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# Inner-shell 1s - 2p Soft X-ray Absorption Lines

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The launch of the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories along with the grating spectrometers on board has generated great interest in high resolution X-ray spectroscopy of a wide variety of astrophysical X-ray sources, in particular active galactic nuclei (AGN). The high resolution grating observations of a handful of AGN, e.g. NGC 5548 (Kaastra et al., 2000), NGC 3783 (Kaspi et al., 2000, 2001), MCG–6-30-15 (Branduardi-Raymont et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2001), and IRAS 13349+2438 (Sako et al., 2001), clearly show the presence of dozens of strong X-ray absorption lines originating from highly charged gas along the line of sight. While many of the absorption lines are due to transitions in H-like and He-like ions, some are clearly due to inner-shell transitions in lower ionization species. Perhaps the most prominent feature of this kind is the unresolved transition array (UTA) of inner-shell $`n`$ = 2 to 3 (mainly 2p - 3d) lines pertaining to various M-shell Fe ions identified in IRAS 13349+2438 (Sako et al., 2001). The atomic data needed to model this UTA feature have recently been published in Behar, Sako, & Kahn (2001). Another example is the inner-shell 1s - 2p feature of Li-like Si11+ in NGC 3783 reported by Kaspi et al. (2001). The analogous 1s - 2p lines for Li-like O5+ have been calculated by Pradhan (2000) using the R-matrix method and identified in MCG–6-30-15 by Lee et al. (2001). Sako et al. (2002) have found evidence for additional 1s - $`n`$p lines arising from lower charge states of oxygen (O4+ and O3+) in MCG–6-30-15. Recently, Nahar, Pradhan, & Zhang (2001) published results for Li-like C3+, O5+, and Fe23+ obtained using the same method as Pradhan (2000).

Models like those presented in Kaspi et al. (2001) predict that inner-shell transitions from the ground level of many more L-shell ions (Li-like to F-like) are indeed expected for X-ray illuminated photoionized plasmas. However, the available atomic data are few. The present paper aims at providing comprehensive results for the resonant 1s - $`n`$p transitions in Li-like through F-like ions of neon, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, argon, calcium, and iron. For that purpose, we employ the HULLAC code, which uses the parametric potential approximation. This method is by far more efficient than the previously used methods. For the present case of inner-shell transitions in highly charged ions, it is also expected to be very accurate. In the following, §2 describes the method of calculation and the new atomic data and §3 shows theoretical models for AGN spectra and a comparison with the spectrum of NGC 3783 obtained with the HETGS spectrometer on board Chandra.

## 2 ATOMIC CALCULATIONS

In order to calculate the wavelengths and oscillator strengths of interest, we use the multi-configuration, relativistic HULLAC (Hebrew University Lawrence Livermore Atomic Code) computer package (Bar-Shalom, Klapisch, & Oreg, 2001). The level energies in HULLAC are calculated using the relativistic version of the Parametric Potential (PP) method by Klapisch et al. (1977). This relativistic approach is perfectly adequate for the high-energy inner-shell excitations calculated in the present work. The high efficiency of HULLAC allows us to calculate the numerous transitions involved relatively quickly. Unlike some other atomic methods, the PP approach is hardly hampered by the considerable complexity of the electronic structure in the ions considered. Calculations are carried out for 1s - $`n`$p ($`n7`$) transitions in the L-shell ions (Li-like to F-like) of Ne, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. The atomic structure calculations include the ground configurations 1s22$`l^x`$ ($`x`$ = 1 to 7). For each ion, all of the 1s - $`n`$p photoexcitation transitions from the ground level are calculated, among which the 1s - 2p are the strongest by far. Electric and magnetic dipole and quadrupole transitions are computed. The contributions, however, of excitations other than electric-dipole are negligible.

The calculated 1s - $`n`$p wavelengths ($`\lambda _{ij}`$) and oscillator strengths ($`f_{ij}`$) for the strongest absorption lines in the He I to F I isoelectronic sequences are listed in Table 1. Only lines with $`f_{ij}>0.1`$, or the strongest line for a given ion, are included in the table. These lines represent the major part ($`>`$70%, and in most cases $`>`$90%) of the absorption effect for the respective transitions. Thus, they should be sufficient for the analysis of most astrophysical spectra. We note, however, that the ION code, for which results are shown below does include more lines than those presented in Table 1. The strong lines are predominantly 1s - 2p lines, but also 1s - 3p lines in the He I and Be I sequences (see table). More specifically, the strongest lines usually arise for 1s - 2p3/2 transitions. The Einstein coefficient ($`A_{ji}`$) as well as the total rate for depletion of the inner-shell excited level $`[\mathrm{\Sigma }(A+A^a)]`$, which includes both radiative decay ($`A`$) and autoionization ($`A^a`$) rates, are also given in Table 1. The total depletion rate is needed to compute the fluorescence yield $`A_{ji}/\mathrm{\Sigma }(A+A^a)`$ and natural width associated with each absorption line.

As can be seen in Table 1, and as expected, the oscillator strength depends only very weakly on the element and is much more contingent upon the isoelectronic sequence. Table 1 shows that for each element, the oscillator strength generally increases with the ionic charge, as more vacancies become available in the 2p subshell. This trend appears to be violated by the lines of the Be-like ions, which feature a 1s - 2p line that is stronger than the lines of the Li-like ions. However, the total oscillator strength, summed over all of the 1s - 2p excitations for Li-like and Be-like species is in fact comparable, as expected for these systems, both of which have the maximum possible six vacancies in the 2p subshell. The apparent dominance of the Be I sequence is only due to the fact that for the Be-like ions, the entire oscillator strength is concentrated in one 1s - 2p3/2 line. The same stands for the 1s - 3p3/2 transition (as well as for higher $`n`$), which explains why those transitions in Be-like ions are strong enough ($`f_{ij}>0.1`$) to make it into the table. Conversely, for the Li-like ions the total 1s - 2p3/2 line strength is distributed among several lines.

The accuracy of all of the data presented here is expected to be very high, but owing to the relativistic method in HULLAC, the data become increasingly accurate for higher charge states. In order to give a rough idea of the uncertainties that could be expected from these atomic values, we include in Table 1, in addition to the new inner-shell excited lines, the leading lines for the He-like ions, for which all of the data are available in the literature. The HULLAC wavelengths and oscillator strengths for the 1s - $`n`$p ($`n`$ = 2, 3) excitations in He-like ions are compared in the table with the published values, which were calculated with perhaps more rigorous methods. For this comparison we use primarily the compilation by Verner, Verner, & Ferland (1996) as well as values from the NIST database, in cases where these are available (see Table 1). It is seen in Table 1 that the present wavelengths agree with the published values to within a few mÅ and that the oscillator strengths agree to within $``$10% (except for Fe in Verner, Verner, & Ferland (1996)). Similar comparisons for the inner-shell excitations in Table 1 would, of course, be even more desirable. Unfortunately, calculations for these transitions have been previously published only for Li-like Fe23+. Nahar, Pradhan, & Zhang (2001) obtain for the two strongest lines of Fe23+ 1.860 Å and 1.864 Å, to be compared with the present values of 1.861 Å and 1.864 Å. The corresponding oscillator strengths in Nahar, Pradhan, & Zhang (2001) are 0.491 and 0.146, to be compared with the present values of 0.469 and 0.147. In order to check whether this excellent agreement is sustained for less ionized species, we have specifically calculated the 1s - 2p lines for the Li-like ion O5+, which is beyond the scope of this work and therefore not included in Table 1. Our calculations show that the two strongest 1s - 2p lines of O5+ overlap at 22.01 Å and have oscillator strengths of 0.351 and 0.174. These values compare favorably with Nahar, Pradhan, & Zhang (2001), who find the lines (overlapping) at 22.05 Å, and the oscillator strengths to be 0.384 and 0.192. The agreement between the autoionization rates obtained with the two methods is of the same order as that for the oscillator strengths. In other words, even for the O5+ case, which could be considered an extreme upper limit to the uncertainty expected from the present values for the higher-Z elements, the discrepancies with the results obtained with the more rigorous R-matrix code are not more than 0.2% for the wavelengths and 10% for the oscillator strengths and autoionization rates. The accuracy of most of the present data is, however, expected to be much higher as indicated by the comparisons for the He-like ions and for Fe23+. Having gone through this extensive comparison, it is important to stress that for an ultimate assessment of the accuracy of the atomic data, a comparison between calculations may not be sufficient. Actual measurements need to be carried out.

With the exception of maybe Fe, the lines from each ion are adequately separated in wavelength space and are readily resolvable with the gratings on board Chandra and XMM-Newton. The uncertainties associated with the wavelengths calculated with HULLAC are considerably smaller than the typical differences in wavelength. This enables an unambiguous identification of lines and, consequently, a precise measurement of the ionization state of the absorbing plasma. We note that although the inner-shell Fe lines are within the wavelength band of the HETGS spectrometer on board Chandra they are difficult to resolve with HETGS. These lines will be much better detected and resolved with the microcalorimeter spectrometer (Richard et al., 1999), which is planned to fly on board ASTRO-E2.

For most of the inner-shell excited levels considered in this work, the total autoionization rate is much higher than the radiative decay rate, especially for the low-$`Z`$ elements. The fact that the inner-shell photoexcitation processes are by and large followed by autoionization rather than X-ray re-emission is manifested in the generally low fluorescence yield, which gradually increases with the ion charge. For example, for Si and Fe, respectively, the $`f`$-weighted averages of the fluorescence yield rise gradually from $``$ 0.04 and 0.25 for the F-like ion to $``$ 0.27 and 0.93 for the Li-like ion. The low fluorescence yield can be associated with several important effects. First, autoionization following photoexcitation can alter the ionization balance towards higher charge states. This effect is included in ION and can be important (see §3). Another direct result of the low fluorescence yield is that dielectronic recombination via these channels is inefficient and does not compensate for the photoexcitation-autoionization effect on the ionization balance. It further implies that these transitions are much harder to detect in emission than they are in absorption. Another consequence of the high autoionization rates is the broadening of the natural widths of the inner-shell absorption lines. At high column densities, the natural width of the line becomes important for determining the total flux absorbed.

## 3 SPECTRAL MODELING

We have carried out detailed spectral modeling in order to illustrate the expected intensity of the inner-shell transitions and their use as diagnostics for photoionized plasma. The calculations are performed with ION2001, the 2001 version of the photoionization code ION lately described in Netzer (2001), Kaspi et al. (2001), and Netzer (1996). The ION code computes a self-consistent model of the ionization and thermal structure of a steady-state ionized gas exposed to an external radiation source. Atomic data include the most recent cross sections for the more abundant elements and all of their strong lines. Also included are $`f`$-values calculated with HULLAC for a large number of iron L-shell lines (see Kaspi et al. (2001)) and dozens of M-shell iron transitions (Behar, Sako, & Kahn, 2001). The new inner-shell transitions calculated in the present work are fully incorporated into the model, including their effect on the individual level population and on the level of ionization of the various elements due to photoexcitation-autoionization.

