text:
# Bose-Einstein Condensation in Competitive Processes

## Abstract

We introduce an irreversible discrete multiplicative process that undergoes Bose-Einstein condensation as a generic model of competition. New players with different abilities successively join the game and compete for limited resources. A player’s future gain is proportional to its ability and its current gain. The theory provides three principles for this type of competition: competitive exclusion, punctuated equilibria, and a critical condition for the distribution of the players’ abilities necessary for the dominance and the evolution. We apply this theory to genetics, ecology and economy.

preprint: APS/123-QED

Competition occurs when two or more players such as organisms, individuals or companies strive for common but limited resources. It plays a significant role in biological and social activities, and is the basic idea underlying evolution. Recently, Bianconi & Barabási demonstrated that their competitive complex network model behaves analogously to a Bose gas Bianconi et al. (2001). A few nodes recruited many connections and acted like hubs, while most others had sparse links. This phenomenon was described in the mathematical framework of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). Here, we analyze a discrete multiplicative process that also exhibits BEC. This generic competition model is defined by the following conditions at each time step: 1. A player’s gain is proportional to its ability and to its gain at the previous time step. 2. A new player joins the competition. 3. Players compete for a fixed total amount of resources. The constant addition of players is the basis of the model’s open and irreversible characteristics and makes the process suitable for the analysis of natural and social competition. We show that the cumulative gain of each player is related to the Bose distribution, except for that of two players. One is the pioneer. The other is a high-ability player that dominates most resources under a certain statistical condition for the distribution of the players’ ability. We investigated the implication of BEC in this mathematical game for different competition models. Applied to the competition among clonal strains of evolving asexual bacteria, BEC in an irreversible process provides theoretical grounds for the principle of competitive exclusion Gause (1964) and the hypothesis of punctuated equilibria Elena et al. (1996). Furthermore, the existence of a transition point elucidates the condition necessary for evolutionary development, and explains the observation that a high mutation rate is not necessarily advantageous for adaptive evolution Sniegowski et al. (1997); de Visser et al. (1999). Finally, we investigate possible applications to ecological and economic activities.

Before we present our competition model, we introduce a novel, general framework for how a function $`\phi (ϵ)`$ formally maps into a Bose system. Define a function $`\phi (ϵ)`$ that satisfies the following conditions for an arbitrary $`C^2`$ density function $`g\left(ϵ\right)(0)`$ defined on $`ϵ[0,ϵ_{\mathrm{max}}]`$,

$`{\displaystyle 𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)}`$ $`=`$ $`1,`$ (1)
$`{\displaystyle 𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)\phi \left(ϵ\right)}`$ $`=`$ $`m+y_0,`$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle 𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)e^{\beta ϵ}\phi \left(ϵ\right)}`$ $`=`$ $`M.`$ (3)
The r.h.s. of these equations and $`\beta `$ in (3) are all positive constants. Then $`\phi \left(ϵ\right)`$ is given by

$$\phi \left(ϵ\right)=\frac{y_0}{1e^{\beta ϵ\alpha }},$$
(4)
where $`e^\alpha =m\mathrm{/}M`$. For, dividing (2) by $`y_0`$, then subtracting (1) yields

$$𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)\frac{\phi \left(ϵ\right)y_0}{y_0}=N,$$
(5)
where $`N=m\mathrm{/}y_0`$. From (3)$`\times N\mathrm{/}M`$(5) and the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variation, we obtain (4). Hence, the so-called occupation number in (5),

$$n\left(ϵ\right)=\frac{\phi \left(ϵ\right)y_0}{y_0}=\frac{1}{e^{\beta ϵ+\alpha }1},$$
(6)
becomes the Bose distribution, or, equivalently, the system $`\phi \left(ϵ\right)`$ maps into a Bose system. From (4), such a system may be obtained from the sum of a geometric progression with ratio $`e^{\beta ϵ\alpha }<1`$. This motivates analysis of the following competition process.

Consider a simple multiplicative process

$$y_i(t+1)=a_ib(t)y_i(t),$$
(7)
where $`y_i(t)`$ is the gain of the $`i`$th player at time $`t`$ and $`a_i`$ is its ability, a positive and time-independent random variable chosen from a distribution $`\rho \left(a\right)`$. From (7), a player’s gain is proportional to its ability and the gain of the previous time step. Furthermore, a new player joins the race at every time step with initial value $`y_i(i)=y_0`$, which means we consider $`t+1`$ simultaneous equations at time $`t`$. The only exception is the first player (pioneer), whose initial value is $`y_0+m`$. Finally, the population races for a fixed amount of resources, modelled by the normalization $`b(t)`$ in (7) which is defined by $`b(t)=m\mathrm{/}M_t`$, where $`M_t`$ is given by

$$M_t=\underset{j=0}{\overset{t}{}}a_jy_j\left(t\right).$$
(8)
This assures that the total gain distributed among $`t`$ players at time $`t`$ is $`m`$ for $`t>0`$. As a new player joins the race with $`y_0`$, the total gain of the population is fixed to $`m+y_0`$ every time step. We now consider the time evolution of players except for the pioneer. The gain of the $`i`$th player at time $`t`$ is given by $`y_i(t)=\mathrm{\Omega }_i(t)y_0`$, where

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_i(t)=a_i^{ti}\left(\underset{t^{}=i}{\overset{t1}{}}b\left(t^{}\right)\right).$$
(9)
Without loss of generality, we can set $`a_i1`$ (discussed later), and we let $`a_i=e^{\beta ϵ_i}`$, thus introducing a formal parametrization of the ability distribution by the inverse temperature $`\beta (=1/T)`$. The random variable $`ϵ[0,ϵ_{\mathrm{max}}]`$ is chosen from $`g\left(ϵ\right)`$, a state density function which defines the system. From (9), we have

$$\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega }_i=\left(ti\right)\left\{\beta ϵ_i\mathrm{ln}b\right\},$$
(10)
using $`\mathrm{ln}_{t^{}=i}^{t1}b\left(t^{}\right)=_{t^{}=i}^{t1}\mathrm{ln}b\left(t^{}\right)\left(ti\right)\mathrm{ln}b`$. By assuming stationarity of $`b(t)`$, discussed below, we let its time average be

$$\mathrm{ln}b=\alpha .$$
(11)
The normalization factor $`\alpha `$ keeps the total gain constant throughout the dynamical process. Its role is analogous to that of the chemical potential of a quantum gas introduced for the conservation of particle number. From (10) and (11), we obtain $`y_i(t)=e^{(\beta ϵ_i\alpha )\left(ti\right)}y_0`$. Given $`e^{\beta ϵ_i\alpha }<1`$, the cumulative gain $`\phi _t\left(ϵ_i\right)=_{t^{}=i}^ty_i\left(t^{}\right)`$, converges to $`\phi \left(ϵ_i\right)`$ in (4). Hence, the normalization of $`\phi _t\left(ϵ_i\right)`$ by the initial value $`y_0`$,

$$n_t\left(ϵ_i\right)=\frac{\phi _t\left(ϵ_i\right)y_0}{y_0},$$
(12)
takes the form of the Bose distribution in the thermodynamic limit $`\left(t\mathrm{}\right)`$. Indeed, in this limit, $`M_t`$ obeys

$$\underset{t\mathrm{}}{lim}M_t=𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)\underset{t^{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}e^{\beta ϵ}y\left(t^{}\right).$$
(13)
Since the stationarity of $`b\left(t\right)`$ yields $`\underset{t\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{ln}b\left(t\right)=\mathrm{ln}b`$, we have $`\underset{t\mathrm{}}{lim}m\mathrm{/}M_t=e^\alpha `$ from (11). By substituting this into (13), we obtain an equality,

$$𝑑ϵg\left(ϵ\right)\frac{1}{e^{\beta ϵ+\alpha }1}=N,$$
(14)
where $`N=m\mathrm{/}y_0`$. The dynamical system (7) thus formally maps into a Bose system in the thermodynamic limit.

Comparing this system to a quantum gas, adding the gain $`m`$ at each step corresponds to adding $`m`$ Bose particles. This gain is then distributed among players with different abilities; these abilities correspond to energy levels. Different from a quantum gas, a new energy level is introduced at every step (with initial occupation of $`y_0`$), the gains (particles) do not move to different energy levels once they are allocated, and they are not quantized. Despite these differences, the system preserves a basic feature of a Bose gas: gains tend to accumulate where other gains are already present. Thus, condensation analogous to BEC is expected at low temperatures.

