text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

In this article we suggest a possible way to understand the nonzero time-variability of the fine-structure constant $`\alpha `$ reported recently from the observed QSO absorption lines , in conformity with the more stringent constraint from the Oklo phenomenon \[3-5\]. Interesting enough this consistency is derived from the suspected behavior of the scalar field required to fit the accelerating universe , another striking finding in today’s cosmology. The rest of this Section will be devoted to a brief account on the background as well as the summary of the result.

Attempts to probe $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha `$ for the difference from today’s value of the fine-structure constant $`\alpha `$ based on the calculated relativistic corrections of many transitions is now summarized  to give $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha =(0.54\pm 0.12)\times 10^5`$ for the redshift range $`0.23.7`$, or the fractional look-back time $`0.20.9`$. The estimate according to the weighted mean of the 128 data points, which we accept in the present analysis, may be referred to as the 1-parameter (horizontal straight-line) fit, for the convenience of comparison with our own fit in terms of a “damped-oscillator” model with three parameters, as will be explained shortly.

The 1-parameter fit in this sense appears to be confronted by the constraint smaller by 2 or 3 orders of magnitude as was established by the measured isotopic abundance of $`{}_{}{}^{149}\mathrm{Sm}`$ in the remnant of Oklo natural reactors. This result, which, despite apparent complications of nuclear physics, is relatively free from uncertainties thanks to an exceptionally low-lying resonance, is confirmed by careful re-analyses of Ref. , yielding either of the upper bounds $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha |\stackrel{<}{}10^7`$  or $`\stackrel{<}{}10^8`$ , or the nonzero value $`10^7`$  still not completely ruled out. The small ratio of the resonance energy 97.3 meV to $``$MeV that characterizes typical energy scale of nuclear phenomena makes it also plausible to derive the result on $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$ without entering into details of the strong-interaction coupling constant .

No immediate conflict is encountered, however, because the fractional look-back time around 0.14 for the Oklo phenomenon is outside the range for the QSO observation. The small time-separation between them still seems to indicate a rather sharp time-dependence of $`\alpha `$, obviously requiring a theoretical interpretation. Note also that it imposes a much more stringent constraint than the results from such low-$`z`$ phenomena, like HI 21cm and molecular rotational transitions .

It was argued that the issue can be related to the accelerating universe which is accounted for by a cosmological constant with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }0.7`$  by allowing the time-dependent speed of light . Also shown was the potential importance of spatial inhomogeneity of time variation of $`\alpha `$, concluding that the phenomena taking place on the Earth’s surface might be affected by the local matter density more than those in the galactic clouds . We pursue here instead a more conventional approach by making use of somewhat nontrivial time-dependence suggested by the behavior of the scalar field supposed to result in an effective cosmological constant. Possible sharp change of the scalar field has also been discussed in connection either with the running nature of its coupling constant , or with a classical field, like ours but motivated with different potentials .

Our detailed analysis of the accelerating universe in terms of the scalar-tensor theory  indicates a particular type of behavior of the scalar field, sometimes called a dilaton $`\sigma `$, which stays nearly constant that mimics a cosmological constant. A closer look shows further that this “plateau” is superimposed with a small vibration, reminiscent of a damped oscillation as a function of the cosmological time, as will be explained briefly in Section 2. We combined this with a relation $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha \mathrm{\Delta }\sigma `$, which we derive based on a specific model, but might be viewed as an extension of the previous results . We try to see if this oscillation pattern can be fitted to the observed $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$ with a zero of the oscillation identified with the small value constrained by the Oklo phenomenon .

In view of still unavoidable uncertainties in selecting a unique solution of the cosmological equations, we attempt a phenomenological approach by assuming the damped oscillation behavior of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$ with three arbitrary coefficients which are determined to fit the QSO observation. We show that this 3-parameter fit to the QSO result can be nearly as good as the 1-parameter fit in , fitting the Oklo data as well. Notice that the 1-parameter fit, if extended to the Oklo time, would yield an unacceptably large value of $`\chi ^2`$.

