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# Monopole core instability and Alice rings in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

## Abstract

We show how the length scale hierarchy, resulting from different interaction strengths in an optically-trapped spin-1 23Na Bose-Einstein condensate, can lead to intriguing core deformations in singular topological defects. In particular, a point defect can be unstable with respect to the formation of a stable half-quantum vortex ring (an ‘Alice ring’), providing a realistic scheme to use dissipation as a sophisticated state engineering tool. We compute the threshold for stability of the point monopole, which is beyond the current experimental regime.

The rich order parameter space of multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can admit truly 3D topological excitations RUO01 ; SAV03 ; BAT02 ; Stoof ; STO01 , beyond the simple quantized vortices of single-component BECs. Such structures are of interest in a wide range of physical contexts, but dilute atomic BECs offer the unusual advantage that we can fully explore, e.g., the short-range physics in topological defect cores, where the order parameter may explore a larger space than the usual ground state manifold. In this Letter we show how this can result in rich and surprising core structures, by demonstrating a spontaneous deformation of a singular point defect to an energetically stable half-quantum vortex ring.

We examine the recently presented case STO01  of a defect analogous to the ’t Hooft-Polyakov monopole HOO74 , in a antiferromagnetic, or polar, spin-1 BEC LEA03 . We will show that it is only in the strongly antiferromagnetic regime, which is not attained in current experiments, that its stable core will be the spherically symmetric hedgehog, with a total density depression, of Ref. STO01 . In the weakly antiferromagnetic regime that currently holds, the wavelength at which the antiferromagnetic constraint may be violated is much larger than that at which the total density constraint fails. The stable defect core therefore extends to this larger size, and holds non-zero average spin instead of a density zero. The singular point defect itself deforms to a circle: a half-quantum vortex ring (Figs. 1 and 2), called an ‘Alice ring’ by high energy physicists SCH82 ; BAI95 ; STR03 , which carries a topological charge similar to delocalized magnetic ‘Cheshire’ charge ALF91 . This forms an interesting connection between ultra-cold atom experiments and elementary particle physics. It also shows that dissipation, often an obstacle in state engineering, can sometimes perform the intricate final step in producing an exotic object.

We consider the BEC of spin-1 atoms. In the absence of a magnetic trapping potential, the macroscopic BEC wave function is determined by a spinor wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ with three complex components HO98 ; Pethick . The Hamiltonian density of the classical Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) mean-field theory for this system reads:

$$=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2+V\rho +\frac{c_0}{2}\rho ^2+\frac{c_2\rho ^2}{2}|𝐅|^2,$$
(1)
where $`𝐅`$ are the 3-by-3 Pauli spin matrices, $`𝐅=\mathrm{\Psi }^{}𝐅\mathrm{\Psi }/\rho `$ denotes the average spin, $`\rho =|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2`$ the total atom density, $`c_04\pi \mathrm{}^2(2a_2+a_0)/3m`$, and $`c_24\pi \mathrm{}^2(a_2a_0)/3m`$, for $`a_F`$ the two-body $`s`$-wave scattering length in the total spin $`F`$ channel HO98 . For 23Na, $`a_a(a_2a_0)/32a_B`$ and $`a_s(2a_2+a_0)/350a_B`$, indicating $`c_2/c_00.04`$, where $`a_B=0.0529`$nm is the Bohr radius. Here $`V`$ denotes the external potential, for an isotropic optical dipole trap with the frequency $`\omega `$: $`V(𝐫)=m\omega ^2r^2/2`$. For 23Na $`c_2>0`$, and the energy is minimized by setting $`𝐅=\mathrm{𝟎}`$ throughout the BEC for the case of a uniform order parameter field. The zero average spin corresponds to the ground polar state, where we may determine all the degenerate states by means of the macroscopic BEC phase $`\phi `$ and a real unit vector $`𝐝(𝐫)`$ defining the quantization axis of the spin. The BEC wave function then reads:

$$\mathrm{\Psi }=\left(\begin{array}{c}\psi _1\\ \psi _0\\ \psi _1\end{array}\right)=\frac{\sqrt{\rho }e^{i\phi }}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{c}d_x+id_y\\ \sqrt{2}d_z\\ d_x+id_y\end{array}\right).$$
(2)
As in the similar polar phase of superfluid 3He-A VOL90 ; VOL03 ; VOL77 , however, the states $`(𝐝,\phi )`$ and $`(𝐝,\phi +\pi )`$ are identical LEO00 . The polar order parameter space, which may appear to be $`S^1\times S^2`$, is actually factorized by the two-element discrete group $`Z_2`$. Consequently, we take the $`𝐝`$ field to define unoriented axes rather than vectors.

The spherically symmetric monopole $`\mathrm{\Psi }_M`$ is obtained from Eq. (2) by the radial hedgehog field $`𝐝(𝐫)=\widehat{𝐫}(\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi ,\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi ,\mathrm{cos}\theta )`$ BUS99 , with $`\phi =0`$ and $`\rho =\rho _M(r)`$ minimizing the energy of the symmetric configuration STO01 . This is singular at the origin indicating a point defect with $`\rho (0)=0`$. Spinor component $`\psi _0`$ resembles a dark soliton and $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ form perfectly overlapping, straight singly-quantized vortex lines with opposite circulation, perpendicular to the phase kink plane. The topologically invariant winding number,

$$W=\frac{1}{8\pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }𝑑S_iϵ_{ijk}𝐝\frac{𝐝}{x_j}\times \frac{𝐝}{x_k},$$
(3)
is defined on any closed surface $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ that encloses the origin. Because the sign of $`𝐝`$ is ambiguous, though, the sign of $`W`$ is arbitrary. Moreover, because the $`𝐝`$ field is actually unoriented, the monopole point defect may be continuously deformed into a circular line defect, without changing $`W`$ (on any surface enclosing the singular ring), by punching a hole in the spherically symmetric core; see Fig. 3. To keep $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ single-valued on the disc bounded by the ring, the macroscopic phase $`\phi `$ must change by $`\pi `$ around any loop that links the defect circle, while there is also a $`\pi `$-disclination in $`𝐝`$ on the disc. We identify this structure as a half-quantum vortex line VOL90 ; VOL03 , forming a closed circular ring, also called an Alice ring SCH82 ; BAI95 ; STR03 ; ALF91 . To keep $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ single-valued on the ring itself, one can either have $`\rho `$ vanish there, or have $`|𝐅|=1`$ on the ring instead.

Thus, because of the ambiguity of the direction of $`𝐝`$ in the polar state, different core structures can be smoothly deformed into each other. The core stability is therefore solely determined by energetic considerations. Physically, the $`\rho =0`$ ring evidently has higher energy than the $`\rho =0`$ point; but energetic stability of the point defect against the Alice ring with $`\left|𝐅\right|=1`$ core is a nontrivial question. We may define two healing lengths $`\xi _s(8\pi a_s\rho )^{1/2}`$ and $`\xi _a(8\pi a_a\rho )^{1/2}`$, in Eq. (1). They describe the length scales over which $`\rho `$ and $`|𝐅|`$, respectively, tend to their bulk value when subjected to localized perturbations. (We can also say that $`\xi _s`$ and $`\xi _a`$ correspond to the excitation wavelengths below which density and spin fluctuations cease to be energetically suppressed.) Since at the defect core we may have either $`\rho =0`$ or $`|𝐅|=1`$, $`\xi _s`$ and $`\xi _a`$ determine the core sizes in the two cases. We numerically demonstrate, by decreasing the ratio $`a_a/a_s`$, that the spherically symmetric monopole core with the total density suppression becomes unstable to formation of an energetically stable Alice ring with $`|𝐅|=1`$ core. We find the radial hedgehog to be unstable in a linear stability analysis in bulk at $`c_2/c_00.17`$ and in the mean-field theory in a trap at $`c_2/c_00.16`$, using an experimentally feasible set of parameters for 23Na.

Before turning to the full nonlinear mean-field theory of the trapped BEC, we study the linear stability of the radial hedgehog in the homogeneous case. We expand the Hamiltonian (1), with $`V=0`$, to second order around $`\mathrm{\Psi }_M`$. Perturbations of the form

$$\delta \mathrm{\Psi }=i\frac{\eta (r)}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{c}C_1+iC_2\\ \sqrt{2}C_3\\ C_1+iC_2\end{array}\right)+i\frac{𝐂\widehat{𝐫}}{\sqrt{2}}\varsigma (r)\left(\begin{array}{c}e^{i\varphi }\mathrm{sin}\theta \\ \sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}\theta \\ e^{i\varphi }\mathrm{sin}\theta \end{array}\right)$$
(4)
decouple from all others, for real $`C_j`$, $`\eta `$ and $`\varsigma `$, if $`\eta `$ and $`\varsigma `$ satisfy (here $`Xc_2/c_0`$ and $`\overline{\rho }\rho _M(r)/\rho _0`$, where $`\rho _0`$ denotes the constant asymptotic value of the density)

$`\lambda \varsigma `$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2r^2}}\left(r^2\varsigma ^{}\right)^{}+{\displaystyle \frac{3}{r^2}}\varsigma +[(\overline{\rho }1)\varsigma 2X\overline{\rho }\eta ]{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _s^2}}`$
$`\lambda \eta `$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2r^2}}\left(r^2\eta ^{}\right)^{}+\left[\overline{\rho }\left(1+2X\right)1\right]{\displaystyle \frac{\eta }{\xi _s^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\varsigma }{r^2}}`$ (5)
for some real eigenvalue $`\lambda `$. For small $`C=|𝐂|`$, the change in free energy due to this perturbation in $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ will be $`\delta E=\lambda C^2m/\mathrm{}^2`$. Numerical solution shows US2  that there exists one negative $`\lambda `$, hence three degenerate instabilities proportional to $`C_i`$, when $`c_2/c_00.17`$. We can show that no other instabilities exist in bulk, so for $`c_2/c_00.17`$ the point defect is stable. Since the perturbation (4) gives

$$𝐅=\frac{2𝐂\times \widehat{𝐫}\sqrt{\rho _M}\eta }{\rho _M+C^2\eta ^2},$$
(6)
where $`𝐅`$ is with respect to the state $`\mathrm{\Psi }_M+\delta \mathrm{\Psi }`$, we have $`\left|𝐅\right|=1`$ on a circle in the plane through the origin perpendicular to $`𝐂`$, at radius $`r_{}`$, such that $`\rho _M(r_{})=[C\eta (r_{})]^2`$. The form of $`\rho _M(r)`$ (rising monotonically from 0 to $`\rho _0`$) and $`\eta `$ (decreasing monotonically to zero as $`r\mathrm{}`$) ensures that $`r_{}`$ grows monotonically with $`C`$. As a result, a randomly oriented Alice ring will form spontaneously from the symmetric monopole, as $`C`$ grows from zero by relaxation, for $`c_2/c_00.17`$.