To study this prediction, we simulated the multiplicative process (7), adopting a standard density function,

$$g\left(ϵ\right)=C_\sigma ϵ^{\sigma 1},$$
(15)
where $`C_\sigma =\sigma \mathrm{/}ϵ_{\mathrm{max}}^\sigma `$ $`\left(\sigma >1\right)`$. We found two distinct phases for the distribution of normalized cumulative gain (12). At high temperature, $`n_t\left(ϵ_i\right)`$ obeys the Bose distribution (FIG. 1-a). Our assumption of stationarity of $`b\left(t\right)`$ is confirmed numerically since $`n_t\left(ϵ_i\right)`$ agrees well with the Bose distribution with $`\alpha `$ being provided on the assumption of stationarity. At low temperatures, the coordinated distribution breaks down: one player with low energy (but not necessarily the lowest energy because of the normalization) dominates a large fraction of the cumulative resources. Note that the stationarity of $`b(t)`$ no longer holds in this domain. This Bose-Einstein condensate exists only below the critical point $`\alpha =0`$. For, if $`\alpha `$ is negative, $`\phi \left(ϵ_i\right)`$ of the player with $`ϵ_i<\alpha \mathrm{/}\beta `$ does not converge. Its normalized cumulative gain cannot be incorporated in the integral in (14); rather it has to be added as an extra term. The critical temperature for this transition can be predicted in the usual way. Change of variables $`y=\beta ϵ`$ and use of $`\alpha =0`$ in (14) yields

$$N=\frac{\sigma }{\left(\beta _cϵ_{\mathrm{max}}\right)^\sigma }_0^{\beta _cϵ_{\mathrm{max}}}\frac{y^{\sigma 1}}{e^y1}𝑑y.$$
(16)
By approximating the upper limit of integral in (16) by infinity, the critical temperature $`T_c(=1/\beta _c)`$ is given by

$$T_c^{\left(1\right)}ϵ_{\mathrm{max}}\left\{N^1\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\sigma +1\right)\zeta \left(\sigma \right)\right\}^{{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{1}{\sigma }}},$$
(17)
for $`N1`$. When $`N1`$, this approximation is not valid because of the high critical temperature. For $`N1`$, one uses $`e^y1+y`$ in (16) and obtains

$$T_c^{\left(2\right)}ϵ_{\mathrm{max}}\left(1\sigma ^1\right)N.$$
(18)
The transition can be easily seen in the occupation by the most capable player, defined by $`\phi _t\left(ϵ_{\mathrm{min}}\right)/_j\phi _t\left(ϵ_j\right)`$, where $`ϵ_{\mathrm{min}}=\mathrm{min}\left\{ϵ_j\right\}`$. As the temperature decreases below $`T_c`$, its occupation dramatically increases, supporting the prediction (FIG. 1-c). The time evolution of each player’s gain also shows characteristic differences above and below the predicted $`T_c`$. At $`T>T_c`$, the gain of each player monotonically decreases. Below $`T_c`$, time evolution is not monotonic (FIG. 3-b and area in FIG. 2-c). This is particulary interesting because this BEC occurs in an irreversible process. In contrast to BEC in a quantum gas in equilibrium, the condensation state dose not imply the dominance of resources by a single player at the lowest energy throughout the whole competition process. Instead, there are replacements of dominant player upon the entrance of a player with lower energy level.

We verified the existence of a BEC analogue in a discrete multiplicative process, as was shown in a continuous model Bianconi et al. (2001). To see its applicability to real-world competition, we mention that (7) is a natural extension of Malthusian population increase: population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio, that is $`y_i\left(t+1\right)=\stackrel{~}{a}_iy\left(t\right)`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{a}_i[\stackrel{~}{a}_{\mathrm{min}},\stackrel{~}{a}_{\mathrm{max}}]`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{a}_{\mathrm{min}}>1`$. We introduced normalization to model limited resources, obtaining (7) with $`a_i`$ replaced by $`\stackrel{~}{a}_i`$. Note that we can substitute $`\stackrel{~}{a}_i=\stackrel{~}{a}_{\mathrm{max}}a_i`$ (i.e. $`a_i1`$) without loss of generality because $`\stackrel{~}{a}_{\mathrm{max}}`$ is common in the nominator and the denominator in (7). This enables us to apply (7) to population dynamics and even economic activities.

Application to Genetics: We consider competition of clonal strains of asexual Escherichia coli serially propagated on glucose-limited medium. For this aim, we slightly generalize model (7) such that we allow $`l\left(1\right)`$ new players to join the competition with initial value $`y_0`$ at each step. From a similar argument, we obtain (14), where $`N=m/y_0l`$. Assigning $`y_0=1`$, we have $`l`$ mutants (with usually different abilities) at each time step Foo . We chose this procedure because it is unlikely to have $`y_0>1`$ mutants of the same ability. The original $`m+y_0l`$ wild types propagate $`m`$ wild types and produce $`y_0l`$ mutants of novel abilities. Then the mixed population of $`m+y_0l`$ is normalized to $`m`$, and generates $`y_0l`$ mutants (FIG. 2-a, c). Eventually all wild types are swept away and replaced by mutants. This is much faster in BEC than at high temperatures (see reduction of pioneer occupation in BEC in FIG. 1-c). Also at low temperatures inferior strains are quickly expelled by a superior strain, which is analogous to the competitive exclusion principle Gause (1964); Gerrish et al. (1998). Subsequent transient replacement of the dominant mutants supports the hypothesis of punctuated equilibria Elena et al. (1996). Weighted mean ability ($`M_t`$ in (8) if $`l=1`$) shows step-like evolution at low temperatures (FIG. 2-d), but this effect diminishes with increasing temperature. Now, new mutants all have similar abilities, competition is crowded and severe, and the sudden upsurges of the weighted mean ability of the population are smeared out. Finally, at sufficiently high temperatures, no mutant becomes an absolute winner; evolution ceases when the population lacks prominent players. Note that the stationarity of weighted mean ability confirms the stationarity of $`b(t)`$, which in turn allows the argument below (11).

A striking statement of the theory is the prediction of a singular point on the emergence of evolution. Most mutations are likely to be deleterious Gerrish et al. (1998), which was simulated by the use of an increasing state density (15) so that inferior mutants are likely to occur (FIG. 2-c). In this case, the critical temperature is predicted by (18). Through its dependence on $`N`$, $`T_c`$ is found to be dependent on the mutation rate $`y_0l\mathrm{/}\left(m+y_0l\right)=\left(N+1\right)^1`$. Therefore, at a given temperature, decreasing mutation rate generates evolutionary development. A sufficiently low mutation rate not only prevents deleterious offspring but is necessary for adaptive evolution itself.

Although introducing the notion of temperature and the state density of a quantum gas was instructive, our model does not require these constructs. Our conclusions hold as long as a sharply decreasing ability distribution $`\rho _\lambda (a)`$ exists on $`a[a_{\mathrm{min}},1]`$ where $`a_{\mathrm{min}}>0`$, with $`\lambda `$ a parameter, such that the integral (14),

$$I(\lambda ,\alpha )=_{a_{\mathrm{min}}}^1𝑑a\rho _\lambda \left(a\right)\frac{1}{a^1e^\alpha 1}=N,$$
(19)
is finite. Since $`I(\lambda ,\alpha )I(\lambda ,0)N_c\left(\lambda \right)`$, we have a finite $`N_c`$ and we can determine the corresponding critical mutation rate for a given $`\lambda `$. Since $`N_c`$ is finite, the process is in condensation for $`N>N_c`$, while evolution ceases for $`N<N_c`$. In those cases in which the critical mutation rate is in the physiological range, this argument explains “clonal interference” Gerrish et al. (1998) which is an empirically observed constraint on the role of mutator alleles that rises to high frequency in association with beneficial mutations Sniegowski et al. (1997); de Visser et al. (1999). The critical point, however, only determines the occurrence of adaptive evolution at $`t\mathrm{}`$, and a low mutation rate slows the rising of dominant mutants. This implies the existence of an optimal mutation rate for a transiently changing environment.

Application to Ecology and Economy: In ecology, the Lotka-Volterra equation predicts that coexistence between strongly competing species is impossible, a result confirmed in laboratory experiments on Paramecium Gause (1964) though applicability in complex ecosystems is uncertain Colinvaux (1986). These results established the principle of competitive exclusion; or “one species, one niche.” Our process models interspecific competition with completely overlapping niches, and BEC is a natural extension of the competitive exclusion principle in an irreversible process. This principle may also apply to economic activities if a product or a company satisfies the ecological conditions of the exclusion principle Hardin (1960). For instance, products sold for a specialized market may compete within their niche in the marketplace. Figure 3-a shows the market share of different razors successively introduced by The Gillette Company, illustrating a much-studied case of new products eroding the market share of their own predecessors Tellis (2001). Aspects of the dynamics of product replacement may thus be captured by our competitive process (Fig. 3-b).