One might still wonder why we are content with $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=1.09`$ for the former with more adjustable parameters is not significantly smaller than $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=1.06`$ for the latter. In reply, we are content, at this moment, with the result that our fit motivated by a theoretical prejudice survives a realistic test. This “success” will be followed by future attempts to scrutinize the solutions for the accelerating universe. Admitting that the result is far from final, we still believe it to serve as a useful first step toward better understanding the issue in a wider perspective.

In Section 2, we begin with describing the current theoretical model following . Section 3 offers our 3-parameter fit and presenting the result, to be compared with the starting cosmological solution. The final Section 4 is devoted to concluding remarks, including a discussion on the constraint proposed recently on the Re-Os decay .

## 2 Theory of the cosmological constant and the time-dependent fine-structure constant

Today’s cosmological constant problem has two faces : Why is $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ so small compared with the theoretical expectation by 120 orders of magnitude? Why is it still nonzero?

The scalar-tensor theory provides an acceptable answer to the first question. The theory seems to deserve two renewed interests; possible origin of the scalar field in the dilaton of string theory, and a way to implement the scenario of a decaying cosmological constant. One of the crucial theoretical ingredients is in choosing a correct conformal frame (CF). String theory is formulated naturally in the J(ordan) CF, featuring a “nonminimal coupling” of the dilaton field (though in higher dimensions). We also accept that, almost in any version of unification models, a cosmological “constant” $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is present in the J frame, namely in the “string CF.”

A “physical” CF is to be chosen, on the other hand, according to the two requirements; i) keeping the solution of the cosmological equations with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ included from deviating too much off the standard cosmology, ii) resulting in the masses of matter fields time-independent. The second condition is imposed because our clocks and meter sticks are made basically of the particle masses. A solution to this non-trivial problem is offered by assuming a “scale-invariance” in 4 dimensions except for the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ term, finding the E(instein) CF with the Einstein-Hilbert term as physical. Particle masses emerge nonzero as the invariance is broken spontaneously. The $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ term in the J frame is now converted to an exponential potential of the scalar field $`\sigma `$. Unlike in the more phenomenological approach with the quintessence models, no inverse-power potential is expected. The energy density of $`\sigma `$, dark energy, falls off like $`t^2`$, thus implementing the scenario of a decaying (effective) cosmological constant .

The scalar field $`\sigma `$ remains decoupled from matter in the classical limit, but is brought to matter-coupling due to the interactions among matter fields, à la quantum anomaly. According to the simplified QCD calculation, the coupling constant to the quark is obtained; $`g_{\sigma \mathrm{q}}=\zeta (5\alpha _s/\pi )0.3\zeta `$, where $`\zeta `$ is a constant of the order one, $`\alpha _s0.2`$ being the QCD analog of the fine-structure constant, while $`M_\mathrm{P}^1=8\pi G`$ has been suppressed. The fact that the matter coupling depends on the strong-interaction constant signals composition-dependence of the force mediated by $`\sigma `$, leading to WEP violation.

The coupling constant to nucleons is also computed; $`g_{\sigma \mathrm{N}}0.019\zeta `$. The relatively small value is a consequence of the smallness of the quark-mass component in the nucleon mass. The $`\sigma `$ eventually acquires a nonzero mass, as a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, resulting in a medium-ranged force. An exact estimate of the force-range $`\lambda `$ is not easy, but is certainly shorter than distances that characterize solar-system experiments, which therefore no longer constrain the parameters of the $`\sigma `$ force.

