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# The Future of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays

## 1 Introduction

The future of ultra high energy cosmic ray physics looks extremely promising. The present state of observations is particularly puzzling and the necessary experiments to resolve these puzzles will be operating in the very near future. The puzzles begin with the lack of the predicted Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff . Contrary to earlier expectations, cosmic rays with energies above $`10^{20}`$ eV have been detected by a number of experiments (for a review see  and for a more recent update see ).

If these particles are protons, they are likely to originate in extragalactic sources, since at these high energies the Galactic magnetic field cannot confine protons in the Galaxy. However, extragalactic protons with energies above a few times $`10^{19}`$ eV can produce pions through interactions with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and consequently lose significant amounts of energy as they traverse intergalactic distances. Thus, in addition to the extraordinary energy requirements for astrophysical sources to accelerate protons to $`>10^{20}`$ eV, the photopion threshold reaction suppresses the observable flux above $`10^{20}`$ eV. These conditions were expected to cause a natural high-energy limit to the cosmic ray spectrum known as the GZK cutoff .

As shown by the most recent compilation of the AGASA data , the spectrum of cosmic rays does not end at the expected GZK cutoff. The significant flux observed above $`10^{20}`$ eV together with a nearly isotropic distribution of event arrival directions  challenges astrophysically based explanations as well as new physics alternatives (see  and references therein). In addition, the reported small scale clustering  tends to rule out most scenarios.

This challenging state of affairs is stimulating both for theoretical investigations as well as experimental efforts. The explanation may hide in the experimental arena such as an over estimate of the flux at the highest energies. This explanation has been proposed by the HiRes collaboration based on an analysis of their monocular data . Even if this were the case, events above the GZK cutoff are also observed by HiRes. The Mono HiRes data looks more like the GZK feature, as discussed in the next section, followed by indications of new sources at energies above the feature. Events past $`10^{20}`$ eV pose theoretical challenges which will be explained in the future by either astrophysically novel sources or new fundamental physics.

## 2 The GZK Feature

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) propagating from extragalactic sources to Earth suffer a number of losses in their interaction with cosmic backgrounds. These include pair production, photopion production, and adiabatic losses due to the universe’s expansion. The adiabatic and pair production losses change the spectrum continuously, while the pion production process has a threshold given by the pion mass, i.e., protons need to be at ultra-high energies to be able to produce a pion off CMB photons. A careful calculation would show that the GZK cutoff is not an absolute end to the cosmic ray spectrum but it generates a clear feature around $`5\times 10^{19}`$ eV set by the pion mass threshold. The spectrum recovers at energies above this feature and the local distribution of sources can significantly affect the agreement between predicted and observed spectra (see ).

To see this effect more clearly, we developed a numerical code that can calculate the UHECR spectrum for a given input spectrum (assumed to be a power law at the source with spectral index $`\gamma `$, $`J(E)E^\gamma `$), a given spatial distribution of sources, and a choice for redshift evolution of sources . Some results from this study are shown in Figs. 1,2,4 and 8.

In principle, a local overdensity of sources can decrease the gap between observed and detected events above the GZK cutoff. This effect can easily be understood: photopion energy losses limit the maximum distance at which sources can contribute at the highest energies to a few tens of Mpc, while cosmic rays below the pion production threshold come from much larger volumes. A local overdensity will increase the observed flux at the highest energies relative to the lower energy flux. If the UHECR source distribution is proportional to that given by the galaxy distribution, the observed local overdensity is not high enough to explain the data . We reached that conclusion using the source distribution as given by the CfA and PSCz galaxy redshift surveys (PSCz results are shown in Figs. 1 and 2). The local density is only about a factor of two above the mean which is not enough to bridge the gap, although a priori UHECR sources may cluster differently from luminous matter (see, e.g., ).

In order to explain the highest energy events with extragalactic protons, a more profitable avenue is to study the effect of the spectral index. In Fig. 1, we set the input spectral index $`\gamma =3`$ such that the events below $`10^{19.5}`$ eV also fit the predicted flux. If the highest energy events are confirmed by larger experiments, the evidence points towards a new source with a spectrum harder than $`J(E)E^3`$. Given earlier AGASA data as of ref.  with 728 events above $`10^{19}`$ eV, Fig. 2 shows how a spectral index $`\gamma =2.1`$ can more easily fit the data at the highest energies. Fig. 2 shows both the mean and the fluctuations around the mean flux for the data set in . As more events are observed, such as in the Auger Project , the fluctuations about the mean decrease as shown in Fig. 8. In Fig. 3, we show the mean behavior of the GZK feature for different input spectra assuming a homogeneous distribution of sources. As the spectral index decreases, the agreement with the observations improves. In sum, sources of UHECRs distributed as ordinary galaxies are marginally consistent with present spectral data and, for hard injection spectra, the GZK cutoff is not really a cutoff but a feature in the high-energy cosmic ray spectrum.

The transition from the lower energy ($`10^{19}`$ eV) region of the UHECR spectrum to the higher energy region ($`10^{20}`$ eV) can be made smoother if the sources have a redshift evolution. In Fig. 4, we show the effect of a source luminosity evolution for sources with luminosity $`(1+z)^m`$. If the source luminosity increases with redshift $`z`$, ($`m>0`$), the flux of UHECRs at energies below the GZK cutoff will increase relative to the flux above the cutoff. This effect changes the shape of the spectrum, broadening the transition region.

In addition to the presence of events past the GZK cutoff, there has been no clear counterparts identified in the arrival direction of the highest energy events. If these events are protons or photons, these observations should be astronomical, i.e., their arrival directions should be the angular position of sources. At these high energies the Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields should not affect proton orbits significantly so that even protons would point back to their sources within a few degrees. Protons at $`10^{20}`$ eV propagate mainly in straight lines as they traverse the Galaxy since their gyroradii are $``$ 100 kpc in $`\mu `$G fields which is typical in the Galactic disk. Extragalactic fields are expected to be $`\mu `$G, and induce at most $``$ 1o deviation from the source . Even if the Local Supercluster has relatively strong fields, the highest energy events are expected to deviate at most $``$ 10o . At present, no correlations between arrival directions and plausible optical counterparts such as sources in the Galactic plane, the Local Group, or the Local Supercluster have been clearly identified. Ultra high energy cosmic ray data are consistent with an isotropic distribution of sources in sharp contrast to the anisotropic distribution of light within 50 Mpc from Earth.

In addition to the overall isotropic distribution of arrival directions, the AGASA data shows evidence of a small scale clustering of events. The number of observed double and triple events seems much higher than expected for a random distribution . These clusters do not correlate with any known nearby galaxy population and give most models the hardest hurdle to overcome. The only positive cross correlation found thus far is between the UHECR clusters and very distant BL Lacertae objects . These highly active galaxies are likely to be prime accelerators, but their location is too far from Earth to avoid a GZK cutoff to the spectrum. This positive cross correlation has inspired new physics proposals  that make use of new neutral particles that need to be very long lived to be able to traverse cosmological distances. A more radical option would be the breaking of Lorentz invariance that may render the neutron stable . Both possibilities give future experiments the perfect carrot.

## 3 Astrophysical Zevatrons

The puzzle presented by the observations of cosmic rays above $`10^{20}`$ eV have generated a number of proposals that can be divided into Astrophysical Zevatrons and New Physics models. Astrophysical Zevatrons are also referred to as bottom-up models and involve searching for acceleration sites in known astrophysical objects that can reach ZeV energies. New Physics proposals can be either hybrid or pure top-down models. First we discuss astrophysical Zevatrons in this section and new physics models in the next.

Cosmic rays can be accelerated in astrophysical plasmas when large-scale macroscopic motions, such as shocks, winds, and turbulent flows, are transferred to individual particles. The maximum energy of accelerated particles, $`E_{\mathrm{max}}`$, can be estimated by requiring that the gyroradius of the particle be contained in the acceleration region: $`E_{\mathrm{max}}=ZeBL`$, where $`Ze`$ is the charge of the particle, $`B`$ is the strength and $`L`$ the coherence length of the magnetic field embedded in the plasma. For $`E_{\mathrm{max}}>10^{20}`$ eV and $`Z1`$, the only known astrophysical sources with reasonable $`BL`$ products are neutron stars, active galactic nuclei (AGNs), radio lobes of AGNs, and clusters of galaxies. Fig. 5 (know as a Hillas plot ) highlights the $`B`$ vs. $`L`$ for these objects.

Clusters of Galaxies: Cluster shocks, although very large, are not able to accelerate protons to energies above $`10^{19}`$ eV . Propagation in the cluster also generates a GZK feature.

AGN Radio Lobes: Jets from the central black-hole of an active galaxy end at a termination shock where the interaction of the jet with the intergalactic medium forms radio lobes and ‘hot spots’. Of special interest are the most powerful AGNs where shocks can accelerate particles to energies well above $`10^{18}`$ eV via the first-order Fermi mechanism . A nearby specially powerful source may be able to reach energies past the cutoff and fit the observed spectrum. However, extremely powerful AGNs with radio lobes and hot spots are rare and far apart and are unlikely to match the observed arrival direction distribution. If M87 is the primary source of UHECRs a concentration of events in the direction of M87 should be seen. The next known nearby source after M87 is NGC315 which is already too far at a distance of $``$ 80 Mpc. Any unknown source between M87 and NGC315 would likely contribute a second hot spot, not the observed isotropic distribution. The very distant radio lobes will contribute a GZK cut spectrum which is also not observed.

The possibility of stronger Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields may reduce the problem. In particular, a strong Galactic wind can significantly alter the paths of UHECRs such that the observed arrival directions of events above 1020 eV would trace back to the North Galactic Pole which is close to the Virgo cluster where M87 resides . The proposed wind would focus most observed events within a very narrow energy range into the northern Galactic pole and render point source identification fruitless. Full sky coverage of future experiments will be a key discriminator of such proposals.

AGN - Central Regions: The powerful engines that give rise to the observed jets and radio lobes are located in the central regions of active galaxies and are powered by the accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes. The central engines might themselves be the UHECR accelerators . The nuclei of generic active galaxies (not only the ones with radio lobes) can accelerate particles via a unipolar inductor not unlike the one operating in pulsars. In the case of AGNs, the magnetic field may be provided by the infalling matter and the spinning black hole horizon provides the imperfect conductor for the unipolar induction. This proposal has to face the debilitating losses that UHE charged particles face in the acceleration region due to the intense radiation field present in AGNs. In addition, the spatial distribution of objects implies a GZK cutoff of the observed spectrum. This limitation due to energy losses has led to the proposal that quasar remnants, supermassive black holes in centers of inactive galaxies, are more effective UHECR accelerators . From Figure 1-3, these models can only succeed if the source spectrum is fairly hard ($`\gamma <2`$).

Neutron Stars: Neutron star not only have the ability to confine $`10^{20}`$ eV protons, the rotation energy of young neutron stars is more than sufficient to match the observed UHECR fluxes . However, ambient magnetic and radiation fields induce significant losses inside a neutron star’s light cylinder. However, the plasma that expands beyond the light cylinder is free from the main loss processes and may be accelerated to ultra high energies. In particular, newly formed, rapidly rotating neutron stars may accelerate iron nuclei to UHEs through relativistic MHD winds beyond their light cylinders . This mechanism naturally leads to very hard injection spectra ($`\gamma 1`$). In this case, UHECRs originate mostly in the Galaxy and the arrival directions require that the primaries be heavier nuclei. Depending on the structure of Galactic magnetic fields, the trajectories of iron nuclei from Galactic neutron stars can be consistent with the observed arrival directions of the highest energy events (see, e.g., ). This proposal should be constrained once the primary composition is clearly determined.