We thank HG Schuster for very helpful suggestions and the NSF for support through a CAREER award to EN.


format: text

text:
# Measurement of interaction energy near a Feshbach resonance in a 6Li Fermi gas

## Abstract

We investigate the strongly interacting regime in an optically trapped 6Li Fermi mixture near a Feshbach resonance. The resonance is found at $`800(40)`$G in good agreement with theory. Anisotropic expansion of the gas is interpreted by collisional hydrodynamics. We observe an unexpected and large shift ($`80`$G) between the resonance peak and both the maximum of atom loss and the change of sign of the interaction energy.

The achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in dilute atomic gases Fermi99  has naturally triggered research on cooling of Fermi gases to quantum degeneracy. Several groups have now reached Fermi degeneracy in 40K and 6Li with temperatures down to about $`0.1`$ to $`0.2`$ of the Fermi temperature $`T_\mathrm{F}`$ DeMarco99 ; Schreck01 ; Truscott01 ; Dieckmann02 ; Modugno02 ; OHara02 . One of the major goals of this research is to observe the transition to a superfluid phase Stoof99 , the analog of the superconducting (BCS) phase transition in metals Bardeen57 . Very low temperatures and strong attractive interactions in a two-component Fermi gas are favorable conditions to reach this superfluid state. The interactions in atomic gases at low temperature are usually described by a single parameter, the $`s`$-wave scattering length $`a`$. This quantity can be tuned near a Feshbach resonance where the sign and magnitude of $`a`$ can be adjusted by means of an external magnetic field $`B`$ Stoof93 ; Feshbach . Therefore, when entering the regime of strong interactions, dilute Fermi gases offer unique opportunities to test new theoretical approaches. For instance, near resonance, the critical temperature for superfluidity has been predicted to be as high as 0.25-0.5 $`T_\mathrm{F}`$ Holland01 , a temperature range experimentally accessible.

Both 40K and 6Li possess Feshbach resonances at convenient magnetic fields Houbiers97 ; Jin02 . In Fig. 1 is plotted the theoretical scattering length for the mixture of the two lowest spin states of 6Li, $`|F,m_F=|1/2,1/2`$, $`|1/2,1/2`$, calculated from updated potentials consistent with the recently measured zero crossing of $`a`$ at $`B530`$G Jochim02 ; OHara02a .

Beside the broad resonance near $`855`$G on which we concentrate in this work, there is a very sharp resonance at $`545`$G, and increased atom losses have been measured peaking around $`545`$G and $`680`$G Dieckmann02 . Recently, strong interactions in this Fermi mixture have been demonstrated at a fixed magnetic field of $`930`$G through anisotropic expansion of the gas OHara02 . In this Letter we study the atomic interactions through the entire range of the Feshbach resonance, from $`600`$G up to $`1.3`$kG. We measure three physical quantities : the interaction energy with positive and negative values, the anisotropy of the atomic cloud during the expansion, and the atom loss. We find the resonance at $`800(40)`$G, where the trapped gas is most strongly interacting, with a ratio between the interaction energy and the kinetic energy reaching $`0.3`$. Surprisingly, we observe a large shift ($`80`$G) between this position, and both the location of maximum loss in the gas and the change of sign of the interaction energy. Our results are in partial agreement with the physical picture of a Feshbach resonance in the region of strong interactions but also reveal unexpected effects. Finally they point towards the best experimental conditions to search for the superfluid transition in 6Li.

Our experimental approach to measure the interaction energy of a two component Fermi gas is based on the analysis of time of flight (TOF) images of atoms released from an anisotropic trap. The energy of the trapped gas, prepared at any value of the $`B`$ field, is the sum of potential, kinetic and interaction energies, $`E_{pot}+E_{kin}+E_{int}`$. Switching off abruptly the trapping potential ($`E_{pot}0`$), the gas is released and expands for a variable time before an absorption image is recorded. At long expansion time, the spatial distribution of the cloud reflects the velocity distribution. This procedure is done routinely for BEC studies Fermi99  and has been recently investigated theoretically for Fermi gases in Menotti02 . The novelty of our approach is in what follows. Because of the low inductance of the coils used to produce the magnetic field $`B`$, this field can be switched off rapidly ($`20\mu `$s) at any desired time during the expansion of the atomic cloud. For $`B=0`$ the atoms have negligible interactions since $`a0`$ (Fig. 1). As a consequence, the expansion of the gas can be recorded without atomic interactions during the time of flight period ($`B=0`$), or with interactions during the TOF period ($`B0`$). Since expansions with $`B=0`$ are ballistic, they reflect the kinetic energy of the initially trapped gas, $`E_{kin}`$. On the other hand, for TOF with $`B0`$, the interaction energy is converted into kinetic energy during the early stage of the expansion ($`150\mu `$s). TOF images at long time reflect the released energy, $`E_{rel}=E_{kin}+E_{int}`$ analyse . Comparisons between TOF images with $`B=0`$ and $`B0`$ allow us to simply deduce the ratio $`E_{int}/E_{kin}`$. We operate at temperatures between $`0.5T_\mathrm{F}`$ and $`T_\mathrm{F}`$, where Fermi degeneracy does not play an important role. Even in this nearly classical regime, the gas is found to be strongly interacting. The observed expansions with $`B0`$ are anisotropic because of collisonal hydrodynamics, as predicted in Kagan97 ; Arimondo99 , and observed in Shvarchuck02 ; OHara02 ; Jinpreprint .

Our experimental setup has been described previously Khaykovich02 ; Schreck01 . A gas of $`3\times 10^5`$ 6Li atoms is prepared in the absolute ground state $`|1/2,1/2`$ in a Nd-YAG crossed beam optical dipole trap at a temperature of $`10\mu `$K. The horizontal beam (resp. vertical) propagates along $`x`$ ($`y`$), has a maximum power of 2.5 W (2.5 W) and a waist of $`25\mu `$m ($`30\mu `$m). At full power the trap oscillation frequencies are $`\omega _x/2\pi =2.2(2)`$kHz, $`\omega _y/2\pi =3.0(3)`$kHz, and $`\omega _z/2\pi =3.7(4)`$ kHz, as measured by parametric excitation. Using a radio frequency field, we drive the Zeeman transition between $`|1/2,1/2`$ and $`|1/2,1/2`$ to prepare a balanced mixture of the two states at any chosen value of $`B`$ between $`2`$G and $`1.3`$kG. Using a Stern-Gerlach method we check that the populations in both states are equal to within 10%.

We observe that atom losses occur with very different rates below and above resonance. Near $`720`$G the lifetime of the gas is on the order of 10 ms, whereas near $`900`$G, the lifetime is in excess of 10 s. The latter is surprisingly large in comparison with similar situations for bosons near a Feshbach resonance Inouye98 . Therefore we performed two sets of experiments : one with the spin mixture prepared above resonance ($`1060`$G), and the other below resonance ($`5`$G). In the first set, evaporative cooling is performed by lowering the power of the vertical beam. It produces $`2N=7\times 10^4`$ atoms at $`T0.6T_\mathrm{F}`$ with $`k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{F}=\mathrm{}\overline{\omega }\left(6N\right)^{1/3}`$ and $`\overline{\omega }=\left(\omega _x\omega _y\omega _z\right)^{1/3}`$. The trap is nearly cigar shaped with frequencies $`\omega _x/2\pi =1.1`$kHz, $`\omega _y/2\pi =3.0`$kHz, and $`\omega _z/2\pi =3.2`$kHz. The magnetic field is adiabatically ramped in 50 ms to a final value where TOF expansion images are taken. The effect of strong interactions is illustrated in Fig. 2, where both typical images and a plot of the expanded cloud gaussian sizes $`r_x`$ and $`r_y`$ are displayed. In Fig. 2a, expansions with $`B=0`$ reveal the initial momentum distribution of the cloud which is isotropic as expected. We deduce the total kinetic energy $`E_{kin}`$ of the trapped gas mixture from gaussian fits to this distribution. For our moderate quantum degeneracy, the temperature can be estimated from $`k_\mathrm{B}T=2E_{kin}/3`$. We find $`T3.5\mu `$K$`0.6T_\mathrm{F}`$, constant for fields between $`0.8`$kG and $`1.3`$kG.