The parameter $`\alpha _5`$ in the non-Newtonian potential between two nucleons $`(Gm_\mathrm{N}^2/r)(1+\alpha _5e^{r/\lambda })`$  is given by $`\alpha _5=2g_{\sigma \mathrm{N}}^20.72\times 10^3\zeta ^2`$, being consistent with the composition-independent experiments roughly for $`\lambda \stackrel{<}{}1\mathrm{m}`$  including the recent submillimeter experiment . Results of composition-dependent experiments may be analyzed by replacing $`\alpha _5\alpha _5q_iq_j`$ with the “charge” $`q_i`$ for the $`i`$-th substance. For a free-fall experiment on the Earth, we find the relative acceleration difference $`(\mathrm{\Delta }g)_{ij,\mathrm{E}}/g\alpha _5(\mathrm{\Delta }q)_{ij}\lambda \times 4\times 10^8`$, where $`\lambda `$ is measured in units of meters. In view of still present uncertainties in $`(\mathrm{\Delta }q)_{ij}`$, we borrow tentatively from the vector fifth-force model, $`|(\mathrm{\Delta }q)_{ij}|2\times 10^3`$ . The available observational upper bounds $`|(\mathrm{\Delta }g)_{ij,\mathrm{E}}/g|10^{12}`$ is respected if $`\lambda \stackrel{<}{}10\mathrm{m}`$, thus giving an idea how large the expected WEP violation can be.

The second face, or question, requires some deviation from the smooth behavior of the energy density $`\rho _\sigma `$. As one of the simplest approaches along this direction, we introduced another scalar field, $`\chi `$, assumed to have a specific interaction with $`\sigma `$. A typical cosmological solution for $`k=0`$ is shown in Fig. 1 around the present epoch (taken from Fig. 5.8 of ). The energy density $`\rho _s`$ of the dark energy $`\sigma ,\chi `$ behaves like a plateau, acting as a cosmological constant. As a consequence of the dynamics of the scalar fields, the plateau comes to a crossing with the ordinary matter density. Nearly in coincidence with this, the scale factor exhibits a “mini-inflation,” that fits the observed “acceleration,” also with concomitant sudden changes of $`\sigma `$ and $`\chi `$.

Figure 1: An example of the Friedmann solution with $`k=0`$ of the cosmological equations of the two-scalar model, taken from Fig. 5.8 of . On the horizontal axis, $`\mathrm{log}t60`$ corresponds to the present epoch in the (reduced) Planckian unit system of $`c=\mathrm{}=M_\mathrm{P}(=(8\pi G)^{1/2})=1`$. In the lower panel, $`\rho `$ and $`\rho _s`$ for the ordinary matter density and the energy density of the dark energy, namely for $`\sigma `$ and $`\chi `$, respectively are shown.

Figure 2: Magnified view of $`\sigma `$ (solid) and $`0.02\chi +44.25`$ (dashed) vs $`\mathrm{log}t`$ near the present epoch. Note that before magnification, this is part of the plot (previous figure) in which $`\sigma `$, after the period of plateau behavior resulting in a “mini-inflation” of the scale factor, shoots up “suddenly.”

Particularly interesting is found if the apparently simple jump of $`\sigma `$, as shown in Fig. 1, is vertically magnified greatly, by 330 times, for example, as shown in Fig. 2. This unexpected damped-oscillator-like behavior plays a key role in bringing about an accelerating universe. The oscillation is “small,” however. We recognize it only after the plot is magnified considerably than what we need to analyze how the cosmological acceleration takes place. Different cosmological solutions leading to nearly identical results may be differentiated only by looking at other phenomena, including $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$, among others.

We derived the relation (6.194) of  through the QED calculation;

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha }{\alpha }=𝒵\frac{\alpha }{2\pi }\zeta \mathrm{\Delta }\sigma ,$$
(1)
where $`𝒵`$ counts the effective number of charged fields that contribute to the loop. We consider this result only as an example of the expected relation on the idea that a possible variation of the coupling constant is due to the changing scalar field, as we may obtain directly from string theory, though uncertainties seem unavoidable for deriving results applicable directly to 4 dimensions. In the following we take a more phenomenological attitude that the pattern of $`\sigma (t)`$ is described by a simplified damped oscillation with the parameters determined to fit the observation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$.