In the full 3D classical mean-field theory of the spin-1 monopole in an isotropic trap, we minimized the energy by evolving the GP equations,

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{\mathrm{\Psi }}{t}=(\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}^2+V+c_0\rho )\mathrm{\Psi }+c_2\rho 𝐅𝐅\mathrm{\Psi },$$
(7)
in imaginary time. The initial state was an approximate spherically symmetric monopole solution with a point core, embedded in a Thomas-Fermi density profile. The integration was performed on a spatial grid of $`128^3`$ points using the split-step method. At every time step we normalized the wave function to fix the total atom number. The numerical simulations were fully 3D without imposing any symmetry on $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ as it relaxed.

We varied the relative strength of the two interaction coefficients $`c_0`$ and $`c_2`$, as well as the total atom number $`N`$. The dynamics depends on the dimensionless interaction strengths $`c_0^{}=4\pi Na_s/l`$ and $`c_2^{}=4\pi Na_a/l`$, where $`l[\mathrm{}/(m\omega )]^{1/2}`$. Hence, for a given atom with fixed values of scattering lengths, the results are unchanged for any scaling of length and time, which does not change $`N^2\omega `$. In optical dipole trap experiments on 23Na BECs, a wide range of aspect ratios and trapping strengths have been demonstrated, with the typical values of $`l/a_s`$ varying between 500 and 4000 LEA03 .

For small values of $`c_2/c_0`$, the point core deformed into a half-quantum vortex ring. With the initial radial hedgehog at the trap center we found vortex ring configurations as local energetic minima, with the size of the ring approximately determined by $`\xi _a`$comment . In Figs. 1 and 2 we display such results using the parameters of the spin-1 23Na with $`c_2/c_0=0.04`$ and $`c_0^{}=2\times 10^4`$. With the trapping frequency $`\omega =2\pi \times 10`$Hz, this corresponds to $`N4\times 10^6`$ atoms. In the initial state of the radial hedgehog, the components $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ form two oppositely circulating vortex lines with perfectly overlapping density profiles. Due to dissipation, the two vortices in $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ separated near the trap center, forming an Alice ring. Note that this corresponds to the growth of the perturbation $`C_2`$ in Eq. (4). The numerical noise in this example effectively seeded the instability $`C_2`$ yielding

$$\psi _{\pm 1}^{(M)}+\delta \psi _{\pm 1}\frac{\sqrt{\rho _M}}{r}\left[\left(x\frac{C_2r\eta }{\sqrt{\rho _M}}\right)+iy\right].$$
(8)
Since $`r\eta /\sqrt{\rho _M}`$ is constant at the origin, but vanishes as $`r\mathrm{}`$, this means that near the center the two vortices in $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ separate in the $`xz`$ plane. Growth of $`C_1`$ involves a similar separation in the $`yz`$ plane. One can clearly see the $`\pi `$ winding of the macroscopic phase around closed loops threading the Alice ring in Eq. (8).

With some initial parameters we also observed the radial hedgehog evolving to an Alice ring with the vortex cores in $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ expanding, but not separating, while the phase kink in $`\psi _0`$ no longer maintained a total density depression at the center. This clearly represents the growth of the perturbation $`C_3`$ in Eq. (4), since the term proportional to $`\varsigma \left(r\right)`$ is simply a perturbation in the macroscopic phase $`\phi `$ of Eq. (2). In the general case of a symmetric initial monopole, dissipation spontaneously breaks the spherical symmetry and the resulting ring has an arbitrary orientation.

It is easy to see that the Alice ring in bulk must stabilize at some finite value of the radius, because the amount of energetically costly non-zero $`𝐅`$ rises as the ring grows. This was also true in a trap for small enough rings. However, with smaller atom numbers, $`c_0^{}10^4`$ for 23Na, a larger ring resulted, which was destabilized by the inhomogeneous density profile: the two vortex lines in $`\psi _{\pm 1}`$ completely detached and left the atomic cloud in opposite directions.

The half-quantum vortex ring, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, was still unstable with respect to drifting out of the atomic cloud as a unit if initially displaced from the trap center. This is because of the reduced order parameter bending energy at lower atom densities. However, we successfully stabilized the Alice ring by creating a local density minimum at the trap center, by adding to the harmonic trapping potential the optical potential $`V_L`$, simulating two orthogonal blue-detuned focused Gaussian laser beams: $`V_L=V_1\mathrm{exp}[2(x^2+y^2)/w^2]+V_2\mathrm{exp}[2(x^2+z^2)/w^2]`$. We note that the Alice ring can always be made long-living on experimental time scales even without the stabilizing field, since the drift time should increase with the BEC size, while the ring formation time should decrease.

We also investigated the onset of the point defect core instability by varying $`c_2^{}`$ for a given $`c_0^{}=2\times 10^4`$. We found the symmetric monopole to be unstable for $`c_2/c_00.16`$, in a good agreement with the linear stability analysis in bulk. The precise value of the threshold is very difficult to determine in a trap, since the convergence in the simulations is particularly slow close to the threshold. In the case of very long runs, numerical noise also eventually displaces the monopole so that it starts drifting out of the atomic cloud. For smaller values of $`c_2^{}`$, representing unstable Alice rings which break apart due to the inhomogeneous density, the instability of the point defect occurred with much larger values of $`c_2/c_0`$, when the trap length scale became comparable to the polar healing length $`l\xi _a`$, emphasizing the nontrivial nature of the finite size effects.

In the experimental preparation of an Alice ring by relaxation, it is helpful to note that defects and textures in multi-component BECs may generally be viewed as combinations of vortex lines, rings, and phase kinks RUO01 . As we already noted, the radial hedgehog has an especially simple structure of vortex lines and phase kinks which have been experimentally created in individual atomic BEC components, e.g., by means of localized laser fields, which are rapidly swept around the trap during a Raman transition MAT99 ; AND01 ; RUO00 . The spherically symmetric monopole could similarly be created, by a sequence of Raman pulses, in a straightforward generalization of the pulse sequences proposed in Ref. RUO01 . Dissipation plays a crucial role in the state engineering process and will then perform the final step of generating a stable Alice ring by spontaneously breaking the spherical symmetry. The stable radius $`\xi _a`$ of the Alice ring may easily extend over several microns, making the core quite observable, possibly even without ballistic expansion.

We can summarize our results in basic terms. In 23Na BECs the weakness of the antiferromagnetic energy ($`a_sa_a`$), topology, and the gradient energy of the order parameter, may conspire to favor nonvanishing spin values, even for $`a_a>0`$: It is energetically more favorable to violate the antiferromagnetic constraint than to force the superfluid density to vanish. As a result, a monopole core deforms to a ring and exhibits a nonvanishing spin expectation value and a non-zero superfluid density. In other words, the strong order parameter bending energy close to the singular defect mixes the polar and the ferromagnetic phases of the spinor BEC, rather than forcing the total superfluid density to zero at the singularity. Due to the length scale hierarchy, the stable size of the defect core will then be determined by $`\xi _a`$ instead of the much smaller $`\xi _s`$. And the creation of this intricate Alice ring structure will occur spontaneously, from the much simpler symmetric monopole, by relaxation alone.

While the motion and interaction of point defects was analyzed in STO01 , the dynamics of Alice rings remains a question for future theoretical and experimental study. So does the possible meta-stability of Alice rings for $`c_20.17c_0`$. Topological defects in spinor BECs promise a rich phenomenology, which current experimental techniques will allow us to explore.

###### Acknowledgements.

This research was supported by the EPSRC.


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# Flux Flow Instabilities in Microstructured Amorphous Nb0.7Ge0.3 Thin Films

Corresponding author\]

## Abstract

We report measurements of the electric field vs. current density \[$`E(J)`$\] characteristics in the mixed state of amorphous Nb0.7Ge0.3 microbridges. Close to the transition temperature $`T_c`$ the Larkin-Ovchinnikov theory of nonlinear flux flow and the related instability describes the data quantitatively up to $`70`$ % of the upper critical magnetic field $`B_{c2}`$ and over a wide electric field range. At lower temperatures the nonlinearities of $`E(J)`$ can be described by electron heating which reduces $`B_{c2}`$ and leads to a second type of flux flow instability, as shown by a scaling analysis of the high-dissipation data.

It was predicted by Larkin and Ovchinnikov (LO) that the $`E(J)`$ curves of a ”dirty” superconductor in the mixed state may exhibit a steep increase long before the depairing current density is reached.lo  This behaviour, called LO flux flow instability (FFI), appears when the energy of quasiparticles in driven vortex cores becomes large enough for their escape into the surrounding superfluid. As a consequence, the vortices shrink and the vortex motion viscosity is reduced, resulting in an increase of the dissipation at the fixed $`J`$. According to LO, the above mechanism is strong at temperatures $`T`$ close to $`T_c`$ and the corresponding FFI occurs when $`E`$ reaches a critical value $`E_i`$ proportional to magnetic field $`B`$, which implies a $`B`$-independent critical vortex velocity $`u_i=E_i/B`$. An extension of the LO theory by Bezuglyj and Shklovskij (BS),bs  who took into account heating effects due to a finite rate of heat removal to the bath, limited the pure, nonthermal LO FFI to a $`B`$ considerably smaller than $`B_{c2}`$. In order to explain a $`B`$-dependent $`u_i`$, other modifications of the LO theory explored nonlocality of the spatial distribution of the excitations, caused by the quasiparticle energy relaxation length being smaller than the intervortex spacing.doet  Explanations of the FFI beyond the original or modified LO picture were sought in dynamic vortex lattice crystallisation,kosh  depinning phenomena,fend  appearance of hot spots,xiao  and recently in vortex core expansion due to electron heating at low temperatures.kunchur  Irrespective of the microscopic origin of the FFI, its distinct feature is an $`E(J)`$ region just above $`E_i`$ where theory predicts $`dE/dJ<0`$, implying not only an abrupt jump but also a hysteresis in $`E(J)`$, as shown experimentally in Ref. samoilov, . As $`B`$ is increased the jump disappears and $`E(J)`$ is turned to a smooth nonhysteretic curve.