In Fig. 2b, expansions with $`B0`$ are anisotropic. Little expansion is seen along the weak axis of the trap. The ellipticity of the cloud is inverted because of hydrodynamic behavior during the expansion OHara02 . Collisions then redistribute the gas energy in the direction of maximum density gradient. The anisotropy $`r_y/r_x`$ ranges from $`1.1`$ at large $`B`$ field to $`1.4`$ near $`0.8`$kG whereas the hydrodynamic scaling equations Kagan97  predict an anisotropy of $`1.53`$ in the fully hydrodynamic regime. The usual criterion for hydrodynamicity is found from the ratio $`R`$ of the mean free path $`\lambda _0=(n_0\sigma )^1`$, where $`n_0`$ is the peak density, over the radial size $`r_{rad}`$ of the cloud. For a classical gas neglecting mean field interactions we find :

$$R=\frac{\lambda _0}{r_{rad}}=\frac{(2\pi )^{3/2}}{N\sigma }\left(\frac{k_BT}{m\overline{\omega }^2}\right)\frac{\omega _{rad}}{\overline{\omega }}$$

$`R1`$ ($`R1`$) corresponds to the hydrodynamic (collisionless) regime. With the predicted value of $`a=185`$nm at $`1060`$kG, and $`\sigma =4\pi a^2`$, $`R=0.03`$. Therefore in the early stages of the expansion, the gas is hydrodynamic as in Shvarchuck02 ; OHara02 ; Jinpreprint . Furthermore, with these large values of $`a`$ and our typical temperatures, the scattering cross section is energy dependent. At $`B=1060`$G, $`|ka|=0.95`$, where $`k=\sqrt{mk_BT/2\mathrm{}^2}`$ is the typical relative momentum of two colliding atoms. The cross section is reduced and becomes unitarity limited, $`\sigma =4\pi a^2/(1+k^2a^2)4\pi /k^2`$ for $`|ka|1`$ Combescot03 . Consequently, as the magnetic field is decreased below 1.3 kG, the gas gradually enters deeper in the unitarity regime.

This effect has an important consequence on the gas behavior during hydrodynamic expansion: since the relative momentum $`k`$ of the colliding atoms decreases as $`kn^{1/3}`$ (where $`n`$ is the density) liouville , $`\sigma `$ increases. For a spherical cloud, the hydrodynamic factor $`R`$ would remain constant during expansion while for a cigar shaped cloud, the expansion is mostly 2D, and $`R`$ decreases like $`n^{1/6}`$. The gas becomes more hydrodynamic as the expansion proceeds until this model breaks down when relative momenta $`k`$ become too small to remain in the unitarity limit Shlyapnikov02 . Then $`R`$ increases as $`n^{2/3}`$ for a spherical geometry, and as $`n^{1/2}`$ for a cigar. Consequently, the larger $`|a|`$, the longer the expansion remains hydrodynamic and the stronger the anisotropy is. When the $`B`$ field is decreased in Fig. 2, the anisotropy increase indicates that the scattering length becomes more and more negative. Therefore, this puts an upper bound of $`800`$G for the position of the Feshbach $`s`$-wave resonance.

In the second set of experiments, we focused on the lower magnetic field values between 550 G and 820 G, the region where losses have been observed. The mixture is prepared at low magnetic field, and the field is ramped up to 320 G, where the scattering length $`vs`$ $`B`$ has a local minimum of $`a=8`$nm. Evaporative cooling is performed there, leading to $`T=2.4\mu `$K and to $`\omega _x/2\pi =0.78`$kHz, $`\omega _y/\pi =2.1`$kHz, and $`\omega _z/2\pi =2.25`$ kHz. Finally, the $`B`$ field is ramped to 555 G in 50 ms where $`a0`$, and then in 10 ms to different values between $`600`$G and $`850`$G where TOF expansions are recorded. The gaussian widths and number of detected atoms $`vs`$ $`B`$ are plotted in Fig. 3. Comparing with the data of Fig. 2, we observe several new features. First, the number of detected atoms has a pronounced minimum near $`725`$G, a position compatible with previously published results dealing with losses Dieckmann02 . These losses are associated with a strong heating of the cloud (Fig. 3a).

Second, in figure 3 (b) for $`B675`$ G, the expansion is isotropic, consistent with a collisionless regime. Here $`a`$ is predicted to be $`0a55`$nm. Since $`ka0.35`$, the scattering cross section is independent of energy and the gas is not hydrodynamic ($`R1`$). Above $`700`$ G, a pronounced asymmetry in TOF images appears abruptly. The gas enters the hydrodynamic regime (and unitarity limit) with the same inversion of ellipticity as in Fig. 2, a signature of strong interactions. We expect that on resonance, the elastic cross section is unitarity limited for all relevant values of energy. Therefore, the maximum anisotropy, which we measure at $`B=800(40)`$G, locates the peak of the Feshbach resonance, in agreement with the predicted position of 855(30) Gauss. A unique feature of the resonance is the very large shift ($`80`$G) between the resonance peak and the maximum of loss and heating. This can be qualitatively explained by the creation for $`a0`$ of weakly bound molecules by three-body recombination. According to Petrov02 , in this process the binding energy of the molecule $`\mathrm{}^2/ma^2`$ for large $`a`$, is dissipated into kinetic energy of the atom + molecule system. For very large values of $`a`$, the binding energy is small and the heating associated with three-body recombination is negligible, and the molecules remain trapped. For small or intermediate values of $`a`$, the collision products are highly energetic, resulting in strong heating and loss. At the maximum of loss ($`720`$G), $`a=102`$nm and $`\mathrm{}^2/k_\mathrm{B}ma^2=7\mu `$K is on the order of the trap depth in the weakest direction $`x`$.

As explained above, the interaction energy can be calculated directly from the difference of release energies, obtained from the gaussian sizes of Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 4 is plotted the ratio of interaction energy and kinetic energy $`vs`$ magnetic field. As $`B`$ is increased above 550 G, $`E_{int}`$ first goes up, due to increasing $`a`$, in accordance with mean-field theory. Near $`720`$G, $`E_{int}`$ changes sign abruptly. The ratio $`E_{int}/E_{kin}`$ then exhibits a plateau near $`0.12`$ up to $`850`$G. Note that, for the data at low field (Fig. 3), the number of atoms and the temperature are not constant as a function of $`B`$. From the data at higher fields, we observe in Fig. 4 that the interaction energy becomes less and less negative above $`800`$G. The apparent discrepancy between the two sets of data in the overlap region can be explained by different experimental conditions and, in particular, different atom numbers, temperature, and confinement. The line in Fig. 4 shows the result of a mean field calculation without any fit parameters based on a full energy dependent scattering phase shift. The mean field energy $`E_{\mathrm{MF}}`$ is then obtained from a self-consistent distribution function that contains the self-energy and trapping potential. The kinetic energy is calculated from the same distribution function. Theory and experiment agree quantitatively for $`B850`$G where $`a<0`$, and for $`B720`$G, where $`a>0`$. However, the observed shift between the predicted position of the resonance and the change of sign of the mean field $`720(20)`$G is not reproduced by this theory. A possible explanation could be that dimer molecules, which are expected to be present for $`a>0`$ and close to resonance, are not part of the calculation. A large negative partial mean field contribution due to atom-molecule and molecule-molecule interactions could shift the position of the transition from positive to negative mean field.

In summary, we have studied a Fermi gas mixture in the strongly interacting regime near a Feshbach resonance. The position of the resonance is found in agreement with theoretical expectations. New features have been observed which may be the signature of richer physics, for instance molecule formation Wiemann02 . Anisotropic expansions are observed both for repulsive and attractive mean field interactions, in a moderately degenerate Fermi gas. This is interpreted in terms of collisional hydrodynamics without invoking Fermi superfluidity. Prospects for producing deeply degenerate Fermi mixtures in the superfluid state and for investigating the transition between molecular condensates and superfluid Fermi gases are promising.

We are grateful to L. Carr, Y. Castin, C. Cohen-Tannoudji, R. Combescot, J. Dalibard, D. Guéry-Odelin for useful discussions. This work was supported by CNRS, Collège de France, Region Ile de France, and EU (TMR network ERB FMRX-CT96- 0002). Laboratoire Kastler Brossel is Unité de Recherche de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure et de l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie, associée au CNRS.


text:
# Partially spin polarized quantum Hall effect in the filling factor range 1/3<𝜈<2/5

## Abstract

The residual interaction between composite fermions (CFs) can express itself through higher order fractional Hall effect. With the help of diagonalization in a truncated composite fermion basis of low-energy many-body states, we predict that quantum Hall effect with partial spin polarization is possible at several fractions between $`\nu =1/3`$ and $`\nu =2/5`$. The estimated excitation gaps are approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than the gap at $`\nu =1/3`$, confirming that the inter-CF interaction is extremely weak in higher CF levels.

In recent years, the physics arising from the interactions between composite fermions has come into focus . The model of noninteracting composite fermions explains the fractional quantization of Hall resistance  at $`R_H=h/fe^2`$ with

$$f=\frac{n}{2pn\pm 1}$$
(1)
as the integral quantum Hall effect  (IQHE) of composite fermions . (Particle hole symmetry in the lowest Landau level implies fractional Hall effect also at $`1f`$ or $`2f`$, for fully or partially spin polarized systems, respectively.) The weak residual interaction between composite fermions is often masked by disorder or temperature, much as the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), a manifestation of inter-electron interactions, is absent in low mobility samples or at high temperatures. However, with improvements in experimental conditions, the physics originating from the interaction between composite fermions is beginning to emerge .