## 3 Analysis of the data

We begin with Fig. 2 showing $`\sigma `$ and $`\chi `$ as functions of $`\mathrm{log}t`$, which is a natural choice of the time variable in solving the cosmological equation. The function $`\sigma `$ is readily converted to that of the fractional look-back time $`u=(t_0t)/t_0`$, with $`t_0`$ the present age of the universe , essentially in the backward time direction. From a phenomenological view suggested above, we assume the purely damped oscillation behavior for $`y=(\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha )\times 10^5`$;

$$y=ae^{bu}\mathrm{sin}\left(2\pi \frac{uu_{\mathrm{oklo}}}{T}\right),$$
(2)
where $`u_{\mathrm{oklo}}`$ is chosen to be 0.142 corresponding to the mean $`(1.95\pm 0.05)\mathrm{Gy}`$ of the time of the Oklo phenomenon. The natural reactors are believed to have lasted somewhat shorter than $`10^6`$ years, corresponding to a width in the $`u`$-direction as small as $`\stackrel{<}{}10^4`$. According to a positive (negative) $`a`$, $`y(u)`$ increases (decreases) at $`u=u_{\mathrm{oklo}}`$. We should choose $`b>0`$.

We notice that choosing (2) results in $`y(0)=a\mathrm{sin}\left(2\pi u_{\mathrm{oklo}}/T\right)`$ which may not vanish in general, in contradiction with the natural condition $`y(0)=0`$ to be obeyed by definition. As the simplest remedy we may add an offset constant to the right-hand side of (2), but calling for another parameter. Improving the analysis in this direction will be made in the future, however, by emphasizing the behavior in the ranges close immediately to the QSO range, for the moment.

The data set to be fitted is taken from the “fiducial sample” (Fig. 8) of  of 128 points. A 1-parameter fit results in

$$y=0.54\pm 0.12,$$
(3)
with $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=\chi /127=1.06`$, which would have been 1.24 if we were to try to fit the data by the null result $`y=0`$. We emphasize that the error bar at the Oklo point is invisibly small ($`\stackrel{<}{}10^2`$) compared with other error bars. It then follows that the 1-parameter fit if extended to $`u_{\mathrm{oklo}}`$ would have resulted in $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ as large as the order of $`\stackrel{>}{}10^4`$. In order for the result to be sensible, we must bend the straight line (3) to pass the point $`u_{\mathrm{oklo}}`$ on the $`u`$-axis, but hopefully with a theoretical rationale.

| Solution | $`b`$ | $`a`$ | $`T`$ | $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ | 2.4 | 0.151 | 0.714 | 1.09 |
| $`\mathrm{B}_+`$ | 0.0 | 0.350 | 0.275 | 1.22 |
| $`\mathrm{C}_+`$ | 3.2 | 0.041 | 0.182 | 1.22 |
| $`\mathrm{A}_{}`$ | 4.0 | $`0.035`$ | 0.451 | 1.20 |
| $`\mathrm{B}_{}`$ | 2.2 | $`0.085`$ | 0.218 | 1.21 |
| $`\mathrm{C}_{}`$ | 3.0 | $`0.037`$ | 0.158 | 1.23 |

Table 1: Six solutions for minimized $`\chi ^2`$, and their parameters. The asterisks mean the end-point minima instead of the genuine local minima.

| $`b`$ | $`a`$ | $`T`$ | $`\chi ^2`$ | $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0.0 | 0.728 | 0.716 | 136.83 | 1.10 |
| 2.4 | 0.151 | 0.714 | 136.19 | 1.09 |
| 4.0 | 0.051 | 0.710 | 136.46 | 1.09 |

Table 2: Parameters for the local minima for the solution $`\mathrm{A}_+`$, corresponding to the three curves in Figs. 3 and 4. In the second line for $`b=2.4`$, the values are for the 3-dimensional minimum of $`\chi ^2`$, while other two lines for $`b=0.0`$ and $`b=4.0`$ represent only the 2-dimensional minima listed for comparing $`\chi ^2`$ with the true minimum for $`b=2.4`$.

