝒩_c`$ is an open set,  and $`𝒩_c`$ is the boundary  of $`𝒩_c`$. (This motivates the commonly used sign “$``$” in the notation $`𝒩_c`$.) We also define the closed set  $`\overline{𝒩}_c=𝒩_c𝒩_c`$.

It can be proven  that $`𝒩_c`$ and $`𝒩_c`$ are topologically equivalent with the fractional $`(d_s1)`$-dimensional sphere $`S^{d_s1}`$ and the fractional $`d_s`$-dimensional open disk $`D^{d_s}`$, respectively, where $`S^{d_s1}=D^{d_s}`$ is the boundary of $`D^{d_s}`$. The introduction of the fractional manifolds  $`S^{d_s1}`$ and $`D^{d_s}`$ extends the notion of the smooth integer-dimensional manifolds  $`S^{d1}`$ and $`D^d`$ to arbitrary real dimensionalities $`d_s<d`$. Note that the fractional sphere $`S^{d_s1}`$ is based on the solid angle

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{d_s}=d_s\frac{\pi ^{d_s/2}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(d_s/2+1)},$$
(10)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the Euler gamma-function. From Eq. (10) one recovers the familiar results $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2=2\pi `$ for the standard circle $`S^1`$, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_3=4\pi `$ for the standard two-dimensional sphere $`S^2`$. The topological equivalence relation can be given by a diffeomorhism $`\{\varphi :𝒩_cS^{d_s1},𝒩_cD^{d_s}\}`$. (Here, the diffeomorphic relation $`\varphi `$ implies fractional extension  of the Jacobian .)

As is shown in Ref. , the closed fractional manifold $`\overline{D}^{d_s}=D^{d_s}S^{d_s1}`$ admits everywhere a dense covering by a fractal curve $`\gamma ^{}`$ which has no points of self-crossings at the critical threshold $`q=q_c`$. The absence of points of self-crossings minimizes the topology of the network for $`q=q_c`$ and thereby supports the conditions of the critical percolation. (For $`q>q_c`$, the corresponding manifolds contain “too many points” to be densely covered by a curve without self-crossings. The minimal closed percolating structure $`\overline{𝒩}_cE^d`$ therefore contains “the same number of points” as a fractal curve without self-crossings, folded in $`E^d`$. This serves as the defining feature of the critical percolation. ) Because $`\gamma ^{}`$ is dense everywhere in $`\overline{D}^{d_s}`$, it must be based on exactly the same solid angle $`\mathrm{\Omega }(\gamma ^{})=\mathrm{\Omega }_{d_s}`$ as the fractional sphere $`S^{d_s1}=D^{d_s}`$ \[see Eq. (10)\]. On the other hand, a curve $`\gamma ^{}`$ cannot be principally based on a solid angle $`\mathrm{\Omega }(\gamma ^{})`$ smaller than $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2/2=\pi `$ in $`d2`$ embedding dimensions, i.e., $`\mathrm{\Omega }(\gamma ^{})\pi `$ for $`d2`$. The criticality condition $`q=q_c`$ minimizes the solid angle $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{d_s}`$, i.e., $`\mathrm{\Omega }(\gamma ^{})=\mathrm{\Omega }_{d_s}=\pi `$ at the percolation threshold.  The solution to this transcendental algebraic equation is the fundamental topological parameter $`𝒞`$ (termed “the percolation constant” in Ref. ) satisfying, by definition, the identity

$$𝒞\frac{\pi ^{𝒞/2}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝒞/2+1)}=\pi .$$
(11)
Numerically, $`𝒞1.327`$.  Hence, the spectral fractal dimension

$$d_s\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}d_f/(2+\theta )=𝒞\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.327}$$
(12)
at $`q=q_c`$. Based on the Whitney embedding theorem,  one may demonstrate  that Eq. (12) holds for embedding dimensions $`d`$ between 2 and 5, i.e., $`2d5`$. Note that the value of $`d_s`$ at $`q=q_c`$ is given by the mean-field theory  for all $`d6`$: $`d_s=4/3`$. Below the critical embedding dimension of $`d=6`$, the mean-field percolation is invalidated;  this appears in the deviation of the percolation constant $`𝒞`$ from $`4/3`$ for $`2d5`$. The fact that $`𝒞`$ is actually smaller than $`4/3`$ is in accord with the prediction of the renormalization-group $`ϵ`$-expansion to the marginal orders in $`ϵ`$.  The issue of the percolation constant $`𝒞`$  is intimately connected to the widely-known Alexander-Orbach conjecture,  which up to recently has been amongst the biggest open challenges in the fundamental percolation theory. Note, also, that Eq. (12) is restricted to contractible  fractal sets; the noncontractibility effects tend to diminish the actual value of the spectral fractal dimension $`d_s`$ at $`q=q_c`$ when compared to the percolation constant $`𝒞1.327`$.