We have calculated a series of AGN-type models with a column density of 1022 $`\mathrm{cm}^2`$, gas density of 108 $`\mathrm{cm}^3`$, and a range of ionization parameters similar to the one observed in many Seyfert galaxies. The local ionizing field is defined by the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the ionizing sources, taken here to be a single power-law of photon slope $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.8`$ between 0.1 to 50 keV, and by the oxygen ionization parameter, $`U_{Ox}`$, defined over the 0.538 – 10 keV range (Netzer, 2001). Guided by recent high-resolution Chandra observations, we have assumed a turbulent velocity of 300 km/s for the absorbing gas. Solar elemental composition is assumed in all cases.

Fig. 1 shows the 4.7 – 10 Å wavelength range for three pure-absorption theoretical spectra calculated for $`U_{Ox}`$: 10-1.5, 10-2, and 10-2.5. The largest optical-depth transitions for each of the H-like to F-like ions are marked above the plots. As evident from this example, a relatively small change in incidence flux makes a large change in the level of ionization and, consequently, in the spectral line structure. The 1s - 2p inner-shell lines of at least 2 - 4 L-shell ions arise for a single ionization parameter, and therefore are likely to be detected in many AGN absorption spectra. This, in combination with the observed H-like and He-like lines, provides a powerful diagnostic tool for determining very precisely the level of ionization and the elemental abundances in the absorbing gas. The strongest lines in all cases have typical equivalent widths of several mÅ and are, thus, easily detected in typical AGN spectra. The ample separation between lines from different charge states and the very few blends allow the identification and reliable curve-of-growth analysis for all of these lines. Thus, in addition to the ionization state, the present atomic data enable accurate column density and velocity broadening measurements with these intrinsically narrow features. In fact, the major remaining limitation on velocity measurements is the resolution of contemporary airborne, X-ray spectrometers (typically, a few 100 km/s).

The effect of the autoionization transitions following photoexcitation on the level of ionization has been tested for the $`U_{Ox}`$=10-2 case by running ION models with and without the inner-shell lines. We find a noticeable change in the level of ionization near the illuminated face of the cloud, where most of the absorption is expected. For example, including the inner-shell transitions changes the fractional abundance of Si10+ from 0.21 to 0.17, that of Si11+ from 0.27 to 0.25, and that of Si12+ from 0.35 to 0.43, i.e., silicon becomes appreciably more ionized when photoexcitation-autoionizaion is included in the model. However, the effect on the mean level of ionization deeper in the cloud would be smaller, since the strong 1s - 2p lines saturate, which results in photoexcitation being less efficient.

The present calculations can be compared with recently obtained spectra of active galaxies. In particular, the Kaspi et al. (2001) observation of NGC 3783 is a good example of a photoionized line-of-sight gas with a line-rich absorption spectrum and with properties that are similar to the ones investigated here. In Kaspi et al. (2001), we tentatively identified features near 6.8 Å to be due to inner-shell absorption in Si. However, the atomic data available at that time did not allow for a conclusive identification. Using the newly calculated atomic data, together with our spectral code, we now revisit the Kaspi et al. (2001) observation. In particular, the present model is compared with the data in the wavelength region suspected for showing inner-shell Si lines. The results are shown in Fig. 2 for two representing ionization parameters. Each absorption trough in the spectrum is attributed for the most part to a single charge state. Absorption lines of He-like Si12+ to N-like Si7+ are clearly identified in the spectrum of NGC 3783. It can be seen that the $`U_{Ox}`$=10-2 model reproduces the Si8+ \- Si11+ lines fairly well; both the wavelengths and the equivalent widths. Fig. 2 also confirms the Kaspi et al. (2001) finding that the data require a range of ionization parameters. In particular, a component with $`U_{Ox}`$$`>10^2`$ is required to explain the Si12+ line at 6.65 Å, and one with $`U_{Ox}`$$`<10^2`$ might be needed to account for the Si7+ feature at 7.00 Å. We are currently working on a more detailed fit, including lines from all of the other cosmically abundant elements to fit the new 900 ks Chandra HETGS data set obtained recently (Kaspi et al., 2002; George et al., 2002).

## 4 CONCLUSIONS

A complete set of wavelengths and oscillator strengths for inner-shell absorption lines are calculated for the entire L-shell of Ne, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. This is a continuation of our ongoing study of inner-shell absorption features in AGN spectra. The usefulness of these atomic data for plasma diagnostics is demonstrated by comparison of spectral models with the HETGS line-rich spectrum of NGC 3783. Good agreement is found between the model and the data, although for a full account of the X-ray absorber in NGC 3783, the HETGS data clearly require a multi ionization-parameter model, which will be published separately.

We are grateful to Steven Kahn, Masao Sako and Shai Kaspi for useful discussions. We thank the referee for suggesting that we include the He-like ions in Table 1 to demonstrate the accuracy of the present method. HN acknowledges helpful discussions with Anil Pradhan and support by the Israel Science Foundation and the Jack Adler Chair of Extragalactic Astronomy at Tel Aviv University. HN thanks the Astrophysics Laboratory group at Columbia University for their hospitality and support during the period when this research was conducted.


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# Dark Energy and the quietness of the Local Hubble Flow

## Abstract

The linearity and quietness of the Local ($`<10Mpc`$) Hubble Flow (LHF) in view of the very clumpy local universe is a long standing puzzle in standard and in open CDM cosmogony. The question addressed in this paper is whether the antigravity component of the recently discovered dark energy can cool the velocity flow enough to provide a solution to this puzzle. We calculate the growth of matter fluctuations in a flat universe containing a fraction $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(t_0)`$ of dark energy obeying the time independent equation of state $`p_X=w\rho _X`$. We find that dark energy can indeed cool the LHF. However the dark energy parameter values required to make the predicted velocity dispersion consistent with the observed value $`v_{rms}40km/sec`$ have been ruled out by other observational tests constraining the dark energy parameters $`w`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X`$. Therefore despite the claims of recent qualitative studies dark energy with time independent equation of state can not by itself explain the quietness and linearity of the Local Hubble Flow.

There is mounting evidence during the past three years that even though the geometry of the universe is flat, a large part of its energy density is smooth and exerts a repelling gravitational force (antigravity) leading to an accelerating expansion on cosmological scales. This type of energy density $`\rho _X`$ (called ‘dark energy’) consists a fraction $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(t_0)\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ of the critical energy density and has an equation of state $`p_X=w\rho _X`$ with $`w<1/3`$. The direct evidence for the existence of dark energy comes from distance measurements of type Ia supernovae (SNe, Ia) which indicate that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Additional evidence comes from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements which indicate that the fraction of the total energy density is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0=1.1\pm 0.07`$ while measurements of the matter density fraction indicate that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}=0.35\pm 0.07`$. Thus, there is converging evidence that about 2/3 of the total energy density of the universe is in the form of a smooth component with negative pressure.

The combination of various observational tests leads to a constrain for the parameters $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ and $`w`$ as

$$0.85\stackrel{>}{}\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}=1\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}\stackrel{>}{}0.55$$
(1)
and

$$0.7\stackrel{>}{}w\stackrel{>}{}1$$
(2)
at the 99% confidence level. It is therefore important to study additional cosmological effects of the dark energy in an effort to

1. Impose further constraints on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ and $`w`$ thus constraining microphysical theories that predict values for these parameters
2. Address cosmological puzzles that may require the features of dark energy for their solution.

The linearity and quietness of the Local Hubble Flow (LHF) is one such puzzle. It is based on three remarkable properties of the local ($`\stackrel{<}{}10Mpc`$) velocity field that are not consistent  with standard ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}=1`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}=0`$) CDM (SCDM)

1. The linearity of the velocity-distance relation down to small distances ($`1.5Mpc`$)
2. The closeness of the global and local rates of expansion
3. The small local velocity dispersion around the Hubble law ($`\sigma _v40km/sec`$ )

It has been proposed based on qualitative arguments, that the properties of dark energy can be manifest in the dynamical features of the LHF in such a way as to remedy this descrepancy with SCDM. The arguments of Ref.  are based on the definition of a critical distance $`r_Q(M,t)`$ such that for scales $`r>r_Q`$ the repulsive force of dark energy dominates over the gravity of a central mass concentration $`M`$ at time $`t`$. Thus, for $`r>r_Q`$ the total gravitating mass

$$M_{tot}=\frac{4\pi }{3}(1+3w)\rho _Xr^3+M$$
(3)
becomes negative. According to Ref. , at any time $`t`$, the dynamics of all scales $`r>r_Q`$ are dominated by the effects of dark energy. Therefore if a galaxy in the neighborhood of the Local Group, had spent enough time beyond $`r_Q`$ could have its peculiar velocity adiabatically cooled enough to be consistent with the observed cold LHF. The arguments of Ref.  are qualitative because they are based on an abrupt transition from matter dominated to dark energy dominated scales and no attempt is made to calculate the total velocity growth factor in a two component cosmological setup. Nevertheless, the conclusion of Ref.  is that the adiabatic cooling during dark energy domination in the neighborhood of the Local Group is enough to cool the matter induced peculiar velocities to levels consistent with observations for $`w=2/3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.7`$.

The main goal of this paper is to quantify this proposal by calculating the growth of density and velocity fluctuations in a flat universe ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}+\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}=1`$) containing dark energy characterized by $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ and constant $`w`$. This calculation leads to suppression growth factors for velocity and density perturbations that depend on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ and $`w`$. The main question we wish to address using this calculation is the following: Are there values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$ and $`w`$ consistent with present constraints that can produce sufficient growth suppression leading to the observed linear and quite LHF?