Using the behavior of the scalar field for the accelerating universe as a guide, we conveniently consider the range $`0b4`$, inside of which we search for sets of parameters $`a,b,T`$ that minimize $`\chi ^2`$. The Oklo point is not included in $`\chi ^2`$ because choosing $`u_{\mathrm{oklo}}`$ is meant to fit the data already. We have found six solutions, with the parameters and $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=\chi ^2/125`$ summarized in Table 1. Remarkably, only the solution $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ offers $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=1.09`$ which is small enough nearly comparable with the value 1.06 for the 1-parameter fit (3), while others share larger values $`1.2`$ close to 1.24 for the null result mentioned above. There are yet other solutions with even larger $`\chi ^2`$. In what follows we focus on $`\mathrm{A}_+`$.

We consider $`\chi ^2`$ in 3-dimensional space of $`a,b,T`$. For each solution there is a 3-dimensional local minimum, around which there occurs a region of confidence level of 68%, for example. For $`\mathrm{A}_+`$, the true minimum occurs for $`b=2.4,a=0.151,T=0.714`$, as given by the first line of Table 1, which are also reproduced in the second line of Table 2. The surface which surrounds the confidence volume may be represented by the three cross sections each of which is a contour in the 2-dimensional $`aT`$ plane with constant $`b`$, as shown by Fig. 3 and Table 2. The complete 3-dimensional minimum lies on the plane of $`b=2.4`$, as marked by a cross inside a contour labeled by $`2.4`$ in Fig. 3, while the 2-dimensional minima are also shown as dots inside the other two contours for $`b=0.0`$ and $`b=4.0`$. The corresponding values of $`\chi ^2`$ are given in Table 2. The largest contour occurs for $`b=0.0`$, though the corresponding minimum $`\chi ^2`$ is larger than that of $`b=2.4`$. In this connection we further point out that $`b=0.0`$ is likely outside the practical interest, because we expect that the present epoch is well before the time of sudden changes of the scalar fields, as shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 4 shows how the (solid) curve of $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ fits the data. Also shown are the curves of neighboring fits corresponding to $`b=0.0`$ (dotted) and $`b=4.0`$ (dashed), which nearly overlap that of $`b=2.4`$ in the range of the QSO observation. There is an indication, however, that the larger $`b`$ makes it the easier to fit the Oklo result. In fact choosing $`b=8.0(a=0.00297,T=0.712)`$ gives the curve to be within $`\pm 0.001`$, hence satisfying the “stronger” Oklo constraint $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha |\stackrel{<}{}10^8`$ in the range $`u=0.142\pm 0.02`$. This is made, however, with the cost of somewhat larger $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=1.11`$, because the QSO data exhibits quite “flat” distribution, instead of a sharp change implied by a large $`b`$. In fact this flatness makes it unlikely that the smaller value at the Oklo point is largely due to the damping effect, $`e^{bu}`$, even taking aside that a large $`b`$ is not favored by the cosmological behavior.

Figure 3: Cross sections by $`aT`$ planes, labeled by the values of $`b`$, of the 68% confidence level of the solution $`\mathrm{A}_+`$. The true 3-dimensional minimum of $`\chi ^2`$ occurs for the point denoted by a cross inside the contour labeled by 2.4, as also given in Table 2. The points denoted by dots inside other two contours represent only the 2-dimensional minima for each $`b`$.

Figure 4: Fit of the solution $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ (solid). Similar curves (dotted for $`b=0.0`$, dashed for $`b=4.0`$) are also shown corresponding to Table 2. In the upper panel, the curves for $`u<0.2`$ have been 10 times magnified. In the lower panel (binned data), the (dot-dashed) horizontal straight line is added corresponding to the 1-parameter fit.

## 4 Concluding remarks

We have shown that the QSO data can be fitted by a damped-oscillator fit nearly equally well as the 1-parameter fit. Also we can do this by fitting the Oklo result as well. We have, however, some unsolved problems.