Previous analyses of the mechanisms that cause the FFI relied mostly on identification of the jump at $`E_i(J_i)`$ and discussion of the $`(B,T)`$ dependences of $`E_i`$, $`J_i`$ and other related parameters ($`u_i`$, power density $`J_iE_i`$, etc.) The quantitative description of $`E(J)`$ over a wide $`E`$-range, i.e., extending both below and above $`E_i`$, has remained an open question. Furthermore, $`E_i`$ is a relevant parameter even if there is no jump but it has not been extracted from the nonhysteretic $`E(J)`$. The lack of such an investigation in conventional superconductors could possibly be explained by the usually strong pinning, which complicates treatments of pure flux flow effects even in simple vortex systems. In high-$`T_c`$ superconductors the pinning is weak, but the exact form of vortices is in this case less well known because of their complex anisotropic character and peculiar fluctuation phenomena in the depinned state.jrc  To avoid the mentioned obstacles as much as possible we have chosen a material already proven to be appropriate for studying the fundamental mechanisms of vortex dynamics, namely amorphous Nb0.7Ge0.3 thin film of thickness comparable to the coherence length $`\xi `$.basel  These samples have very weak or negligible pinning over a considerable part of the $`(B,T)`$ plane and represent a simple classical ”dirty” superconductor with a well defined vortex structure. In addition, we have reduced the measurement current and thus the power dissipation in the sample by patterning strips of a few micrometre width.

Close to $`T_c`$ we have found a convincing quantitative agreement with the LO theory up to an unexpectedly high $`b=B/B_{c2}0.7`$, in both the close-to-equilibrium flux flow resistivity $`\rho _f`$ and the $`E(J)`$ extended over a wide range of $`J`$. In particular, we show that $`E_i`$ can be determined unambiguously even if there is no clearly defined jump. At low temperatures the LO description breaks down, which suggests a different physics of the FFI. These data can be explained consistently by electron heating to a temperature $`T^{}`$ above the bath temperature $`T_0`$. The electron heating causes a decrease of $`B_{c2}(T^{})`$ and eventually a transition to the normal state at a certain electric field $`E_c`$.

The methods of sample fabrication and determination of superconducting parameters are described in Ref. basel, . The measured microbridge,sample2  deposited onto an oxidised Si substrate, is 210 $`\mu `$m long, 5 $`\mu `$m wide, 20 nm thick, and has the following parameters of interest: $`T_c=`$ 2.75 K (the transition width of 0.05 K), the estimated $`T=0`$ normal state resistivity $`\rho _n(0)=3.3\pm 0.2`$ $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }`$m, $`(dB_{c2}/dT)_{T=T_c}2.6`$ TK-1, $`\xi (0)=6.8`$ nm, and the other Ginzburg-Landau parameters are $`\kappa `$ = 103 and $`\lambda (0)=1.15`$ $`\mu `$m. All the sample parameters are within the range of expected values for amorphous Nb0.7Ge0.3 thin films. The measurements were performed in a 3He cryostat with rf filtered leads. The dc $`E(J)`$ was measured by sweeping an applied current at a rate 10 nAs-1 (0.1 MAm-2s-1), whereas the magnetoresistivity \[$`\rho (B,T)`$\] measurements were carried out using small currents (1 MA/m2) at which the $`E(J)`$ is linear, originating from either thermally activated vortex hopping or free flux flow.basel

In Fig. 1 we show the $`E(J)`$ at $`T_0=2.5`$ K ($`t=T_0/T_c=0.91`$) for 0.1 T $`B`$ 0.5 T ( $`0.15b0.77`$). All the curves were measured by increasing the applied current. A change from an $`E(J)`$ with the FFI jump (low $`B`$) to a smooth $`E(J)`$ (high $`B`$) is clearly visible, as well as a gradual approaching the normal state electric field $`E_n=\rho _nJ`$ (dashed line) at large $`J`$. We show below that the LO FFI theory explains quantitatively all these curves. Close to $`T_c`$ the LO expression for $`J(E)`$ is given by

$$J=\sigma _n\left[A+\frac{g(b)}{b(1t)^{1/2}}Y(E)\right]E,$$
(1)
where $`\sigma _n=1/\rho _n`$, $`A`$ is a constant of order unity, $`Y(E)=1/(1+E^2/E_i^2)`$ describes the vortex core shrinking, and $`g(b)`$ is a function approximated by the following interpolation formulae: $`g_1(b)=4.04b^{1/4}(3.96+2.38b)`$ for $`b<0.315`$, and $`g_2(b)=0.43(1b)^{3/2}+0.69(1b)^{5/2}`$ for $`b>0.315`$. In the limit $`EE_i`$, $`Y(E)1`$ and Eq. 1 gives the flux flow resistivity $`\rho _f=E/J`$. In the expression for $`\rho _f`$, $`A=1`$ follows from the condition $`\rho _f(B_{c2})=\rho _n`$, whereas in nonequilibrium the constant value of $`A1`$ reflects suppression of the superconducting order parameter outside the cores by a strong electric field.samoilov

A comparison of the measured data (full lines) and Eq. 1 (dashed lines) is shown in Fig. 2 for two characteristic shapes of the $`E(J)`$ at $`T_0=2.5`$ K, i.e., for those with ($`B=0.1`$ T) and without ($`B=0.4`$ T) the jump. Eq. 1 agrees with the data excellently by taking $`\sigma _n=3.1\times 10^5`$ S/m from $`\rho (B2B_{c2})`$, $`A`$ ranging from 0.92 to 0.97 with no systematic $`B`$-dependence, and using $`B_{c2}=0.65\pm 0.03\mathrm{T}`$ to calculate $`g(b)/b`$ and the corresponding error bars (important at low $`b`$ where $`g(b)/b`$ is a steep function). Thus, the only free parameter left is $`E_i`$, shown in the inset to Fig. 2(a) and discussed later.

In the inset to Fig. 1 we show $`\rho (B)`$ (solid line) at the same temperature, compared with the theoretical $`\rho _f`$ (open symbols). With the same values of parameters $`B_{c2}`$, $`\sigma _n`$ and $`A`$ as above, the agreement of the data and the LO theory is satisfactory below $`0.5`$ T all the way down to $`B0`$. This implies a negligible critical current density $`J_c`$ and a good description of the close-to-equilibrium transport properties in terms of the LO theory for all the $`E(J)`$ shown in Fig. 1. The LO theory however fails to explain the data closer to $`B_{c2}`$, in contrast to our previous findingbasel  for another sample at $`t=0.82`$. To resolve this apparent inconsistency we measured $`\rho (B)`$ of the present sample at $`T_0=2`$ K ($`t=0.7`$) and found that the agreement of the data close to $`B_{c2}`$ and the LO theory is restored at this temperature. The failure of the LO theory to describe $`\rho (BB_{c2})`$ in the vicinity of $`T_c`$ may be related to a widening of the equilibrium critical-fluctuation region at $`B`$ sufficiently close to $`B_{c2}`$.

From the slope of linear $`E_i(B)`$ we calculate the critical vortex velocity $`u_i=305`$ m/s, the quasiparticle energy relaxation timelo  $`\tau _ϵ=D[14\zeta (3)(1t)]^{1/2}/\pi u_i^2=0.18`$ ns near $`T_c`$, where $`\zeta `$ is the Riemann zeta function, $`D=8k_BT_c\xi ^2(0)/\pi \mathrm{}=4.3\times 10^5`$ m2/s the diffusion constant, and the corresponding inelastic relaxation length $`l_ϵ=\sqrt{D\tau _ϵ}=87`$ nm. The linearity of $`E_i(B)`$ provides strong evidence for the FFI being caused by the LO mechanism of vortex core shrinking. Note that the LO model holds up to an unexpectedly high $`b`$, which is twice larger than the upper limit estimated by BS. Only for $`B=0.5`$ T the relatively large error bar of the corresponding $`E_i`$ may imply that the BS heating is starting to take place, but even there the agreement with Eq. 1 is very good over the whole $`E`$-range. Previously we have shown that the weak heating effects in this regime have contributed mostly to the vortex motion noise.basel  In conclusion to this part, our results for $`T_0`$ close to $`T_c`$ are over a large $`B`$-interval in remarkable quantitative agreement with the LO theory.

We now turn to the low temperature regime. Recently Kunchur analysed the FFI in YBa2Cu3O7-δ at low temperatures and small-to-moderate $`b`$ in terms of electron heating to a temperature $`T^{}(E)>T_0`$. The heating occurs due to insufficient heat transfer to phonons at low temperatures, which reduces the superconducting order parameter and results in a decrease of $`B_{c2}(T^{})`$.kunchur  Having found the above excellent agreement with the LO picture close to $`T_c`$, this urged us to carry out low-$`T_0`$ measurements over a similar range of $`b`$ and thus investigate the differences and/or similarities between the FFI and overall nonlinearities of the $`E(J)`$ at low an high temperatures. The resulting set of $`E(J)`$ measurements at $`T_0=1.1`$ K ($`t=0.4`$) is shown in Fig. 3. To check whether the LO approach could be valid thus below $`T_c`$ we tried to modify Eq. 1 by using the given form of $`Y(E)`$ and replacing the $`b`$-dependent part with the ones appropriate at low temperatures (see Eqs. 2,3 below). Despite the apparent similarity of the curves when compared to those of Fig. 2, we did not obtain any satisfactory agreement even if all the numerical parameters were left floating. This motivated us to analyse these results in terms of electron heating as the cause of a second type of the FFI.