In view of Eq. (12), the fracton DOS near criticality becomes

$$𝒟_{\text{fr}}(\omega )\omega ^{𝒞1}\omega ^{1/3},$$
(13)
where the mean-field estimate $`𝒞4/3`$ has been used for simplicity. From Eqs. (8), (9) and (13) one concludes that the fracton states ($`d_s=𝒞4/3`$) are much denser than the phonon states ($`d_s=d2`$) for the frequencies $`\omega `$ smaller than $`\omega _{\mathrm{min}}\times (\xi /a)^\sigma `$. Fractons could thereby dominate in the excitation spectrum of the system below the characteristic temperature of

$$T_c\mathrm{}\omega _{\mathrm{min}}\times (\xi /a)^\sigma \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\pi \mathrm{}(c/a)\times (\xi /a)^{\theta /2},$$
(14)
in accordance with condition (7).

## V Topological Constraints on the Hausdorff Dimension

In this section, topological constraints on the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$ are found. The results obtained are further used to define the admissible values of the index of connectivity $`\theta `$ and of the exponent $`\sigma =(2+\theta )/2`$ in Eq. (14).

First, let us observe that the closed fat percolating network $`\overline{𝒩}_c=\varphi ^1\overline{D}^{d_s}`$ can be densely covered everywhere by a fractal curve $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}=\varphi ^1\gamma ^{}`$ which has no points of self-crossings. (Remind the diffeomorphism $`\{\varphi :𝒩_cS^{d_s1},𝒩_cD^{d_s}\}`$ between the closed fat percolating network $`\overline{𝒩}_c=𝒩_c𝒩_c`$ and the fractional manifold $`\overline{D}^{d_s}=D^{d_s}S^{d_s1}`$.) We now prove that the Hausdorff fractal dimension, $`dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$, of the curve $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$ is equal to $`d_fdim𝒩_c`$,  i.e.,

$$d_fdim𝒩_c=dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}.$$
(15)
In fact, because $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$ is dense everywhere in $`\overline{𝒩}_c`$, one has $`dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}=dim\overline{𝒩}_c`$. We need to demonstrate that the critical percolating network $`𝒩_c`$ is dense everywhere in the closed fat percolating network $`\overline{𝒩}_c`$: This would imply $`dim𝒩_c=dim\overline{𝒩}_c`$, thus leading to Eq. (15).

Lemma: $`𝒩_c`$ is dense everywhere in $`\overline{𝒩}_c`$. This means, precisely, that for arbitrary $`\epsilon >0`$ and arbitrary point $`A_c𝒩_c`$ one finds another point $`A_c^{}𝒩_c`$, such that the distance $`A_cA_c^{}\epsilon `$.  \[Roughly speaking, the (open) fat percolating network $`𝒩_c`$ has an “extremely developed” boundary $`𝒩_c`$ at $`q=q_c`$.\] Note that $`\mathrm{}`$ is Euclidean distance in the embedding $`d`$-dimensional space. Assume the contrary: $`𝒩_c`$ is not dense everywhere in $`\overline{𝒩}_c`$. Hence there exist $`\epsilon >0`$ and $`A_c𝒩_c`$, such that $`A_c`$ can be surrounded by the closed $`(d2)`$-dimensional Euclidean $`\epsilon `$-disk $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d`$ which lies in $`𝒩_c`$ but contains no points of the boundary $`𝒩_c`$, i.e., $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d𝒩_c`$, $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d𝒩_c=\mathrm{}`$. Because $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$ densely covers $`\overline{𝒩}_c`$ everywhere, the $`\epsilon `$-element $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\epsilon ^{}=\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d`$ densely covers $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d`$ everywhere for $`d2`$. Remark that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\epsilon ^{}`$ has no points of self-crossings. Consequently, we constructed a dense covering everywhere of a ($`d2`$)-dimensional Euclidean domain $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^d`$ by a fractal curve $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\epsilon ^{}`$ which has no points of self-crossings. This, however, is principally impossible in $`d2`$ dimensions.  For instance, a dense covering everywhere of a two-dimensional ($`d=2`$) Euclidean domain $`\overline{D}_\epsilon ^2`$ is provided by the Peano curve which has infinite number of points of self-crossings (e.g., of multiplicity 4) where different segments of the curve are in contact with each other.  The observed contradiction proves the lemma.

The next step is to consider general embedding conditions for the curves that have no points of self-crossings. Indeed, a plane ($`d=2`$) curve can be embedded without self-crossings into at most $`𝒮_2=\mathrm{ln}8/\mathrm{ln}31.89<2`$ dimensions,  where $`𝒮_2\mathrm{ln}8/\mathrm{ln}3`$ is the Hausdorff fractal dimension of the square Sierpinski carpet.  (The inequality $`𝒮_2<2`$ excludes existence of the Peano curves without self-crossings.) Analogously, a spatial ($`d=3`$) curve can be embedded without self-crossings into no more than $`𝒮_3=\mathrm{ln}26/\mathrm{ln}32.96<3`$ dimensions,  where $`𝒮_3\mathrm{ln}26/\mathrm{ln}3`$ is the Hausdorff fractal dimension of the three-dimensional Cantor cheese. The existence of an embedding into the Sierpinski carpet (Cantor cheese) for the given plane (spatial) curve is a topologically invariant property  that does not depend on the way the curve is folded in space. An application of this property to the fractal curve $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$ leads to the following conditions: $`1dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}𝒮_2`$ for $`d=2`$; $`1dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}𝒮_3`$ for $`d=3`$. In arbitrary dimensions $`d2`$, one gets, accordingly