We thus consider a flat, two component cosmological model with matter ($`p_M=0`$) and dark energy ($`p_X=w\rho _X`$). The Friedman equation describing the evolution of the scale factor is

$$(\frac{\dot{a}}{a})^2=H_0^2[\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}(\frac{a}{a_0})^3+(1\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M})(\frac{a}{a_0})^{3(1+w)}]$$
(4)
where we have used the fact that $`\rho _Xa^{3(1+w)}`$ (a consequence of the continuity equation $`T_{\mu ;\nu }^\nu =0`$). Setting $`a_0a(t_0)=1`$ equation (4) takes the form of

$$\dot{a}^2=H_0^2[\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}a^1+(1\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M})a^{13w}]$$
(5)
The equations describing the evolution of density and velocity fluctuations in this cosmological model can be obtained as usual from the continuity (for density), momentum (for velocity) and Poisson (for gravitational potential) equations . Combining these equations and linearizing with respect to the gravitational potential, density and velocity perturbations we obtain a second order linear differential equation for the density contrast

$$\delta \frac{\rho _M(x,t)\overline{\rho _M}(t)}{\overline{\rho _M}(t)}$$
(6)
as

$$\frac{^2\delta }{t^2}+2\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\frac{\delta }{t}=4\pi G\overline{\rho _M}(t)\delta =\frac{3H_0^2\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}}{2a^3}\delta $$
(7)
For the corresponding peculiar velocity

$$\stackrel{}{v}_{pec}a\frac{d\stackrel{}{x}}{dt}=\frac{d\stackrel{}{r}}{dt}\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\stackrel{}{r}$$
(8)
(where $`\stackrel{}{x}=\frac{\stackrel{}{r}}{a}`$ is the comoving coordinate) we obtain

$$\stackrel{}{v}_{pec}(\stackrel{}{x},t)=\dot{a}a\frac{\delta }{a}f(\stackrel{}{x})$$
(9)
where $`f(\stackrel{}{x})`$ depends on the initial spatial dependence of density fluctuations. Using equation (5) to change variables from $`t`$ to $`a`$, equation (7) becomes

$`a^2[\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}+(1\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M})a^{3w}]{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}\delta +`$ (10)
$`a[{\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}}{2}}+3(1\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M})(1{\displaystyle \frac{1+w}{2}})a^{3w}]{\displaystyle \frac{\delta }{a}}`$ (11)
$`={\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}}{2}}\delta `$ (12)
The general solution of this equation is a superposition of two modes a growing mode $`\delta _+`$ and a decaying mode $`\delta _{}`$. Our numerical solution to this equation will be dominated by the growing mode.

Equation (10) may now be solved numerically with appropriate initial conditions to obtain the growth factors for density and velocity fluctuations evolved from

$$a_i=a_{eq}=\frac{4.31\times 10^5}{h^2\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}}$$
(13)
to the present $`a_0=1`$. Assuming an initially small density fluctuation we may set

$$\delta (t_i0)=0$$
(14)
while since matter dominates over dark energy at early times we may set

$$\frac{\delta }{a}(t_i0)=1$$
(15)
since $`\delta _+(a)a`$ in a flat matter dominated universe.

In the above initial conditions we have ignored spatial dependence and possible constant factors multiplying $`\delta `$ since we are not interested in the absolute values of fluctuations but in the growth factors

$`g_d(\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta (t_0,\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}{\delta (t_{eq},\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}}`$ (16)
$`g_v(\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{v_{pec}(t_0,\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}{v_{pec}(t_{eq},\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}}`$ (17)
We have solved equation (10) with the initial conditions (14) and (15) and we have constructed contour plots for the relative growth factors $`\frac{g_d(\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}{g_d(1,0)}`$ and $`\frac{g_v(\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}{g_v(1,0)}`$ (Figs 1 and 2). Even though each individual growth factor depends on the value of $`h`$ the relative growth factors as defined above are independent of the Hubble constant.

These plots indicate that there is a suppression of growth for fluctuations which as discussed in the introduction increases with $`w`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}`$. Similar linear growth suppression factors have also been discussed elsewhere  using both numerical and analytical methods and they affect the overall normalization of the power spectrum today. This normalization is expressed by $`\sigma _8`$, the rms amplitude of matter perturbations on a scale of $`8h^1Mpc`$. Given a COBE normalized scale invariant cosmological model $`\sigma _8`$ decreases with $`w`$, dropping significantly below its presently observed value $`\sigma _8=(0.56\pm 0.1)\mathrm{\Omega }_{0m}^{0.47}`$ for $`w>0.7`$ ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0m}0.3`$). This constraint which becomes slightly stronger for smaller $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0m}`$ has effectively ruled out values of $`w>0.7`$ as shown in equation (2). Recent studies indicating a lower value of $`\sigma _8`$ could relax somewhat the constraint (2) towards larger values of $`w`$.

The deviation from a pure Hubble flow characterized by the observed radial peculiar velocity dispersion is measured to be

$$v_{rms}40km/sec$$
(18)
An important challenge for cosmological models is the establishment of their consistency with such low velocity dispersion for parameter values that are compatible with other observations. High resolution CDM N body simulations have shown that such low velocity dispersion is incompatible with both standard CDM (SCDM, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0m}=1`$, $`h=0.5`$, $`\sigma _8=0.7`$) and open CDM (OCDM,$`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0m}=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0X}=0`$, $`h=0.75`$, $`\sigma _8=1`$) which according to the above simulations typically predict velocity dispersions

$`v_{rms}(SCDM)`$ $``$ $`300700km/sec`$ (19)
$`v_{rms}(OCDM)`$ $``$ $`150300km/sec`$ (20)
respectively. These simulations have a Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum ($`n=1`$) and their conclusions are stated not to sensitively depend on $`n`$. According to these simulations, neither of these models can produce a single candidate LG with the observed velocity dispersion in a volume $`10^6Mpc^3`$.

Thus using eq. (19) and eq. (18) we conclude that a suppression factor

$$\overline{g}_v\frac{g_v(\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M},w)}{g_v(1,0)}[0.06,0.13]$$
(21)
over the SCDM predicted velocity dispersion is required to make the model predictions consistent with observations. Inspection of the suppression factor contour plot of Fig. 2 indicates that the presence of dark energy can not by itself provide a solution to this problem. The required values of the suppression factor are achieved within the first and part of the second darkest stripes of Fig. 2. However, as shown in Fig. 3, no part of this parameter space is consistent with constrains obtained from other observational tests which seem to indicate that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}[0.15,0.45]`$ and $`w[1,0.7]`$ at 99% level. This result is independent of $`h^2`$, $`\sigma _8`$ and $`n`$ since the evaluation of $`\overline{g}_v`$ is insensitive to these parameters.

We conclude that the presence of dark energy with time independent equation of state can not by itself resolve the puzzle of the LHF linearity and quietness by suppressing the growth of velocity fluctuations. The required velocity dispersion suppression is achieved for parameter values that are incompatible with other observational tests and requires values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}`$ that are too low (e.g. $`w\stackrel{<}{}0.7`$ leads to $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}0.1`$) out of the currently allowed interval. Alternatively for a fixed value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}0.3`$, the resolution of the LHF puzzle with dark energy requires too large $`w`$ ($`w\stackrel{>}{}0.3`$).

An interesting extension of our work could be the introduction of a time dependence in the dark energy equation of state along the lines of quintessence models i.e. $`p=(w_0+w_1z)\rho `$. This type of equation of state allows for non-trivial effects of dark energy even at early times which could lead to a similar suppression of velocity fluctuation growth at higher values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{0M}`$ and/or lower values of $`w`$ thus being consistent with current observational constrains.

Acknowledgements: LP acknowledges support by the University of Patras through the ‘Karatheodoris’ research grant No. 2793. This work is the result of a network supported by the European Science Foundation.


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# AGN Populations from Optical Identification of ASCA Surveys

## 1. Introduction : Importance of a Bright Hard X-ray AGN sample

The fraction of absorbed AGNs, especially luminous absorbed AGNs, is one of a big issue in understanding the true number density of active nuclei in the universe. Recently many candidates of absorbed luminous AGNs are found in AGN surveys in radio, X-ray, and near-infrared wavelengths (e.g., Webster et al. 1995). The discoveries imply that we have been missing significant fraction of nucleus with high activity in traditional optical/UV-selections of AGNs due to absorption to the nucleus. However the fraction of the absorbed AGN in the entire AGN population is not clear. Radio-selected samples are affected by red AGNs with red synchrotron component (Francis et al. 2001), soft X-ray selection is biased against heavily absorbed AGNs (Kim & Elvis 1999), and 2MASS-selected red AGNs are limited in the low redshift universe (Cutri et al. in this volume).

In order to construct a complete sample of AGNs less biased against absorption to nucleus, we conduct optical follow-up observations for ASCA Large Sky Survey (hereafter ALSS; Ueda et al. 1999) and ASCA Medium Sensitivity Survey (hereafter AMSS; Ueda et al. 2001) in the hard X-ray band. Hard X-ray emission can penetrate the obscuring matter of absorbed AGNs and is very suitable in searching absorbed AGNs. Using 2–10 keV hard X-ray emission, we can detect AGNs with X-ray absorption up to hydrogen column density of 1022∼23 cm-2, which corresponds to $`A_V`$ of 20 $``$ 50 with galactic conversion factor, without bias. ALSS is a survey in a continuous field with 5.4 square degree near the north galactic pole. We selected 34 X-ray sources detected with SIS 2–7 keV significance larger than 3.5$`\sigma `$. The sources are identified with 30 AGNs, 2 clusters of galaxies and 1 galactic star (Akiyama et al. 2000). One X-ray source with hard spectrum is still unidentified, and Chandra follow-up observation is planed in Cycle 3. AMSS is a serendipitous source survey based on ASCA pointing observations conducted in high galactic latitude region ($`|b|>20^{}`$). We conducted optical follow-up observations for 86 X-ray sources detected with GIS 2–10 keV significance larger than 5.6$`\sigma `$ in the northern sky (declination above $`20^{}`$; we call AMSSn sample). All of the X-ray sources are identified with 78 AGNs, 7 clusters of galaxies, and 1 galactic star (Akiyama et al. in preparation). In total, we constructed sample of 108 hard X-ray selected AGNs with the flux limit of ASCA, about $`10^{13}`$ erg s-1 cm-2 in the 2–10 keV band. In Figure 1, we plotted the hard X-ray flux vs. optical magnitude (left) and the redshift vs. luminosity distribution (right) diagrams of ALSS and AMSSn AGNs. The ASCA samples are two orders of magnitude brighter and more luminous than the sample of deep Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys, and consists of luminous AGNs, i.e., QSOs, in the universe below redshift 1. The high completeness of the ASCA samples makes us possible to discuss the fraction of absorbed AGNs definitely.

## 2. Fraction of Heavily Absorbed AGNs

Using the hardness of X-ray spectrum of each source, we can estimate the X-ray absorption to the nucleus in each object. The 0.7–10 keV apparent photon index distributions of ALSS and AMSSn AGNs are plotted as a function of redshift in left panel of Figure 2. The upper and lower solid lines in the figure correspond to the apparent photon index of an object with intrinsic photon index of 1.7 and X-ray absorption with hydrogen column density of $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}=22`$(cm-2) and $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}=23`$(cm-2) at each redshift, respectively. The X-ray sources with apparent photon index smaller than 1 can be regarded as significantly harder than canonical power-law spectra of broad-line AGNs (with photon index of 1.7). They correspond to intermediate redshift AGNs with X-ray absorption of $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}=2223`$(cm-2) and high-redshift AGNs with absorption of $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}>23`$(cm-2). At high-redshift ($`z1`$), the apparent photon indexes of highly absorbed objects become close to that of object without absorption, because we observe very high energy photons of the source-frame, which are less affected by absorption than low-energy photons.