The behavior as shown in Fig. 1 indicates $`b2.5`$ and $`T0.22`$, compared with $`b=2.4`$ and $`T=0.714`$ for the fit $`\mathrm{A}_+`$; a near agreement for $`b`$ but the latter $`T`$ seems somewhat larger than the former. Smaller $`T`$ tends to give larger $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ as we infer from Table 1. Also the maximum of $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma |`$ around $`\mathrm{log}t59.6`$ for $`u0.7`$ is $`0.1`$, which should be compared with $`|y|_{\mathrm{max}}1`$ indicated in Fig. 4. In the cosmological solution in  we used the value $`\zeta =1.58`$. Combining these with $`𝒵=5`$ from the standard gauge theory, we find that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$ in $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ is smaller than the right-hand side of (1) by about 2 orders of magnitude.

We add a comment on the $`\beta `$-decay of $`{}_{}{}^{187}\mathrm{Re}`$, which is recently claimed to require $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha |\stackrel{<}{}3\times 10^7`$ for the last 4.5 Gys, or $`uu_{\mathrm{Re}}0.33`$ . The solution $`\mathrm{A}_+`$ and its neighbors shown in Table 2 give the values that fail to comply this constraint. Even the choice of $`b=8.0`$ as before gives $`4.3\times 10^7`$, which comes only close to the required bound. We may reverse the analysis by first identifying the rhenium constraint with a zero of $`y`$, and finding $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha )_{\mathrm{Oklo}}1.0\times 10^7`$. This might be accepted as the largest possible deviation of the Oklo constraint, with $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2=1.09`$, but the required $`b=8.0`$ (also with $`a=0.00366,T=1.052`$) is again quite outside the range allowed from cosmology.

It appears that the rhenium constraint can be made only barely consistent with the flat distribution of the QSO result, at the best. The same can be a problem for other non-oscillatory behaviors as well. The function used in , for example, features a sharp decrease of $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha |`$ from $`z=2`$ to $`z=0.45`$ for the rhenium time to account for the small value. This entails, in turn, a sharp increase toward the high-$`z`$ end of the QSO range, agreeing only marginally with the data including not only the average value but also more details, which can be exploited by a $`\chi ^2`$ analysis, for example. A conclusion of the similar nature will follow also from Fig. 3 of  and Fig. 13 of , for which the estimated $`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ appear to remain within an acceptable range, but $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha |`$ calculated at the rhenium time turn out somewhat larger than the target value.

In this connection we point out that estimating the parameters of Re-Os isochron accurately is primarily for obtaining the time-averaged decay-rate  eventually to determine the age of meteorites. Compared with the Oklo phenomenon and the QSO absorption lines, the possible time-variation of the decay-rate, namely of $`\alpha `$, at certain time has been inferred only by the argument which is less direct and less compelling, as will be elaborated separately .

As a unique feature of the current model, we point out that the behavior of $`\sigma `$ toward the present epoch depends sensitively on the status at much earlier times. Figure 5.14 of  provides examples to show how small and smooth changes of the initial value may affect whether an oscillation occurs or not, and if it does, how much the amplitude and the frequency vary. The example shown in Fig. 2 turns out to have a relatively large amplitude. A much smaller amplitude can be chosen without noticeably affecting the way the universe is accelerated. Also the interaction between $`\sigma `$ and $`\chi `$ was assumed to be the simplest ((5.58) of ) to implement the mechanism for the acceleration. One might even modify this interaction in such a way that fitting the Oklo data as well as meeting the condition $`y(0)=0`$ can be made more natural. These details will be the subject of future studies. We re-emphasize that measuring $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha /\alpha `$, even if it might finally turn out to be smaller, will constrain the behavior of the scalar field rather independently of its role for the cosmological acceleration.

It seems nevertheless worth emphasizing that the size of the prediction (1) is not very much away from the observation, allowing us to start with this relation as a reasonable basis. The issue is more acute when we notice that the QSO result implies $`\dot{\alpha }/\alpha 10^{16}\mathrm{y}^1`$, and its magnitude, several orders smaller than $`t_0^110^{10}\mathrm{y}^1`$, has never been fully understood from a theoretical point of view.