At low $`t`$ and $`b`$ the expression for $`J(E)`$ is given bylo

$$J=J_c+\frac{\sigma _n}{0.9b}E.$$
(2)
Eq. 2 predicts that if the heating is weak the slope of $`E(J)`$ sufficiently above $`J_c`$ is $`0.9\rho _nb`$. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 show plots of Eq. 2 for 0.6 T and 0.9 T, where the linear region can be found with reasonable reliability. We used $`B_{c2}=3.0\pm 0.1`$ T as determined from $`\rho _f(B)`$ and $`J_c`$ being the only free parameter. A replacement $`T_0T^{}(E)`$ in Eq. 2 can explain the rise of $`E(J)`$ above the dotted lines by a progressive decrease of $`J_c`$ and increase of $`b`$. Moreover, the ratio $`E/b(E)`$ may depend nonmonotonically on $`E`$. This results in a negative slope of $`J(E)`$ and thus causes another type of flux flow instability. However, Eq. 2 does not describe the $`E(J)`$ at large $`E`$, since the upper limit of the dissipation (given by $`b=1`$) cannot explain the data close to $`E_n`$. This topic was not addressed by Kunchur, who concentrated only on the low-$`b`$ and low-$`E`$ regime.

In order to analyse the $`E(J)E_n`$ data we recall another LO result, namely that as long as the electron mean free path is much smaller than $`\xi `$, close to $`B_{c2}`$ the $`J(E)`$ is at an arbitrary temperature determined bylo

$$J=\sigma _n\left[1+\alpha (T)(1b)\right]E,$$
(3)
where $`\alpha `$ is a temperature-dependent constant varying between 2 and 4, and $`J_c`$ at such high dissipation can be disregarded. The above expression was used successfully in a detailed analysis of the high-$`b`$ magnetoresistance of amorphous Nb0.7Ge0,3 films.geers  If the assumption of electron-heating-induced nonlinearities is correct, Eq. 3 should describe the upper part of $`E(J)`$ through $`E`$-dependence of $`b`$ and $`\alpha `$ up to the transition to the normal state at a critical electric field $`E_c(B)`$ corresponding to $`T^{}=T_c(B)`$ (equivalently, to $`B=B_{c2}(T^{})`$). In Eq. 3 the heating affects $`\alpha `$ and increases $`b`$ to a nonequilibrium $`b^{}[T^{}(E)]`$. The temperature dependence (and hence the $`E`$-dependence) of $`\alpha `$ is weak,lo  and if we approximate $`\alpha `$ by a constant we can invert Eq. 3 to calculate $`b^{}(E)=B/B_{c2}(T^{})`$ from our $`E(J)`$ data. In Fig. 3(b) we show a plot of $`E`$ vs. $`b^{}`$ (calculated using $`\alpha =3`$) for $`b^{}>0.9`$, where we expect the validity of Eq. 3 and the approximation of a constant $`\alpha `$.

Since the heating characteristics $`T^{}(E)`$ is mainly governed by electron-phonon scattering it should be independent of $`B`$, the effect of which is expressed through the $`E_c(B)`$ dependence. Thus, we expect a scaling behaviour of $`J(E)`$ for different magnetic fields provided $`E_c(B)`$ is taken into account. This is demonstrated in Fig. 4, where $`E_c(B)`$ is chosen such that $`b^{}`$ (calculated with $`\alpha =3`$) scales with $`1E/E_c(B)`$, i.e., the data shown in Fig. 3(b) can be collapsed onto the same curve. The corresponding electron temperature is 1.7 K $`<T^{}<`$ 2.5 K, as estimated from the equilibrium $`B_{c2}(T)`$ characteristics. In the inset to Fig. 4 we plot $`E_c`$ against equilibrium $`1b`$. The error bars indicate the range of variations of $`E_c`$ when $`\alpha `$ changes between 2 to 4 (and results in a satisfactory scaling).

The above procedure corresponds to a determination of $`E_c(B)`$. The solid line in the inset to Fig. 4 represents $`E_c=E_{c0}(1b)`$, where $`E_{c0}=1500`$ V/m, and describes the inferred values of $`E_c`$ fairly well. This $`E_c(b)`$ dependence can be related to the thermodynamic properties of the mixed state. For a ”dirty” high-$`\kappa `$ superconductor the Gibbs free energy density stored in the superfluid at sufficiently large $`b`$ is given by $`G_s=U_c(1b)^2`$, where $`U_c=B_{c2}^2/4\mu _0\kappa ^2`$ is the zero-$`B`$ superconducting condensation energy.fetter  In the present case, $`U_c(1.1\mathrm{K})170`$ J/m3. Assuming that electron heating weakens the superfluid we can equate $`G_s=\sigma _nE_c^2\tau _ϵ`$, which explains $`E_c1b`$ provided $`\tau _ϵ`$ does not depend on $`B`$ (expected for electron-phonon scattering). Furthermore, if $`\tau _ϵ`$ is considered as fairly a constant in the given $`T^{}`$-range we can calculate $`\tau _ϵ(TT_c)U_c/\sigma _nE_{c0}^2=0.24`$ ns, which is in reasonable agreement with the independent estimate $`\tau _ϵ=0.18\mathrm{ns}`$ from the $`E(J)`$ at $`T_0=2.5`$ K.

Our and Kunchur’s complementary approaches agree in the final conclusion that electron heating and the corresponding reduction of $`B_{c2}`$ is the main source of nonlinearities of $`E(J)`$ in strongly nonequilibrium vortex transport at low temperatures. Another implication of our analysis is that critical fluctuations around $`B_{c2}(T_0T_c)`$, which affect $`\rho _f`$ in complete thermal equilibrium (see the inset to Fig. 1), seem to be of little relevance when $`T_0T_c`$ even if $`BB_{c2}`$ by electron heating. This issue however requires a more detailed investigation.

In conclusion, we have measured and analysed the $`E(J)`$ curves of amorphous Nb0.7Ge0.3 microbridges over a wide range of magnetic field and in two characteristic regimes, i.e., close to and well below $`T_c`$. In the former case we have found an excellent agreement with the Larkin-Ovchinnikov theory of nonlinear flux flow and the related instability up to a surprisingly high value of $`B/B_{c2}0.7`$, much larger than predicted theoretically by Bezuglyj and Shklovskiij. At low temperatures the nonlinearity of $`E(J)`$ and the flux flow instability can be reasonably well described by electron heating and the related decrease of $`B_{c2}`$. Our scaling analysis of the $`E(J)`$ curves at high currents supports this conclusion quantitatively, leading to an agreement with the thermodynamic properties of the mixed state.

We thank F. Rohlfing, W. Meindl, B. Stojetz, A. Bauer and M. Furthmeier for technical support. This work was partially funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the Graduiertenkolleg 638. Additional support by the Croatian Ministry of Science (project No. 119262) and the Bavarian Ministry for Science, Research and Art is greatfully acknowledged.


text:
# Kraus representation of destruction of states for one qudit

(29 September 2003)

## Abstract

Quantum operations arise naturally in many fields of quantum information theory and quantum computing. One of the simplest example of quantum operation is the von Neumann–Lüders measurement. Destruction of states in quantum mechanics can be treated as a supplement to the von Neumann–Lüders measurement \[P. Caban, J. Rembieliński, K. A. Smoliński and Z. Walczak, J. Phys. A 35, 3265 (2002)\]. We show that destruction of states in one-qudit system is a quantum operation by finding its Kraus representation.

A general state change in quantum mechanics is described by the quantum operations formalism Kraus (1983) (see also Nielsen and Chuang (2000) and references therein) arising naturally in many fields of quantum information theory and quantum computing. In this formalism an input state $`\rho `$ of a system is connected with an output state $`(\rho )`$ by a linear, trace decreasing and completely positive map $``$. Trace decreasing means that $`\mathrm{tr}((\rho ))1`$ for all normalized density operators $`\rho `$. Complete positivity means that a map $``$ is positive for all trivial extensions of a system (a system plus an ancilla). A quantum operation $``$ can be represented (not uniquely) in a form known as the Kraus representation or the operator-sum representation

$$(\rho )=\underset{i}{}E_i\rho E_i^{},$$
(1)
where the Kraus operators or operation elements $`\{E_i\}`$ satisfy the following condition

$$\underset{i}{}E_i^{}E_iI.$$
(2)
Moreover, a map $``$ which can be written in the form (1) is a quantum operation. If the Kraus representation contains only one operator we say that a quantum operation $``$ is pure. The unitary evolution of density operator is an example of a pure quantum operation. Note that for a trace preserving operation the Kraus operators $`\{E_i\}`$ satisfy a completeness relation $`_iE_i^{}E_i=I`$. The von Neumann–Lüders measurement with no selection is an example of a trace preserving quantum operation. In this paper, we show that a destruction of states Caban et al. (2002) in a one-qudit system is a quantum operation by finding its Kraus representation.

Denote the Hilbert space of a system consisting of one-qudit (a $`d`$-dimensional quantum system, with $`d`$ finite) by $`^1^d`$. A state of the system is described by a density operator $`\rho \mathrm{End}(^1)`$, where $`\mathrm{End}(^1)`$ is the endomorphism space of $`^1`$. Such a description is not sufficient if a qudit can be destroyed by a measurement apparatus. This issue can be easily solved by introducing the vacuum state $`|\mathrm{vac}`$, which is orthogonal to any vector from $`^1`$ and for all observables $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Lambda }}`$ acting on $`^1`$ we adopt that $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Lambda }}|\mathrm{vac}=0`$. The vector $`|\mathrm{vac}`$ spans the one-dimensional vacuum space $`^0`$. Therefore, the Hilbert space $``$ of the system under consideration is the direct sum $`^1^0`$, and the states are mixtures of the elements from $`\mathrm{End}(^1)`$ and $`\mathrm{End}(^0)`$.