Gamma-Ray Bursts: Transient high energy phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may also be a source of ultra-high energies protons . In addition to both phenomena having unknown origins, GRBs and UHECRs have other similarities that may argue for a common source. Like UHECRs, GRBs are distributed isotropically in the sky, and the average rate of $`\gamma `$-ray energy emitted by GRBs is comparable to the energy generation rate of UHECRs of energy $`>10^{19}`$ eV in a redshift independent cosmological distribution of sources. However, recent GRB counterpart identifications argue for a strong cosmological evolution for GRBs. The distribution of UHECR arrival directions and arrival times argues against the GRB–UHECR common origin. Events past the GZK cutoff require that only GRBs from $`<50`$ Mpc contribute. Since less than about one burst is expected to have occurred within this region over a period of 100 yr, the unique source would appear as a concentration of UHECR events in a small part of the sky. In addition, the signal would be very narrow in energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }E/E1`$. Again, a strong intergalactic magnetic field can ease the arrival direction difficulty dispersing the events of a single burst but also decreasing the flux below the observed level.

## 4 New Physics Models

The UHECR puzzle has inspired a number of different models that involve physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. New Physics proposals can be top-down models or a hybrid of astrophysical Zevatrons with new particles. Top-down models involve the decay of very high mass relics that could have formed in the early universe.

The most economical among hybrid proposals involves a familiar extension of the standard model, namely, neutrino masses. If some flavor of neutrinos have mass ($`0.1`$ eV), the relic neutrino background is a target for extremely high energy neutrinos to interact and generate other particles through the Z-pole . This proposal requires very luminous sources of extremely high energy neutrinos throughout the universe. Neutrino energies need to be $`>10^{21}`$ eV which implies primary protons in the source with energies $`>10^{22}`$ eV. The decay products of the Z-pole interaction are dominated by photons, which gives a clear test to this proposal. In addition, the neutrino background only clusters on large scales, so the arrival direction for events should be mostly isotropic. Preserving a small scale clustering may be another challenge to this proposal.

If none of the astrophysical scenarios or the hybrid new physics models are able to explain present and future UHECR data, the alternative is to consider top-down models. The idea behind these models is that relics of the very early universe, topological defects (TDs) or superheavy relic (SHR) particles, produced after or at the end of inflation, can decay today and generate UHECRs. Defects, such as cosmic strings, domain walls, and magnetic monopoles, can be generated through the Kibble mechanism as symmetries are broken with the expansion and cooling of the universe. Topologically stable defects can survive to the present and decompose into their constituent fields as they collapse, annihilate, or reach critical current in the case of superconducting cosmic strings . The decay products, superheavy gauge and higgs bosons, decay into jets of hadrons, mostly pions. Pions in the jets subsequently decay into $`\gamma `$-rays, electrons, and neutrinos. Only a few percent of the hadrons are expected to be nucleons. Typical features of these scenarios are a predominant release of $`\gamma `$-rays and neutrinos and a QCD fragmentation spectrum which is considerably harder than the case of Zevatron shock acceleration.

ZeV energies are not a challenge for top-down models since symmetry breaking scales at the end of inflation typically are $`10^{21}`$ eV. Fitting the observed flux of UHECRs is harder since the typical distances between TDs is the Horizon scale or several Gpc. The low flux hurts proposals based on ordinary and superconducting cosmic strings which are distributed throughout space. Monopoles usually suffer the opposite problem, they would in general be too numerous. Inflation succeeds in diluting the number density of monopoles and makes them too rare for UHECR production. Once two symmetry breaking scales are invoked, a combination of horizon scales gives room to reasonable fluxes. This is the case of cosmic necklaces  which are hybrid defects where each monopole is connected to two strings resembling beads on a cosmic string necklace. The UHECR flux which is ultimately generated by the annihilation of monopoles with antimonopoles trapped in the string . In these scenarios, protons dominate the flux in the lower energy side of the GZK cutoff while photons tend to dominate at higher energies depending on the radio background (see Fig. 6). If future data can settle the composition of UHECRs from 0.01 to 1 ZeV, these models can be well constrained. In addition to fitting the UHECR flux, topological defect models are constrained by limits from EGRET on the flux of photons from 10 MeV to 100 GeV.

Another interesting possibility is the proposal that UHECRs are produced by the decay of unstable superheavy relics that live much longer than the age of the universe . SHRs may be produced at the end of inflation by non-thermal effects such as a varying gravitational field, parametric resonances during preheating, instant preheating, or the decay of topological defects. These models need to invoke special symmetries to insure unusually long lifetimes for SHRs and that a sufficiently small percentage decays today producing UHECRs. As in the topological defects case, the decay of these relics also generates jets of hadrons. These particles behave like cold dark matter and could constitute a fair fraction of the halo of our Galaxy. Therefore, their halo decay products would not be limited by the GZK cutoff allowing for a large flux at UHEs (see Fig. 7). Similar signatures can occur if topological defects are microscopic, such as monopolonia and vortons, and decay in the Halo of our Galaxy. In both cases the composition of the primary would be a good discriminant since the decay products are usually dominated by photons. In the case of SHR decays, the arrival direction distribution should be close to isotropic but show an asymmetry due to the position of the Earth in the Galactic Halo  and the clustering due to small scale dark matter inhomogeneities .

## 5 Conclusion

Next generation experiments such as the Pierre Auger Project which is now under construction, the proposed Telescope Array, and the EUSO project and the OWL satellites will significantly improve the data at the extremely-high end of the cosmic ray spectrum. With these observatories a clear determination of the spectrum and spatial distribution of UHECR sources is within reach. In addition, the observations of UHE neutrinos in horizontal showers promises to open a new window into the workings of our Universe.

The lack of a GZK cutoff should become clear with Auger and most extragalactic Zevatrons may be ruled out. The observed spectrum will distinguish Zevatrons from new physics models by testing the hardness of the spectrum and the effect of propagation. Fig. 8 shows how clearly Auger will test the spectrum independent of their clustering properties. The cosmography of sources should also become clear and able to discriminate between plausible populations for UHECR sources. The correlation of arrival directions for events with energies above $`10^{20}`$ eV with some known structure such as the Galaxy, the Galactic halo, the Local Group or the Local Supercluster would be key in differentiating between different models. For instance, a correlation with the Galactic center and disk should become apparent at extremely high energies for the case of young neutron star winds, while a correlation with the large scale galaxy distribution should become clear for the case of quasar remnants. If SHRs are responsible for UHECR production, the arrival directions should correlate with the dark matter distribution and show the halo asymmetry. For these signatures to be tested, full sky coverage is essential. Finally, an excellent discriminator would be an unambiguous composition determination of the primaries. In general, Galactic disk models invoke iron nuclei to be consistent with the isotropic distribution, extragalactic Zevatrons tend to favor proton primaries, while photon primaries are more common for early universe relics.

The hybrid detector of the Auger Project should help settle the present disparity between HiRes and AGASA by cross calibrating the two techniques. It will also determine the composition by measuring the depth of shower maximum and the ground footprint of the same shower. AGASA seems to detect a hint of composition shifts at the highest energies. This would be quite a surprising development. In sum, the future looks very promising. The solution to the UHECR mystery as well as the birth of UHE neutrino astronomy is coming with the next generation of experiments which are under construction such as Auger or in the planning stages such as the Telescope Array, EUSO, and OWL.

## 6 Acknowledgment

I thank the organizers of TAUP 2001 especially for the very kind and supportive time during the September 11 events. This work was supported by NSF through grant AST-0071235 and DOE grant DE-FG0291 ER40606.


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# Universal Heat Transport in Sr2RuO4

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## Abstract

We present the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity $`\kappa (T)`$ of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 down to low temperatures ($``$100 mK). In $`T0`$ K limit we found a finite residual term in $`\kappa /T`$, providing clear evidence for the superconducting state with an unconventional pairing. The residual term remains unchanged for samples with different $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, demonstrating the universal character of heat transport in this spin-triplet superconductor. The low-temperature behavior of $`\kappa `$ suggests the strong impurity scattering with a phase shift close to $`\pi /2`$. A criterion for the observation of universality is experimentally deduced.

PACS numbers: 74.20.Rp, 74.25.Fy, 74.70.Pq

\]

Through the study of the cuprate superconductor in the last decade, a notable progress has been made in an understanding of the thermodynamic and transport properties of quasi-particles (QP) in unconventional superconductors. One of the important findings is the novel phenomenon called the universal transport, pointed out first by Lee . In an unconventional superconductor with nodes in the superconducting (SC) gap, non-magnetic impurities suppress the transition temperature ($`T_\mathrm{c}`$) and induce the finite density of QP states at the Fermi level with the energy width $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ . The presence of impurities increases both the QP density and the impurity scattering rate, which completely cancel each other . In this case the QP transport, such as thermal conductivity ($`\kappa `$), restores the temperature ($`T`$) dependence typical for the normal state (e.g. $`\kappa T`$)  and becomes independent of impurity concentration. The magnitude of the residual term in $`\kappa /T`$ depends only on the QP spectrum near the gap nodes, providing a useful tool for studying the SC order parameter.

Experimentally, the universal residual term in $`\kappa /T`$ at $`T`$ 0 K has been reported in optimally-doped high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates YBa2Cu3O6.9  and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 . Their residual values are consistent with the $`d`$-wave SC gap structure . For non-$`d`$-wave gap symmetries, the universal conductivity has never been observed. In contrast, the extrapolated $`\kappa /T`$ at $`T`$ 0 K of the spin-triplet superconductor UPt3  rapidly increases with the density of defects, showing no universal behavior, and the residual term seems to vanish in zero-disorder limit . The origin of the lack of universality is still unclear, similar to the case of under-doped cuprates , and it is strongly desirable to extend studies to other unconventional superconductors.

In this respect, of special interest is the study of Sr2RuO4, a unique quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) spin triplet superconductor . This material has a layered perovskite structure  and its electronic state is well described in the Landau-Fermi liquid model . The SC state of Sr2RuO4 ($`T_\mathrm{c}`$ = 1.5 K) is chiral with a broken time reversal symmetry  and its $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is rapidly suppressed by non-magnetic impurities . Views on the SC gap symmetry of Sr2RuO4 changed in time. Early theoretical prediction of the fully gapped $`p`$-wave chiral state  did not find support in recent experiments, suggesting the SC gap with line nodes , likely running parallel to the conducting plane . Several new theoretical models have been proposed  to explain the experimentally observed ”triplet-chiral-nodal” SC order parameter.

The thermal conductivity measurement of Sr2RuO4 down to 20 mK was reported by Suderow et al. . This study was restricted to strongly disordered samples with $`T_\mathrm{c}<`$ 1 K. Measurements with high quality samples, with $`T_\mathrm{c}>`$ 1.4 K, have been performed only down to 0.3 K , which is insufficient for the estimation of the residual term.