A possible manifestation of the interaction between composite fermions will be the appearance of higher order FQHE states in between the above fractions. The possible new fractions can be derived straightforwardly . At the non-integral values of the CF filling factor given by

$$\nu ^{}=n+\frac{m}{2p^{}m\pm 1}$$
(2)
the composite fermions in the topmost partially filled level may capture, as a result of the interaction between them, $`2p^{}`$ additional vortices to transform into higher order composite fermions and fill $`m`$ CF levels to exhibit new incompressible states, which will produce FQHE at $`\nu =\frac{\nu ^{}}{2p\nu ^{}\pm 1}`$ between the fractions $`\nu =\frac{n}{2pn\pm 1}`$ and $`\nu =\frac{n+1}{2p(n+1)\pm 1}`$. The situation is analogous to the appearance of FQHE of electrons in partially filled electronic Landau levels.

Pan et al.  have reported FQHE at $`\nu =4/11`$, $`\nu =5/13`$ and $`\nu =6/17`$ in the filling factor range $`2/5>\nu >1/3`$. The $`\nu =4/11`$ minimum is seen in magnetic fields as high as $`B=33`$T, pointing to a fully polarized QHE state. The simplest fractions in the above scenario are $`\nu ^{}=1+1/3`$ and $`\nu ^{}=1+2/3`$, which produce higher order QHE at $`\nu =4/11`$ and $`\nu =5/13`$, and $`\nu =6/17`$ originates from $`\nu ^{}=1+1/5`$. While it is encouraging that the desired fractions are obtained, more detailed theoretical investigations do not find new FQHE states for these fractions for fully spin-polarized composite fermions for an idealized model neglecting disorder, transverse thickness, and Landau level mixing; the residual interaction between composite fermions in higher CF levels does not appear to be sufficiently strongly repulsive at short distances to cause additional vortices to bind to composite fermions. It is not known at the present which of the neglected effects is responsible for the discrepancy.

While only fully spin polarized states are possible at sufficiently high magnetic fields, where a spin in the wrong direction costs a prohibitively high energy, FQHE states at the fractions of Eq. (1) with partial polarizations have been observed experimentally, and transitions between differently polarized states have been studied as a function of the Zeeman energy. These studies are satisfactorily described by the composite fermion theory including spin. Composite fermions with spin are analogous to electrons with spin at $`\nu ^{}`$, with the same Zeeman energy but with an effective cyclotron energy. While the Zeeman energy is very small compared to the cyclotron energy for electrons (in GaAs), the two are comparable for composite fermions, thus producing a richer variety of states. This raises the question of whether FQHE states with partial spin polarization are possible at fractions like $`\nu =4/11`$, which is the subject of this paper. It is stressed that the present work does not purport to be an explanation for the observations in Ref. , but a prediction for sufficiently low magnetic fields.

Following the standard approach, we will neglect in this study the effects of finite thickness and Landau level mixing. The most reliable method is exact numerical diagonalization, which is not an option for this problem because of the rather large Hilbert space. In this article, we carry out diagonalization in a truncated low-energy CF basis of many body states . We will concentrate here on the filling factor range $`2/5>\nu >1/3`$, that is, $`2>\nu ^{}>1`$. New FQHE is most likely at $`\nu ^{}=1+\frac{m}{2m+1}`$, which correspond to electron filling factors $`\nu =\frac{3m+1}{8m+3}`$. The positive and negative integral values for $`m`$ produce $`\nu =4/11,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}7}/19,\mathrm{}`$ and $`\nu =5/13,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}8}/21,\mathrm{}`$ It will be assumed that the up-spin composite fermions fill one level completely, and the down-spin composite fermions have filling factor $`\nu _{}^{}=m/(2m+1)`$ in the lowest spin reversed band, giving the total CF filling $`\nu ^{}=1+\nu _{}^{}`$. For our truncated basis, we consider wave functions of the form:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_{\frac{3m+1}{8m+3}}^\alpha =\mathrm{\Phi }_1^2[\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\frac{m}{2m+1},}^\alpha ]$$
(3)
Here, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}`$ is the fully occupied up-spin lowest Landau level band. $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\frac{m}{2m+1},}^\alpha `$ are various orthogonal wave functions (labeled by $`\alpha `$) at filling $`\nu _{}^{}=\frac{m}{2m+1}`$ in the down-spin band, obtained by exact diagonalization at $`\nu _{}^{}`$. (Coupling to higher Landau levels is neglected.) The fully antisymmetric function $`\mathrm{\Phi }_1`$ is one filled Landau level of “spinless” electrons; the Jastrow factor $`\mathrm{\Phi }_1^2`$, as always, converts, through attachment of two vortices to each electron, the $`\nu ^{}=1+\frac{m}{2m+1}`$ wave function of electrons in square brackets to the $`\nu ^{}=1+\frac{m}{2m+1}`$ wave function of composite fermions, which is identified with a basis function for interacting electrons at $`\nu =\frac{3m+1}{8m+3}`$. (The spin part of the wave function is not explicitly shown. The full wave function is obtained by multiplying by the spin part $`u_1\mathrm{}u_N_{}d_{N_{}+1}\mathrm{}d_N`$, where $`N_{}=NN_{}`$ is the number of up-spin electrons, followed by antisymmetrization.) We will study below $`m=1`$ and $`m=2`$ ($`\nu =4/11`$ and $`\nu =7/19`$). The states of the form given in Eq. (3) obviously do not exhaust the entire Hilbert space at $`\nu `$, as they neglect the mixing between the Landau levels of composite fermions, but we believe that they span the low-energy Hilbert space. If the system is incompressible, the ground state at $`\nu `$ is likely to be well described by

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_\nu ^{gr}=\mathrm{\Phi }_1^2[\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\nu _{}^{},}^{gr}]$$
(4)
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\nu _{}^{},}^{gr}`$ is the Coulomb ground state at $`\nu _{}^{}`$. For $`\nu =\frac{3m+1}{8m+3}`$, the state at $`\nu _{}^{}=\frac{m}{2m+1}`$ is accurately given by the standard wave function $`𝒫\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}^2\mathrm{\Phi }_{m,}`$, where $`𝒫`$ denotes projection into the lowest Landau level (LLL).

It is noteworthy that no assumption is made regarding the nature of the state in the reversed-spin sector, and the calculation can in principle give either a compressible or an incompressible ground state. Indeed, a similar study for fully spin polarized systems at many fractions like $`\nu =4/11`$ failed to yield an incompressible ground state , contrary to what one might have naively expected.

An earlier study began with the assumption of the partially spin polarized ground state

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_{\nu =4/11}^{gr}=\mathrm{\Phi }_1^2\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}[\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}]^3$$
(5)
which is derived from Laughlin’s wave function $`[\mathrm{\Phi }_{1,}]^3`$ in the spin reversed sector , and considered a trial wave function for its neutral excitation containing a pair of CF particle hole pair in the reversed spin sector. It was found that the energy of the excitation remains positive for all wave vectors, indicating that the assumed ground state wave function is stable against excitations. While this study did not eliminate FQHE at $`\nu =4/11`$, it did not test whether the ground state is necessarily incompressible, and if so, whether it is well described by the trial wave function in Eq. (4). The present study provides a more rigorous (though still not conclusive) test for partially polarized QHE at $`\nu =4/11`$.

In the following discussion we will employ the spherical geometry , where we consider $`N`$ electrons moving on the surface of a sphere at the presence of a magnetic monopole with strength $`Q`$ at the center. The magnitude of the radial magnetic field $`B`$ is given by $`2Q\varphi _0/4\pi R^2`$, where $`\varphi _0=he/c`$ is the flux quantum, $`R`$ is the radius of the sphere, and $`Q`$ is either an integer or a half-integer due to the Dirac quantization condition. The composite fermion theory maps the system of interacting electrons at $`Q`$ to the CF system at $`q^{}=Qp(N1)`$. It is convenient to label the wave function by the monopole strength; for example, the wave function at $`Q`$ is obtained from the electron wave function $`\mathrm{\Phi }_q^{}`$ by $`\mathrm{\Psi }_Q=𝒫[\mathrm{\Phi }_{1}^{}{}_{}{}^{2p}\mathrm{\Phi }_q^{}]`$.

The CF theory fixes the relation between $`N`$ and $`Q`$ as follows. The effective $`q^{}`$ is determined by requiring that $`N_{}`$ electrons have filling $`\nu _{}^{}=\frac{m}{2m+1}`$: $`q^{}=N_{}(2m+1)/2m(m+2)/2`$. With $`N_{}=2q^{}+1`$ and $`Q=q^{}(N1)`$, we get

$$Q=\frac{8m+3}{6m+2}N\frac{m^2+10m+3}{6m+2}.$$
(6)
Therefore, at $`\nu =4/11`$, where the effective filling $`\nu ^{}=1+1/3`$ with $`m=1`$, the relation is

$$Q_{4/11}=(11N14)/8.$$
(7)
Similarly, for $`\nu =7/19`$, where $`\nu ^{}=1+2/5`$ and $`m=2`$,

$$Q_{7/19}=(19N27)/14.$$
(8)
Note that both relations give the desired filling factors in the thermodynamic limits: $`\nu =lim_N\mathrm{}\frac{N}{2Q}`$. For a given particle number $`N`$, the pair $`(N,Q)`$ is the only input in the numerical calculation. Table I gives the systems we have studied below.