We now briefly review the destruction of states procedure introduced in Ref. Caban et al. (2002). Let $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Lambda }}`$ be an arbitrary observable on $`^1`$ with the spectrum $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a subset of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. We denote the subspace spanned by all the eigenvectors corresponding to the eigenvalues from the subset $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ by $`_\mathrm{\Omega }^1`$ and the projector onto this subspace by $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. If the qudit state is an element of $`\mathrm{End}(_\mathrm{\Omega })`$ then the qudit is destroyed, otherwise it is not. First, we measure with no selection the observable $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The density operator $`\rho \mathrm{End}(^1)\mathrm{End}(^0)`$ is reduced to $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}+\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}=\mathrm{id}_{}\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Then, after the destruction we get either the vacuum with the probability $`\mathrm{tr}(\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega })`$ or the one-qudit state with the probability $`\mathrm{tr}(\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{})`$. Therefore, the density operator is reduced to $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}+\mathrm{tr}(\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega })|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|`$. Formally, the destruction with no selection in the set $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ of a one-qudit state $`\rho `$ is defined by the Kraus map $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }(\rho ):\mathrm{End}(^1)\mathrm{End}(^0)\mathrm{End}(^1)\mathrm{End}(^0)`$, such that

$$D_\mathrm{\Omega }(\rho )=\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}+\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}(\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }),$$
(3)
where the supertrace $`\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}`$ (we call $`\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}`$ a supertrace because it is a superoperator, i.e., it is the operator in the endomorphism space—see e.g., Preskill ; Caves (1999)) is a linear map $`\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}:\mathrm{End}()\mathrm{End}(^0)`$ such that its action on the endomorphism of the form $`|\chi \varphi |\mathrm{End}()`$ is defined as follows

$$\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}(|\chi \varphi |)=\varphi |\chi |\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|.$$
(4)
The supertrace is a quantum operation

$`\widehat{\mathrm{tr}}(|\chi \varphi |)`$ $`={\displaystyle \underset{i=0}{\overset{d}{}}}\varphi |ii|\chi |\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|`$
$`={\displaystyle \underset{i=0}{\overset{d}{}}}|\mathrm{vac}i|\chi \varphi |i\mathrm{vac}|`$ (5)
with operation elements $`F_i=|\mathrm{vac}i|`$, where $`\{|i\}_{i=0}^{d1}`$ is an orthonormal basis of $`^1`$, and $`|d|\mathrm{vac}`$. Note that the quantum operation (5) preserves the trace

$$\underset{i=0}{\overset{d}{}}F_i^{}F_i=\underset{i=0}{\overset{d}{}}|i\mathrm{vac}|\mathrm{vac}i|=\underset{i=0}{\overset{d}{}}|ii|=\mathrm{id}_{}.$$
(6)
For simplicity we assume that the basis in $`_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is a subset of $`\{|i\}_{i=0}^{d1}`$. Therefore, $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }(\rho )`$ may be written as

$$D_\mathrm{\Omega }(\rho )=\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}\rho \mathrm{\Pi }_{\mathrm{\Omega }}^{}{}_{}{}^{}+\underset{|i_\mathrm{\Omega }}{}(F_i\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega })\rho (F_i\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega })^{}.$$
(7)
Thus, $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is also a quantum operation with operation elements

$$E_i=F_i\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega },i=0,\mathrm{},d,$$
(8a)
$$E_{d+1}=\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}.$$
(8b)
Note that $`E_i=0`$ for $`|i_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Moreover, $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is a trace preserving quantum operation

$`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{d+1}{}}}E_k^{}E_k`$ $`=\mathrm{\Pi }_{\mathrm{\Omega }}^{}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}+{\displaystyle \underset{|i_\mathrm{\Omega }}{}}\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}F_i^{}F_i\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }`$
$`=\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}+\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{id}_{}.`$ (9)
As an example, consider destruction of states for one qubit ($`d=2`$). Let $`\{|0,|1\}`$ be an orthonormal basis of $`^1`$. Assume that $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Lambda }}|0=|0`$ and $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Lambda }}|1=|1`$, so $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=\{1,1\}`$. Therefore, we have the following cases:

(i) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\{1\}`$, the destruction with no selection takes place if the qubit is in the state $`|0`$. It means that $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }=|00|`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}=|11|+|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|`$. In this case operation elements for $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are given by

$`E_0`$ $`=|\mathrm{vac}0|,`$ (10a)
$`E_3`$ $`=|11|+|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|.`$ (10b)
(ii) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\{1\}`$, the destruction with no selection takes place if the qubit is in the state $`|1`$. It means that $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }=|11|`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}=|00|+|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|`$. In this case operation elements for $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are given by

$`E_1`$ $`=|\mathrm{vac}1|,`$ (11a)
$`E_3`$ $`=|00|+|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|.`$ (11b)
(iii) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\{1,1\}`$, the destruction with no selection takes place if the qubit is either in the state $`|0`$ or in the state $`|1`$. It means that $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }=|00|+|11|`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}=|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|`$. In this case operation elements for $`D_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are given by

$`E_0`$ $`=|\mathrm{vac}0|,`$ (12a)
$`E_1`$ $`=|\mathrm{vac}1|,`$ (12b)
$`E_3`$ $`=|\mathrm{vac}\mathrm{vac}|.`$ (12c)
In conclusion, we have shown that destruction of states for one qudit is a trace preserving quantum operation by finding explicitly its Kraus representation. This result seems to be useful in the study of noisy quantum communication channels.

We are grateful to J. Rembieliński for useful discussions. This work was supported by University of Łódź and the Laboratory of Physical Bases of Processing of Information (LFPPI).


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# Evidence of 𝝍(𝟑𝟕𝟕𝟎) non-𝑫𝑫̄ Decay to 𝑱/𝝍𝝅⁺𝝅⁻

## I Introduction

The $`\psi (3770)`$ resonance is believed to be a mixture of the $`1^3D_1`$ and $`2^3S_1`$ states of the $`c\overline{c}`$ system mark1 . Since its mass is above the open charm-pair threshold and its width is two orders of magnitude larger than that of the $`\psi (2S)`$, it is thought to decay almost entirely to pure $`D\overline{D}`$ Bacino . However, Lipkin pointed out that the $`\psi (3770)`$ could decay to non$`D\overline{D}`$ final states with a large branching fraction Lipkin . There are theoretical calculations Lane ; Kuang1 ; Kuang2 ; Kuang3  that estimate the partial width for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})`$ based on the multipole expansion in QCD. Recently Kuang Kuang3  used the Chen-Kuang potential model to obtain a partial width for $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi \pi `$ in the range from 37 to 170 keV, corresponding to 25 to 113 keV for $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ from isospin symmetry. In this paper, we report evidence for $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ based on a data sample of $`27.7`$ pb-1 taken in the center-of-mass (c.m.) energy region from 3.738 GeV to 3.885 GeV using the upgraded Beijing spectrometer (BES-II) at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC).

## II The BES-II detector

The BES-II is a conventional cylindrical magnetic detector that is described in detail in Ref. BES-II . A 12-layer Vertex Chamber (VC) surrounding the beryllium beam pipe provides input to the event trigger, as well as coordinate information. A forty-layer main drift chamber (MDC) located just outside the VC yields precise measurements of charged particle trajectories with a solid angle coverage of $`85\%`$ of $`4\pi `$; it also provides ionization energy loss ($`dE/dx`$) measurements which are used for particle identification. Momentum resolution of $`1.7\%\sqrt{1+p^2}`$ ($`p`$ in GeV/c) and $`dE/dx`$ resolution of $`8.5\%`$ for Bhabha scattering electrons are obtained for the data taken at $`\sqrt{s}=3.773`$ GeV. An array of 48 scintillation counters surrounding the MDC measures the time of flight (TOF) of charged particles with a resolution of about 180 ps for electrons. Outside the TOF, a 12 radiation length, lead-gas barrel shower counter (BSC), operating in limited streamer mode, measures the energies of electrons and photons over $`80\%`$ of the total solid angle with an energy resolution of $`\sigma _E/E=0.22/\sqrt{E}`$ ($`E`$ in GeV) and spatial resolutions of $`\sigma _\varphi =7.9`$ mrad and $`\sigma _Z=2.3`$ cm for electrons. A solenoidal magnet outside the BSC provides a 0.4 T magnetic field in the central tracking region of the detector. Three double-layer muon counters instrument the magnet flux return and serve to identify muons with momentum greater than 500 MeV/c. They cover $`68\%`$ of the total solid angle.

## III Data analysis

### III.1 Monte Carlo simulation

To understand the main source of background in the study of the decay $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, we developed a Monte Carlo generator. The Monte Carlo simulation includes the initial state radiation (ISR) at one loop order, in which the actual center-of-mass energies after ISR are generated according to Ref. Kuraev . The $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\psi (3770)`$ are generated using energy dependent Breit-Wigner functions according to Eq.(38.53) of Ref. PDG04  in which the ratio of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{el}(s)/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tot}(s)=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\psi (2S)e^+e^{}}/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{tot}`$ and the branching fraction of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ in the formula are assumed to be constant. The beam energy spread ($`\sigma _{E_{beam}}=1.37`$ MeV) is taken into account in the simulation. Since there is no unique description and solution for the low energy $`\pi \pi `$ production amplitude robert\_zhang\_lowell , the correction of the decay rate due to the $`\pi \pi `$ production amplitude is neglected in the making of the event generator. However the effect of the variations in the correction to the decay rate on the estimated number of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ is considered in the final background subtraction in subsection E. Fig. 1 shows the distribution of $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events with $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ ($`l=e`$ or $`\mu `$) as a function of the actual energy remaining after initial state photon radiation, which is determined by our Monte Carlo generator, where the branching fraction for $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ is set to be $`0.35\%`$, while the branching fractions for $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ are taken from the Particle Data Group (PDG) PDG04 .