$$1dim\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}𝒮_d\mathrm{ln}(3^d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1})/\mathrm{ln}3<d,$$
(16)
where $`𝒮_d\mathrm{ln}(3^d1)/\mathrm{ln}3`$ is the Hausdorff dimension of the Cantor cheese in $`E^d`$.  Considering Eq. (15), one finds

$$1d_f𝒮_d\mathrm{ln}(3^d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1})/\mathrm{ln}3,$$
(17)
where $`2d5`$ due to the limitations imposed by the Whitney embedding theorem.  Inequality (17) establishes the admissible values of the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$ for percolating networks at criticality ($`2d5`$). From Eqs. (12) and (17) we finally obtain

$$2(𝒞1)/𝒞\theta \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}(𝒮_d𝒞)/𝒞,$$
(18)
$$1/𝒞\sigma 𝒮_d/𝒞.$$
(19)
Inequalities (18)$``$(19) hold for embedding dimensions $`2d5`$. From Eqs. (2) and (12) one also gets

$$\theta /T=2\sigma /T\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0},$$
(20)
provided the system is at the threshold of percolation.

## VI Fractional Wave Equation for Fracton Excitations

We now turn to a calculation of the fracton wave function, $`\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)`$, in a quantum state with angular frequency $`\omega `$ and wave vector $`q`$. In the harmonic approximation, we have $`\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)=\psi (x)e^{i\omega t}`$. The real-space coordinate $`x`$ is chosen in the direction of $`q`$. The standard normalization condition

$$_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}|\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)|^2𝑑x=_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}|\psi (x)|^2𝑑x=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}$$
(21)
is implied. The Planck’s constant $`\mathrm{}=1`$ in this section.

We start from the fracton dispersion relation $`\omega =\mathrm{\Lambda }q^\sigma `$ with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }c\times (\xi /2\pi )^{\theta /2}`$, in accordance with Eqs. (3) and (5). Replacing $`\omega `$ and $`q`$ by the operators $`i/t`$ and $`ii/x`$, respectively, and taking into account the harmonic form $`\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)=\psi (x)e^{i\omega t}`$, one arrives at the fractional kinetic equation

$$i\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)/t=i^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }^\sigma \mathrm{\Psi }(t,x),$$
(22)
where $`^\sigma `$ denotes the $`\sigma `$-th power of $``$ (to be considered as the fractional generalization of the Laplacian, $`\mathrm{\Delta }^2`$). An explicit analytical representation of the fractional derivative $`^\sigma `$ is given by the Riesz operator defined in Ref.  The introduction of the fractional Eq. (22) for the (quasi)acoustic excitations in fractal networks follows the paradigm of the strange (or fractional) dynamics  which has come of age as a complementary tool in the description of anomalous kinetic processes in complex systems.

The real-space counterpart, $`\psi (x)`$, of the fracton wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }(t,x)=\psi (x)e^{i\omega t}`$ obeys the fractional equation

$$\omega \psi (x)=i^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }^\sigma \psi (x).$$
(23)
General analytical solution to Eq. (23) can be expressed in terms of Mittag-Leffler functions (these being a special case of Fox functions ). Elementary-function solutions may be obtained in the following limiting cases:

1) Core region: $`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$:

$$\psi _n(x)\mathrm{exp}\left(i^\sigma \frac{\omega x^\sigma }{\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\sigma )}\right),$$
(24)
$$\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)e^{i\omega t}\mathrm{exp}\left(i^\sigma \frac{\omega x^\sigma }{\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\sigma )}\right),$$
(25)
$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)|^2=|\psi _n(x)|^2\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2\omega \alpha _nx^\sigma }{\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\sigma )}\right),$$
(26)
where $`i^\sigma \mathrm{cos}[\pi \sigma (4n+1)/2]+i\mathrm{sin}[\pi \sigma (4n+1)/2]`$, $`n=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}`$ is an integer number, and $`\alpha _n=\mathrm{cos}[\pi \sigma (4n+1)/2]`$ is the real part of $`i^\sigma `$. Admissible (decaying) fracton modes $`\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)`$ are selected by the condition

$$\alpha _n=\mathrm{cos}[\pi \sigma (4n+1)/2]\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}.$$
(27)
The shape of the fracton wave function in the core region $`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is thereby a stretched exponential distribution $`\psi _n(x)\mathrm{exp}[(x/\lambda _n)^\sigma ]`$, with $`\lambda _n^\sigma =\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\sigma )/\omega \alpha _n`$. The spatial scale $`\lambda _n`$ (i.e., the size of the core region) is often referred to as the fracton localization length.  Note that the values of $`\sigma `$ lie in the interval (19) and may depend on the embedding dimension $`2d5`$ in general. Numerically, $`0.75\sigma 1.42`$ for $`d=2`$, and $`0.75\sigma 2.23`$ for $`d=3`$. In Euclidean geometries, $`\sigma =1`$, yielding $`\alpha _n0`$ for all $`n`$. In this limit, the fracton wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)`$ crosses over to a plane wave, $`\mathrm{exp}(i\omega tiqx)`$.