The energy spectrum is calculated numerically by the Monte Carlo (MC) method, following Ref. . Because the low energy basis states from exact diagonalization are not necessarily orthonormal for a given $`L`$, we use the standard Gram-Schmidt procedure to obtain an orthonormal basis. Some technical details ought to be mentioned here. The Metropolis algorithm employed in our MC calculations has minimum statistical error when the weight function behaves approximately as the wave function. We find that it is crucial to use several weight functions with different angular momenta $`L`$ in order to reduce the error to desired level. We divide the MC calculations in 10 configurations, with the number of iterations on the order of $`10^7`$ for each configuration. Such large number of steps are required to determine accurately the extremely small energy differences. To reduce the computation time for large systems, for example, $`N=14`$, 18 at $`\nu =4/11`$, we place each of the MC configuration on a single node (dual 1GHz Intel Pentium III processor) of a PC cluster.

Fig. (1) shows the low energy spectrum at $`\nu =4/11`$ for $`N=6`$, 10, 14, and 18, for which there are $`N_{}=`$ 2, 3, 4, and 5 composite fermions in the spin reversed CF level. The dimension of the basis is the same as that of the lowest Landau level Hilbert space of $`N_{}`$ particles at $`q^{}`$. In all cases, the ground state is a uniform state with $`L=0`$. From the analogy to $`\nu =1/3`$, it might be expected that the excitation spectrum contains a well defined branch of composite-fermion exciton , containing a single multiplet at $`L=2,\mathrm{},N_{}`$. This CF exciton branch is identifiable for $`N=14`$ but not at $`N=18`$. Nonetheless, there is a well defined gap in all cases. Fig. (2) shows the $`N`$ dependence of minimum energy needed for the creation of a CF exciton. There are substantial finite-size fluctuations in the value of the gap, because the number of spin reversed composite fermions is quite small, but we believe that our results indicate that the gap remains finite in the thermodynamic limit, producing incompressibility at 4/11. We will use the gap of the largest system studied as a rough estimate of the thermodynamic gap. The next fraction we consider is $`\nu ^{}=1()+2/5()`$, corresponding to a partially polarized state at $`\nu =7/19`$. As Fig. (3) shows, the state here is also incompressible. A thermodynamic extrapolation for the gap is not possible for $`\nu =7/19`$, for we have only two results, but the gap for $`N=18`$ is taken as an estimate of the thermodynamic limit.

The gaps for $`\nu =4/11`$ and $`\nu =7/19`$ are estimated to be $`0.001e^2/ϵl_0`$ and $`0.0008e^2/ϵl_0`$, which are roughly two orders of magnitude smaller than the gaps at $`\nu =1/3`$ and $`\nu =2/5`$, $`0.1e^2/ϵl_0`$ and $`0.055e^2/ϵl_0`$, respectively (for the model neglecting transverse thickness). Here, $`l_0=\sqrt{\mathrm{}c/eB}`$ is the magnetic length at $`\nu `$, $`B`$ is the external magnetic field, and $`ϵ`$ is the dielectric constant of the host material. The gap value at $`\nu =4/11`$ is consistent with that quoted in Ref. . It is noted that the gaps are not affected by the Zeeman energy, so long as the partially polarized state is the ground state, because the low energy excitations of these states do not involve any spin reversal. (The Zeeman energy is much higher, for typical experimental parameters, than the energy scales considered in this work, making spin flip excitations irrelevant to the low-energy physics.) Fig. (2) estimates the thermodynamic limit of the ground state energy at $`\nu =4/11`$ to be $`0.42054e^2/ϵl_0`$, which also is in good accord with the value calculated earlier.

The smallness of the gaps for the higher order FQHE states confirms that the interaction between the composite fermions in higher CF levels is exceedingly weak compared to the Coulomb interaction between electrons that governs the gaps at $`\nu =1/3`$ and 2/5. It is remarkable that the composite fermion theory is capable of capturing such subtle quantitative physics, and that experiments have come to a stage where higher order FQHE states are now beginning to reveal themselves.

Table I gives the overlaps of the ground state with the wave function of Eq. (4). The overlaps are fairly large, confirming that the trial wave function of Eq. (4) describes the ground state effectively; in other words, the physics of the FQHE at $`\nu =4/11`$ and $`\nu =7/19`$ is related to the $`\nu _{}=1/3`$ and $`\nu _{}=2/5`$ FQHE in the spin reversed sector.

We have also investigated the possibility of partially polarized QHE at $`\nu =6/17`$, which maps into $`\nu ^{}=1()+1/5()`$ of composite fermions. The theoretical spectra for 8 and 14 particles at $`Q_{6/17}=(17N22)/12`$, shown in Fig. (3), provide an indication of an incompressible state here as well. Surprisingly, the gap for $`N=14`$ is approximately $`0.0014e^2/ϵl_0`$, which is of the same order as the $`\nu =4/11`$ gap. However, the system sizes are effectively very small, as can be seen by the fact that there are only one or two basis functions at each angular momentum, which prevents us from making a more reliable assertion regarding the presence of incompressibility at $`\nu =6/17`$. At the moment, we are unable to get sufficient accuracy at the next particle number ($`N=20`$).

Our study thus predicts that partially polarized higher order FQHE at fractions of the form $`\nu =\frac{3m+1}{8m+3}`$ should be possible in an appropriate range of Zeeman energy and temperature. The temperature scale set by the gap is on the order of 150 mK (at $`B=10`$T) for GaAs, which is an upper limit because corrections due to finite thickness and disorder are expected to suppress the gap substantially. It is at present not possible to ascertain theoretically the relevant Zeeman energy range, for lack of a quantitative understanding of the fully polarized states at these filling factors. The modifications due to finite transverse thickness, not included above, are also of relevance.

Similar considerations may also be useful for the QHE-like features seen previously at $`\nu =7/11`$ in very low density samples . The relevance of our results to the Raman experiment  in the filling factor range $`2/5\nu 1/3`$, where the level structure of composite fermions is observed, also deserves further investigation.

We thank Kwon Park and Vito Scarola for discussions and helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-0240458. We are grateful to the High Performance Computing (HPC) group led by V. Agarwala, J. Holmes, and J. Nucciarone, at the Penn State University ASET (Academic Services and Emerging Technologies) for assistance and computing time with the LION-XE cluster, and acknowledge NSF DGE-9987589 for computer support.


text:
# A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics

(February 16, 2003)

## Abstract

The slow non–equilibrium dynamics of the Edwards–Anderson spin glass model on a hierarchical lattice is studied by means of a coarse–grained description based on renormalization concepts. We evaluate the isothermal aging properties and show how the occurrence of temperature chaos is connected to a gradual loss of memory when approaching the overlap length. This leads to rejuvenation effects in temperature shift protocols and to rejuvenation–memory effects in temperature cycling procedures with a pattern of behavior parallel to experimental observations.

Almost all glassy systems exhibit aging effects BCKM  which reflect a slowing down of the dynamics. Spin glasses exhibit the unusual feature that even small changes of temperature let them appear as if they had experienced a much shorter thermalization period, which is known as rejuvenation. Puzzlingly, they on the other hand keep quite accurate memories of their past thermal histories Saclay ; Uppsala . These phenomena call for a consistent theoretical explanation.

In this Letter, we construct a simple yet powerful coarse–grained approach for the relaxational dynamics of the Edwards–Anderson (EA) Ising spin glass model on the hierarchical lattice associated with the Migdal-Kadanoff (MK) approximation. This approach allows us to incorporate the exact real space renormalization group (RSRG) transformations MKRG ; ABM  into an effective non–equilibrium dynamics on large time and length scales, which remain out of reach by the conventional Monte Carlo technique. By employing computer simulations of the effective dynamics and analytical approaches combined with scaling arguments we show how temperature chaos BM ; FH1 ; MKRG ; ABM  progressively rejuvenates the system after temperature shifts and how memory effects emerge after temperature cycling.

The hierarchical lattice of the MK approximation for the EA model in three dimensions is constructed iteratively as depicted in Fig. 1. To each bond in this lattice, a random exchange interaction is assigned drawn from a Gaussian distribution with zero mean and variance $`J^2`$.