Based on the estimated amount of absorption to nucleus, we examine the fraction of absorbed AGNs in the hard X-ray selected AGNs. For simplicity, we limit the sample below redshift of 0.6, and regard AGNs with $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}>22`$(cm-2) as significantly absorbed AGNs. It should be noted that at high-redshifts ($`z>0.6`$) AGNs with hydrogen column density of $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}=10^{2223}`$ (cm-2) can not be regarded as significantly absorbed in the current sample. In right panel of Figure 2, the luminosity distribution of the all AGNs and significantly absorbed AGNs from combination of the ALSS, AMSSn, and ASCA Deep Survey in the Lockman Hole (ADSL; Ishisaki et al. 2001) is plotted. The fraction of absorbed AGNs is higher in the lowest luminosity range, but there is no clear deficiency of absorbed AGN above 1044 erg s-1, which is observed in the ALSS sample (Akiyama et al. 2000). The fraction of absorbed AGN are 6/36 and 5/39 in the luminosity between 1043 erg s-1 and 1044 erg s-1 and in the luminosity above 1044 erg s-1, respectively. The fraction of absorbed AGNs is higher in the luminosity range below 1043 erg s-1 (3/6) than in the luminosity range above, but the number of AGNs in the low luminosity range is fairly limited. The fraction of luminous ($`L_\mathrm{X}>10^{44}`$ erg s-1) AGNs with $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}>22`$(cm-2) in the sample of AGNs without bias up to $`\mathrm{log}N_\mathrm{H}=23`$(cm-2) ($``$15%) is clearly smaller than that expected from the models of cosmic X-ray background (45%; Comastri et al. 1995) or that observed in local low-luminosity Seyfert galaxies (40%; Risaliti et al. 1999).

## 3. Case studies on absorbed QSOs

The fraction of absorbed QSOs is not as large as expected, but we detected several candidates of absorbed QSOs in ASCA surveys. Their counterparts are relatively faint and have larger X-ray to optical flux ratio than normal AGNs (see dotted objects in left panel of Figure 2). Most of high-redshift AGNs with hard X-ray spectra have large X-ray to optical flux ratios. The X-ray to optical flux ratio is similar to those of optically-faint hard X-ray source population found in deep Chandra surveys (see left panel of Figure 1; e.g., Alexander et al. 2001), and the ASCA optically-faint AGNs can be low-redshift and/or high-luminosity cousin of the Chandra population.

Although measured amount of X-ray absorption is large, most of the luminous absorbed QSOs show broad MgII 2800Å or H$`\alpha `$ 6563Å emission line. The origin of the discrepancy can be 1) broad MgII 2800Å from scattered nuclear light or 2) discrepancy between amount of X-ray photoelectric absorption and optical dust reddening. We show two examples of absorbed QSOs fall in each category.

### 3.1. An absorbed QSO at $`z=0.65`$ with a strong broad MgII 2800Å emission line

AX J131831+3341 is an absorbed radio-quiet QSO at a redshift of 0.65 found in ALSS (Akiyama et al. 2000). Its X-ray luminosity is estimated to be $`10^{45}`$ erg s-1, which corresponds to the luminosities of QSOs. The observed X-ray spectrum of the object in a 0.7–10 keV band is described by intrinsic absorption with a hydrogen column density of $`N_\mathrm{H}=6.0_{4.2}^{+4.4}\times 10^{21}`$ cm-2 and an intrinsic photon index of 1.7. The hydrogen column density corresponds to the lower edge of the column density distribution of Seyfert 1.8-1.9 galaxies.

The optical spectrum of the object shows strong emission lines, such as broad MgII 2800Å, narrow \[OII\] 3727Å, and narrow \[OIII\] 5007Å, but no broad H$`\beta `$ emission line (see right panel of Figure 3). Its small H$`\beta `$-to-\[OIII\] 5007Å equivalent width ratio is comparable to those of Seyfert 1.8-2 galaxies. Optical and near-infrared images show nuclear and extended components (see left panel of Figure 3). Because the nuclear component has very red $`IK`$ color but blue $`VR`$ and $`RI`$ colors, the nucleus is thought to be absorbed with $`A_V3`$ and emerge only in the $`K`$-band (Akiyama and Ohta 2001). The amount of absorption is consistent with the amount of X-ray absorption. The optical blue continuum and broad MgII 2800Å emission line can originate from scattered nuclear light (Akiyama et al. 2001).

### 3.2. A candidate of a type-2 QSO with large X-ray absorption and a strong broad-H$`\alpha `$ emission line

AX J08494+4454 is a candidate of a type-2 QSO at $`z=0.9`$ found in the course of the optical identification of ASCA deep survey in Lynx field (Ohta et al. 1996). Recently, deep Chandra hard X-ray spectrum and IRCS/Subaru $`J`$-band spectrum of the object are obtained (Akiyama et al. 2002). The 0.5–10 keV 150ks Chandra spectrum of AX J08494+4454 is hard, and is explained well with a power-law continuum absorbed by a hydrogen column density of $`(2.3\pm 1.1)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2. The 2–10 keV luminosity of the object is estimated to be $`7.2_{2.0}^{+3.6}\times 10^{44}`$ erg s-1, after correcting the absorption, and reaches hard X-ray luminosities of QSOs. The large X-ray absorption and the large intrinsic luminosity support the original identification of AX J08494+4454 as a type-2 radio-quiet QSO. Nevertheless, deep Subaru/IRCS $`J`$-band spectroscopic observation suggests the presence of a strong broad H$`\alpha `$ emission line from AX J08494+4454 (left panel of Figure 4). The broad H$`\alpha `$ emission line has a velocity width of $`9400\pm 1000`$ km s-1, which corresponds to a typical broad-Balmer line velocity width of a luminous QSO. The existence of the strong broad H$`\alpha `$ line means that the object is not a type-2 QSO, but a luminous cousin of a Seyfert 1.9 galaxy in the source-frame optical spectrum. The Balmer decrement of broad lines, the broad H$`\alpha `$ emission to the hard X-ray luminosity ratio, and optical SED (right panel of Figure 4) suggest that the nucleus is affected by dust extinction with $`A_V`$ of $`13`$ mag in the optical wavelength. The estimated amount of dust extinction is much smaller than that expected from the X-ray column density ($`A_V=130\pm 60`$ mag). The discrepancy can be explained with a smaller dust to gas mass ratio which may due to dust sublimation in the X-ray absorbing matter, the size difference between optical and X-ray emitting region, or different dust size distribution in AGNs (e.g., Maiolino et al. 2001).

#### Acknowledgments.

The authors would like to thank ALSS and AMSS members.

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text:
# Qubit geometry and conformal mapping

\[

## Abstract

Identifying the Bloch sphere with the Riemann sphere(the extended complex plane), we obtain relations between single qubit unitary operations and Möbius transformations on the extended complex plane.

\]

In the past ten years, there has been a growing interest in the theory of quantum computation and quantum information. Due to the quantum parallelism, quantum computers have the potential to outperform the classical computers. The quantum computers are based on two-level quantum systems, which are called qubits. In this paper, we will investigate a representation of a single qubit operation on a complex plane. The idea that a state in a two-level quantum system can be described by a complex number in the complex plane is not new. The relationship between conformal mappings and spinor transforms is extensively studied by Rindler and Penrose. Urbantke considered a stereographic projection of two-level quantum system onto a complex plane, and their time evolution on the spheres. Recently, his work is extended by Mosser and Danoloff , who consider a $`S^7`$ Hopf fibration using quaternions instead of complex numbers for two qubits. The main purpose of our study is to reveal the relation between the single qubit unitary operations and conformal mappings which are very useful calculation tools in theoretical physics, such as the string theory

Let us begin with a brief review of the stereographic projection with the Bloch sphere. The Bloch sphere representation is well known in nuclear magnetic resonance, quantum optics and quantum computing. In the computational basis, the general one qubit state is denoted by $`|\psi =a|0+b|1(a,b)^T`$ , where $`|a|^2+|b|^2=1`$. Up to a global phase factor this state can be written in the form

$$|\psi =cos\frac{\varphi }{2}|0+e^{i\theta }sin\frac{\varphi }{2}|1,$$
(1)
where angles $`0\varphi \pi `$ and $`0\theta <2\pi `$ define a point (Bloch vector) on the Bloch sphere as shown in Fig.1. The Riemann sphere, also called the extended complex plane, is a 1-point compactification of the complex plane, $`C\mathrm{}`$, denoted as $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$. Fig.1 also illustrates the definition of the stereographic projection, which maps a point $`q=(x_1,x_2,x_3)`$ on the unit sphere $`S^2`$ (the Bloch sphere) to a point $`z=x+iy`$ on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$. Here $`x,y`$ axes are equal to $`x_1,x_2`$ axes , respectively. The line passing through the north pole $`N=(0,0,1)`$ and the point $`q`$ on $`S^2`$ intersects $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$ at the point $`z`$. By identifying the Bloch sphere with the Riemann sphere, one can define a projection $`P:\stackrel{~}{C}`$ from the two-dimensional projective Hilbert space $``$ to the extended complex plane ($`\stackrel{~}{C}`$).

Then, $`P`$ maps $`|\psi =(a,b)^T`$ to a complex number

$`z`$ $`=`$ $`P(|\psi )={\displaystyle \frac{x_1}{1x_3}}+i{\displaystyle \frac{x_2}{1x_3}}`$ (2)
$`=`$ $`e^{i\theta }cot{\displaystyle \frac{\varphi }{2}}={\displaystyle \frac{a}{b}}.`$ (3)
Here $`a`$ and $`b`$ are complex homogeneous coordinates for the point $`z`$ relating the spinor space to the one-dimensional complex projective space $`CP^1`$ as described in Ref.3. Thus, for example, $`P(|0)=\mathrm{}`$, $`P(|1)=0`$ and $`P([|0\pm |1]/\sqrt{2})=\pm 1`$. If $`|\psi _1=(a_1,b_1)^T`$ and $`|\psi _2=(a_2,b_2)^T`$, then a superposed state $`|\psi =(\alpha |\psi _1+\beta |\psi _2)`$ corresponds to

$$z=\frac{\alpha a_1+\beta a_2}{\alpha b_1+\beta b_2},$$
(4)
due to the linearity of quantum mechanics and eq.(2).

The inner product is given by

$`\psi _1|\psi _2`$ $`=`$ $`a_1a_2+b_1^{}b_2`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{|z_1||z_2|}{(|z_1|^2+1)^{1/2}(|z_2|^2+1)^{1/2}}}\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{z_1^{}z_2}}\right),`$ (6)
where $`a_i(i=1,2)`$ are non-negative real numbers, according to the definition in Eq.(1).