The stretched exponential behavior of the fracton wave function in the core region was first proposed by Entin-Wohlman et al.  Much theoretical and numerical effort has later been invested to determine the value of $`\sigma `$ (for a review, see Nakayama et al.,  and references therein. In the notations of article,  $`\sigma d_\varphi `$.) The results addressed in Ref.  comply well with the constraint (19) in both cases $`d=2`$ and $`d=3`$.

2) Tail region: $`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$: The asymptotic ($`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$) analysis of the fractional Eq. (23) is similar to a derivation of the Lévy stable distributions  from the Riesz operator. Making use of the normalization condition (21), from Eq. (23) one finds \[cf. Eqs. (24)$``$(26)\]

$$\psi _n(x)\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\omega \mathrm{\Gamma }(\sigma )}\right)^{1/2}\times x^{(\sigma +1)/2},$$
(28)
$$\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\omega \mathrm{\Gamma }(\sigma )}\right)^{1/2}e^{i\omega t}\times x^{(\sigma +1)/2},$$
(29)
$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)|^2=|\psi _n(x)|^2\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\omega |\mathrm{\Gamma }(\sigma )|}\times x^{(\sigma +1)}.$$
(30)
Equation (30) represents the power-law tail of the fracton wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }_n(t,x)`$, with the exponent $`\sigma +1`$ varying from approximately 1.75 to $``$ 2.42 in two dimensions ($`d=2`$), and up to $``$ 3.23 in three dimensions ($`d=3`$). These relatively small values of the power exponent $`\sigma +13.5`$ allow for the considerable probabilities of finding a fracton beyond the core region when compared to a stretched exponential interpolation. We emphasize that the power-law tail (30) is the fractional dynamics property contained in the Riesz operator $`^\sigma `$.

## VII The Interaction Hamiltonian

Similar to the ordinary phonons in regular crystals, fractons may mediate electron-electron interactions in fractal media. The implication is that an electron placed on a fractal network generates a structural deformation which affects another electron. The process is described by the interaction Hamiltonian

$$=\underset{𝐤,𝐩}{}𝒲_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐩}}\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}a_𝐩^+a_𝐤+\underset{𝐤,𝐩}{}𝒲_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐩}}^{}\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}^+a_𝐤^+a_𝐩,$$
(31)
where $`a_𝐤^+`$ is the creation operator for an electron with wave vector $`𝐤`$, $`\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}^+`$ is the creation operator for a fracton with wave vector $`𝐩𝐤`$, and $`𝒲_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐩}}`$ are the elements of the interaction matrix, maximized for $`𝐩=𝐤`$. The fracton operators $`\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}^+`$ and $`\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}`$ are introduced for the excitations that obey the selection rule (27). The Hamiltonian in Eq. (31) recovers the conventional electron-phonon interaction Hamiltonian  in the Euclidean geometry limit $`d_fd`$ and $`d_s/d_f1`$. The existence of the electron coupled states for the Hamiltonian (31) can be demonstrated following the standard formalism.  Such states would physically correspond to the “Cooper pairs” on fractal networks. Like in the conventional, phonon-mediated picture of electron-electron interactions,  the Cooper pairs in fractal geometry occur because electrons with nearly opposite momenta $`(𝐤,𝐤)`$ exchange a fracton excitation.

Owing to the effect of the fractional dynamics, the electron-fracton interactions are not restricted to the core region $`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$, but are extended, by means of the Riesz operator $`^\sigma `$, to the “strange” domain $`\omega x^\sigma \mathrm{\Lambda }`$ corresponding to the power-law tail of the fracton wave function. The tail counterpart given by Eqs. (28)$`(30)`$ supports broad electron-electron couplings in the medium, enabling the formation of the Cooper pairs throughout the self-similarity interval $`a\chi \xi `$. In view of inequality (20), the couplings are more extensive at lower absolute temperatures $`T`$. In view of the high density of states in Eq. (13) (large compared to the phonon DOS), fracton excitations beneficiate as a favourable ingredient of the superconducting transition in strange materials.

## VIII Tunneling Effects

In fractal networks, the onset of superconductivity may be limited to the Anderson localization of the Cooper pairs. In fact, as it follows from inequalities (2) and (20), the fractal geometry of the network creates a potential barrier for a particle, with the height proportional to $`T`$. A superconducting behavior on a network structure could be the case if the quantum tunneling length for the charge carriers exceeds the characteristic Anderson localization length on the fractal. The Anderson localization length, in its turn, is typically of the order of the microscopic distance $`a`$, describing the characteristic scale of the inhomogeneities present. The quantum tunneling length for a particle of mass $`m^{}`$ is given by the well known estimate $`l^{}\mathrm{}/\sqrt{2m^{}T}`$, where $`T`$ stands for the height of the barrier. A transition to a superconducting state may thereby occur if $`l^{}a`$. Taking into account that $`m^{}=2m_e`$ for the Cooper pairs, one finds the appropriate temperatures to be

$$T\mathrm{}^2/4m_ea^2.$$
(32)
(We imply that the material is well supplied with the free electrons that may effectively participate in the pairing processes. In the experiments in Ref.,  the necessary charge carrier concentration was achieved through the gate-induced doping in the field-effect device.) Setting $`a10^6`$ cm,  we have $`T`$ (2$``$3) K. This complies with the onset temperature $`T_c2.35`$ K reported in Ref.