The hierarchical construction of the lattice implies a hierarchy of time scales in the system’s relaxation. The spins $`\{S^{(0)}\}`$ with only two neighbors introduced in the last iteration step belong to the lowest level of the hierarchy and relax most quickly. Spins $`\{S^{(n)}\}`$ at increasingly higher levels $`n`$ in the hierarchy have an exponentially increasing number $`2\times 4^n`$ of nearest neighbors and relax with correspondingly slower rates. In the MK renormalization approach the spins $`\{S^{(n)}\}`$ are associated with an exponentially increasing length scale $`L_n=2^nL_0`$ where $`L_0`$ is the lattice constant. For temperatures $`T`$ below the spin glass transition temperature $`T_c0.88J`$ ABM , the effective energy barrier $`E_n`$ for excitations (“flips” of domains or droplets FH1 , see below) of length scale $`L_n`$ will scale as $`E_nJ(L_n/L_0)^\psi `$ with some exponent $`\psi `$. Hence we define the relaxation time $`t_n`$ for spins at level $`n`$ as

$$t_n/\tau _0=\mathrm{exp}\left[(J/T)(L_n/L_0)^\psi \right]=\mathrm{exp}\left[2^{n\psi }(J/T)\right],$$
(1)
where $`\tau _0`$ is a microscopic time unit. The time period $`t_n`$ is denoted as the $`n`$th epoch following FH1 .

Our effective dynamics proceeds by successive epochs. Since these grow with level $`n`$ exponentially even on a logarithmic time axis, we consider, in the $`n`$th epoch, the spins $`\{S^{(n+1,n+2,\mathrm{})}\}`$ to be frozen in and the spins $`\{S^{(n,n1,\mathrm{},0)}\}`$ to fluctuate with strongly decreasing relaxation times $`t_nt_{(n1)}\mathrm{}t_0`$. In the $`n`$th epoch, we then first thermalize (align with Boltzmann weights) the spins $`S_i^{(n)}`$ in their effective (time–averaged) local fields $`h_i^{(n)}=_jJ_{ij}^{(n)}S_j^{(n+1,n+2,\mathrm{})}`$. Here $`J_{ij}^{(n)}`$ are the effective couplings given by the RSRG transformation MKRG ; ABM  $`J_{ij}^{(n)}=T_{k=1}^4\mathrm{tanh}^1[\mathrm{tanh}(J_{ik}^{(n1)}/T)\mathrm{tanh}(J_{jk}^{(n1)}/T)],`$ which take into account the thermalization of the faster spins at lower levels $`n^{}<n`$. In the second step, the spins $`S_i^{(n1)}`$ are thermalized in their effective local fields $`h_i^{(n1)}`$, which depend on the spins $`S_i^{(n)}`$ updated in the first step (and the effective couplings $`\{J^{(n1)}\}`$). By repeating this procedure, the spins $`\{S^{(n)}\},\{S^{(n1)}\},\mathrm{},\{S^{(0)}\}`$ are updated one after the other in the $`n`$th epoch.

To characterize the non–equilibrium properties of the system we consider a quench from $`T=\mathrm{}`$ to $`T<T_c`$ at time zero and study the spin autocorrelation function

$$C(t_m,t_n)=\underset{\alpha }{}w_\alpha \underset{i_\alpha }{}\overline{S_{i_\alpha }^{(\alpha )}(t_n+t_m)S_{i_\alpha }^{(\alpha )}(t_n)},$$
(2)
where $`\mathrm{}`$ denotes a thermal average and an average over random initial spin orientations for a fixed realization of the disorder, while the bar denotes the disorder average over the random bonds. The $`w_\alpha >0`$, $`_\alpha w_\alpha =1`$, are weighting factors, which allow one to take into account that spins at different levels are not equivalent. A natural choice is to take $`w_\alpha `$ proportional to the connectivity $`4^\alpha `$ of spins $`\{S^{(\alpha )}\}`$ and we present our results for this case. We have checked, however, that the choice $`w_\alpha =const.`$ MC  yields analogous results. Recently, direct experimental measurements of the correlation function have been conducted in a spin glass HO .

The time evolution of the system is best analyzed in terms of clusters, which are realizations of domains or droplets postulated in scaling arguments FH1 . A cluster is defined for each effective coupling $`J^{(\alpha )}`$ and consists of all faster spins at levels below $`\alpha `$, which are traced out in the RSRG to give $`J^{(\alpha )}`$. Each cluster has two boundary spins which are the spins connected by $`J^{(\alpha )}`$ after renormalization. One is a spin $`S^{(\alpha )}`$ at level $`\alpha `$, which we call the “master spin” of the cluster. The other is a still slower spin of level $`\gamma >\alpha `$. An important remark is that $`2J^{(\alpha )}`$ is the difference of the cluster’s free energies of the cases that the boundary spins are parallel and anti–parallel. If the master spin flips but the slower boundary spin keeps unchanged, the spins in the interior of the cluster are exposed to a “twisted–boundary condition”, which triggers flips of a $`O(1)`$ fraction of these spins. It is by this mechanism that fluctuations occurring at high levels propagate down and erase correlations of the low–level spins.

In fact, these de–correlations caused by twisted boundaries can be quantified in a precise manner. Let us consider a certain spin $`\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}`$ at level $`\alpha `$. Since the clusters are hierarchically nested, this spin $`\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}`$ is part of unique clusters with master spins $`\widehat{S}^{(\gamma )}`$, $`\gamma >\alpha `$. By using symmetry considerations we can write for the correlator appearing in Eq. (2)

$`\overline{\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}(t_n+t_m)\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}(t_n)}`$ $`=`$
$`\overline{[12r_\alpha (t_m,t_n)]{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma =\alpha +1}{\overset{m}{}}}[1r_\gamma (t_m,t_n)]},`$
where $`r_\gamma (t_m,t_n)`$ is the probability that the spin $`\widehat{S}^{(\gamma )}`$ flips between $`t_n`$ and $`t_n+t_m`$ under the condition that the master spins $`\widehat{S}^{(\gamma )}`$ remained unchanged (for a given realization of the disorder). The product over $`\gamma `$ in Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) is the consequence of the twisted boundary effect: None of the boundary spins of the “super”–clusters containing the spin $`\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}`$ is allowed to flip between $`t_n`$ and $`t_n+t_m`$, if $`S^{(\alpha )}(t_n+t_m)`$ should give a non–zero overlap with $`S^{(\alpha )}(t_n)`$. For small flip probabilities $`r_\gamma 1`$, the right hand side of Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) can be linearized, yielding $`12\overline{r}_\alpha _{\gamma =\alpha +1}^m\overline{r}_\gamma `$.

Isothermal aging – Let us first discuss the isothermal aging properties. Fig. 2 shows the simulated $`C(t_m,t_n)`$ as a function of $`L(t_m)/L_0=[(T/J)\mathrm{log}(t_m/\tau _0)]^{1/\psi }`$ \[cf. Eq. (1)\]. Clearly, there are two different regimes, a quasi–equilibrium regime with a slow decay for $`L(t_m)L(t_n)`$ and the aging regime with a fast decay for $`L(t_m)>L(t_n)`$.

Relaxation in the quasi–equilibrium regime $`L(t_m)L(t_n)`$ is close to that of the equilibrium limit $`C_{\mathrm{eq}}(t_m)=lim_n\mathrm{}C(t_m,t_n)`$. In the low–$`T`$ limit the behavior of $`C_{\mathrm{eq}}(t_m)`$ can be derived by considering thermal fluctuations from the ground states. At $`T=0`$ a spin $`S_i^{(\alpha )}`$ points in the direction of the effective local field $`h_i^{(\alpha )}`$. Accordingly, for $`T0`$ spin flips become likely if the energy gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha =2|h_i^{(\alpha )}|`$ is smaller than the thermal energy $`T`$. We have investigated numerically the distribution $`\rho (\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha )`$ of the energy gaps and found that it follows an analogous scaling form as the distribution of renormalized bonds FH1

$$\rho (\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha )d\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha =\stackrel{~}{\rho }\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha }{J(L_\alpha /L_0)^\theta }\right)\frac{d\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha }{J(L_\alpha /L_0)^\theta },$$
(4)
where $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }(0)>0`$ and $`\theta 0.26`$ ABM  is the stiffness exponent. As a consequence, we obtain up to terms of order $`O(T^2,L_\alpha ^{1\theta })`$ for the disorder averaged flip probabilities $`\overline{r}_\gamma c(T/J)(L_\gamma /L_0)^\theta 1`$ with $`c=\stackrel{~}{\rho }(0)/2`$. Using the linearized form of Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) this yields

$$C_{\mathrm{eq}}(t_m)q_{\mathrm{EA}}+c^{}\frac{T}{J}\left(\frac{L(t_m)}{L_0}\right)^\theta ,$$
(5)
where $`c^{}=c/(2^\theta 1)`$ and the Edwards–Anderson order parameter $`q_{\mathrm{EA}}`$ decreases linearly with $`T`$, $`q_{\mathrm{EA}}1const.T`$. Indeed, we could well fit the data in Fig. 2 to Eq. (5) and thereby extract $`q_{\mathrm{EA}}`$, which we found to decrease linearly with $`T`$ except possibly close to $`T_c`$.