Now, let us show the relation between single qubit unitary operations and conformal mappings on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$. An arbitrary unitary operation on the single qubit can be represented by a unitary matrix on $`C^2`$

$$U=e^{i\alpha }\left(\begin{array}{cc}c& d\\ d^{}& c^{}\end{array}\right),$$
(7)
which is a member of $`SU(2)`$ group multiplied by $`e^{i\alpha }`$. Here $`|c|^2+|d|^2=1`$ and $`c^{}`$ is the complex conjugate of $`c`$. This can be also written in the form

$$U=e^{i\alpha }R_{\widehat{n}}(\beta )$$
(8)
with a rotation matrix $`R_{\widehat{n}}`$ of the Bloch sphere by an angle $`\beta `$ about an axis $`\widehat{n}`$. On the other hand, a rotation group of the Bloch sphere corresponds to a special subset of the Möbius transformation on the extended complex plane ,which is given by

$$z^{}=f_U(z)\frac{c^{}z+d^{}}{d^{}z+c^{}},$$
(9)
where $`|c^{}|^2+|d^{}|^2=1`$. One can define a matrix of coefficients of Eq.(9);

$$U_f\left(\begin{array}{cc}c^{}& d^{}\\ d^{}& c^{}\end{array}\right),$$
(10)
which is unitary and has determinant one. We find a relation between $`U`$ and $`U_f`$ as follows. Under the unitary operation(Eq.(7)) the qubit $`|\psi =(a,b)^T`$ is transformed to $`e^{i\alpha }(ca+db,d^{}a+c^{}b)^T`$, which corresponds to

$$z^{}=\frac{ca+db}{d^{}a+c^{}b}$$
(11)
on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$ according to Eq.(3). If $`|\psi =|1`$ (i.e., $`a=0,b=1`$), then $`z=P(|\psi )=0`$ and $`z^{}=f_U(0)=d^{}/c^{}`$. Comparing this with Eq.(11), we find that $`d/c^{}=d^{}/c_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$. From this we obtain $`|d|^2/|c|^2=1/|c|^21=1/|c^{}|^21`$, which gives $`c=e^{i\gamma }c^{}`$,$`d=e^{i\gamma }d^{}`$ with a constant $`\gamma `$. Similar argument for $`P([|0\pm |1]/\sqrt{2})`$ gives

$$\frac{c+d}{d^{}+c^{}}=\frac{c^{}+d^{}}{d^{}+c^{}},$$
(12)
which demands $`\gamma =0`$ and finally

$$U=e^{i\alpha }U_f.$$
(13)
This is our main result. It is worthy to comment that $`\alpha U_f`$ with a constant $`\alpha C,\alpha 0`$ defines the same mapping $`P`$. With this relation between unitary matrix $`U`$ and the matrix of coefficients of the Möbius transformation $`U_f`$, one can easily determine the conformal mapping $`f_U(z)`$ corresponding to the given single qubit unitary operation $`U`$ using Eq.(9) and Eq.(13). For example, the Hadamard gate

$$U=H=\frac{i}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)$$
(14)
on the Hilbert space corresponds to the conformal mapping

$$z^{}=f_H(z)=\frac{z+1}{z1}$$
(15)
on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$. This can be checked by considering the transformation of $`P(|1)`$ under the function $`f_H`$;

$`f_H(P(|1))`$ $`=`$ $`1=P\left({\displaystyle \frac{|0|1}{\sqrt{2}}}\right)`$ (16)
$`=`$ $`P\left(i{\displaystyle \frac{|0|1}{\sqrt{2}}}\right),`$ (17)
which implies $`H|1=i\frac{|0|1}{\sqrt{2}}`$ as desired. Remember that there is a redundancy up to a phase factor in single qubit states in this paper. Table 1. shows the relationsphip between some single qubit gates and their corresponding Möbius transformations.

| Gate$`(U)`$ | NOT(X) | Identity | Z | Hadamard |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $`f_U(z)`$ | $`\frac{1}{z}`$ | $`z`$ | $`z`$ | $`\frac{z+1}{z1}`$ |

Table 1. Correspondence between single qubit unitary gates and Möbius transformations. Here $`X`$ and $`Z`$ are the Pauli operators.

Using the table one can also check operator product identities. For example,

$`f_{HZH}(z)`$ $`=`$ $`f_{HZ}\left({\displaystyle \frac{z+1}{z1}}\right)=f_H\left({\displaystyle \frac{z+1}{z1}}\right)`$ (18)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{z}}=f_X(z),`$ (19)
which implies $`HZH=X`$ as might be expected. Note again that operator relations also hold up to a global phase factor.

Let us discuss the time evolution of the states $`|\psi (t)`$

$$|\psi (t)=U(t)|\psi (0)$$
(20)
with a time evolution operator $`U(t)`$. For a constant Hamiltonian the Bloch vector precesses around an axis given by the Hamiltonian. If we denote the Hamiltonian $`\widehat{H}`$ as $`(H_0+_i\sigma _iH_i)`$, where $`\sigma _i(i=1,2,3)`$ are the Pauli matrices and $`H_0`$ and $`H_i`$ parameterize the Hamiltonian, then

$$U(t)=e^{i\widehat{H}t/\mathrm{}}=\left[\begin{array}{cc}ciH_3s& is(H_1iH_2)\\ is(H_1+iH_2)& c+isH_3\end{array}\right].$$
(21)
Here $`ccos(\theta ),ssin(\theta )`$ and $`\theta |\stackrel{}{H}|t/\mathrm{}`$.

This implies

$$z^{}=\frac{(ciH_3s)zis(H_1iH_2)}{is(H_1+iH_2)z+c+isH_3}.$$
(22)
Since any circle not containing the north pole of the Bloch sphere is projected to a circle on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$ under $`P`$, the precession of the Bloch vector makes a circle on $`\stackrel{~}{C}`$.

There is a possibility that utilizing fertility of the conformal theory, one can easily calculate complicated quantities in the quantum computation theory and two-level quantum systems. For example, if the system has a conformal symmetry, then one might be able to calculate correlations using the conformal field theory.

In summary, identifying the Bloch sphere representing a single qubit state with the Riemann , we obtain relations between single qubit unitary operations and Möbius transformations on the extended complex plane. Using the relations we can improve our mathematical and geometrical understanding of the qubit systems and two-level quantum systems.

This work is supported in part by BK21.


text:
# Josephson effect test for triplet pairing symmetry

## I Introduction

During recent years, a renewed interest has been realized for unconventional superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 (SRO) . This material has a layered structure and is a two dimensional Fermi liquid, with similarities to 3He, that shows $`p`$-wave superfluidity. Knight-shift measurements suggest that unconventional superconductivity with pairing in the triplet channel is realized . The time-reversal symmetry is violated for this state. This is consistent with the discovery of internal magnetic fields in the superconducting phase by $`\mu `$SR measurement . Also specific-heat measurements support the scenario of line nodes within the superconducting gap as in the high-$`T_c`$ cuprate superconductors . Moreover thermal-conductivity measurements indicate the presence of horizontal lines of nodes . The argument for unconventional superconductivity in SRO is further supported by the variation of $`T_c`$ with nonmagnetic impurities .

The tunneling effect in ferromagnet-triplet-superconductor junctions can be used to determine the nodal structure of the pair potential and to distinguish the proposed pairing states. When the interface is normal to the $`ab`$ plane, for two-dimensional order parameters, tunneling peaks are formed due to bound states that depend both on the surface orientation and the quasiparticle trajectory angle . For three dimensional order parameters the tunneling spectra is sensitive to the orientation of the interface .

The Josephson effect has been observed experimentally in bilayer junctions Pb/Sr2RuO4/Pb, where a sharp drop of the critical current $`I_c`$ is observed below the transition temperature of Sr2RuO4 . This anomalous effect originates from the competition between the positive Josephson coupling strength between the two singlet superconductors and the negative one due to the singlet-/triplet-superconductor coupling . Also in Ref.  it is argued that the Josephson coupling between a conventional $`s`$-wave superconductor In and Sr2RuO4 is allowed in the in-plane direction, but not in the $`c`$ axis. The conclusion is that the pairing state in that case has to be a nodeless $`p`$-wave state.

In order to distinguish the pairing states with a two-dimensional order parameter, in the present paper we study the static properties of a two-dimensional corner junction between SRO and a conventional $`s`$-wave superconductor. This is done by mapping the two dimensional (2D) junction into two single junctions, connected in parallel, by introducing an extra relative phase in one part of this junction. The spontaneous flux and the critical current modulation of the vortex states with the junction orientation are calculated by solving numerically the sine-Gordon equation. For SRO we shall assume three possible pairing states of two-dimensional order parameters, having line nodes within the RuO2 plane, that break the time-reversal symmetry. The first two are the 2D, $`f`$-wave states proposed by Hasegawa et al.,  having $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ and $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ symmetry, respectively. The other one is called the nodal $`p`$-wave state and has been proposed by Dahm et al. , where the pairing potential has the form $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}[\mathrm{sin}(k_xa)+i\mathrm{sin}(k_ya)]`$. This pairing symmetry has nodes as in the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ case. Also we will consider two nodeless pairing states. One is the isotropic $`p`$-wave state and the other is the nodeless $`p`$-wave state initially proposed by Miyake and Narikiyo , both breaking the time-reversal symmetry. In addition we examine briefly several three-dimensional order parameters with horizontal lines of nodes.

For each pairing state we derive simple arguments that could be used to characterize it. For example the junction orientation where the $`a`$,$`b`$ axes point towards the junction interface will give finite critical currents only for the isotropic $`p`$-wave, $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ states and zeros for the other states. Furthermore the suppression of the critical currents of the nodal state $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ near the nodes can be used to distinguish it from the nodeless isotropic $`p`$-wave state. Also the modulation of the Josephson critical current with the polar angle $`\beta `$, within the $`ac`$ plane, will probe the horizontal nodes for hypothetical three-dimensional order-parameter symmetries. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Sec. II we discuss the Josephson effect between a superconductor breaking time-reversal symmetry and a conventional $`s`$-wave superconductor. In Sec. III the geometry of the corner junction is discussed. In Sec. IV we present the magnetic flux for the spontaneous vortex states. In Sec. V the modulation of the magnetic flux and the critical currents with the orientation are presented. In Sec. VI several three-dimensional order parameters are considered. In Sec. VII the modulation of the vortex states with the magnetic field is discussed. In Sec. VIII a connection with the experiment is made. Finally, a summary and discussion are presented in the last section.