In this Letter we report the systematic study of the in-plane thermal conductivity of Sr2RuO4 down to 100 mK on samples with widely varying quality, with $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ from 0.7 K to 1.5 K. We found a universal behavior of the thermal conductivity in this material with non-$`d`$-wave order parameter. The finite and universal $`\kappa /T`$ at $`T`$ 0 K in the zero impurity limit provides a key support for the SC gap with line nodes. Negligibly small phonon contribution to the total $`\kappa `$ allowed us to characterize the $`T`$ dependence of the electronic $`\kappa `$, which was not possible up to now in the high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates . We found a reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions by Graf et al.  in the unitarity scattering limit.

Single crystals of Sr2RuO4 were grown in an infrared image furnace by the floating zone method . We used samples of 5 different batches with $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ = 1.44 K, 1.32 K, 1.27 K, 1.09 K and 0.71 K, denoted as # 1 - 5, respectively. The $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ and the transition width $`\delta T_\mathrm{c}`$ were defined at the peak temperature and the full width at half maximum of the imaginary part of the AC susceptibility, respectively (Table I). The difference in $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ comes from the variation of the density of non-magnetic impurities, such as Al or Si , and/or crystalline defects . The systematic studies on the electrical resistivity $`\rho `$ and resistive $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ revealed that the suppression of $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is well described by the Abrikosov-Gorkov type equation ,

$`\mathrm{ln}({\displaystyle \frac{T_{\mathrm{c0}}}{T_\mathrm{c}}})=\mathrm{\Psi }({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}\Gamma }{2\pi k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}}})\mathrm{\Psi }({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}),`$ (1)
where $`\mathrm{\Psi }(x)`$ is the digamma function, $`T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ = 1.5 K is maximum $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ for the disorder free material and $`\Gamma `$ is the non-magnetic impurity scattering rate in the normal state. The values of $`\Gamma `$ for the samples under study, deduced from Eq. (1), are listed in Table I.

The thermal conductivity was measured along the in-plane  direction between 100 mK and 2 K by the one-heater and two-thermometer method described elsewhere . Typical dimensions of the samples were 2.0 mm$`\times `$0.5 mm$`\times `$0.08 mm, with the longest direction corresponding to the  crystal axis and the shortest to the  axis.

Fig. 1 shows the $`T`$ dependence of $`\kappa /T`$ of samples # 1 to 5, with the $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ indicated by arrows. All the samples show almost flat $`T`$ dependence of $`\kappa /T`$ in the normal state, as expected for the impurity scattering regime, except for sample # 1 showing slight decrease with $`T`$ indicative of small electron-electron scattering. The normal state conductivity increases with $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, i.e. with decreasing $`\Gamma `$. Below $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, $`\kappa /T`$ decreases monotonically and slowly. In sample # 1, $`\kappa /T`$ at 0.3 K (0.2 $`T_\mathrm{c}`$) is $``$ 5 W/K2m (0.2 $`\kappa (T_\mathrm{c})/T_\mathrm{c}`$), which should be practically zero for the fully gapped superconductor . Although the normal state $`\kappa /T`$ decreases 4 times with increasing $`\Gamma `$, in the SC state all $`\kappa /T`$ curves converge to a finite value at around 2 $`\pm `$ 0.5 W/K2m at very low $`T`$.

The $`\rho `$ and $`\kappa /T`$ measurements made on the same contacts in zero $`H`$ above $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ revealed that the Wiedemann-Franz ratio $`\rho \kappa /T`$ at $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is satisfied within accuracy of our determination ($`\pm 10\%`$ ) for all sample qualities under study, showing a dominance of the electronic transport in the normal state at temperatures as high as $`T_c`$. In the SC state, the phonon conductivity $`\kappa ^\mathrm{g}`$ can be estimated in the boundary scattering limit, providing an upper bound for $`\kappa ^\mathrm{g}`$, by using a simple kinetic formula $`\kappa _\mathrm{B}^\mathrm{g}=\frac{1}{3}C_{\mathrm{ph}}\overline{v}l`$, where $`C_{\mathrm{ph}}`$ is the phonon specific heat per unit volume proportional to $`T^3`$, $`\overline{v}`$ is the averaged sound velocity and $`l`$ is the phonon mean free path, which is of the order of the sample dimension. Since both $`\overline{v}`$ and $`l`$ are temperature independent, it can be expressed as $`\kappa _\mathrm{B}^\mathrm{g}/T=\lambda _2^\mathrm{g}T^2`$ with a constant coefficient $`\lambda _2^\mathrm{g}`$. Taking the phonon specific heat coefficient of 0.197 mJ/K4mole  and $`\overline{v}`$=1400 m/s , we obtain $`\lambda _2^\mathrm{g}=0.2\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{K}^4\mathrm{m}`$, which is a small fraction of the total $`\kappa `$ in all samples.

On $`T`$ increase, $`\kappa /T`$ vs. $`T`$ deviates from the universal value, shows an upward curvature up to 0.3 K and then turns into a linear increase at higher $`T`$. The $`\kappa /T`$ vs. $`T^2`$ dependence (Fig. 1 inset) shows that super-linear portion of the $`\kappa /T`$ vs. $`T`$ curve is well reproduced by a polynomial expression $`\kappa /T=\lambda _0^\mathrm{e}+\lambda _2^\mathrm{e}T^2`$ (we show only the data for samples # 1 and # 3 for clarity). We should notice here that, despite having the same $`T^2`$ dependence as expected for $`\kappa ^\mathrm{g}/T`$, the observed $`\kappa /T`$ is completely electronic in origin, which is of special interest in this study. Actually measured $`\lambda _2^\mathrm{e}`$ decreases with decreasing $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ from 44 W/K4m for sample # 1 to 8 W/K4m for sample # 5, but still is 40 times larger than $`\lambda _2^\mathrm{g}`$ of 0.2 W/K4m. The finite residual coefficient $`\lambda _0^\mathrm{e}`$ indicates existence of QP at $`T`$=0 and, consequently, the non-$`s`$-wave pairing. In discussion of the residual term which follows below, we use a conventional notation, $`\lambda _0^\mathrm{e}\kappa _{00}/T`$.

In Fig. 2 we plot (filled squares) $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ as a function of the impurity scattering rate divided by the impurity-free $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$. The vertical error bars reflect the scatter of observed $`\kappa /T`$ and the horizontal error comes from the transition width $`\delta T_\mathrm{c}`$. For the reference, we show with filled triangles $`\kappa /T`$ by Suderow et al.  extrapolated at $`T`$ 0 K. It can be clearly seen that the residual thermal conductivity $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ remains unchanged for $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ $`<`$ 0.2. Moreover, $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ values converge to a finite value of 1.7 $`\pm 0.15`$ W/K2m in the $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}0`$ limit, giving strong evidence for the nodal gap structure. The finite $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ should appear even in the superconductors with fully gapped non-$`s`$-wave state (e.g., isotropic 2D $`p`$-wave state ) when a small number of impurities exist, but it should vanish in the $`\Gamma 0`$ limit with breaking of the universality .

Theoretically, the universal residual term $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ for the nodal superconductor is explicitly expressed as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa _{00}}{T}}={\displaystyle \frac{\pi ^2k_\mathrm{B}^2}{3}}N_\mathrm{F}v_\mathrm{F}^2{\displaystyle \frac{a\mathrm{}}{2\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0}},`$ (2)
where $`N_\mathrm{F}`$ and $`v_\mathrm{F}`$ are the density of states in the normal state and the Fermi velocity, respectively. $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$ is the maximum amplitude of the gap, $`\mu `$ is the slope of the gap at the node defined as $`\mu \frac{1}{\mathrm{\Delta }_0}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }(\varphi )}{\varphi }`$, where $`\varphi `$ is the in-plane angle of the wave vector on the circular Fermi surface, and $`a`$ is the coefficient of the order of unity which depends on the gap symmetry . Thus from the residual value $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ we can obtain the quantity related to the gap structure, $`\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0/a`$.

By assuming that the SC gaps have the same magnitude on the three Fermi surfaces of Sr2RuO4, and taking experimentally measured Fermi velocities and effective masses for respective bands , we can reproduce the observed residual value of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ = 1.7 W/K2m with $`\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0/a`$ = 0.39 meV. This value is close to typical values for several nodal gap structures. For the 2D $`f`$-wave gap with four vertical line nodes $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{cos}(2\varphi )`$ , $`a`$ is $`4/\pi `$ , $`\mu `$ = 2, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0=2.14k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}`$ in the weak coupling limit and we obtain $`\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0/a`$ = 0.43 meV. For the state with horizontal line node, indicated in recent directional experiments , the universal thermal conductivity was not considered theoretically. However, we can estimate the residual value of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ by assuming that in the limit of the small Fermi velocity along the  axis $`v_\mathrm{F}`$ 0, the 3D polar state $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{cos}(\theta )`$ ($`\theta `$ is polar angle measured from the  axis) is a good representation of a Q2D horizontal nodal state. By using the parameters for the polar state  $`a`$=1, $`\mu =1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0=2.46k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}`$, we obtain $`\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0/a`$ = 0.32 meV, which is also close to the experimentally observed value. Thus we conclude that the observed residual term comes from the contribution around the gap nodes.

Recently Zhitomirsky and Rice  proposed the orbital dependent gap structure, which is a modified extension of the original theory by Agterberg et al. . They assumed the line nodes only on two of three Fermi surfaces, $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. If we consider that only these two sheets make contribution to $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ = 1.7 W/K2m, we obtain $`\mu \mathrm{\Delta }_0/a`$ = 0.27 meV. They also assumed a very small sub-Kelvin amplitude of the gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$ on these sheets; thus to explain the observed value of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ we need a relatively steep slope $`\mu `$ at the nodes.

Since the observed $`\kappa /T`$ is almost purely electronic, we can compare the experimental results with available theories for the electronic thermal conductivity. Two theories predict a $`T^2`$ term in the electronic $`\kappa /T`$. The model by Zhitomirsky and Walker and by Graf and Balatsky  (ZWGB) is valid in the range of $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}<k_\mathrm{B}T`$ due to the QP density coming from the nodal SC gap in case of unitary scattering. The model by Graf et al.  considers finite $`T`$ correction to the residual conductivity $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ in the range of $`k_\mathrm{B}T<\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$, where the coefficient of the $`T^2`$ term of $`\kappa /T`$ strongly depends on the impurity scattering phase shift . As can be seem from Inset in Fig. 1, the $`T^2`$ term is observed from the lowest $`T`$, directly above universality limit. This implies that the condition $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}<k_\mathrm{B}T`$ required for observation of the $`T^2`$ term in ZWGB model is not met. Therefore, we stick in interpretation to the Graf model . Here the $`T^2`$ term is observed as long as we satisfy the condition for $`k_\mathrm{B}T<\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$, which corresponds to $`T<0.3`$ K in our experiment. This relatively large impurity band means that the scattering is strong. Indeed, in the unitarity limit (the phase shift $`\delta =\pi /2`$) the impurity bandwidth increases rapidly with the impurity scattering rate as $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{}\Gamma }`$ , which corresponds to about 0.5 K for sample # 1, while in the Born limit ($`\delta =0`$) the impurity bandwidth becomes exponentially small, $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_0}{\mathrm{}\Gamma })`$ . Experimentally, the impurity bandwidth can be estimated from the parameters of the fitting formula, $`\kappa /T=\lambda _0^\mathrm{e}+\lambda _2^\mathrm{e}T^2`$ introduced above. In the unitarity scattering limit, the deviation of $`\kappa /T`$ from the universal value at finite $`T`$ is described as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa }{T}}={\displaystyle \frac{\kappa _{00}}{T}}(1+{\displaystyle \frac{7\pi ^2}{60}}({\displaystyle \frac{k_\mathrm{B}T}{\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}}})^2).`$ (3)
The $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ deduced by comparing Eq. (3) with the coefficients $`\lambda _0^\mathrm{e}`$ and $`\lambda _2^\mathrm{e}`$ for each sample is plotted in Fig. 2 with an open circle. The uncertainty due to the possible small phonon contribution is at most 10 %. The least square fit with the $`\sqrt{\Gamma }`$ function $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}=0.7\sqrt{\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}}`$ is drawn with a dotted line. The rapid increase and $`\sqrt{\Gamma }`$ dependence of $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ support the strong impurity scattering and verify the deduction of $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ from Eq. (3), while the absolute value is about two times smaller than the theoretical value of $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{}\Gamma }`$. A slight deviation of $`\delta `$ from $`\pi /2`$ makes the impurity bandwidth exponentially small at small $`\Gamma `$  and thus the non-negligible $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ of sample # 1 ($`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ = 0.051) implies the large scattering phase shift $`\delta =\pi /2(\pm 10\%)`$.