The tunneling of the Cooper pairs through braided molecular structures is the marginal dynamical process that limits the superconducting behavior in the polymeric systems. The corresponding temperatures $`T`$ (2$``$3) K are rather modest owing to the relatively large threshold tunneling length $`l^{}a10^6`$ cm on the right of inequality (32). \[Decreasing this length might promise enhanced temperatures, of course.\] Anticipating the results of the next Section, we note that the fracton-mediated superconductivity may come into play at the considerably higher temperatures (typically, as high as $`T_c150`$ K), provided the tunneling limitation (32) is circumvented.

The tunneling processes on a fractal set could be associated with the formation of a disordered array of Josephson junctions enveloping the domains of effective electron-fracton interactions. In this context, it is worth noting that superconductivity, due to Josephson coupling of the superconducting domains, was in fact observed in polycrystalline systems.  The role of Josephson arrays for the superconducting behavior in P3HT was addressed in Ref.  in connection with the patchy (granular) topology of the transition regions.

The fracton pairing mechanism might explain why superconductivity has not been observed in inorganic semiconductor devices,  such as Si and GaAs: The active materials used in such devices lack the structural complexity which might support a well-defined branch of fracton excitations in the self-similar domain. Conversely, self-assembling organic polymers like P3HT reveal a complex organization owing to SOC, that offers a fertile playground for the fracton modes as soon as the criticality condition (12) is satisfied.

## IX A Case for High-Temperature Superconductivity

An important ramification of the present study is a model when electrons are replaced by charged “holes” participating in the fracton exchange processes on a complex substrate. The simplest interaction Hamiltonian reads

$$=\underset{𝐤,𝐩}{}𝒲_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐩}}\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}b_𝐩^+b_𝐤+\underset{𝐤,𝐩}{}𝒲_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐩}}^{}\varphi _{𝐩𝐤}^+b_𝐤^+b_𝐩.$$
(33)
Here, $`b_𝐤^+`$ and $`b_𝐤`$ denote the creation-annihilation operators for a hole with wave vector $`𝐤`$. The expression (33) is analogous to the Hamiltonian in Eq. (31) for the fracton-mediated electron coupling. The interaction processes (33) could dominate in the nominally insulating materials at high hole-doping levels. Beside hole-doped systems, the hole coupling effects might be essential in cuprate superconductors owing to the specific crystalline structure of the copper-oxide compounds. In fact, the cuprate superconductors consist of parallel planes of copper and oxygen atoms arranged in a square grid. The copper-oxygen planes are separated by the layered atoms of other elements, which may absorb electrons from the copper sites, leaving positively charged holes behind.  The integral system operates like a multi-layer field-effect transistor with the conducting copper-oxygen planes confined between the charge-absorbing insulating substrates. The complex microscopic texture of the compound supports fractional harmonic modes in Eq. (22) that may turn the holes into coupled states.

The key point about the holes is that they have negative mass $`m^{}=|m^{}|<0`$, leading to the imaginary fractal tunneling length $`l^{}i\mathrm{}/\sqrt{2|m^{}|T}`$. This means periodic charge oscillations $`\mathrm{exp}(ix\sqrt{2|m^{}|T}/\mathrm{})`$ in the copper-oxygen lattice, i.e., a “stripe”.  The stripes form a runway  along which the coupled holes may flow without resistance. The stripe order can be associated with self-organization of the system to a thermodynamically profitable one-dimensional charge distribution.

It is fair to remark that the issue of stripes is at present widely debated in the literature. Theoretical arguments in favour of the stripes have been proposed in Ref.  Concerns come from the poor observational support for the charge stripes as an integral part of the superconducting behavior in the cuprates. Intriguing experimental indications of the charge-stripe order in high-temperature superconductors have been obtained only recently.  (See, also, Ref.  where an evidence for the stripes in a chemically doped cuprate compound was reported.)