## II Josephson effect between SRO and a conventional $`s`$-wave superconductor

We consider the junction shown in Fig. 1(a), between a superconductor $`A`$ with a two-component order parameter $`n_A`$, and a superconductor $`B`$ with order parameter $`n_B`$. The two superconductors are separated by an intermediate layer. The bulk order parameters $`n_A`$ and $`n_B`$, near the interface, can be written as

$$n_A=\{\begin{array}{cc}\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}e^{i\varphi _{A_x}},\hfill & \\ \stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}e^{i\varphi _{A_y}}\hfill & \end{array}$$
(1)
and

$$n_B=\stackrel{~}{n}_Be^{i\varphi _B},$$
(2)
where $`\varphi _{A_x},\varphi _{A_y}`$ are the phases of the components of the order parameter $`n_A`$, and $`\varphi _B`$ is the phase of the superconductor $`B`$. $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}`$ are the magnitudes of the components of the order parameter $`n_A`$. Then the supercurrent density can be written as

$$J=J_{BA_x}\mathrm{sin}(\varphi _B\varphi _{A_x})+J_{BA_y}\mathrm{sin}(\varphi _B\varphi _{A_y}),$$
(3)
where

$$\begin{array}{cc}J_{BA_x}\hfill & \stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}\stackrel{~}{n}_B,\hfill \\ J_{BA_y}\hfill & \stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}\stackrel{~}{n}_B.\hfill \end{array}$$
(4)
We have to comment here that the coupling between a triplet and a singlet superconductor is forbidden by the orthogonality of the spin part of their wave functions. However, in our situation there exists a finite overlap due to spin-orbit coupling . In the presence of spin-orbit coupling the Cooper pairs of different parities will be mixed at the interface between the singlet and the triplet superconductor resulting in a direct Josephson coupling between them . We define $`\varphi =\varphi _B\varphi _{A_x}`$ as the relative phase difference between two superconductors. We consider the case where the intrinsic phase difference within superconductor $`A`$ is $`\varphi _{A_y}\varphi _{A_x}=\pi /2`$. In this case the order parameter is complex and breaks the time-reversal symmetry. Then the supercurrent density can be written as:

$$J(\varphi )=\stackrel{~}{J}_c\mathrm{sin}(\varphi +\varphi _c),$$
(5)
with

$$\varphi _c=\{\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{tan}^1\frac{J_{BA_y}}{J_{BA_x}}\hfill & J_{BA_x}>0,\hfill \\ \pi +\mathrm{tan}^1\frac{J_{BA_y}}{J_{BA_x}}\hfill & J_{BA_x}<0,\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
and

$$\stackrel{~}{J}_c=\sqrt{J_{BA_y}^2+J_{BA_x}^2}.$$
(7)
We consider the following cases for the pairing state of SRO having line nodes.

(a) In the first 2D $`f`$-wave state $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$, the magnitudes of the order parameters $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}`$ in Eq. (4) are defined as $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}=\mathrm{cos}(2\alpha )\mathrm{cos}(\alpha )`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}=\mathrm{cos}(2\alpha )\mathrm{sin}(\alpha )`$. In these formulas $`\alpha `$ denotes the angle between the interface and the $`a`$ axis of the crystal. This state has nodes at the same points as in the $`d_{x^2y^2}`$-wave case.

(b) For the second 2D $`f`$-wave state $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}=\mathrm{sin}(2\alpha )\mathrm{cos}(\alpha )`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}=\mathrm{sin}(2\alpha )\mathrm{sin}(\alpha )`$. This state has nodes at $`0,\pi /2,\pi `$, and $`3\pi /2`$, and has also been studied by Graf and Balatsky .

(c) This is the case of a nodal $`p`$-wave superconductor, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}=1/s_M\mathrm{sin}[\pi \mathrm{cos}(\alpha )]`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}=1/s_M\mathrm{sin}[\pi \mathrm{sin}(\alpha )]`$. We use here the same normalization proposed by Dahm et al.,  $`s_M=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}(\pi /\sqrt{2})=1.125`$, where the Fermi wave vector is chosen as $`k_Fa=\pi `$, in order to have a node of the order parameter in the Fermi surface. This state has nodes as in the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ state. The corresponding nodeless form was initially proposed by Miyake, and Narikiyo  and will be considered as a separate case. Also we will examine the following two pairing symmetries, which are nodeless

d) In the case of a nodeless $`p`$-wave superconductor, proposed by Miyake and Narikiyo  $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}=1/s_M\mathrm{sin}[R\pi \mathrm{cos}(\alpha )]`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}=1/s_M\mathrm{sin}[R\pi \mathrm{sin}(\alpha )]`$, $`s_M=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}(\pi /\sqrt{2})=1.125`$, and $`R=0.9`$. This state does not have nodes.

e) In the isotropic $`p`$-wave case, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_x}=\mathrm{cos}(\alpha )`$, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{A_y}=\mathrm{sin}(\alpha )`$. This pairing state does not have nodes either.

## III The junction geometry

We consider the corner junction shown in Fig. 1(b) between a triplet superconductor breaking the time-reversal symmetry and an $`s`$-wave superconductor. In the following the Josephson coupling is restricted in the $`ab`$ plane since we assume 2D order parameters. If the angle of the $`a`$ axis with the interface in the $`x`$ direction is $`\alpha `$, then the corresponding angle in the $`y`$ direction will be $`\pi /2\alpha `$. Using this constraint we map the two segments of this corner junction, each of length $`L/2`$, into a one-dimensional axis shown in Fig. 1(c). In this case the two-dimensional junction can be considered as being made of two one-dimensional junctions described in Sec. II connected in parallel. The characteristic phases of the two parts of the one-dimensional junction $`\varphi _{c1}`$ and $`\varphi _{c2}`$ depend upon the angle $`\alpha `$. We call this junction frustrated since the two segments have different characteristic phases $`\varphi _{c1}`$ and $`\varphi _{c2}`$. The fabrication details of corner junctions or SQUID’s, between sample faces at different angles, can be found in Refs.  and .

The superconducting phase difference $`\varphi `$ across the junction is then the solution of the sine-Gordon equation

$$\frac{d^2\varphi (x)}{dx^2}=\stackrel{~}{J}_c\mathrm{sin}[\varphi (x)+\varphi _c(x)]I^{ov},$$
(8)
with the boundary conditions

$$\frac{d\varphi }{dx}|_{x=0,L}=H,$$
(9)
where $`\varphi _c(x)=\varphi _{c1}(\varphi _{c2})`$ in the left (right) part of the junction, and $`I^{ov}`$ is the bias current in the overlap geometry. The length $`x`$ is scaled in units of the Josephson penetration depth given by

$`\lambda _J=\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}c^2}{8\pi edJ_{c0}}}},`$

where $`d`$ is the sum of the $`s`$-wave, and mixed wave, in-plane penetration depths plus the thickness of the insulator layer. The different solutions obtained from Eq. (8) are classified with their magnetic-flux content

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{1}{2\pi }(\varphi _R\varphi _L),$$
(10)
where $`\varphi _{R(L)}`$ is the value of $`\varphi `$ at the right (left) edge of the junction, in units of the flux quantum $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0=hc/2e`$.

To check the stability of solutions we consider small perturbations $`u(x,t)=u(x)e^{st}`$ on the static solution $`\varphi (x)`$, and linearize the time-dependent sine-Gordon (s-G) equation to obtain

$$\frac{d^2v(x)}{dx^2}+\stackrel{~}{J}_c\mathrm{cos}[\varphi (x)+\varphi _c(x)]v(x)=\lambda v(x),$$
(11)
where $`\lambda =s^2`$, with the boundary conditions

$$\frac{dv}{dx}|_{x=0,L}=0.$$
(12)
It is seen that if the eigenvalue equation has a negative eigenvalue the static solution $`\varphi (x)`$ is unstable.

## IV Spontaneous vortex states

First let us consider the case where the two one-dimensional junctions between a triplet superconductor breaking the time-reversal symmetry and an s-wave superconductor, each of length $`L/2`$, described in Sec. II, are uncoupled. Then for $`0<x<L/2`$ the stable solutions for the s-G equation are $`\varphi (x)=\varphi _{c1}+2n_1\pi `$, where $`n_1=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}`$, while for $`L/2<x<L`$ the stable solutions for the s-G equation are $`\varphi (x)=\varphi _{c2}+2n_2\pi `$, where $`n_2=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}`$, and $`\varphi _{c1}`$, $`\varphi _{c2}`$ are the relative phases in each part of the junction due to different orientations. When the frustrated junction is formed, and we consider the above junctions in parallel, the phase $`\varphi `$ is forced to change around $`x=L/2`$ to connect these stable solutions. This variation of the phase $`\varphi `$ along the junction describes the Josephson vortices. The flux content of these states (in units of $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$) is

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=[\varphi (L)\varphi (0)]/2\pi =(\varphi _{c2}+\varphi _{c1}+2n\pi )/2\pi ,$$
(13)
where the $`n`$ value ($`n=n_1n_2=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}`$) distinguishes between solutions with different flux content. We will concentrate on solutions called modes with minimum flux content, i.e., $`n=0,1,1`$. Their magnetic flux in terms of $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ is shown in Table I. Generally the flux content is fractional, i.e., is neither integer nor half-integer, as a consequence of the broken time-reversal symmetry of the problem.

## V Spontaneous magnetic flux and critical currents

In this section we will consider the magnetic flux and critical current modulation with the azimuthal angle $`\alpha `$, for the various two-dimensional pairing states for the SRO. In general the flux quantization and the critical currents are influenced by the nodal structure of the order parameter. The critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ which depends mainly on the magnitude of the order parameter vanishes at the nodes of the order parameter. The magnetic flux is determined from $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$, and has almost the same structure in the isotropic $`p`$-wave, $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ and $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ pairing states, while it is different in the nodal $`p`$-wave and the nodeless $`p`$-wave cases.

### A Isotropic $`p`$ wave

For the isotropic $`p`$-wave case we present in Fig. 2(a) the variation of $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$, with the interface orientation angle $`\alpha `$. The magnetic flux can be calculated analytically for the spontaneous vortex states $`0,1,1`$. The corresponding expressions are seen in Table II. The spontaneous magnetic flux as a function of the angle $`\alpha `$ is presented in Fig. 2(b). At $`\alpha =0`$ we have the existence of three possible spontaneous vortex states. As we change the angle $`\alpha `$, the magnetic flux changes, keeping the distance between the modes at a constant value equal to a single flux quantum. The modes for $`\alpha =0`$ are displaced to quadratic values \[i.e., $`(1/4+n)\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$\] of the magnetic flux in contrast to the $`s`$-wave case where the flux is quantized in integer values $`0,1,1`$ .

In particular the vortex solution in the $`n=0`$ mode (solid line) contains $`1/4`$ of a fluxon for $`\alpha =0`$, and as we increase the angle $`\alpha `$ towards $`\pi /4`$ it continuously reduces its flux, i.e., it becomes flat exactly at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ and then it reverses its sign and becomes an antivortex with exactly opposite flux content at $`\alpha =\pi /2`$ from that at $`\alpha =0`$. In addition we have plotted in Fig. 3(a) the phase distributions for the mode $`n=0`$ in different orientations $`\alpha =0,\pi /4,\pi /2`$. The transition from the vortex to the antivortex mode as the orientation changes is clearly seen in this figure. Note that the solutions in this mode remain stable for all junction orientations. This is seen in Fig. 2(c) where we plot the lowest eigenvalue ($`\lambda _1`$) of the linearized eigenvalue problem as a function of the angle $`\alpha `$. We see that $`\lambda _1>0`$, denoting stability for all values of the angle $`\alpha `$ in this mode.