From our data we can derive the explicit condition of the low $`T`$ and small $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}`$ ”universality limit” which is theoretically described as $`k_\mathrm{B}T\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$. In Fig. 2 we can see that above $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ = 0.2 the universality starts to break and this crossover point corresponds to $`\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}/k_\mathrm{B}0.3\mathrm{K}0.1\mathrm{\Delta }_0/k_\mathrm{B}`$. Thus $`k_\mathrm{B}T\gamma _{\mathrm{imp}}0.1\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$ can be considered as an experimentally deduced criterion for the observation of universal conductivity.

The deviation of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ from the universal value with increasing $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ is small, even for the largest $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$, giving at most 50 % increase for sample # 5 ($`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ = 0.6). According to the calculation by Sun and Maki  in the unitarity scattering limit, $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ increases rapidly with $`\Gamma `$ above the universality limit and it reaches almost twice of the universal value at $`\mathrm{}\Gamma /k_\mathrm{B}T_{\mathrm{c0}}`$ = 0.6. Similar slow increase of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ was also pointed out in YBa2Cu3O6.9 . While the slight deviation of the scattering phase shift from $`\pi /2`$ might be able to explain it , the calculated steep increase of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$  is inappropriate for the description of Sr2RuO4. The critical resistivity, above which $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ disappears, is about 1 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }`$cm  and the corresponding critical $`\kappa /T`$ is obtained by the Wiedemann-Franz law as 2.4 W/K2m, which is almost equal to our largest $`\kappa _{00}/T`$. Since there is no clear reason for $`\kappa /T`$ at $`T`$=0 K to become higher in the SC state than in the normal state, the increase of $`\kappa _{00}/T`$ with $`\Gamma `$ expected in Ref.  should be limited. This point should be clarified in the further studies.

In conclusion, we experimentally observed universal thermal conductivity in Sr2RuO4, indicating that this phenomenon is not restricted to $`d`$-wave gap symmetries. The universality gives clear evidence for the nodal gap. From the analysis of the low temperature thermal conductivity within the framework of the theory by Graf et al. , we extract the impurity bandwidth and the scattering phase shift close to $`\pi /2`$. We experimentally derive a criterion for the deviation from the universal limit.

The authors are grateful to M. B. Walker for useful discussions and comments. They also thank Y. Shimojo for technical supports. This work was partly supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Area ”Novel Quantum Phenomena in Transition Metal Oxides” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan.


text:
# Determination of the longitudinal structure function 𝑭_𝑳 at HERA

## 1 Introduction

Deep inelastic lepton nucleon scattering (DIS) experiments have played a key role in the understanding of hadronic matter. They have revealed the structure of hadrons being made out of constituents and the interaction between the latter.

In fixed target DIS experiments scaling violations have been observed, i.e. the variation at fixed values of Bjorken-$`x`$ of the structure functions with $`Q^2`$, the squared four-momentum transfer between lepton and nucleon. These scaling violations are well described by perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD). The $`Q^2`$ evolution of the proton structure function $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$ is related to the gluon momentum distribution in the proton, $`xg(x,Q^2)`$, and the strong interaction coupling constant, $`\alpha _s`$. Both, $`\alpha _s`$ and $`xg(x,Q^2)`$, can be determined with precision $`ep`$ DIS cross section data.

HERA offers the possibility to study the structure of the proton over a wide kinematic range of $`x`$ and $`Q^2`$, several orders of magnitude larger than in the earlier fixed target experiments. Already first measurements of $`F_2`$ at HERA, for $`x10^3`$ and $`Q^2`$ 20 GeV2, revealed a steep rise of $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$ towards low $`x`$ for fixed $`Q^2`$ . Later measurements of $`F_2`$ by H1 and ZEUS in a wide kinematic range, for $`Q^2`$ values from $`1`$ to 30000 GeV2 and for $`310^5<x<0.65`$, have confirmed this trend. The strong scaling violations observed at low $`x`$ are attributed to the high gluon density in the proton. The validity of the DGLAP evolution equation , which neglects higher-order terms  proportional to $`\alpha _sln(1/x)`$, is questionable in the low $`x`$ range and therefore has to be tested against the data. At sufficiently low $`x`$, non-linear gluon interaction effects have been considered in order to damp the rise of the cross section in accordance with unitarity requirements .

The measurement of the longitudinal structure function $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ is of great theoretical importance, since it may allow distinguishing between different models describing the QCD evolution at low $`x`$. In fact, the structure function measurements at HERA remain incomplete until the longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ is actually measured. The direct, classical $`F_L`$ measurement by substantial variation of the beam energies is yet to come at HERA. However, while waiting for this to happen in the HERA II period, the H1 collaboration have extracted experimental results on $`F_L`$ by measuring the cross section in a kinematic region where the $`F_L`$ contribution is substantial (the high $`y`$ region, see below) and comparing these measurements with the extrapolation of the $`F_2`$ measurements. These results are described in this report.

## 2 Neutral current cross section and the proton structure functions

The cross section of the inclusive electron-proton DIS neutral current process (Figure 1), $`epeX`$, depends on the three independent variables $`x`$ and $`Q^2`$ and $`s`$, the center of mass energy squared.

$`Q^2`$ and $`x`$ are defined in terms of the four momenta of the incident and the scattered electron, $`k`$ and $`k^{}`$, and of the incident proton, $`P`$ as

$$Q^2=(kk^{})^2x=\frac{Q^2}{2P(kk^{})}.$$
(1)
Another important variable is the inelasticity

$$y=\frac{P(kk^{})}{Pk}$$
(2)
which is related to $`x`$, $`Q^2`$ and $`s`$ by $`Q^2=sxy`$ 777 Here and in the following formulae the proton and electron masses are neglected..

In the one-photon exchange approximation ($`Z^0`$ exchange neglected: $`Q^2m_{Z^0}^2`$) the cross section of the $`epeX`$ process can be expressed as

$$d\sigma L_{\mu \nu }W^{\mu \nu }.$$
(3)
Here $`L_{\mu \nu }`$ denotes the leptonic tensor, describing the interaction between the electron and the virtual photon. In QED the lepton-photon vertex is well defined and therefore $`L_{\mu \nu }`$ can be calculated exactly. The hadronic tensor $`W^{\mu \nu }`$ corresponds to the photon-proton interaction and is not calculable. However, using Lorenz invariance and current conservation the hadronic tensor can be reduced to only two functions related to the structure of the proton. The double differential DIS cross section can then be written as

$$\frac{d^2\sigma }{dxdQ^2}=\frac{2\pi \alpha ^2}{xQ^4}(Y_+F_2(x,Q^2)y^2F_L(x,Q^2))Y_+=1+(1y)^2.$$
(4)
One can consider the $`ep`$ scattering process as the interaction of a flux of virtual photons  with the proton. The DIS cross section can then be written as

$$\frac{d^2\sigma }{dxdQ^2}=\mathrm{\Gamma }(y)(\sigma _T+ϵ(y)\sigma _L),$$
(5)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(y)=Y_+\alpha /(2\pi Q^2x)`$ stands for the flux factor, $`ϵ(y)=2(1y)/Y_+`$ defines the photon polarization and $`\sigma _T,\sigma _L`$ correspond to the cross sections of the interaction of transverse and longitudinally polarized photons, respectively. These cross sections are related to the structure functions as

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill F_2(x,Q^2)=\frac{Q^2}{4\pi ^2\alpha }(\sigma _T(x,Q^2)+\sigma _L(x,Q^2))F_L(x,Q^2)=\frac{Q^2}{4\pi ^2\alpha }\sigma _L(x,Q^2).& \end{array}$$
(6)
The longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ is directly proportional to $`\sigma _L(x,Q^2)`$. Due to the positivity of the cross sections, the two structure functions $`F_2`$ and $`F_L`$ obey the relation

$$0F_LF_2.$$
(7)
The “reduced” cross section is defined as

$$\sigma _rF_2(x,Q^2)\frac{y^2}{Y_+}F_L(x,Q^2).$$
(8)
Since the contribution of the longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ to the cross section can be sizeable only at large values of $`y`$, in a large kinematic range the relation $`\sigma _rF_2`$ holds to a very good approximation.

In the Quark Parton Model (QPM)  the structure function $`F_2`$ can be expressed as a sum of the quark-antiquark momentum distributions $`xq_i(x)`$ weighted with the square of the quark electric charges $`e_i`$

$$F_2(x)=\underset{i}{}e_i^2x(q_i(x)+\overline{q}_i(x)).$$
(9)
For spin 1/2 partons QPM also predicts $`\sigma _L=0`$, which leads to the so-called Callan-Gross relation : $`F_L(x)=0`$.

The naive QPM has to be modified in QCD as quarks interact through gluons, and can radiate gluons. Radiated gluons in turn can split into quark-antiquark pairs (“sea quarks”) or gluons. The gluon radiation results in a transverse momentum component of the quarks. Consequently, quarks can also couple to longitudinally polarized photons and the Callan-Gross relation is no longer satisfied exactly. Thus, in QCD the longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ is non-zero. Due to its origin, $`F_L`$ is directly dependent on the gluon distribution in the proton and therefore the measurement of $`F_L`$ provides a sensitive test of perturbative QCD.

## 3 Experimental procedure

### 3.1 Kinematic reconstruction

At HERA 27.5 GeV positrons collided with 820 GeV protons. For the last two years the proton beam energy was increased to 920 GeV, and consequently the center of mass energy from 300 to 319 GeV.

The kinematic variables $`y`$ (or $`x`$) and $`Q^2`$ can be reconstructed either from the energy and the polar angle of the scattered positron, or from the energy and the polar angle of the hadronic final state, or using a combination of these energies and polar angles. The overconstrained kinematics allows cross checks, as well as the choice of the method with the best experimental precision for a given kinematic range.