I thank Michael Murphy for providing the QSO data before the publication and reading the manuscript, and also Takashi Ishikawa for the helpful discussion on the error estimates. My thanks are also due to Akira Iwamoto for his crucial comments on the rhenium decay.

References

1. J.K. Webb, V.V. Flambaum, C.W. Churchill, M.J. Drinkwater and J.D. Barrow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 884 (1999); M.T. Murphy, J.K. Webb, V.V. Flambaum, V.A. Dzuba, C.W. Churchill, J.X. Prochaska, J.D. Barrow and A.M. Wolfe, MNRAS, 327, 1208 (2001); J.K. Webb, M.T. Murphy, V.V. Flambaum, A. Dzuba, J.D. Barrow, C.W. Churchill, J.X. Prochaska and A.M. Wolfe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 091301 (2001).
2. M.T. Murphy, J.K. Webb, V.V. Flambaum, MNRAS, to be published, astro-ph/0306483.
3. A.I. Shlyakhter, Nature 264, 340 (1976).
4. T. Damour and F.J. Dyson, Nucl. Phys. B480, 37 (1996).
5. Y. Fujii, A. Iwamoto, T. Fukahori, T. Ohnuki, M. Nakagawa, H. Hidaka, Y. Oura and P. Möller, Nucl. Phys. B573, 377 (2000); Proc. Int. Conf. on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology, 2001, hep-ph/0205206.
6. A.G. Riess et al., Astgron. J. 116, 1009 (1998); S. Perlmutter et al., Nature, 391, 51 (1998).
7. M.J. Drinkwater et al., MNRAS, 295, 457 (1998); C.L. Carilli et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5511 (2000); M.T. Murphy et al., MNRAS, 327, 1244 (2001).
8. J.D. Barrow and J. Magueijo, Astrophys. J., 532, L87 (2000).
9. J.D. Barrow and C. O’Toole, astro-ph/9904116.
10. C. Wetterich, Phys. Lett. B561, 10 (2003).
11. L. Anchordoqui and H. Goldberg, hep-ph/0306084.
12. C.L. Gardner, astro-ph/0305080.
13. Y. Fujii, Phys. Rev. D62, 064004 (2000).
14. Y. Fujii and K. Maeda, The scalar-tensor theory of gravitation, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
15. J.D. Bekenstein, Phys. Rev. D25, 1527 (1982); Phys. Rev. D66, 123514 (2002).
16. Y. Fujii, M. Omote and T. Nishioka, Prog. Theor. Phys. 92, 521 (1994).
17. Y. Fujii, Proc. First Intn. ASTROD School and Symposium, Beijing, 2001, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D11, 1137 (2002), astro-ph/0204069; Proc. JENAM 2002, Porto, 2002, Astrophysics and Space Science, 283, 559 (2003), gr-qc/0212017.
18. K.A. Olive, M. Pospelov, Y.-Z. Qian, A. Coc, M. Cassé and E. Vangioni-Flam, Phys. Rev. D66, 045022 (2002).
19. Y. Fujii, Phys. Rev. D26, 2580 (1982); D. Dolgov, Proc. Nuffield Workshop, Cambridge University Press, 1982; L.H. Ford, Phys. Rev. D35, 2339 (1987); Y. Fujii and T. Nishioka, Phys. Rev. D42, 361 (1990).
20. Y. Fujii, Nature Phys. Sci. 234, 5 (1971); Phys. Rev. D9, 874 (1974).
21. E. Fischbach and C. Talmadge, The search for non-Newtonian gravity, AIP Press, Springer-Verlag, 1998.
22. C.D. Hoyle et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1418 (2001).
23. M.I. Smoliar, R.J. Walker and J.W. Morgan, Science 271, 1099 (1996).
24. Y. Fujii and A. Iwamoto, in preparation.


format: text

text:
# Position Sensing from Charge Dispersion in Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors with a Resistive Anode