Let as now examine the solution in the $`n=1`$ mode \[dashed line in Fig. 2(b)\]. We see that at $`\alpha =0`$ it has negative flux, equal to $`0.75`$, and is stable. As we increase the angle $`\alpha `$ it decreases its flux to a full antifluxon when the orientation is $`\pi /4`$ and then to flux of $`1.25`$ when $`\alpha `$ reaches $`\pi /2`$. As seen in Fig. 2(c) this solution becomes unstable at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ where a full antifluxon enters the junction. The phase distribution at this point is seen in Fig. 3(b) (dotted line).

Finally the solution in the $`n=1`$ mode \[long-dashed line in Fig. 2(b)\] contains $`1.25`$ in flux at $`\alpha =0`$ and is clearly unstable. It becomes stable at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ \[see Fig. 2(c) (long-dashed line)\], where a full fluxon enters the junction, as seen in Fig. 3(c) (dotted line). At $`\alpha =\pi /2`$ it contains $`0.75`$ in flux.

In Fig. 2(d) we plot the overlap critical current per unit length $`I_c^{ov}`$ as a function of the angle $`\alpha `$, at $`H=0`$, for the $`n=0,1,1`$-mode solutions. The Josephson critical current density is kept constant with the orientation $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c=1`$. Let us consider the situation where the junction contains a solution in the mode $`n=0`$, at $`\alpha =0`$, when the net current is maximum. The spatial variation of $`\varphi `$ is described by a fractional vortex displaced from the corresponding distribution at zero current which is around $`\pi /4`$ \[see Fig. 3(a)\]. The current-density distribution as seen in Fig. 4(a) (solid line) corresponds to a positive fluxon, and at the maximum current is flat, close to unity, and has a small variation around the junction center giving rise to the large value of the net current, seen in Fig. 2(d). At $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ the flat phase distribution corresponding to the $`n=0`$ solution seen in Fig. 3(a) at zero current is displaced towards the value $`3\pi /4`$ at the maximum current. The current-density distribution as seen in Fig. 4(a) (dotted line) is flat, giving a net current equal to $`1`$ which is the maximum value over the range $`0<\alpha <\pi /2`$.

For the $`1`$ solution at $`\alpha =0`$ the phase represents an antifluxon which is being displaced at the maximum current from the corresponding distribution at zero current seen in Fig. 3(b). The corresponding current density represents an antifluxon, and has a characteristic variation along the junction, taking positive and negative values, as seen in Fig. 4(b) (solid line), so that the net current is suppressed compared to the $`0`$ mode. At $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ just one antifluxon enters the junction and the current distribution is symmetric around $`x=L/2`$, as seen in Fig. 4(b) (dotted line), leading to zero total current at this angle.

The critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ for the $`0`$ mode is finite for each orientation $`\alpha `$ due to the nodeless form of the order parameter. This is in marked contrast to what we see in the singlet pairing states that describe the high-$`T_c`$ cuprates where the critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ for the different modes is suppressed near $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ following a similar variation to the Josephson critical current density $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c(\alpha )`$ . Also the fractional values of the magnetic flux are originated from the two-component order parameter that breaks the time-reversal symmetry.

### B $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$

In the $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$-wave pairing state the $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ and also the magnetic flux seen in Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 5(b), respectively, have the same form as in the isotropic $`p`$-wave case. This happens because the relative phase $`\varphi _c`$ in Eq. (6) depends on the ratio of the real and imaginary parts of the order-parameter magnitude in superconductor SRO. The $`B_{1g}`$ component $`\mathrm{cos}2\alpha `$ multiplies both parts and is canceled out. On the contrary only the $`B_{1g}`$ part of the order parameter contributes to the Josephson critical current density $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$, which varies as $`|\mathrm{cos}(2\alpha )|`$ as seen in Fig. 5(a) (dashed line), while the $`E_u`$ part is canceled. It has nodes at $`\alpha =\pm \pi /4`$. For this reason we choose the interval $`\pi /4<\alpha <\pi /4`$ to study the $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ pairing state.

For $`\alpha =0`$ the mode $`n=0`$ contains negative magnetic flux of $`0.25`$ as seen in Fig. 5(b), the mode $`1`$ contains positive magnetic flux equal to $`0.75`$ and is stable, while the mode $`1`$ has $`1.25`$ in flux and is unstable. The variation of the phase of the vortex solutions at zero current and the corresponding current density at maximum current for $`\alpha =0`$ are seen in Fig. 6. Differently from the isotropic $`p`$-wave case, the mode $`0`$ with negative magnetic flux corresponds to the highest critical current.

Close to $`\pm \pi /4`$ the variation of the magnetic flux for the modes $`0,1,1`$ is influenced from the suppression of the $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ which goes to zero at $`\pm \pi /4`$ and the magnetic flux acquires some curvature at these points as seen in Fig. 5(b). Due to this abrupt variation the numerical procedure to follow modes $`1,1`$ stops at the point where the flux changes more rapidly. This is the reason why the magnetic flux for the modes $`1,1`$ does not reach the nodes of the $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ at $`\alpha =\pm \pi /4`$.

Also the critical currents are influenced by the $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$. The critical current for the mode $`0`$ vanishes at $`\alpha =\pm \pi /4`$ where the order parameter has nodes. Also the maximum of the critical current tends to move towards $`\alpha =0`$ where $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ has its maximum value. On the other hand the phase prefers the orientation $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ where it is flat. These two competitive factors shift the maximum current for $`n=0`$ to the left of $`\alpha =0`$. The critical currents for the other two modes are suppressed close to $`\alpha =\pm \pi /4`$ where the order parameter has nodes. In particular for mode $`1`$ the magnetic flux is smaller compared to mode $`1`$ and as a consequence the critical current is higher. In the interval we study, mode $`1`$ is unstable while modes $`1,0`$ are stable as seen in Fig. 5(c), where the lowest eigenvalue $`\lambda _1`$ versus $`\alpha `$ is plotted.

### C $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$

In the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ case the $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ seen in Fig. 7(a) have the same form as in the isotropic $`p`$ wave case. Here the $`B_{2g}`$ factor of the order parameter $`\mathrm{sin}2\alpha `$ is canceled out in the calculation of the relative phase $`\varphi _c(x)`$. The $`B_{2g}`$ part of the order parameter influences the Josephson critical current $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$, which varies as $`|\mathrm{sin}(2\alpha )|`$ as seen in Fig. 7(a) (dashed line) and has nodes at $`0,\pi /2`$. Due to this form of the $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ we have nodes at the critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ versus $`\alpha `$ at the points $`0,\pi /2`$, as seen in Fig. 7(d). The modes $`1,1`$ have zero critical current at the angle $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ where a full fluxon or antifluxon enters into the junction. In addition they become zero close to $`0`$ or $`\pi /2`$ due to the vanishing of $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ at these angles. Note that close to $`0`$ or $`\pi /2`$ the form of $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ influences also the magnetic flux at zero current which acquires a small curvature at these points. The mode 0 has its maximum close to $`\alpha =0`$ in the $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ state while in $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ the critical current at $`\alpha =0`$ becomes zero. In the isotropic $`p`$-wave case the critical current is finite at $`\alpha =0`$ since the order parameter for this state is nodeless.

### D Nodal $`p`$ wave

For the nodal $`p`$-wave case the $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ are interchanged compared to the isotropic $`p`$-wave and $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ cases and also their linear form is lost. As a result the slope of the magnetic flux versus $`\alpha `$ seen in Fig. 8(b) has changed from negative in the isotropic $`p`$-wave and $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ cases to positive here. Now mode $`1`$ is stable in the interval $`0<\alpha <\pi /4`$ and mode $`1`$ is stable in the interval $`\pi /4<\alpha <\pi /2`$, contrary to the isotropic $`p`$-wave case as seen in Fig. 8(c). The Josephson critical current density $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ has the same nodal form as in the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ case, with nodes at $`0,\pi /2`$, as seen in Fig. 8(a), since the nodal form of the order parameter is the same. The critical current for mode $`0`$ versus $`\alpha `$ follows the same form as in the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ case and it is zero at $`0`$, $`\pi /2`$ and maximum at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$, where the phase is uniform. Also the variation of the flux versus $`\alpha `$ seen in Fig. 8(b) is quite close to zero for mode $`0`$, and as a consequence the $`I_c^{ov}`$ vs $`\alpha `$ for mode $`0`$ is more broadened compared to the corresponding mode in the $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ case. The mode $`1(1)`$ becomes zero at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ where a full antifluxon (fluxon) enters the junction. For $`\alpha <\pi /4`$, mode $`1`$ has less magnetic flux in absolute value than does mode $`1`$ and its critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ is higher. On the other hand for $`\alpha >\pi /4`$, mode $`1`$ has more magnetic flux in absolute value than does mode $`1`$ and its critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ is lower. Note that modes $`1,1`$ stop abruptly at the angle where the variation of the flux is more abrupt

### E Nodeless $`p`$ wave

For the nodeless $`p`$-wave case the variation of $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ is more complex. It is similar to the nodal $`p`$-wave case except at values close to $`0,\pi /2`$ where it changes slope. As a result the magnetic flux versus $`\alpha `$ varies more closely to integer values and is almost flat as seen in Fig. 9(b). Also within the interval $`0<\alpha <\pi /2`$ modes $`1,1`$ change from stable to unstable for more than one time as seen in Fig. 9(c) while mode $`0`$ is stable for all values of $`\alpha `$. The $`\stackrel{~}{J}_c`$ has a nodeless form as seen in Fig. 9(a), i.e., it has no zero values. As a consequence the critical current for mode $`0`$ is finite over the angles $`\alpha `$ and has its maximum values at $`\alpha =\pi /4`$ where the phase is uniform. At this point a full fluxon or antifluxon enters the junction and the critical current for modes $`1,1`$ is zero. Also the magnetic flux for modes $`1,1`$ varies close to values $`1,1`$ and as a consequence their critical currents are almost coincident.

## VI 3d order parameters with horizontal lines of nodes

In the preceding sections we considered purely two-dimensional order parameters. In this section we consider the case where the order parameter is three dimensional. Recent measurement of thermal conductivity under a rotating in-plane magnetic field by Izawa et al.  has shown a fourfold pattern with a minimum when $`H[110]`$ and suggests that the nodes of the gap are on the line with $`k_z`$=const as discussed in Ref. . So the question arises also whether the results obtained in the present paper remain valid for such parings.