Inclusion of stripes makes it possible to bypass the marginal limitation (32) on the superconducting temperature range. The typical superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$ can then be directly evaluated from expression (14), provided the charge is carried by the fracton coupled holes along the stripe runways. Considering condition (20), we maximize the index of connectivity $`\theta `$ in the scaling $`T_c(\xi /a)^{\theta /2}`$ to be $`\theta =\theta _{\mathrm{max}}=2(𝒮_d𝒞)/𝒞`$, where $`𝒮_d`$ is the Hausdorff dimension of the Cantor cheese  in $`E^d`$, and $`𝒞`$ is the percolation constant.  (High-temperature regime is implied, enabling one to set $`\theta =\theta _{\mathrm{max}}`$ from $`\theta /T0`$.) In view of the plane ($`d=2`$) geometry of the conducting layers in cuprate superconductors,  we find for the scaling exponent, $`\theta /2=\theta _{\mathrm{max}}/2=(𝒮_2𝒞)/𝒞0.43`$, where $`𝒮_21.89`$ is the Hausdorff dimension of the square Sierpinski carpet.  Assuming further the maximal  ratio $`\xi /a10^3`$, we estimate the factor $`(\xi /a)^{\theta /2}`$ in Eq. (14) to be around 20. After all, making use of the characteristic values $`c2\times 10^5`$ cm/s for the long-wave phonon phase velocity, and $`a10^6`$ cm for the minimal fracton wavelength, we have, by order of magnitude, $`T_c40\pi \mathrm{}c/a150K`$. This result is in good agreement with the typical transition temperatures observed in cuprate superconductors. Enhanced transition temperatures might be speculated for the compounds having $`2\pi c/a10^{12}`$ Hz.

We emphasize that the high transition temperature $`T_c150`$ K profits from the imaginary hole tunneling length, $`l^{}i\mathrm{}/\sqrt{2|m^{}|T}`$, giving rise to the self-organized charge-stripe order across the conducting set. In cuprate superconductors, this macroscopic order helps coupled holes run freely along the copper-oxygen planes. Conversely, electrons placed on a complex conducting lattice encount multiscale potential barriers, whose height grows with absolute temperature $`T`$. (The effect of the barriers could be strengthened in the cuprates because of the electron absorbtion processes.) “Loaded” with the positive mass (opposite to that of holes), electrons can enter into a superconducting state at the low enough temperatures $`T\mathrm{}^2/4m_ea^2`$, in accordance with condition (32). Support for this viewpoint can be found in the field-effect doping experiments with CaCuO2 compound:  While electron-type doping has shown the maximum value of $`T_c`$ around 34 K, hole-type doping revealed an enhanced superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$ near 89 K. Note that the field-effect geometry exploited in the experiments in Ref.  mimics the inherent microscopic organization of the copper oxides composed of the alternating conducting-insulating layers.

We suggest that fracton coupled holes is the most probable ingredient of the high-temperature superconducting phase in copper oxides. This proposal is somewhat different from the theoretical results of Buttner and Blumen,  who argued that such a phase might directly occur from the fracton-mediated electron-electron interactions. Nevertheless, the focus on fractons  as the effective glue that may confine the current-carrying particles in couples on a complex geometry is in accord with the basic ideas of our study. Intrinsic multiscale inhomogeneities that might support the fracton modes in high-temperature superconductors have been studied experimentally in Ref.

The direct observation of the fracton-hole interactions in the cuprate superconductors is an open challenge. Such interactions might be recognized from meandering of the charge stripes, a phenomenon addressed in Ref.  The meandering property has been strongly advocated in Ref.  from the novel in-plane transport anisotropy in copper oxides.

## X Ac Universality

The complex percolating lattices underlying the fracton excitation spectrum (13) may leave an imprint on the ac conduction properties of the material above the superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$. As is shown in Ref.,  self-organization of the medium to a state dominated by the critical percolation structures results in the universal behavior of ac conduction at the “anomalous” frequencies $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, for which the charge carriers walk on the fractal. The defining feature of ac universality is independence of the microscopic details of the pattern on which the random walk takes place, and of the nature of the conducting mechanism operating in the system (i.e., classical barrier crossing for ions and/or quantum-mechanical tunneling for electrons). Ac universality can be represented analytically by the power-law dependence of the conductivity $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ versus frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$:

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^\eta .$$
(34)
For the bulk conduction, the exponent $`\eta `$ lies typically between 0.6 and 1.0.  Among other materials, the bulk ac universality was recognized in ion and electron conducting polymers, amorphous and polycrystalline semiconductors, organic-inorganic composites, doped semiconductors at helium temperatures, etc. (see Refs.  and , and references therein).

Ac universality (34) results from the self-similar behavior of the random walk processes on the fractal geometry.  Given a path-connected fractal distribution with connectivity $`\theta `$, one finds the mean-square displacement of the walker (e.g., of the charged particle placed on the disordered conducting array) after time $`t`$ to be

$$\delta \chi ^2(t)t^{2/(2+\theta )}(a|\delta \chi |\xi ).$$
(35)
The probability to return to the starting point  scales with time as $`p(t)t^{d_s/2}`$, where $`d_s`$ is the spectral dimension of the fractal, which simultaneously arises in the fracton DOS in Eq. (8). Near the threshold of percolation, $`d_s=𝒞`$ and $`p(t)t^{𝒞/2}`$. In the limit of Euclidean geometry ($`d_sd`$, $`\theta 0`$), Eq. (35) recovers the conventional Einstein law $`\delta \chi ^2(t)t`$ for the particle diffusion. Generalized transport equations that account for the “strange”  relation (35) have been considered in Refs.