There are two peaks which are around 3.686 GeV and 3.773 GeV in Fig. 1, where the $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events from the $`\psi (2S)`$ decay are given by the dotted histogram, while the events from the $`\psi (3770)`$ decay are given by the solid histogram. There are two components in the higher mass peak. One is from $`\psi (3770)`$ production, and the another is from $`\psi (2S)`$ production which is due to the tail of $`\psi (2S)`$ Breit-Wigner function. This type of $`\psi (2S)`$ production (called type B of $`\psi (2S)`$ in this Letter) is indicated by the dotted histogram around 3.773 GeV. The $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events in the lower mass peak are produced around the peak of the $`\psi (2S)`$ Breit-Wigner function (called type A of $`\psi (2S)`$ in this Letter), and are due to ISR energy return to the $`\psi (2S)`$ peak. The ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)`$ is the main source of background events in the experimental study of the decay $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. This background event has the same topology as that as the decay of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. To get the number of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ signal events, the number of the background events of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ has to be subtracted from the observed candidate events of $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ based on analyzing the Monte Carlo events.

In the energy region from 3.738 to 3.885 GeV in Fig. 1, there are 1724 $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events and 747 $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events. The generated events as shown in Fig. 1 are put through the full detector simulation based on the GEANT simulation package. The fully simulated events are used for study of the main background.

### III.2 Events selection

To search for the decay of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ or $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$, $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ candidate events are selected. These are required to have four charged tracks with zero total charge. Each track is required to have a good helix fit, to be consistent with originating from the primary event vertex, and to satisfy $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta |<0.85`$, where $`\theta `$ is the polar angle.

Pions and leptons must satisfy particle identification requirements. For pions, the combined confidence level (CL), calculated for the $`\pi `$ hypothesis using the $`dE/dx`$ and TOF measurements, is required to be greater than $`0.1\%`$. In order to reduce $`\gamma `$ conversion background, in which the $`e^+`$ and $`e^{}`$ from a converted $`\gamma `$ are misidentified as $`\pi ^+`$ and $`\pi ^{}`$, an opening angle cut, $`\theta _{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}>20^{}`$, is imposed. For electron identification, the combined confidence level, calculated for the $`e`$ hypothesis using the $`dE/dx`$, TOF and BSC measurements, is required to be greater than $`1\%`$, and the ratio $`CL_e/(CL_e+CL_\mu +CL_\pi +CL_K)`$ is required to be greater than $`0.7`$. If a charged track hits the muon counter, and the $`z`$ and $`r\varphi `$ positions of the hit match with the extrapolated positions of the reconstructed MDC track, the charged track is identified as a muon.

The candidate events of $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ or $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ satisfying the above selection criteria are further analyzed by using two different analysis methods to be discussed in subsection C and subsection D.

### III.3 Analysis of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recoil mass

The mass recoiling against the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ system is calculated using

$$M_{\mathrm{REC}}(\pi ^+\pi ^{})=\sqrt{(E_{cm}E_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}})^2|\stackrel{}{P}_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}|^2},$$

where $`E_{cm}`$ is the c.m. energy, $`E_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{P}_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}`$ are the total energy and momentum of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ system, respectively.

Fig. 2 shows the distribution of the masses recoiling against the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ system for candidate events with total energy within $`\pm 2.5\sigma _{E_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}l^+l^{}}}`$ of the nominal c.m. energy at which the events were obtained and with a dilepton invariant mass within $`\pm 150`$ MeV of the $`J/\psi `$ mass, where $`\sigma _{E_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}l^+l^{}}}`$ is the standard deviation of the distribution of the energy of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}l^+l^{}`$. Two peaks are observed. The higher one is from the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)`$ events produced by radiative return to the peak of the $`\psi (2S)`$, while the small enhancement around 3.1 GeV is mostly from $`\psi (3770)`$ decays, but also contains the contamination of the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)`$ decays. This is confirmed by analyzing the Monte Carlo sample generated with the Monte Carlo generator as mentioned before. Fig. 3 shows the same distribution from analysis of the Monte Carlo events for $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\psi (3770)`$ production and decays to $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ with $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ final states. The Monte Carlo events are generated at the c.m. energies at which the data were collected. The size of the Monte Carlo sample is twenty times larger than the data. There are also two peaks; the higher one is from the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)`$ events; the small enhancement around 3.1 GeV consist of two components. One is from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)`$ event production and decays as shown by the solid line histogram; the other one is from $`\psi (3770)`$ production and decays which come from the events as shown by the solid histogram in Fig.1. The error bars in Fig. 3 are based on the total number of observed events of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The differences between the error bars and the histogram as shown around 3.1 GeV correspond to $`\psi (3770)`$ production and decay to $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$.

Monte Carlo studies show that the distributions of the masses recoiling from the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ system for the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)`$ events can be described by two Gaussian functions. One Gaussian function is for the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)`$ production from the events for which the nominal c.m. energy is set at 3.773 GeV, and the other one is from the events for which the nominal c.m. energies are set off 3.773 GeV. Using triple Gaussian functions, one of which describes the peak near the $`J/\psi `$ mass and two of which represent the second and the third peaks of the events from the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)`$, and a first order polynomial to represent the background to fit the mass distributions as shown by the solid histograms for both the data (Fig. 2) and the Monte Carlo (Fig. 3) sample, we obtain a total of $`25.5\pm 5.9`$ $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ signal events from both the $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events and $`220.5\pm 26.0`$ ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events, respectively. The curves give the best fits to the data and the Monte Carlo sample. The fitted peak positions and standard deviations of the Gaussian functions used for the fits in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are listed in Table I.

### III.4 Kinematic fit

In order to reduce background and improve momentum resolution, candidate events are subjected to four-constraint kinematic fits to either the $`e^+e^{}\mu ^+\mu ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ or the $`e^+e^{}e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ hypothesis. Events with a confidence level greater than 1% are accepted. Fig. 4 shows the dilepton masses determined from the fitted lepton momenta of the accepted events. There are clearly two peaks. The lower mass peak is mostly due to $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, while the higher one is due to the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. Since the higher mass peak is produced by the radiative return to the $`\psi (2S)`$ peak, its energy will be approximately 3.686 GeV, while the c.m. energy is set to the nominal energy in the kinematic fitting. Therefore, the dilepton masses calculated based on the fitted lepton momenta from $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ are shifted upward to about 3.18 GeV.

A maximum likelihood fit to the mass distribution in Fig. 4, using three Gaussian functions to describe the mass distribution of the $`l^+l^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+`$ combinations and a first order polynomial to represent the broad background as used to fit the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recoil mass distributions in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, yields a $`J/\psi `$ mass value of $`3097.8\pm 3.0`$ MeV and a signal of $`17.8\pm 4.8`$ $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ events. The curves give the best fit to the data.

As discussed in Section C, there is a contribution from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ that can pass the event selection criteria and can lead to an accumulation of the recoil masses of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and/or the fitted dilepton masses around 3.097 GeV. This is the main source of background to $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. Fig. 5 shows the distribution of the fitted dilepton masses of the Monte Carlo events of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ with $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ as shown in Fig. 1. Here the histogram shows the dilepton mass distribution for $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ only. The higher mass peak is due to the ”type A” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events, and the lower one is from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events. The error bars show the sum total of the observed events of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The differences between the error bars and the histogram correspond to the observed events of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. Fitting the mass distribution for the $`\psi (2S)`$ events only (histogram) with the same triple Gaussian functions as mentioned before yields $`119\pm 12.1`$ $`J/\psi `$ events from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ decays.

### III.5 Other background and background subtraction

#### III.5.1 Other background

Some physics processes, such as two-photon events, $`e^+e^{}e^+e^{}\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ (where the slow muons are misidentified as pions) and $`e^+e^{}e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`e^+e^{}\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ and $`e^+e^{}D\overline{D}`$ could be sources of background.

To check if there are some background contaminations in the observed $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events due to the possible sources of background, we generated $`1\times 10^5`$ two-photon Monte Carlo events (which is about 4 times larger than the data), $`6\times 10^5`$ $`e^+e^{}hadrons`$ Monte Carlo events (which is about 1.6 times larger than the data), and $`2.3\times 10^6`$ $`e^+e^{}D\overline{D}`$ Monte Carlo events (which is about 13 times larger than the data), where the $`D`$ and $`\overline{D}`$ mesons are set to decay to all possible final states according to the decay modes and branching fractions quoted from PDG PDG04 . These Monte Carlo events are fully simulated with the GEANT-based simulation package. None of the simulated possible background events were misidentified as $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events.

The candidate $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events could also be produced in the continuum process, such as $`e^+e^{}l^+l^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`e^+e^{}\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$, and satisfy the selection criteria. From analyzing a sample of 6.6 pb-1 taken at 3.65 GeV with the BES-II detector, a sample of 5.1 pb-1 taken in the energy region from 3.544 to 3.600 GeV and a sample of 22.3 $`\mathrm{pb}^1`$ taken at 4.03 GeV with the BES-I detector, no significant $`J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ events are observed. Fig. 6 shows the distribution of the fitted dilepton masses of the events of $`l^+l^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ which satisfy the selection criteria; these events are from the data taken with the BES-I detector at 4.03 GeV. The distribution of the fitted dilepton masses is flat, which is consistent with the background distribution. Hence the continuum background is negligible.

#### III.5.2 Number of background

After normalizing to the total luminosity of the data set, we estimate that there are $`11.0\pm 1.3\pm 2.4`$ background events from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ in the $`25.5\pm 5.9`$ $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ signal events obtained by fitting to the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recoil mass distribution of Fig. 2 and $`6.0\pm 0.5\pm 1.3`$ background events from the ”type B” of $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ in the $`17.8\pm 4.8`$ $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ signal events obtained by fitting to the fitted dilepton mass distribution of Fig. 4, where the first errors are statistical and the second are systematic. The later arise from the uncertainties ($`\pm 1.1`$) and ($`\pm 0.6`$) in the $`\psi (2S)`$ resonance parameters and the uncertainties ($`\pm 2.2`$) and ($`\pm 1.2`$) coming from the ambiguities of the knowledge of the low energy $`\pi \pi `$ production amplitude in $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$. The two terms correspond to the uncertainty on the production amplitute predicted by different theoretical models robert\_zhang\_lowell  for analyzing the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recoil mass spectrum and the fitted dilepton mass spectrum, respectively. The theoretical models are based on the PCAC and current algebra or chiral pertubative theory predictions in which the various $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ rescatering corrections are taken into account to get better unitarity behavior at higher energy.