Several three-dimensional order parameters have been proposed in the literature: Hasegawa et al.  have proposed the pairing states with order parameter $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}(k_x+ik_y)\mathrm{cos}(ck_z)`$ and $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}[\mathrm{sin}(ak_x/2)+i\mathrm{sin}(a/2)]\mathrm{cos}(ck_z/2)`$ with $`c`$ being the lattice constant along the $`c`$ axis. These states have horizontal lines of nodes at $`k_z=\pm \pi /2c`$ and $`k_z=\pm \pi /c`$, respectively, and break the time-reversal symmetry. Also Won and Maki  have proposed an $`f`$-wave model with a superconducting order parameter $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}(k_x+ik_y)^2k_z`$. This state has horizontal lines of nodes where the basal plane $`k_z=0`$ intersects the Fermi surface.

In all the above pairing states the Josephson current within the $`ab`$ plane is canceled, since the order parameter changes sign in the $`k_z`$ direction symmetrically around zero. However it is possible to have finite Josephson current when the Fermi surface is not exactly cylindrical but is corrugated as observed by the angle dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen effect . In that case the cancellation would not be complete. Another possibility to have finite Josephson current within the $`ab`$ plane is to have a three-dimensional order parameter that is mixed with a two-dimensional one as suggested also in Ref. . Then for the Josephson effect within the $`ab`$ plane, discussed in preceding sections, the quasiparticles will experience an effective order parameter that is quasi-two-dimensional and the modulation of the critical current and magnetic flux with the misorientation angle within the $`ab`$ plane will show the nodal profile of the order parameter within the $`ab`$ plane discussed previously.

In an alternative geometry, the modulation of the critical current and spontaneous flux with the polar misorientation angle within the $`ac`$ plane, i.e., when the azimuthal angle is set to zero $`\alpha =0`$, would reveal the angular anisotropy of the order parameter along the $`c`$ axis. In that case the effective order parameter felt by the quasiparticles is two dimensional. Moreover for that orientation the two-component order parameter is reduced to a one-component one which has a sign change but does not break time-reversal symmetry.

For example we consider the three-dimensional order parameter $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}(k_x+ik_y)\mathrm{cos}(ck_z)`$. For a spherical Fermi surface and $`\alpha =0`$, it is reduced to the two-dimensional order parameter $`𝐝=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\widehat{𝐳}\mathrm{sin}\beta \mathrm{cos}(\pi \mathrm{cos}\beta )`$. We plot in Fig. 10(a) the order parameter for adjacent crystal edges versus the polar angle $`\beta `$. It is seen that the order parameter changes sign, in a restricted angle regime, at adjacent faces of the crystal. Also the characteristic phases $`\varphi _{c1},\varphi _{c2}`$ differ by $`\pi `$ as seen in Fig. 10(b). That would, for example, lead to half-integer spontaneous flux states. Note that the Josephson critical current densities as seen in Fig. 10(c) are not equal for adjacent junction edges. However the asymmetry in the current densities will not affect that spontaneous flux. The modulation of the current with the polar angle within the $`ac`$ plane will be highly anisotropic for the three-dimensional order parameters. It will be suppressed for $`ck_z=\pi /2`$ for the pairing state $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{cos}ck_z`$.

Since all states considered here have $`𝐝\widehat{𝐳}`$ the Josephson current along the $`c`$ axis between the singlet and triplet superconductors is not allowed . In fact the spin-orbit coupling strength of the triplet superconductor would give rise to the orientational dependent Josephson coupling between the SRO and the conventional $`s`$-wave superconductor which completely vanishes along the $`c`$ axis. However the Josephson coupling is possible when the $`𝐝`$ vector is not exactly parallel to the current. In that case we restrict to the corner junction in the $`ac`$ plane where the $`c`$ axis is tilted within the $`ac`$ plane for certain polar angle. For the pairing state $`\mathrm{\Delta }k_z`$ the singlet-superconductor/triplet-superconductor/singlet-superconductor junction along a direction slightly different from the $`c`$ axis can be used to probe the pairing symmetry from the sign change of the Josephson current at opposite faces of the junction .

## VII magnetic field

We now examine the influence of the magnetic field on the spontaneous vortices, for the $`ab`$-plane Josephson effect, for fixed junction orientation $`\alpha =0`$, where most experiments on corner junctions have been performed. The critical current is finite, at $`\alpha =0`$ for the pairing states isotropic $`p`$ wave and $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$, while it is zero or very suppressed for the other pairing states. Hence we will restrict ourselves only to the isotropic $`p`$ wave and $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ at $`\alpha =0`$ in this section. The modes extend to a large interval of the magnetic field, which is almost the same. The instability at the extremum values of the magnetic field is due to the interaction of the flux entered from the edges with the intrinsic flux. The separation of the modes in magnetic flux is kept constantly equal to $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ as in the $`s`$-wave case, but is displaced compared to the $`s`$-wave case by an amount that is equal to the intrinsic flux.

We plot in Fig. 11(a) the overlap critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ versus the magnetic field $`H`$, for a junction with length $`L=10`$, for angle $`\alpha =0`$, and for the isotropic $`p`$-wave case. The mode $`0`$, at $`H=0`$, contains positive flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0.25`$ and has greater critical current than mode $`1`$, which at $`H=0`$ contains negative magnetic flux and is equal to $`0.75`$. So the mode with positive magnetic flux corresponds to the highest critical current. The maximum $`I_c^{ov}`$ for mode $`0`$ occurs to the right of $`H=0`$. Note that the displacement of modes $`0,1,1`$ in $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ from their positions in the $`s`$-wave case is small and thus the $`I_c^{ov}`$ vs $`H`$ diagram is similar to the $`s`$-wave case.

In Figs. 12(a) and 12(b), the overlap critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ versus the magnetic field $`H`$ and the spontaneous flux vs magnetic field is plotted for the $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ case. The mode $`0`$, at $`H=0`$, contains negative flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0.25`$ and has greater critical current than mode $`1`$, which at $`H=0`$ contains positive magnetic flux and is equal to $`0.75`$. So differently from the isotropic $`p`$-wave case, the mode with negative magnetic flux corresponds to the highest critical current.

For the rest of the pairing states the junction orientation $`\alpha =0`$ gives zero or relatively small values for the Josephson critical current density $`J_c(\alpha )`$, which means that the critical current the junction can carry will be zero or very suppressed compared to the previous cases. For the $`ac`$-plane Josephson effect for three-dimensional order parameters it is possible to have a sign change of the order parameter at adjacent faces of the corner junction that would, for example lead to an anomalous Fraunhofer pattern with ”dip” at zero magnetic field. The asymmetry in the Josephson critical current densities will only cause the ”dip” to be shallow and will maintain the symmetry of the pattern.

## VIII Experimental relevance

For the $`ab`$-plane Josephson effect for two-dimensional order parameters, the measurement of the magnetic interference pattern at $`\alpha =0`$ where the $`a`$ and $`b`$ crystallographic axes are perpendicular to the junction’s faces will not give any finite value for the critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ for the pairing states $`B_{2g}\times E_u`$ or the nodal $`p`$ wave since the value $`\alpha =0`$ is a node of the order parameter for these symmetries. For the nodeless $`p`$-wave case the Josephson critical current density is small at $`\alpha =0`$ and so is the critical current. So the observation of finite critical current $`I_c^{ov}`$ in corner junctions at $`\alpha =0`$ would be an indication for isotropic $`p`$-wave or $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ pairing states where the value $`\alpha =0`$ is not a node. Furthermore the suppression of the critical currents of the nodal state $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$ near the nodes, i.e., at $`\alpha =\pm \pi /4`$, can be used to distinguish it from the nodeless isotropic $`p`$-wave state, for which the critical current for no-flux mode $`0`$ does not become zero.

On the other hand for the $`ac`$-plane tunneling, the orientation where $`ck_z=\pi /2`$ will suppress the Josephson critical current for the pairing state $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{cos}ck_z`$ since it is a node for the order parameter. Also the singlet/triplet/singlet junction along the direction slightly different from the $`c`$ axis will probe the pairing state $`\mathrm{\Delta }k_z`$ from the sign change of the Josephson current at opposite sides of the junction.

Another experiment that we propose here to discriminate between the candidate’s pairing states consists of a SQUID between a Sr2RuO4 thin film patterned into a circle with a series of Nb-Au-Sr2RuO4 edge junctions spaced at a fixed angle step. The tunneling directions can be defined lithographically and patterned by ion milling of a $`c`$-axis-oriented film to study the $`ab`$-plane Josephson effect or a $`b`$-axis-oriented film to study the $`ac`$-plane Josephson effect. The measurement of the critical current versus the angle $`\alpha `$, which mainly probes the magnitude of the order parameter, is expected to show large anisotropy with the angle $`\alpha `$. An analogous experiment has already been performed in the SQUID geometry for YBa2Cu3O7 thin films .

A number of complicating factors are involved in the interpretation of the experiments with corner junctions that could modify the anticipated results. These include the asymmetry in the Josephson critical current densities, the flux trapping, and the sample geometry. Also the study of the direction-dependent Josephson effect will be influenced by the roughness of the interface due to the existence of Ru lamellas, and also by the difficulty in cleaning and polishing a crystal at angles different than $`0`$ and $`\pi /2`$. However these effects are not sufficiently large enough to change the qualitative picture of the experiments.

## IX Conclusions

We followed the modulation of the vortices that are spontaneously formed in a corner junction between a triplet superconductor breaking time-reversal symmetry and an $`s`$-wave superconductor with the junction orientation angle. The nodal structure of the order parameter is reflected in the Josephson critical current density, and influences the critical current versus $`\alpha `$ diagram and the magnetic flux of the spontaneous vortex states that are formed at the corner junction. The critical current vanishes at the angles where the order parameter has nodes. In addition it becomes zero at the angles where a full fluxon or antifluxon enters the junction. For the nodeless pairing state mode $`0`$ does not vanish, and has the nodal profile of the corresponding order parameter. The presence of spontaneous magnetic flux can be used to distinguish between different symmetry states.

The external magnetic field for the junction orientation $`\alpha =0`$ where the $`a`$ axis points towards the junction edge will only influence the states in which their order parameter is finite at $`\alpha =0`$, i.e., isotropic $`p`$ wave and $`B_{1g}\times E_u`$. The critical current and the effect of the magnetic field will be zero or very suppressed for the other cases. For three-dimensional order parameters the Josephson critical current modulation, which mainly probes the magnitude of the order parameter with the polar angle, is expected to be highly anisotropic for the $`ac`$-plane Josephson effect.

In corner junctions with broken time-reversal symmetry, the spontaneus flux and the magnetic interference pattern, even in the short junction limit, are influenced by the magnitude of the order parameter and also the difference in the intrinsic phases $`\varphi _{c1}`$ and $`\varphi _{c2}`$, at adjacent junction edges. This difference uniquely characterizes the pairing symmetry and can be used without any ambiguity to probe anisotropic pairing states with sign change of the order parameter between orthogonal directions in $`k`$ space.