In the “electron method” the event kinematics is reconstructed using the energy $`E_e^{}`$ and the polar angle $`\theta _e`$ of the scattered positron

$$Q_e^2=\frac{E_e^2sin^2\theta _e}{1y_e}y_e=1\frac{E_e^{}}{E_e}sin^2(\theta _e/2).$$
(10)
While the electron method is accurate at large values of $`y`$, corresponding to low energies $`E_e^{}`$, the resolution rapidly degrades for $`y_e0`$ where $`E_e^{}`$ approaches the positron beam energy $`E_e`$. The kinematic variables at low $`y`$ are reconstructed using also information from the hadronic final state. The inelasticity $`y`$ can also be determined as

$$y_h=\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_i(E_ip_{z,i})}{2E_e}=\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_h}{2E_e},$$
(11)
where $`E_i`$ and $`p_{z,i}`$ are energy and longitudinal momentum components of the particle $`i`$ in the hadronic final state. In the “$`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ method”  $`Q^2`$ and $`y`$ are reconstructed as

$$Q_\mathrm{\Sigma }^2=\frac{E_e^2sin^2\theta _e}{1y_\mathrm{\Sigma }}y_\mathrm{\Sigma }=\frac{y_h}{1+y_hy_e}=\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_h}{\mathrm{\Sigma }_h+E_e^{}(1cos\theta _e)}.$$
(12)
The $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ method has good resolution also at low $`y`$, and is insensitive to the initial state radiation. The cross section is extracted using a combination of the electron method and the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ method.

### 3.2 H1 detector

The H1 detector  combines tracking in a solenoidal magnetic field of 1.15 T with nearly hermetic calorimetry to investigate high energy $`ep`$ interactions at HERA. For polar angles $`\theta _e>153^o`$ the scattered positron energy $`E_e^{}`$ is measured in the backward electromagnetic lead-fibre scintillator calorimeter (SPACAL)  which has an integrated timing function to veto proton beam induced background interactions. Here $`\theta `$ is defined with respect to the proton beam direction. Identification of the scattered positron is improved and the polar angle measured with a backward drift chamber (BDC), situated in front of the SPACAL, and with the new backward silicon detector (BST) . The BST consists of four detector planes, arranged perpendicular to the beam axis and equipped with 16 wedge shaped, double metal silicon strip detectors. The BST measures the polar angle of the crossing tracks with an internal resolution of about 0.2 mrad for $`\theta `$ between 172o and 177o. For polar angle $`4^o<\theta <154^o`$ the scatterd positron is measured in the LAr calorimeter.

The hadronic final state is reconstructed using the Liquid Argon (LAr) calorimeter, tracking detectors and the SPACAL. The interaction vertex is determined with the central drift chambers, the jet chamber CJC and two layers of $`z`$ drift chambers, mostly using the hadronic final state particles. This vertex determination is complemented by the inner proportional chamber CIP , for $`167^o<\theta _e<171^o`$, and by BST, for $`171^o<\theta _e<176.5^o`$.

The luminosity is determined with a precision of 1.5% using the small-angle bremsstrahlung process $`epep\gamma `$ . The final state photon and positron, scattered at very low $`Q^2`$, can be detected in calorimeters (“photon and electron taggers”) which are situated close to the beam pipe at distances of 103 m and 33 m from the interaction point in the positron beam direction.

### 3.3 Event selection and simulation

The event selection criteria are slightly different in the low $`Q^2`$ and in the high $`Q^2`$ ranges. In the low $`Q^2`$ range the scattered positron is identified in the SPACAL. In the high $`Q^2`$ range the positron is seen in the LAr calorimeter as that cluster of maximum transverse energy, for which the requirements on the cluster shape are satisfied. The difference is then mainly in the cluster definition and in the track validation. In the LAr cluster-track validation we use CJC tracks for $`\theta >35^o`$, in the SPACAL cluster case we use CJC, BDC and BST tracks, where appropriate.

Longitudinal momentum conservation in neutral current DIS events gives the constraint that $`Ep_z`$, summed over the final state particles, is about equal to $`2E_e`$. In events with initial state radiation the radiative photon may carry a significant fraction of the $`Ep_z`$ sum. Such events are thus suppressed by requiring $`Ep_z>`$ 35 GeV.

Distributions of the selected events were compared with simulations of deep inelastic scattering, photoproduction and Compton scattering. The simulated Monte Carlo events were submitted to the same reconstruction and analysis chain as the real data. The track detection efficiencies were determined from the data utilizing the redundancy of the central and backward tracking detector system. Agreement at the few per cent level was reached between experiment and simulation for the large set of technical and physics distributions studied.

## 4 The longitudinal structure function $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$

### 4.1 Photoproduction background estimate

For the measurement of the longitudinal structure function it is essential to reach the highest possible values of $`y`$. This requires the identification of scattered positrons with energies down to only a few GeV as well as the efficient rejection of photoproduction background events in which low energy deposits in the SPACAL can mimic the signature of a deep inelastically scattered positron.

The main part of the background is due to photons from $`\pi ^o\gamma \gamma `$ decays. In the low $`Q^2`$ region a sizeable fraction of this background can be removed by requiring a track signal in the BST. The remaining background is due to photon conversion and showering in the passive material in front of the detectors, possible overlap of $`\pi ^o`$ decays with charged tracks, and misidentified charged pions. It is subtracted bin by bin using the PHOJET  MC simulation. The photoproduction background can be estimated experimentally using tagged events in which the scattered positron is detected in the electron tagger.

At $`Q^2`$ above 10 GeV2, for $`y<0.75`$ the photoproduction background is subtracted using the PHOJET simulation. For $`y`$ values above 0.75 experimental information is used by employing the charge assignment of central tracks associated with SPACAL energy clusters. This allows the energy range to be extended down to $`E_e^{}=`$3 GeV, corresponding to $`y0.89`$. The candidates with negative charge are taken to represent the background in the positron data sample. This statistical subtraction procedure requires the study of any process which may cause a charge asymmetry. Suchs asymmetry is e.g. due to the antiproton interaction cross section exceeding that for proton interactions at low energies . Annihilation leads to larger energy deposits in SPACAL than proton interactions which introduces an asymmetry for low energies above a given threshold. This charge asymmetry can be measured using tagged photoproduction events which fulfill the DIS event selection criteria and is taken into account in the measurement of the positron DIS cross section at high $`y`$.

As already stressed above, the detailed understanding of the data down to 3 GeV scattered positron energy is essential for the measurement of the DIS cross sections at high $`y`$, enabling the determination of $`F_L`$. Control plots illustrating the cross section measurements at high $`y`$ are shown in Figures 2 and 3.

### 4.2 Cross section at large $`y`$

The cross section is determined by converting the measured number of events, after background subtraction, in bin averaged cross sections using acceptance calculations from the Monte Carlo sample. The precision for this measurement is dominated by systematic uncertainties of typically 3%, extending to about 7% at the edges of the covered $`y`$ range.

The measured reduced cross section $`\sigma _r`$ is shown in Figures 4 and 5 for two $`e^+p`$ data samples, taken in 1996/97 and 1999 with 820 GeV and 920 GeV proton beam energy, respectively. The cross section rises towards low $`x`$, turning over at $`x`$ values corresponding to $`y`$0.6. This behaviour, for $`Q^2`$ 3.5 GeV2, is well described by the NLO QCD fit  to the 820 GeV data. Note that this fit used H1 data with a minimum $`Q_{min}^2`$ = 3.5 GeV2. The extrapolation of the fit to $`Q^2`$ values lower than 2.5 GeV2 falls below the measured data.

### 4.3 Determination of $`F_L`$

The extraction of the longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ is based on the reduced cross section (8), which depends on $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$ and $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$. The effect of $`F_L`$ is enhanced with $`y^2`$, and the reduced cross section $`\sigma _r`$ tends to $`F_2F_L`$ as $`y1`$. For the extraction of the longitudinal structure function from the inclusive cross section the data at large $`y`$ are very important. An important advantage of HERA, compared to fixed target DIS lepton-nucleon experiments, is the wide range of $`y`$ values covered. This allows the behaviour of $`F_2`$ at low $`y`$ to be determined reliably and to be extrapolated into the region of high $`y`$.

Two methods are used by H1 to perform the extraction of the longitudinal structure function:

For $`Q^2>`$ 10 GeV2 the “extrapolation method”, introduced in , is used. A NLO DGLAP QCD fit is used to extrapolate $`F_2`$ into the high $`y`$ region. This fit uses only H1 data in the restricted kinematic range $`y<0.35`$ and $`Q^23.5`$ GeV2. In Figure 4 the fit is compared with the measured cross section for $`Q^2`$ bins above 10 GeV2, accessing the high $`y`$ region. The difference between the measured $`\sigma _r`$ and the extrapolated $`F_2`$ is used to determined $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$. Systematic errors, which are common to the lower $`y`$ and the larger $`y`$ region, are considered in the fit as described in .

At low $`Q^2<`$ 10 GeV2, the behaviour of $`F_2`$ as a function of $`\mathrm{ln}y`$ is used in a new extraction method . This so called “ derivative method” is based on the cross section derivative $`(\sigma _r/\mathrm{ln}y)_{Q^2}`$.

The derivative of the reduced cross section, taken at fixed $`Q^2`$, is given by

$$\left(\frac{\sigma _r}{\mathrm{ln}y}\right)_{Q^2}=\left(\frac{F_2}{\mathrm{ln}y}\right)_{Q^2}F_L2y^2\frac{2y}{Y_+^2}\frac{F_L}{\mathrm{ln}y}\frac{y^2}{Y_+}.$$
(13)
For $`y1`$ the cross section derivative tends to the limit $`(F_2/\mathrm{ln}y)_{Q^2}2F_L`$, neglecting the contribution from the derivative of $`F_L`$. At largest $`y`$ the $`F_L`$ contribution dominates the derivative of the reduced cross section $`\sigma _r`$. This is in contrast to the influence of $`F_L`$ on $`\sigma _r`$ which is dominated by the contribution of $`F_2`$ for all $`y`$. A further advantage of the derivative method is that it can be applied down to very low $`Q^2`$ 1 GeV2 where a QCD description of $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$ is complicated due to higher order and possible non-perturbative corrections. The cross section derivatives are shown in Figure 6 as function of $`y`$. This measurement of $`\sigma _r/\mathrm{ln}y`$ was used to determine the longitudinal structure function. The assumption has been made that the derivative $`F_2/\mathrm{ln}y`$ is a linear function of $`\mathrm{ln}y`$ up to large $`y`$. In each $`Q^2`$ bin straight line fits were made to the derivative data for $`y<`$ 0.3. The line fits describe the data very well and the extrapolation of the straight line was taken to represent the contribution of $`F_2`$ at high $`y`$. The extrapolations were compared with the values obtained from QCD and good agreement was found. The uncertainties of the straight line extrapolation were included into the systematic errors of the measurement. The small contribution of $`F_L/\mathrm{ln}y`$ to the derivative was corrected for by using NLO QCD and the size of the full correction was added to the overall error of the measured $`F_L`$.

### 4.4 Results

The longitudinal structure function $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ determined by the derivative method is shown in Figure 7. The data extend into the lower $`x`$ range and are consistent with previous H1 results. The curves represent NLO QCD calculations of $`F_L`$ based on a fit to the 1996/97 data for $`y<`$ 0.35, i.e. in a region where $`F_2`$ can be measured practically independently of $`F_L`$.

In Figure 8 the determination of $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ at high $`Q^2`$ is shown for $`e^+p`$ and $`e^{}p`$ data sets. The extrapolation method is used. Both data sets are consistent and in agreement with the QCD fit. The possible extreme values for $`F_L`$ ($`F_L=0`$ and $`F_L=F_2`$) are shown for comparison.