### III.6 Number of signal events $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$

The probability that the 17.8 events observed are due to a fluctuation of the $`6.0\pm 0.5\pm 1.3`$ events is $`1.1\times 10^3`$. After subtracting the numbers of the background events, $`14.5\pm 6.4\pm 2.4`$ and $`11.8\pm 4.8\pm 1.3`$ signal events of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ are retained from analyzing the recoil masses of $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ (see Fig. 2) and the fitted dilepton masses (see Fig. 4) of the events $`l^+l^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$, respectively.

In this analysis, the possible interference between the $`\psi (2S)`$ background and the $`\psi (3770)`$ signal is neglected since the decay wave functions of $`\psi (3770)`$ and $`\psi (2S)`$ are orthogonal Kuang2 . The BES detector is symmetric enough in the spatial direction and there is no bias for the event selections about the momentum direction of the particles. Therefore the interference terms cancel after integrating over the pion momenta.

To test whether there is any bias in the kinematic fit, we examine the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ recoil mass distribution for the events passing the kinematic fit requirements. Fig. 7 shows the recoil mass distribution, where the recoil masses are calculated as mentioned in Section C, but the events are not required to satisfy the total energy cut and dilepton invariant mass cut. There are also two peaks, similar to those in Fig. 4, observed clearly. Fitting to the mass spectrum with the same functions as described above yields a $`J/\psi `$ mass value of $`3100.1\pm 3.8`$ MeV and a signal of $`17.2\pm 5.0`$ events, consistent with the $`17.8\pm 4.8`$ signal events obtained by fitting to the dilepton mass distribution in Fig. 4.

Table II summarizes the fitted peak positions and standard deviations of the Gaussian functions used for the fits in Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 7.

### III.7 The number of $`\psi (3770)`$ produced

The total number of $`\psi (3770)`$ events is obtained from our measured luminosities at each c.m. energy and from calculated cross sections for $`\psi (3770)`$ production at these energies. The Born level cross section at energy $`E`$ is given by

$$\sigma _{\psi (3770)}^B(E)=\frac{12\pi \mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{tot}}(E)}{(E^2M^2)^2+M^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{tot}}^2(E)},$$

where the $`\psi (3770)`$ resonance parameters, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ee}`$ and $`M`$, are taken from the PDG PDG04  and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{tot}}(E)`$ is chosen to be energy dependent and normalized to the total width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ at the peak of the resonance PDG04 MARKII bes2\_ddbxsct . In order to obtain the observed cross section, it is necessary to correct for ISR. The observed $`\psi (3770)`$ cross section, $`\sigma _{\psi (3770)}^{obs}(s_{nom})`$, is reduced by a factor $`g(s_{nom})=\sigma _{\psi (3770)}^{obs}(s_{nom})/\sigma _{\psi (3770)}^B(s_{nom})`$, where $`s_{nom}`$ is the c.m. energy squared and $`\sigma _{\psi (3770)}^B(s_{nom})`$ is the Born cross section. The ISR correction for $`\psi (3770)`$ production is calculated using a Breit-Wigner function and the radiative photon energy spectrum Kuraev bes2\_ddbxsct . With the calculated cross sections for $`\psi (3770)`$ production at each energy point around 3.773 GeV and the corresponding luminosities, the total number of $`\psi (3770)`$ events in the data sample is determined to be $`N_{\psi (3770)}^{prod}=(1.85\pm 0.37)\times 10^5`$, where the error is mainly due to the uncertainty in the observed cross section for $`\psi (3770)`$ production.

## IV Result

### IV.1 Monte Carlo efficiency

The efficiencies for reconstruction of the events of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ with $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ are estimated by Monte Carlo simulation. Monte Carlo study shows that the efficiencies are $`ϵ_{\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{},J/\psi e^+e^{}}=0.146\pm 0.003`$ and $`ϵ_{\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{},J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}}=0.174\pm 0.003`$, where the errors are statistical. These give the averaged efficiency for detection of $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ events to be $`ϵ_{\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{},J/\psi l^+l^{}}=0.160\pm 0.002`$.

### IV.2 Branching fraction and partial width

Using these numbers and the known branching fractions for $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ PDG04 , the branching fraction for the non$`D\overline{D}`$ decay $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ is measured to be

$$BF(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})=(0.338\pm 0.143\pm 0.086)\%,$$

where the first error is statistical and the second systematic arising from the uncertainties in the total number of $`\psi (3770)`$ produced ($`20\%`$ ), tracking efficiency ($`2.0\%`$ per track), particle identification $`(2.2\%)`$, background shape ($`6\%`$), $`\psi (2S)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ background subtraction ($`12\%`$) and the averaged branching fraction for $`J/\psi l^+l^{}`$ ($`1.2\%`$). Adding these uncertainties in quadrature yields the total systematic error of $`25.5\%`$.

Using $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ from the PDG PDG04 , this branching fraction corresponds to a partial width of

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})=(80\pm 33\pm 23)\mathrm{keV},$$

where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The systematic uncertainty in the measured partial width arises from the systematic uncertainty in the measured branching fraction ($`25.5\%`$) and the uncertainty in the total width of $`\psi (3770)`$ ($`11.5\%`$PDG04 .

As a consistency check, we can use the number of signal events $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ obtained from analyzing the recoil masses of the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ from the events $`l^+l^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ to calculate the branching fraction. The detection efficiency is $`ϵ_{\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{},J/\psi l^+l^{}}=0.194`$. These numbers yield a branching fraction $`BF(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})=(0.342\pm 0.142\pm 0.097)\%`$, which is in good agreement with the value obtained above, indicating that the kinematic fit result is reliable.

## V Summary

In summary, the branching fraction for $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ has been measured. From a total of $`(1.85\pm 0.37)\times 10^5`$ $`\psi (3770)`$ events, $`11.8\pm 4.8\pm 1.3`$ non$`D\overline{D}`$ decays of $`\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ events are observed, leading to a branching fraction of $`BF(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})=(0.34\pm 0.14\pm 0.09)\%`$, and a partial width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\psi (3770)J/\psi \pi ^+\pi ^{})=(80\pm 33\pm 23)\mathrm{keV}`$.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the BEPC staff for their strong efforts and the members of the IHEP computing center for their helpful assistance. We acknowledge Professor Yu-Ping Kuang and Professor Kuang-Ta Chao for many helpful discussions on the non$`D\overline{D}`$ decay of $`\psi (3770)`$. This work is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contracts Nos. 19991480, 10225524, 10225525, the Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. KJ 95T-03, the 100 Talents Program of CAS under Contract Nos. U-24, U-25, and the Knowledge Innovation Project of CAS under Contract Nos. U-602, U-34(IHEP); by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Contract No. 10175060(USTC); and by the Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-FG03-94ER40833 (U Hawaii).


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# Damping of Rabi oscillations in quantum dots due to lattice dynamics

## References


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# A new ring structure for muon (𝑔-2) measurements

## Abstract

In this storage ring of discrete magnets with uniform field and edge focusing, the field averaged over the orbit is independent of orbit radius (particle momentum). This ring is suitable for measuring the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. The field, averaged over the orbit, can be calibrated by injecting horizontally polarized protons of the same momentum and measuring the proton $`(g2)`$ precession. The experiment then measures the ratio of muon to proton anomalous moments. A measurement of muon (g-2) at the level of $`0.03ppm`$ appears feasible.

Keywords: muon, magnetic moment, g-2, storage ring

The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon $`a(g2)/2`$ is sensitive to physics beyond the standard model . Recent experimental results  with an error of $`0.7ppm`$ (parts per million) are above the latest theoretical evaluations  and many papers have been published commenting on this apparent discrepancy. The theory depends on experimental data for hadron production in $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions obtained with electron-positron storage rings , which are steadily being improved. If the discrepancy persists, and if the remaining uncertainties in the theory can be reduced, it could be interesting to make a more precise measurement.

In the experiment, polarized muons, with charge $`e`$ and mass $`m`$, are traditionally trapped to make many turns in a magnetic storage ring with field $`B`$. The spin then turns faster than the momentum vector with difference frequency

$$f_a^\mu =a(eB/2\pi mc)$$
(1)
while the precession frequency of muons at rest in the same field is

$$f_s^\mu =(1+a)(eB/2\pi mc)=\lambda f_s^p$$
(2)
The field averaged over the muon orbits is usually measured by the corresponding proton magnetic resonance (NMR) frequency $`f_s^p`$ and the precession frequency for muons at rest in the same field $`f_s^\mu `$ is then derived from the ratio of magnetic moments

$$\lambda =\mu ^\mu /\mu ^p=f_s^\mu /f_s^p$$
(3)
which is known  to $`31ppb`$ (parts per billion).

Combining (1), (2) and (3) the anomaly is calculated from

$$a=\frac{R}{\lambda R}$$
(4)
where $`R=f_a^\mu /f_s^p`$ is the ratio measured in the experiment.

Traditionally the magnetic field is mapped by proton NMR with static probes which are gradually moved around the ring. This requires the ring magnet to be continuous in azimuth without straight sections; large gradients at the end of discrete magnet segments would kill the signal. Furthermore it is difficult to locate the muon orbits precisely in radius, so it is desirable for the mean field to be independent of orbit radius. The first muon storage ring at CERN  was weak-focusing, with the field changing by $`50ppm`$ for a $`1mm`$ increment in radius. Fractional $`ppm`$ measurements cannot be made in such a ring. Subsequent experiments  therefore used a uniform magnetic field with vertical focusing supplied by electric quadrupoles. It was shown  that if the muons are stored at $`3.096GeV`$, called the “magic energy”, the radial electric field does not affect the spin motion defined by (1).