Based on the self-similar random walk model (35), Gefen et al.  demonstrated that ac conductivity of percolating fractal networks behaves as a power of frequency, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^\eta `$, with the exponent $`\eta =\mu /\nu (2+\theta )`$. This is in accord with the dependence (34) customarily observed in real disordered materials. Note that the quantity $`\eta `$ is a combination of the indices $`\mu `$, $`\nu `$, and $`\theta `$, which mirror the percolative nature of the underlying fractal lattice. Making use of the expressions  $`d_f=d\beta /\nu `$ and $`\theta =(\mu \beta )/\nu `$, one finds

$$\eta =(\theta +dd_f)/(2+\theta ).$$
(36)
Equation (36) implies that the dependence $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ is controlled by the characteristic distance $`|\delta \chi |`$ traveled by a particle during the time $`1/\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Considering expression (35), one arrives at the scaling $`\mathrm{\Omega }|\delta \chi |^{(2+\theta )}`$ which relates the applied frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ to the displacement $`|\delta \chi |`$.

For sufficiently low frequencies $`\mathrm{\Omega }\xi ^{(2+\theta )}`$, the current-carrying particles cover distances $`|\delta \chi |\xi `$ during the period of $`1/\mathrm{\Omega }`$. In this limit, the charge carriers feel statistically homogeneous distribution of the conducting links, corresponding to $`d_fd`$ and $`\theta 0`$. From Eq. (36) one concludes that $`\eta 0`$ for $`\mathrm{\Omega }\xi ^{(2+\theta )}`$. Hence $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^\eta `$ is almost frequency independent in the lower frequency range: $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Sigma }(0)=`$ const $`(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ for $`\mathrm{\Omega }\xi ^{(2+\theta )}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(0)`$ is dc conductivity.

For $`\xi ^{(2+\theta )}\mathrm{\Omega }a^{(2+\theta )}`$, the charge transport processes are governed by the self-similar (fractal) geometry of the underlying conducting set. In this regime, the value of $`\eta `$ obeys the topological constraints imposed by the percolation threshold character. In fact, combining Eqs. (12) and (36), we get ($`2d5`$):

$$\eta =(2𝒞)/2+(d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2})𝒞/2d_f.$$
(37)
For the plane lattices ($`d=2`$), the term depending on the Hausdorff dimension $`d_f`$ vanishes. Expression (37) is then reduced to the “hyperuniversal”  counterpart

$$\eta =(2𝒞)/2\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.34}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}/3(d=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}),$$
(38)
involving solely the percolation constant $`𝒞`$. The exponent in Eq. (38) describes ac conduction of thin films of complex materials revealing a two-dimensional ($`d=2`$) self-similar organization. Ac conductivity of the self-similar (fractal) films scales with frequency $`\xi ^{(2+\theta )}\mathrm{\Omega }a^{(2+\theta )}`$ as $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$, where we neglected the small deviation of the percolation constant $`𝒞1.327`$ from the mean-field value 4/3.

The “hyperuniversal”  behavior $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ in two dimensions should be considered as a specific prediction of our model: To our best knowledge, reliable experimental data on ac conduction of the fractal films are almost absent in the literature. Direct observational verification of the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ might be performed, e.g., through a charge injection in the field-effect-transistor geometry using the pioneering methods discussed in Refs.

In higher dimensions ($`3d5`$), the “Hausdorff” term $`(d2)𝒞/2d_f`$ on the right of expression (37) apparently contributes to the exponent $`\eta `$. Considering the constraint (17) on the parameter $`d_f`$, we locate the value of $`\eta `$ in the interval $`\eta _{\mathrm{min}}\eta \eta _{\mathrm{max}}`$, with

$$\eta _{\mathrm{min}}=(2𝒞)/2+(d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2})𝒞/2𝒮_d,$$
(39)
$$\eta _{\mathrm{max}}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}+(d\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3})𝒞/2.$$
(40)
Here, $`𝒮_d=\mathrm{ln}(3^d1)/\mathrm{ln}3`$ is the Hausdorff dimension of the Cantor cheese in $`E^d`$. In three dimensions ($`d=3`$), one finds $`\eta _{\mathrm{min}}\eta 1`$, where $`\eta _{\mathrm{min}}=(2𝒞)/2+𝒞/2𝒮_3`$. Numerically, $`\eta _{\mathrm{min}}0.56`$, in close agreement with the observational result $`0.6\eta 1.0`$.

In view of inequality (2), from Eq. (37) we also get

$$\eta /T=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}(d=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}),$$
(41)
$$\eta /T\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}(d=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3}).$$
(42)
Hence, in three dimensions, $`\eta `$ generally increases with decreasing temperature $`T`$, a phenomenon often observed in real disordered materials.

We emphasize that ac universality (34), although effective above the typical superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$, is an integral part of the fracton scenario as it derives from the same general principles basing on the percolative geometry of the underlying conducting lattice. Ac universality might serve as an indication that the material posseses the complex enough microscopic organization that supports a wide fracton spectrum. Ac-universal materials could thereby be plausible candidates into the strange superconductors dominated by the fracton-mediated interactions between the current-carrying particles. A test on ac universality might help verify the fracton nature of the pairing mechanism potentially operating in organic polymers and copper oxides.