An overview of all current H1 data on $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$, from $`Q^2`$ = 2.2 GeV2 to 700 GeV2 is given in Figure 9. The data extend the knowledge of the longitudinal structure function into the region of low $`x`$, much beyond the region of fixed target lepton-proton scattering experiments. The increase of $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ towards low $`x`$ is consistent with the NLO QCD calculation, reflecting the rise of the gluon momentum distribution in this region. The values of $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ are thus severely constrained by the present data, unless there are deviations from the assumed extrapolation of $`F_2`$ into the region of large $`y`$ corresponding to the smallest $`x`$. A measurement of the $`x`$ dependence of $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$, independent of assumptions about the behaviour of $`F_2`$, can be performed with a variation of the proton beam energy at HERA .

A NLO QCD fit has also been performed by the ZEUS collaboration . Within this fit $`F_L`$ was calculated, and found to be consistent with the H1 $`F_L`$ data.

Several theoretical models were compared to the H1 data. Predictions based on the saturation model  are shown in Figure 10 together with the H1 $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ data points. At large $`x`$ and $`Q^2`$ values data are well described by the model, while at low $`x`$ and low $`Q^2`$ higher twist contributions are clearly needed to describe the $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ distribution.

In Figure 11 the H1 data are compared to the Donnachie-Dosch model  predictions. This model is based on a dipole picture in which large dipoles couple to a soft pomeron and small dipoles couple to a hard pomeron. The parameters are fixed by proton-proton scattering data and by the measured proton structure function $`F_2(x,Q^2)`$. This simple approach is able to describe the $`F_L`$ data well. One can see that with increasing $`Q^2`$ the importance of the hard pomeron is increasing, and it is dominating at the high $`Q^2`$ values.

## 5 Summary

New results on the extraction of the longitudinal structure function $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ are presented for a wide $`Q^2`$ range from 2.2 GeV2 to 700 GeV2 and for much lower $`x`$ values ($`310^5x`$), compared to the fixed target experiments. The extraction results are possible due to the improved detectors in the H1 backward region, used for the identification and measurement of the scattered positrons at low $`Q^2`$ and high $`y`$.

Two different methods are used to determine $`F_L`$. The partial derivative of the reduced cross section, $`(\sigma _r/\mathrm{ln}y)_{Q^2}`$, is used to extract $`F_L`$ at low $`Q^2<`$ 10 GeV2. At $`Q^2>`$ 10 GeV2 the difference between the measured reduced cross section $`\sigma _r`$ and $`F_2`$, calculated from an extrapolation of a NLO QCD fit to low $`y`$ data, is used for the $`F_L`$ determination. Thus the longitudinal structure function $`F_L`$ at low $`x`$ is determined more precisely than hitherto and in a larger $`Q^2`$ range.

The observed rise of $`F_L(x,Q^2)`$ towards low $`x`$ is consistent with the NLO QCD calculations and reflects the rise of the gluon momentum distributions in this kinematical region.

The data are also well described by calculations based on a colour dipole model and on a combination of the colour dipole with a two pomeron model.

## Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the organizers for the excellent organization and for creating an inspiring conference atmosphere. The results presented here are due to the common efforts and the success of the HERA machine group and of the H1 Collaboration and it is a pleasure for me to thank all their members. Special thanks to J. Dainton, D. Eckstein, J. Gayler, M. Klein, K. Long, J. Olsson, and P. Schleper for useful discussions, comments and help in preparing the talk.

## References


text:
# Multi-wavelength behaviour of III Zw2

## 1 Introduction

III Zw2 (PG 0007+106, Mrk 1501) is a Seyfert I galaxy (Arp 1968; Khachikian & Weedman 1974; Osterbrock 1977) with z = 0.089 (de Robertis 1985). Superluminal motion of radio emitting plasma has been observed recently in the source, and this is the first detection of its kind in a spiral galaxy (Brunthaler et al. 2000). The source has long been known to show large-amplitude flux variations in the radio (Wright et al. 1977; Schnopper et al. 1978; Landau et al. 1980; Aller et al. 1985; Falcke et al. 1999) and the optical (Lloyd 1984; Clements et al. 1995). Variations of smaller amplitude (of less than 50 $`\%`$), have also been detected in the IR (Lebofsky & Rieke 1980; Sembay, Hanson & Coe 1987) and the UV (Chapman, Geller & Huchra 1985). The X-ray temporal behaviour is less well studied, but comparison of observations at different epochs hints that the X-ray flux might vary substantially. The X-ray spectra of III Zw2, obtained by SAS-3 (Schnopper et al. 1978), Ariel VI (Hall et al. 1981) and Einstein SSS (Petre et al. 1984), can be described by a powerlaw of photon indices $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.31.7`$, with neutral absorption consistent with that of the Galactic column.

## 2 X-ray spectrum

We observed III Zw2 with XMM-Newton (Jansen et al. 2001) on 2000 July 7. (Details of the observations and data analysis will be presented elsewhere.) Figure. 1 shows the spectra (in the observer frame) from the two EPIC CCD instruments aboard the satellite (MOS spectra in the left panel and PN spectrum in the right panel). We fit the spectra initially with a powerlaw and a fixed galactic column of $`N_\mathrm{H}=5.72\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2. The MOS spectra give a photon index of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.73\pm 0.01`$, and a similar value is obtained for the PN spectrum, which is consistent with previous observations. Excess emission, however, remains at energies $`57`$ keV. Adding a Gaussian (at E = 6.76 $`\pm 0.22`$ keV in the rest frame of the source) to the powerlaw improves the fit to the MOS data significantly (with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2`$= 45.8 for 3 parameters), suggesting the presence of a broad iron line (or perhaps blended iron lines), with an EW $``$ 1.5 keV. There is no evidence for a soft X-ray excess. The absorption can be explained by the line-of-sight Galactic absorption, consistent with the finding of previous observations (Hall et al. 1981; Petre et al. 1984; Kaastra & de Korte 1988).

## 3 Multi-wavelength variability

Figure. 2 shows the multi-wavelength light curves of III Zw2 from 1975 to 2000. The X-ray data, with the exception of the XMM observation, are from the HEASARC archives. Non-imaging X-ray observations, with the exception of the SAS-3 flux of Aug 1977 (Schnopper et al. 1978), have been excluded from our analysis due to the presence of a bright X-ray source approximately 12 arc minutes from III Zw2. This source may have been responsible for the contamination of the EXOSAT ME flux measurements of III Zw2 in 1985 (see Tagliaferri et al. 1988). As the spectral photon indices are similar in the XMM observation and in previous X-ray observations (e.g. Hall et al. 1981; Petre et al. 1984), we have used the powerlaw index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.7`$ (deduced from the XMM EPIC data, §2) to determine the $`12`$ keV flux for all observations. The optical light curve is a combination of CCD data of the La Palma archives and various photographic monitoring observations (Lloyd 1984; Clements et al. 1995). The UV data are from the IUE archives (see also Chapman et al. 1985), the IR data are compiled from various publications (Neugebauer et al. 1979; Lebofsky & Rieke 1980; Condon et al. 1981; Hyland & Allen 1982; McAlary et al. 1983; Edelson & Malkan 1987; Sembay, Hanson & Coe 1987), and the radio data at 22 GHz are from Metsähovi (H. Terasranta, private communication) and at 8 GHz are from Michigan 26m (M. F. Aller, private communication).

The radio and optical wavelengths are better monitored (with optical up to 1990) than the other wavelengths. The source shows 10- and 20-fold variations in X-rays and in radio respectively over time-scales of years. The amplitude of variations is relatively smaller in optical and IR. The optical and X-ray observations seem to be correlated, but the correlation is less certain between other wavelengths. Comparison of flares at the optical and radio wavelengths indicate the possibility that the 8-Ghz radio flux peaks later than the optical flux (Clements et al. 1995). However, the sampling of the data is not good enough to quantify the exact time lead/lag between flares at other wavelengths.

## 4 Spectral energy distribution

Figure. 3 shows the spectral energy distribution of III Zw2, incorporating data from 1975 to 2001. The lack of spread in data in the frequency range $`10^{11}10^{14}`$ Hz is probably due to insufficient sampling in that region. The spectrum peaks at the optical/IR wavelengths, with no evidence for an excess in UV and soft X-rays. The absence of a thermal blackbody component in the broad-band spectrum casts doubts on a model in which a substantial proportion of UV/X-rays are emitted from an optically thick accretion disk (cf. Kaastra & de Korte 1988). The large-amplitude flare observed in all wavelengths around 1980 suggests the possibility that the emission from X-rays to radio has a common origin. One possibility is that the broad-band emission from 109-1014 Hz is due to synchrotron radiation from a cloud of relativistic electrons. The synchrotron emission would be self-absorbed in the radio/millimeter region and would have a high-energy cutoff at wavelengths shortward of the optical.

The X-rays are, however unlikely to be direct synchrotron emission. From the coincidence of X-ray flares with those in the other wavelengths (observed in the eighties, especially in optical), we interpret the X-rays as Compton up-scattered emission, by high energy relativistic electrons that give rise to radio and optical/IR synchrotron radiation. High time resolution, multi-wavelength polarization observations are required to verify whether or not the broad-band radio and optical radiation is of synchrotron origin.

## Acknowledgments

We thank H. Terasranta and M. F. Aller for the 22-GHz and 8-GHz radio data respectively. NJS acknowledges receipt of a PPARC studentship.

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Jansen, F., et al. 2001, A&A, 365, L1

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text:
# Collective modes in the d-density wave state of the cuprates

## Abstract

Using a functional integral formulation, we analyze the collective modes in the $`d`$-density wave state. Since only discrete symmetries are broken, no massless phase mode is present. The only relevant fluctuation is the amplitude fluctuation of the order parameter, which is treated at the gaussian level above the long range order. These fluctuations give rise to a massive mode, the analog of the $`U(1)`$ Higgs, or amplitude mode at wave-vector $`(\pi ,\pi )`$. Neutrons in inelastic neutron scattering experiments couple to this mode via the orbital currents and are likely to produce direct measurements of this amplitude boson.

Much attention has recently been paid to a discrete symmetry broken state, the $`d`$-density wave (DDW), as a possible candidate for the anomalous normal state of the underdoped cuprate superconductors. CLMN ; CK  Below the pseudogap temperature scale, $`T^{}`$, the system is conjectured to condense into the DDW state, which is responsible for much of the observed physics of the pseudogap phase. Further down in temperature, below the superconducting transition temperature $`T_c`$, the DDW and the $`d`$-wave superconductor (DSC) are expected to coexist and compete for the same regions on the Fermi surface. In a range of the hole-doping concentration, $`x`$, suitable for making up the underdoped systems, the competition between the two orders consistently explains the unique variation of the superconducting order parameter with doping. CLMN

The DDW state, under various names and guises, appeared in the literature on many occasions.HR ; Schulz ; N1 ; N2 ; Kotliar ; MA ; Chetan ; Patrick  More elaborate treatments of some of the properties of the system, most relevant to experiments on the high-$`T_c`$ superconductors, were discussed recently. Hsu ; Sumanta1 ; Sumanta2 ; Sudip  However, these authors, for the most part, treated the system in the framework of Hartree-Fock mean field theory, one consequence of which was that, all information about the collective modes - and experimental implications thereof - remained uninvestigated. In this paper, we intend to fill this gap by elucidating the structure of the collective modes and pointing out how they can actually be detected in experiments.