In the aging regime $`L(t_m)>L(t_n)`$, the master spins at levels $`n<\gamma m`$ are newly thermalized and flip with probability $`r_\gamma =1/2`$. Taking this into account in Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) we find the exact relation

$$C(t_m,t_n)=C(t_n,t_n)\left(\frac{L(t_m)}{L(t_n)}\right)^\lambda $$
(6)
with $`\lambda =1`$. Equations (5,6) agree with the scaling forms suggested by the droplet scaling theory FH1 .

Temperature/bond shift protocols – Next we proceed to our central issue and investigate the implication of temperature chaos on aging and rejuvenation effects in temperature shift protocols $`(T_1,T_2)`$. The system evolves first at temperature $`T_1`$ for time $`t_n`$ and then the temperature is switched to $`T_2=T_1+\mathrm{\Delta }T`$, corresponding to a perturbation of strength $`\delta |\mathrm{\Delta }T|/T_c`$.

Figure 3a shows the correlation function $`C(t_m,t_n)`$ as a function of $`L(t_m)`$ obtained from our computer simulations. As in Fig. 2, we can identify an aging regime for $`L(t_m)>L(t_n)`$. Indeed the scaling from Eq. (6) holds exactly with the same underlying mechanism as in the isothermal case. In this respect the aging effect does not stop. However, the limiting curve $`C_{\mathrm{}}(t_m)=lim_n\mathrm{}C(t_m,t_n)`$ decays to zero for $`t_m\mathrm{}`$ while that of isothermal aging converges to the plateau $`q_{\mathrm{EA}}`$ \[see Eq. (5)\]. Hence the aging effect becomes progressively irrelevant and the system rejuvenates, suggesting that temperature chaos effect is coming into play.

Another remarkable observation from Fig. 3a is that $`C(t_m,t_n)`$ remains unchanged when $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$ are interchanged. Due to symmetry this must hold true for $`t_m=t_n`$, and, because of (6), it is exactly valid for $`t_m>t_n`$ also. For $`t_m<t_n`$, it can be shown based on Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) that deviations, if occurring at all, must be very small. The symmetry supports the results of recent “twin–experiments” performed on a spin glass JYN2002 .

To understand the behavior of $`C_{\mathrm{}}(t_m)`$ it is important to note that a temperature shift affects the spin flip probabilities in two ways: (i) it changes the effective couplings due to the $`T`$–dependence of the RSRG transformations and hence the effective fields, and (ii) it changes the weighting of these fields in the Boltzmann probabilities. In order to isolate the subtle effect (i) from the obvious effect (ii) we introduce a correlation function that is normalized by the isothermal correlation functions at temperatures $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$, $`\widehat{C}_{\mathrm{}}(t_m)C_{\mathrm{}}(t_m)/\sqrt{C_{\mathrm{eq}}(t_m)_{T_1}C_{\mathrm{eq}}(t_m)_{T_2}}`$. It can be shown that $`\widehat{C}_{\mathrm{}}=1+O(\delta ^2)`$ if effect (i) is absent.

Now we can focus on effect (i) and estimate the induced flip probability $`\overline{r}_\alpha (\delta )`$ of a master spin $`\widehat{S}^{(\alpha )}`$. A flip of such a spin becomes likely if the typical change of effective couplings $`\mathrm{\Delta }J^{(\alpha )}`$ induced by the temperature shift exceeds the original energy gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha `$ before the shift, i.e. $`\overline{r}_\alpha (\delta )_0^{\mathrm{\Delta }J^{(\alpha )}}𝑑\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha \rho (\mathrm{\Delta }_\alpha )`$. As noted above, $`2J^{(\alpha )}`$ is the difference of the free energies of the associated cluster between the two states with parallel and anti–parallel boundary spins, which below $`T_c`$ have a “relative domain wall” that passes through $`L_\alpha ^{d1}`$ links. Accordingly, one can write for the free energy change $`2\mathrm{\Delta }J^{(\alpha )}\mathrm{\Delta }[TS_\alpha ]`$, where $`S_\alpha `$ is the difference of the entropies associated with the two states. As shown in FH1 ; BM ; ABM , $`S_\alpha `$ is the sum of random local entropy fluctuations associated with the $`L_\alpha ^{d1}`$ links along the relative domain wall, yielding $`S_\alpha L_\alpha ^{(d1)/2}`$. It follows that $`\mathrm{\Delta }J^{(\alpha )}\delta L_\alpha ^{(d1)/2}`$ and hence $`\overline{r}_\gamma (\delta )_0^{[L_\gamma /L^{}(\delta )]^\zeta }𝑑y\stackrel{~}{\rho }(y)`$, where $`L^{}(\delta )/L_0\delta ^{1/\zeta }`$ is the so–called overlap length. The exponent $`\zeta =(d1)/2\theta 0.74`$ is called the chaos exponent BM ; FH1 .

In the weakly perturbed regime $`L(t_m)L^{}(\delta )`$ the flip rates are small, $`\overline{r}_\gamma (\delta )\stackrel{~}{\rho }(0)[L_\gamma /L^{}(\delta )]^\zeta `$, and using the linearized Eq. (A real space renormalization group approach to spin glass dynamics) we obtain

$$\widehat{C}_{\mathrm{}}(t_m;\delta )=1c\stackrel{~}{\rho }(0)\left(\frac{L(t_m)}{L^{}(\delta )}\right)^\zeta $$
(7)
where $`c`$ is a constant. Quite importantly this means that the rejuvenation effect does not appear suddenly at the overlap length $`L^{}(\delta )`$ but rather gradually emerges. Very similar scaling for the emergence of the rejuvenation effect is found in the “twin–experiment” mentioned above JYN2002 .

In the late stage $`L(t_m)L^{}(\delta )`$, which we call strongly perturbed regime, the flip rates become $`1/2`$. Then similarly to Eq. (6) we expect,

$$\widehat{C}_{\mathrm{}}(t_m;\delta )\left(\frac{L(t_m)}{L^{}(\delta )}\right)^\lambda $$
(8)
with $`\lambda =1`$.

Equivalent effects are expected for bond shifts FH1 ; BM . In a bond shift, the bare couplings $`J_{ij}`$ are replaced by $`(J_{ij}+\delta J_{ij}^{})/\sqrt{1+\delta ^2}`$, where $`J_{ij}^{}`$ are Gaussian random numbers obeying the same statistics as the $`J_{ij}`$, and $`\delta `$ is the perturbation strength.

We tested the above scaling ansatz numerically. As demonstrated in Fig. 3, they work very well. Quite remarkably the form of the master curve is apparently universal for both temperature and bond shifts.

Temperature cycling– Finally, we study rejuvenation and memory effects after one step temperature cycling. Therein, the system evolves at a temperature $`T_1`$ for a time $`t_n`$ and subsequently at another temperature $`T_2`$ for a time $`t_n^{}`$. Then the temperature is put back to $`T_1`$ and we measure the autocorrelation function $`C(t_m,t_n^{},t_n)`$, which is the overlap between the spin configuration at time $`t_n+t_n^{}`$ and that after some additional time $`t_m`$.

Figure 4 shows the simulated data. The initial decay shows rejuvenation: There is no trace of aging during the first stage and $`C(t_m,t_n^{},t_n)`$ follows the autocorrelation function $`C(t_m,t_n^{};\delta =|T_1T_2|/T_c)`$ as after a simple $`T`$–shift $`(T_2,T_1)`$. If $`L_{T_1}(t_n)>L_{T_2}(t_n^{})`$, this rejuvenated, new aging is however terminated after the recovery time $`t_m^{}`$ determined by $`L_{T_1}(t_m^{})=L_{T_2}(t_n^{})`$ YLB . There, a plateau region shows up indicating that the system’s evolution recovers length scales already thermalized at temperature $`T_1`$ during the first stage. Eventually, for $`t_m>t_n`$, the system also memorizes the limits of this first thermalization and $`C(t_m,t_n^{},t_n)`$ enters a steep decay analogous to Eq. (6) in the isothermal case. We confirmed that bond cycling yields analogous results.

The two stage relaxation is reminiscent of the experimentally observed rejuvenation–memory effects Saclay ; Uppsala . Here slow spins play the role of ghost domains proposed in YLB . After strong perturbations, configurations of faster spins which occupy a dominant portion of the volume of a cluster are changed but slower spins in the same volume retain their original configuration. The slower spins act as remanent symmetry breaking fields by which both the original amplitude and sign of the overlap with respect to the equilibrium state can be restored.

F.S. thanks the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Japanese Ministry of Science (MEXT) for financial support during a stay in Japan. H.Y. is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Grant–in–Aid for Scientific Research 14740233.