Since 1975 all muon $`(g2)`$ measurements have been made at the magic energy in continuous ring magnets with zero magnetic gradient and electric focusing. The dilation of the muon lifetime to $`64\mu s`$ has been an important factor in achieving the present accuracy, but we are now approaching the limits of this technique. The $`(g2)`$ frequency is determined over about 50 useful precession periods (three lifetimes) and departures from a pure sine wave due to small phase and amplitude modulations  can prejudice the fit. Increasing the statistics to obtain better accuracy is not trivial and may augment the problem of signal overlap. Furthermore, surveying the magnetic field to better than $`0.1ppm`$ with NMR probes carried around the ring is subject to uncertainties in calibration, alignment and field stablity.

To improve the experiment it is desirable to increase the energy of the stored muons. This would increase the lifetime so more $`(g2)`$ cycles could be measured, giving a proportional increase in accuracy for the same number of stored particles. But this would mean abandoning electric focusing, which can only be used at the magic energy of $`3.1GeV`$. It is also desirable to increase the magnetic field to speed up the precession and record more cycles per lifetime. Two innovations make this possible: (a) a ring of discrete magnets with uniform field and edge focusing, separated by straight sections, the mean field over the orbit still being independent of radius; (b) calibration by protons in flight.

The principle is illustrated in fig. 1 which shows a ring with four bending magnets. They are wedge shaped, with the magnet edges inclined along lines which are radial to the centre of the ring. With four sectors this gives a quasi-square orbit with rounded corners. If the track is scaled to a different size, the proportion of time spent inside the field is invariant; so the average magnetic field is independent of radius. On the other hand, the particles cross the magnet edges at an angle, and this gives vertical focusing. Uniform field magnets with edge focusing were used for the ZGS accelerator at Argonne .

Using standard formulae  the horizontal and vertical tune, $`Q_h`$ and $`Q_v`$ can be calculated as a function of the edge angle. With $`N`$ sectors the bend in each is $`\psi =2\pi /N`$ . Take the bending radius as 1 unit of length. With straight sections of length $`2x`$ between sectors the edge angle $`\theta `$ is given by

$$T\mathrm{tan}\theta =x/\{1+x\mathrm{cot}(\psi /2)\}$$
(5)
implying

$$x=T/(1Tz)$$
(6)
with $`z=cot(\psi /2)`$.

In the horizontal plane, the matrix for the magnet edge is $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ T& 1\end{array}\right)`$ and the matrix for the bend is $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}\hfill C& S\\ \hfill S& C\end{array}\right)`$ where $`C=\mathrm{cos}\psi `$ and $`S=\mathrm{sin}\psi `$. The matrix for the straight section is $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 2x\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right)`$ Multiplying out in the following order, edge, bend, edge, straight, we find that half the trace of the overall matrix for one sector is

$$H_h=C+ST+x\{2CT+S(T^21)\}$$
(7)
The horizontal phase advance for one sector is given by the arc-cosine of half the trace of the matrix, so summing over all sectors the horizontal tune becomes

$$Q_h=\mathrm{arccos}(H_h)/\psi $$
(8)
In the vertical plane the calculation is similar, but the matrix for the edge is $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}1}& 0\\ \hfill T& 1\end{array}\right)`$ while the matrix for the magnet is just a drift space of length $`\psi `$. Multiplying out the matrices as before and using (6), half the trace of the overall matrix for one sector in the vertical plane is

$$H_v=1Tz2T^2\psi T(1Tz2T^2)/(1Tz)$$
(9)
and the vertical tune is calculated from

$$Q_v=\mathrm{arccos}(H_v)/\psi $$
(10)
With only two sectors, the orbit is unstable in the horizontal plane, but with three or more sectors many combinations of $`Q_h`$ and $`Q_v`$ can be obtained by varying $`x`$ or equivalently the bend angle $`\psi `$ per sector. With three sectors one obtains the highest average field for a given amount of focusing. Fig. 2 shows $`Q_h`$ and $`Q_v`$ as a function of edge angle in this case.

Calibration of the field cannot be achieved with standard NMR probes carried around the ring, because they will not function in the large gradients at the magnet edges. Instead one can observe the precession of horizontally polarized protons in flight, which would automatically average the field over the orbit. If the protons have the same momentum as the muons they must follow exactly the same track. Orbit radii can be compared to sub-millimetre accuracy by measuring the rotation frequency of the particles while they are bunched . (The small correction for the lower proton velocity can be applied with negligible error).

Horizontally polarized protons are regularly used  in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven and at $`15GeV`$ give an observed asymmetry of $`0.6\%`$ in scattering on a thin carbon ribbon. The ribbon is $`5\mu m`$ wide and $`3.5\mu g/cm^2`$ ($`150\AA `$) thick and the beam in the collider is observed for several periods of $`20s`$ with negligible loss of intensity, so deterioration of the beam by multiple scattering is not apparent. The counting rate of the recoil carbon atoms is $`1MHz`$ for a stored beam of $`2\times 10^{12}`$ polarized protons. In the proposed muon storage ring they would precess at the proton $`(g2)`$ frequency, for example 100 $`MHz`$ in a field of $`3.6T`$. As the average field is to be independent of radius, the spins would remain synchronized for at least $`10^7`$ turns of the spin ($`100ms`$). As this ring would be $`10`$ times smaller than RHIC, by injecting for example $`2\times 10^{11}`$ particles for $`100`$ fills one would accumulate $`10^7`$ counts and the spin frequency would be measured in a few minutes to $`7ppb`$. Probably one could use a thicker carbon ribbon without excessive scattering and get the same result with less injected beam.

The pitch correction  to the $`(g2)`$ frequency would desynchronize the spins if the pitch angle $`\varphi `$ were too large. But with $`\varphi `$ expected to be $`0.1mR`$ the maximum correction ($`\varphi ^2/2`$) is only $`5ppb`$.

The injected protons are bunched in time and because the momentum spread is very small they stay bunched for$`1000`$ turns. The rotation frequency, seen in the detector, then measures the orbit radius to better than $`1mm`$. The emittance of the proton beam is much smaller than that of the muons, so by varying the momentum it can be placed at various radii, and the field (averaged in azimuth) mapped as a function of radius. In practice pole face windings would be used to make the final fine adjustments and ensure that the mean field was independent of radius.

In the vertical plane the protons oscillate about the median plane, sometimes missing the horizontal carbon ribbon, so this oscillation is seen in the detector. By adjusting the injection conditions the oscillation can be minimized, so that the protons turn exactly in the median plane. The beam is then located vertically by moving the carbon ribbon to maximize the signal.

To map the field vertically one can change the median plane by introducing a radial magnetic field. The best way to do this, without changing $`B`$, is to tilt the magnets! For example, with $`Q_v=0.4`$ and mean radius $`16m`$ tilting the magnets through an angle of $`100\mu R`$ moves the median plane $`10mm`$. For measuring the tilt with nano-radian accuracy, the tiltmeter of R.V. Jones  is in use at Brookhaven  and could be applied in a feedback loop to stabilize and control the tilt of the magnets. In this way the proton beam can be used to map the field, averaged in azimuth, as a function of horizontal and vertical position in the aperture. It will also be possible to inject the protons with a known vertical or horizontal betatron amplitude and so study how the average field for muons is influenced by oscillations about the equilibrium orbit.

Calibrated in this way, the experiment measures the ratio of muon to proton $`(g2)`$ frequencies $`f_a^\mu /f_a^p`$. To calculate the anomalous moment $`a_\mu `$ of the muon using Eq. (4) one needs to convert the proton $`(g2)`$ frequency $`f_a^p`$ to the corresponding proton precession frequency at rest $`f_s^p`$, that is one needs the ratio $`Q=f_a^p/f_s^p=(g^p2)/g^p`$. The gyromagnetic ratio $`g^p`$ of the proton is $`2\times 2.792847386(63)`$ , known to 23 $`ppb`$, so the error in the ratio $`Q`$ is only $`8ppb`$ and the conversion from proton $`(g2)`$ frequency to proton spin frequency at rest is sufficiently accurate. By using protons in vacuum to calibrate the field one avoids all diamagnetic corrections due to molecular shielding , as well as questions of paramagnetic materials in or near the NMR probes.

A possible structure for 15 $`GeV`$ muons comprises three 4.5 $`T`$ magnets with bend radius of 12 $`m`$ separated by straight sections 4.3 $`m`$ long. The vertical tune would be $`Q_v=0.4`$, slightly higher than in the storage rings used at CERN and Brookhaven, and $`Q_h=1.025`$. The average field would be $`3.6T`$ and the accuracy for the same number of stored muons would be ten times better than at present. The final parameters should be chosen to avoid orbit resonances and proton depolarization resonances. One of the straight sections can be used for the proton polarimeter. Another would have a conventional ferrite kicker for injecting the particles. The residual field in the kicker should drop to low values after $`10\mu s`$ but in any case it could be tracked with the polarized protons. As the incoming particles do not have to pass through a magnet, there would be no need for an inflector to cancel the magnet field along the incoming particle track .

The advantages of this new ring structure are as follows:

* No electric quadrupoles;
* No NMR trolley, which has to be calibrated, with corrections for the diamagnetism of water, etc;
* No superconducting inflector;
* Injection with a simple kicker in a field-free region;
* Higher muon energy, giving longer lifetime, and proportionally higher accuracy.
* Lower counting rates for the same number of stored muons, so less problem with overlapping signals;
* More time for detectors to recover from initial transients and particles created at injection;
* Higher magnetic field giving more $`(g2)`$ cycles per lifetime and more accuracy: this is not possible with electric focusing as the electric field must be increased pro rata and is limited by breakdown.

Muon sources of reasonable intensity are available from existing accelerators and an experiment at the level of $`0.03ppm`$ (20 times better than at present) looks feasible. Ensuring field stability while changing from proton to muon storage would require careful design. Many details remain to be worked out; this is only a first report on a new concept.

This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy. I am indebted to Professor Vernon Hughes at Yale for support and encouragement by over many years. I thank G. Bunce and Paul T. Debevec for some helpful remarks.