The DDW state has plaquette-currents, alternating clockwise-anticlockwise in the neighboring plaquettes of an underlying square lattice. Thus, it gives rise to tiny orbital moments. The relevant order-parameter characterizing the $`d`$-density wave is a paricle-hole spin-singlet pair, condensing at an wavevector $`𝐐=(\pi ,\pi )`$. The bipartite square lattice band-structure is equivalent under the transformation $`𝐐𝐐`$ and this forces the order parameter to be imaginary, Chetan  a fact which is ultimately responsible for the breaking of the time-reversal symmetry and the resulting spontaneous bond-currents. The phase of the order parameter being fixed by the specific symmetries it breaks, the only natural collective excitation one expects is the amplitude fluctuation of the order-parameter, which will give rise to a finite frequency mode, the amplitude mode, centered at $`𝐐`$. We will explicitly calculate the frequency to be $`2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$ is the DDW single particle gap at $`(\pi ,0)`$, which can be estimated from photo-emission experiments above $`T_c`$. We will also show how inelastic neutron scattering, coupling to the bond-currents, should directly reveal this mode. In fact, well-defined, but damped features at wave-vector $`𝐐`$ and energy comparable to $`2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$ have indeed been seen above $`T_c`$ in inelastic neutron scattering of the cuprates.FongMook  These damped peaks are in sharp contrast to the resonant peak below $`T_c`$, which occurs at the same wave-vector and comparable energy, but is resolution-limited in frequency. This opens up a tantalizing possibility that the amplitude mode of the DDW state, which is the analog of the Higgs mode of $`U(1)`$ gauge theory, may actually have already been observed in experiments. Clearly, the issue needs further investigation.

In order to analyze the collective modes, let us start with the Hamiltonian in momentum space,

$$H=\underset{𝐤,\sigma }{}(ϵ_𝐤\mu )c_{𝐤\sigma }^{}c_{𝐤\sigma }\underset{𝐤,𝐤^{},𝐪,\alpha ,\beta }{}g_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐤}^{}}^𝐪c_{𝐤+𝐪\alpha }^{}c_{𝐤\alpha }c_{𝐤^{}\beta }^{}c_{𝐤^{}+𝐪\beta },$$
(1)
where $`c_{𝐤\sigma }^{}`$ creates a particle with momentum $`𝐤`$ and spin $`\sigma `$, $`ϵ_𝐤`$ is the free electron band structure $`2t(\mathrm{cos}k_x+\mathrm{cos}k_y)`$, $`\mu `$ is the chemical potential, and $`g_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐤}^{}}^𝐪`$ is the interaction matrix element. A more realistic band structure would include the effect of a next-neighbor hopping $`t^{}`$. A small $`t^{}`$ does not change our results qualitatively, so we ignore it for simplicity. In the half filled limit, $`\mu =0`$; it takes non-zero negative values when holes are doped into the system. In this paper we will work in units where the lattice constant is unity and will also set $`\mathrm{}=c=k_B=1`$.

The particle-hole spin-singlet $`d`$-density wave order parameter is anisotropic in $`k`$-space,

$$c_{𝐤,\alpha }^{}c_{𝐤+𝐐,\beta }=i\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_𝐐}{2}f_𝐤\delta _{\alpha \beta },$$
(2)
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_𝐐`$ is the magnitude of the order parameter, and $`f_𝐤=(\mathrm{cos}k_x\mathrm{cos}k_y)`$. So, we will take the effective part of the full interaction factorizable as

$$g_{\mathrm{𝐤𝐤}^{}}^𝐪=f_𝐤f_𝐤^{}g.$$
(3)
This would enable us to always maintain the $`d_{x^2y^2}`$-wave symmetry of the order parameter and discuss long wavelength fluctuations around it. For a discussion of the DDW state, we will ignore the other parts of the interaction and the fluctuations of other symmetries.

The Hamiltonian now takes the form

$$H=\underset{𝐤,\sigma }{}(ϵ_𝐤\mu )c_{𝐤\sigma }^{}c_{𝐤\sigma }g^1\underset{𝐪}{}\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}^{}(𝐪)\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝐪),$$
(4)
where,

$$\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝐪)=g\underset{𝐤,\alpha }{}f_𝐤c_{𝐤\alpha }^{}c_{𝐤+𝐪\alpha }.$$
(5)
Note, for $`𝐪=𝐐`$, a commensurate wave-vector, $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝐐)`$ is antihermitian,Chetan  and is, in operator form, the DDW gap parameter.

In functional integral form, the partition function is

$$Z=𝒩𝒟c^+𝒟ce^{S_0},$$
(6)
where

$$S_0_0^\beta 𝑑\tau \left(\underset{𝐤\sigma }{}(_\tau +ϵ_𝐤\mu )c_{𝐤\sigma }^{}c_{𝐤\sigma }g^1\underset{𝐪}{}\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}^{}(𝐪)\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝐪)\right),$$
(7)
and $`𝒩`$ is a normalization constant. By introducing an auxilliary boson field $`\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐪`$ through the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation, the interaction term is made quadratic in the Fermion fields. In frequency space, the new action is given by

$$S_0^{}\underset{𝐤,\omega }{}\frac{\beta }{g}\mathrm{\Delta }^{}(𝐤,\omega )\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤,\omega )+\underset{𝐤_1𝐤_2\omega _1\omega _2}{}\mathrm{\Psi }_{𝐤_1\omega _1}^{}M_{\omega _1,\omega _2}^{𝐤_1,𝐤_2}\mathrm{\Psi }_{𝐤_2\omega _2},$$
(8)
where $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{𝐤\omega }^{}`$ is a two-component vector, $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{𝐤\omega }^{}=(c_{𝐤\omega }^{},c_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{})`$, and $`M`$ is a 2$`\times `$2 matrix given by,

$$M_{\omega _1,\omega _2}^{𝐤_1,𝐤_2}\beta \delta _{𝐤_1,𝐤_2}\delta _{\omega _1,\omega _2}[(i\omega _2\mu )I+ϵ_{𝐤_2}\sigma _3]\frac{\beta }{2}[f_{𝐤_1}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤_2+𝐐𝐤_1,\omega _2\omega _1}^{}\sigma ^++f_{𝐤_2}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤_1+𝐐𝐤_2,\omega _1\omega _2}\sigma ^{}],$$
(9)
where the $`\sigma `$’s are the Pauli matrices acting in the space of $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{𝐤\omega }^{}`$, and, $`\sigma ^\pm =\sigma _1\pm i\sigma _2`$.

In Eq. 8, the full Brillouin zone has been folded to the magnetic, or reduced Brillouin zone (RBZ), to facilitate the discussion of the DDW state; the momentum integrations are restricted to the RBZ, and a spin-sum over the Fermionic variables is implied. After integrating out the Fermion fields, the partition function is given by,

$$Z=𝒩^{}\underset{𝐤,\omega }{}d\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤,\omega }^{}d\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤,\omega }e^S,$$
(10)
where,

$$S\underset{𝐤,\omega }{}\frac{\beta }{g}\mathrm{\Delta }^{}(𝐤,\omega )\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤,\omega )2\mathrm{ln}detM,$$
(11)
and $`𝒩^{}`$ is now a different normalization constant. The factor of two in the second term of $`S`$ comes from the spin-summation. By taking $`S/\mathrm{\Delta }^{}(𝐤,\omega )=0`$ and $`S/\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤,\omega )=0`$, we find the saddle point,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤,\omega )=0,\text{for}𝐤𝐐,\text{or}\omega 0,$$
(12)
and,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐐,0)=\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐=g\underset{𝐤}{}f_𝐤^2\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐}{E_𝐤}\right)\mathrm{\Theta }(\mu +E_𝐤).$$
(13)
Here, $`E_𝐤\sqrt{ϵ_𝐤^2+f_𝐤^2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|^2}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(x)`$ is a unit step function. Equation 13 is the $`d`$-density wave mean-field gap equation. Notice, with this definition of $`E_𝐤`$, the DDW single-particle gap at $`(\pi ,0)`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}=2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|`$.

As $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝐐,0)`$ is antihermitian, the gap parameter $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐐,0)`$ must be pure imaginary. Hence, though $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐐,0)=\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐e^{i\theta }`$ satisfies the gap equation equally well, the phase of the order parameter is locked to $`\pm \frac{\pi }{2}`$.Chetan  Thus, there are no massless phase modes in the long-wavelength collective fluctuations of the order parameter. Put another way, since the order parameter breaks only discrete symmetries, there are no Goldstone modes in the system. For an incommensurate version of the DDW state, where the ordering wave-vector is not commensurate with the lattice, there is a collective massless mode, the sliding density wave mode. But this mode will be pinned by the impurities as well, in second order of the impurity potential.

For an analysis of the amplitude mode, the task at hand is to expand the action functional $`S`$ around the $`d`$-density wave saddle point. By doing so, we will take account of fluctuations of the order parameter amplitude in the plaquettes, implying fluctuations in the bond-currents. This will impose fluctuating non-zero values for $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤,\omega )`$, at wave-vectors $`𝐤𝐐`$, and frequencies $`\omega 0`$. Expanding $`S`$ around the saddle point, to the second order in $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$,

$$\delta S=\underset{𝐤,\omega }{\overset{}{}}(A_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }+A_{𝐤𝐐,\omega }\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }+B_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }(\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}+\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega })),$$
(14)
where the prime over the summation indicates exclusion of the points $`(𝐤=0)`$ and $`(\omega =0)`$. $`A`$ and $`B`$ are given by,

$`A_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{2g}}+{\displaystyle \underset{𝐤^{},\omega ^{}}{}}f_𝐤^{}^2{\displaystyle \frac{(i\omega ^{}\mu ϵ_𝐤^{})[i(\omega ^{}+\omega )\mu +ϵ_{𝐤^{}+𝐤}]}{[(i\omega ^{}+\mu )^2E_𝐤^{}^2][(i(\omega ^{}+\omega )+\mu )^2E_{𝐤^{}+𝐤}^2]}}`$ (15)
$`B_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{𝐤^{},\omega ^{}}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{f_𝐤^{}^2f_{𝐤^{}+𝐤}^2\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐^2}{[(i\omega ^{}+\mu )^2E_𝐤^{}^2][(i(\omega ^{}+\omega )+\mu )^2E_{𝐤^{}+𝐤}^2]}}`$ (16)
Noting that $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ is the Fourier component of a pure imaginary field, we have the property,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}=\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }.$$
(17)
Using this, and also the fact that $`\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐^2=|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|^2`$ in the definition of $`B_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$, we collapse Eq. 14 onto,

$`\delta S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{𝐤,\omega }{\overset{}{}}}(A_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }+A_{𝐤𝐐,\omega }+2\stackrel{~}{B}_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega })`$ (18)
$`\times `$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }^{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega },`$
where $`\stackrel{~}{B}_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ is $`B_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐`$ replaced by $`|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|`$ in the numerator.