## XI Summary and Conclusions

In spite of the diverse superconducting transition temperatures, self-assembling organic polymers and copper-oxide compounds bear important features in common. In fact, the polymers superconduct in the field-effect-transistor geometry at high gate-induced charge-carrier concentrations. The superconducting state is supported by self-organization mechanisms governing the kinetics of the polymer system. Owing to self-organization, the polymers form thin regular films, on which the superconducting electron fluid condensates.

The cuprate superconductors, in their turn, operate like multi-layer transistors due to the intrinsic field-effect crystalline configuration (i.e., conducting copper-oxygen planes confined between charge-absorbing insulating substrates). Self-organization processes appear in the charge-stripe order enabling the current-carrying particles flow along the copper-oxygen planes without resistance.

Both polymers and copper oxides are “strange” superconductors as they involve unconventional (other than BCS) pairing processes underlying the superconducting phase. In either of the materials, the (quasi)particles mediating the interaction between the charge carriers are suggested to be fractons, quantum oscillations of fractal lattices.

The interaction processes involving fractons allow for larger energies than that of the phonons, leading to a possibility of the high-temperature superconducting phases in complex materials. For the cuprate compounds, we estimate the typical superconducting transition temperature to be around $`T_c150`$ K, in good agreement with the experimental values. We imply that the marginal ingredient of the corresponding high-temperature superconducting phase are fracton coupled holes that condensate in the conducting copper-oxygen planes owing to the specific field-effect-transistor geometry of the cuprate superconductors. For the gate-induced superconductivity in the self-assembling polymers, we find much smaller transition temperatures of $`(23)`$ K, provided the charge carriers are fracton coupled electrons, not holes. Such a modest value is due to the limitations imposed by the electron tunneling processes on the braided polymer structures. We speculate that replacing electrons with holes helps circumvent the tunneling restrictions. The fracton model then promises enhanced onset temperatures for the hole-doped systems when compared to their electron-doped counterparts. The hint is that hole-doped complex materials whose structural characteristics meet a wide fracton spectrum, might be feasible candidates in the high-temperature superconductors. Support for this suggestion partially comes from the field-effect doping experiments discussed in Ref.  Hole doping might thereby open a perspective on the superconducting systems having large transition temperatures $`T_c150`$ K.

We found that the fracton wave function contains a power-law tail stretching far beyond the central core region. The power-law constituent supports interactions between the charge carriers throughout the self-similar (fractal) domain of the conducting system. In the harmonic approximation, the fracton wave function derives from a generalized kinetic equation with the integer time and fractional real-space derivatives. The latter is given by the Riesz operator addressing the fractional generalization of the Laplacian. The introduction of the fractional kinetic equation for fracton excitations follows the paradigm of the strange dynamics , one of the biggest open challenges in the modern nonlinear physics. The parameters of the fracton wave function describing the shape of the core and tail regions could be obtained from the unconventional, topological analysis basing on the concept of the fractional manifold.  The fractional kinetics approach supplied with the topological guide to fractal objects yields insight into the fundamental dynamical properties underlying fracton statistics.

The formation of self-similar (fractal) lattices associated with a well-defined branch of fracton excitations affects ac conduction properties of the material in the classical energy range (i.e., above the typical superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$). Based on the topological arguments, we demonstrated the universal character of ac conduction in fractal geometries, which does not depend on the details of the lattice, nor on the nature of the microscopic conducting mechanism. This universal character is contained in the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^\eta `$, with the exponent $`\eta `$ related to the fundamental topological parameters characterizing the fractal distribution, such as the percolation constant  and the Hausdorff dimension of the Cantor cheese.  In three dimensions (i.e., for the bulk conduction), the value of $`\eta `$ varies from approximately 0.56 to 1.0, in precise agreement with the experimental range $`0.6\eta 1.0`$.  In two dimensions (i.e., for the plane fractal lattices), a “hyperuniversal”  value $`\eta 0.341/3`$ is recognized, leading to the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ in a wide temperature range $`TT_c`$. This behavior should be considered as a specific theoretical prediction of our model. Observational verification of the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ in plane fractal geometries might shed light on the electric properties of the complex materials.

It might be extremely interesting to verify the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ for cuprate oxides and self-assembling organic polymers, whose microscopic organization seems to support plane fractal lattices. An observation of the scaling $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\mathrm{\Omega })\mathrm{\Omega }^{1/3}`$ might be a strong argument in favour of the fracton-mediated pairing processes operating in the strange superconductors. Extensive studies in this direction might be strongly advocated.

We are grateful to the anonymous referee for the careful reading of this paper and for the stimulating suggestions. This study was carried out when A. V. M. stayed at Risoe on a Grant from the Graduate School in Nonlinear Science. Partial support was received from Danish Natural Science Foundation (SNF), INTAS Project 97-1612, and RFFI Grants 00-02-17127, 00-15-96631, and 02-02-06541.