The dispersion for the collective mode can be read off by equating the fluctuaion kernel to zero,popov

$$A_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }+A_{𝐤𝐐,\omega }+2\stackrel{~}{B}_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }=0.$$
(19)
In the case of a superconductor, there is no symmetry property, such as Eq. 17, for the fluctuation fields. Gaussian fluctuations around the superconducting saddle point has a form very similar to Eq. 14,Lan  and the collective modes are given by the determinantal equation, $`A_{𝐤,\omega }^{}A_{𝐤,\omega }^{}B_{𝐤,\omega }^{}B_{𝐤,\omega }^{}=0`$. Using the properties, $`A_{𝐤,\omega }^{}=A_{𝐤,\omega }^{}`$ and $`B_{𝐤,\omega }^{}=B_{𝐤,\omega }^{}`$,Lan  which are specific to a superconductor, this splitts up into two equations, $`A^{}(𝐤,\omega )B^{}(𝐤,\omega )=0`$, and $`A^{}(𝐤,\omega )+B^{}(𝐤,\omega )=0`$. These are precisely the two equations giving the phase and the amplitude mode dispersions, respectively. The phase mode is massless, and the massive amplitude mode is centered at $`𝐪=(0,0)`$. In the case of DDW, because of the symmetry property of the fluctuation fields which leaves the order parameter purely imaginary, one of the equations drops out, and, we are left with just one equation, that for the amplitude mode.

Coming back to Eq. 19, in the case of DDW, writing

$$\frac{\beta }{g}=2\underset{𝐤^{},\omega ^{}}{}\frac{f_𝐤^{}^2}{(i\omega ^{}+\mu )^2E_𝐤^{}^2}$$
(20)
following the gap equation, in the limit $`𝐤=0`$, the frequency $`\omega `$ for the amplitude mode is given by,

$$\underset{𝐤^{},\omega ^{}}{}f_𝐤^{}^2\frac{\omega ^2+4f_𝐤^{}^2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|^28i\omega ^{}\mu }{[(i\omega ^{}+\mu )^2E_𝐤^{}^2][(i(\omega ^{}+\omega )+\mu )^2E_𝐤^{}^2]}=0.$$
(21)
After the internal frequency summation, the last equation, at zero temperature, reduces to,

$$\underset{𝐤^{}}{}\frac{f_𝐤^{}^2}{E_𝐤^{}}\mathrm{\Theta }(\mu +E_𝐤^{})\frac{\omega ^2+4f_𝐤^{}^2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|^2+8\mu ^2}{(\omega ^2+4E_𝐤^{}^2)}=0.$$
(22)
Let us first analyze the mode-frequencies for the simpler case of an $`s`$-wave density wave, the charge density wave (CDW). In this case, $`f_𝐤=1`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐=\mathrm{\Delta }`$, a real quantity. Even if the order parameter is real, the last equation, with the substitution of $`f_𝐤`$ by $`1`$, still gives the frequencies of the amplitude mode. This is because, for a real order parameter, Eq. 17 holds with a $`+`$ sign, and, $`\stackrel{~}{B}_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ and $`B_{𝐤+𝐐,\omega }`$ are same. Consequently, one can still collapse Eq. 14 on to Eq. 18, and get the same equation for the amplitude mode. Considering, then, Eq. 22 for CDW, we note that, for $`\mu =0`$, the roots are at $`\omega =\pm i2\mathrm{\Delta }`$. This implies the mode-frequencies at $`E=i\omega =\pm 2\mathrm{\Delta }`$. The modes come in pair, for the absorptive and emissive responses, respectively. For increasing values of $`|\mu |`$, the modes are shifted, finally, for large values of $`|\mu |`$, the frequencies scale with $`\pm 2\sqrt{2}|\mu |`$.

Returning to the case of DDW, where $`f_𝐤`$ is nontrivial, we have to perform the internal momentum integral numerically. First, after some simple manipulations, Eq. 22 is brought to the dimensinless form,

$$I(z)\underset{𝐤^{}}{}\frac{f_𝐤^{}^2}{[e_𝐤^{}^2+f_𝐤^{}^2]^{\frac{1}{2}}}\mathrm{\Theta }(\mu +E_𝐤^{})\frac{z^2+f_𝐤^{}^2+2(\frac{\mu }{|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|})^2}{z^2+e_𝐤^{}^2+f_𝐤^{}^2}=0,$$
(23)
where, $`z=\frac{\omega }{2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|}`$, and $`e_𝐤^{}=\frac{ϵ_𝐤^{}}{|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|}`$.

In analogy with the $`s`$-wave case, one can easily see from here that, at large $`\mu /|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|`$, where the $`f_𝐤^2`$ term in the numerator can be neglected in comparison, the roots of the last equation are at $`z\pm i\sqrt{2}\frac{\mu }{|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|}`$, i.e., at real frequencies $`E=i\omega \pm 2\sqrt{2}\mu `$. If $`\mu `$ behaves with doping of holes in the system in a manner similar to a Fermi liquid, then it can be quite large, and eventually scales with $`t`$, the largest scale in the problem. In such a case, the amplitude mode in the DDW system is at very high energy and is virtually inaccesible in thermal neutron scattering. Also, a mode so high up in energy is expected to be heavily damped, since there is a large phase-space of excitations it can decay into. Consequently, one can not in the case of large $`|\mu |`$ meaningfully talk about the amplitude mode in connection with experiments. But a large value of the chemical potential may not be the case in the underdoped regime of the cuprates,Sumanta1  where various kinds of charge inhomogeneities and impurities may actually pin the doped holes. Indeed, there are some indicationsIno  that $`\mu `$ remains pinned close to zero in these systems. Under such a scenario, the shift of the mode-frequencies due to chemical potential is small, and the results are qualitatively similar to the case of half-filling, $`\mu =0`$. Thus, in order to make contact with experiments, we will only discuss the case of chemical potential pinned to zero, assuming it does not shift appreciably with doping in the underdoped regime of the cuprates.

Assuming $`\mu =0`$, and replacing $`z`$ by $`iu`$ in the left hand side of Eq. 23, we have numerically performed the momentum integral over the RBZ. The reason for replacing $`z`$ by $`iu`$ is that, we will eventually look for roots of the equation on the imaginary axis such that the mode-frequencies after analytic continuation become real. In figure 1, we show the results of the integration plotted as a function of $`u`$.

Calling the dimensionless function of $`u`$ in Eq. 23 $`I(u)`$, we note that it has a root at $`u=2`$. Since $`I(u)`$ is an even function of $`u`$, there is another root at $`u=2`$. Tracing back the transformations, we find the amplitude mode frequencies at

$$E=i\omega =i2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|z=2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|u=\pm 4|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|=\pm 2|\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}|.$$

The last equality follows by recalling the DDW single-particle gap at $`(\pi ,0)`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}=2|\mathrm{\Delta }_𝐐|`$. So, we conclude that the amplitude modes for the DDW state lie at frequencies $`\pm 2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$.

At the level of our computation, the mode is undamped, i.e., an exact eigenstate of the system. But, since the ordered state is a particle-hole condensate in contrast to a superconductor, it can easily couple to other degrees of freedom in the cuprates. The mode can, for example, couple to the optical phonons, which are abundant in the system. These other degrees of freedom will act as an external bath to the system of the amplitude boson, and provide it with some frequency width. We can meaningfully talk about the mode - and its manifestations in experiments - only as long as this width is not too big.

In order to make contact with the neutron scattering experiments, let us start with the interaction potential between the incoming neutron and the electrons carrying the orbital current, $`V_{int}`$,Hsu

$$V_{int}=\underset{ij}{}tc_{i\sigma }^{}c_{j\sigma }\mathrm{exp}(ie_i^j𝐀𝑑𝐥)+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.$$
(24)
Here, $`𝐀`$ is the electromagnetic gauge potential generated by the neutron magnetic moment $`\mu _𝐧`$, $`𝐀=\mu _n\times (𝐫_e𝐫_n)/(|𝐫_e𝐫_n|^3),`$ $`\mu _n=1.91\frac{e}{m_N}𝐒`$, and, $`𝐫_e`$ and $`𝐫_n`$ are the electron and neutron coordinates, respectively. Because the gauge field generated by the neutron is weak, we can approximate $`V_{int}`$ by, $`V_{int}=iet_{ij}(_i^j𝐀𝑑𝐥)(c_{i\sigma }^{}c_{j\sigma }c_{j\sigma }^{}c_{i\sigma }).`$

To find the cross section, we first have to evaluate the matrix element of the interaction potential between the initial and final states of the neutron, $`𝐤_f|V_{int}|𝐤_i=d^3𝐫_nV_{int}\mathrm{exp}i𝐪𝐫_n`$, where, $`𝐪=𝐤_i𝐤_f`$. After doing the integral over the neutron coordinates,Hsu  summing over the initial and final states in the scattering process, and then, putting $`𝐪=𝐐=(\pi ,\pi )`$, we find,

$$𝐤_f|V_{int}|𝐤_i=\frac{8ite}{\pi }\mu _z\underset{𝐤,\sigma }{}(\mathrm{cos}k_x\mathrm{cos}k_y)c_{𝐤+𝐐,\sigma }^{}c_{𝐤,\sigma }.$$
(25)
Apart from some coefficients, the expression on the right hand side of the last equation is precisely the DDW gap in the operator form. In other words, the coupling of the neutron with the system at $`(\pi ,\pi )`$ is, as expected, through the orbital currents.

Finally, averaging over the neutron spin states using $`_{\sigma _i\sigma _f}p_{\sigma _i}\sigma _i|\mu _\alpha |\sigma _f\sigma _f|\mu _\beta |\sigma _i=\mu ^2\delta _{\alpha \beta },`$ and then, follwing standard steps,Lovesay  we derive,

$$\frac{d^2\sigma }{d\mathrm{\Omega }dE_f}=(\frac{8\mu te}{\pi g})^2\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }.$$
(26)
Here, $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }`$ is the frequency transform of the gap parameter, $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_𝐐`$, given, in operator form for a general $`𝐪`$, in Eq. 5.

The expression on the right hand side of the last equation is precisely the quantity we evaluated in the analysis of the DDW amplitude mode. The quantity $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }`$, in imaginary time ordered form, can be directly taken over from Eq. 18,

$$T_\tau \widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }\widehat{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{𝐐,\omega }=\frac{1}{A_{𝐐,\omega }+A_{𝐐,\omega }+2\stackrel{~}{B}_{𝐐,\omega }}$$
(27)
As we found earlier, this function has poles at $`\omega =\pm i2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$. These are the dissipative and the absorptive responses of the system, respectively. At zero temperature, the relevant pole is that for the dissipative response only. After analytically continuing the frequency, the corresponding retarded function will have a pole at $`\omega =2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{DDW}}`$, implying a sharp peak at that frequency. This peak captures the amplitude boson for the DDW state in inelastic neutron scattering. As we emphasized before, the sharpness of the response is really an artifact of our calculation, which excludes the coupling of the boson to other degrees of freedom, such as the optic phonons. A fuller treatment should bring in some damping to the mode. Indeed, the peaks above $`T_c`$ in the neutron scattering of the cuprates are broad.FongMook  Clearly, more work is needed in this direction to establish this. To establish the correct momentum dispersion will require a more microscopic model than that considered. From translational invariance one can argue that the square of the mode frequency is an analytic function of the momentum, that is, it must begin quadratically. However, the coefficient of the leading momentum dependence is expectedpopov  to be complex implying damping of the collective mode at a finite wavevector away from $`𝐐=(\pi ,\pi )`$.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation: DMR-9971138. We thank C. Nayak for interesting discussions. One of us (S. C.) would also like to thank L. Yin for discussions on a similar problem of the Higgs mode in superconductors.Lan