## 1 Introduction

A new class of high-resolution multi-channel gas avalanche micro-detectors has been developed during the past decade for charged particle tracking. The Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM)  and the Micromegas  are examples of some of the new micro-pattern gas detectors  already in wide use. The GEM and the Micromegas sample the avalanche charge using arrays of closely spaced long parallel anode strips to measure a single co-ordinate. Spatial resolutions of 40 to 50 $`\mu `$m are typical with anodes strips at 200 $`\mu `$m pitch. Micro-detectors do require more instrumented channels of electronics than multi-wire proportional chambers. However, the number of readout channels has not yet become an issue for most experiments using micro-detectors for charged particle tracking.

There are potential micro-detector applications, however, where the electronics channel count may become an issue. The Time Projection Chamber (TPC)  used in high energy physics experiments is one such example. A single endcap detector is used in the TPC to measure both the radial and the azimuthal co-ordinates of the ionization charge cluster. In the conventional TPC, read out with a multi-wire proportional chamber endcap, the radial co-ordinate is obtained from the anode wire position. A precise second co-ordinate along the anode wire length is measured by sampling the induced cathode charge with a series of several mm wide rectangular pads.

The spatial resolution of a TPC in a high magnetic field is dominated by the $`𝑬\mathbf{\times }𝑩`$ and track angle systematic effects . Replacement of the usual anode wire/cathode pad readout with one based on micro-detectors with anode pad readout would almost entirely eliminate the systematics and has the potential to improve the TPC performance significantly. However, the suppression of the transverse diffusion in a high magnetic field may often result in the collection of most of the avalanche charge within the width of a single anode pad resulting in a loss of TPC resolution. For better resolution, a micro-detector readout TPC will need either a finely segmented anode pad structure with a prohibitively large number of instrumented channels of electronics, or perhaps the complication of specially shaped pads which enhance anode charge sharing .

We describe here a new technique which can be used to measure the position of a localized charge cluster in a micro-detector using pads of widths similar to those used in wire-pad systems. Most of our tests have so far been done with a modified double-GEM detector. However, the new technique appears to be sufficiently general to be applicable to the Micromegas.

## 2 Charge dispersion in a micro-detector with a resistive anode

With certain modifications to the anode readout structure, it is possible to measure the position of a localized charge cluster in a micro-detector with pads wider than have been used so far. A thin high surface resistivity film is glued to a separate readout pad plane and is used for the anode (Fig. 1). The resistive anode film forms a distributed 2-dimensional resistive-capacitive network with respect to the readout pad plane. Any localized charge arriving at the anode surface will be dispersed with the $`RC`$ time constant determined by the anode surface resistivity and the capacitance density determined by the spacing between the anode and readout planes. With the initial charge dispersed and covering a larger area with time, wider pads can be used for signal pickup and position determination.

This spatial dispersion, which can be explained by a simple physical model described below, does not attenuate the pad charge signal. As the initial charge cluster diffuses, the electron density on the resistive surface, varying with time, is capacitively mirrored on the readout pads below. Since the readout pads are directly connected to the preamplifiers, there is no charge signal amplitude loss.

### 2.1 A model for charge dispersion in a micro-detector with a resistive anode

The resistive anode and the readout plane together can be looked upon to form a distributed 2 dimensional $`RC`$ network in the finite element approximation. Consider first the 1 dimensional problem of a point charge arriving at $`t=0`$ at the origin in the middle of an infinitely long wire grounded at both ends. For small inductance, the space-time evolution of the charge density $`\rho `$ on the wire is given by the well-known Telegraph equation:

$$\frac{\rho }{t}=h\frac{^2\rho }{x^2}\text{where}h=1/RC.$$
(1)
Here $`R`$ is resistance per unit length and $`C`$ the capacitance per unit length for the wire.

The solution for charge density is given by:

$$\rho (x,t)=\sqrt{\frac{1}{4\pi th}}\mathrm{exp}(x^2/4th).$$
(2)
In analogy with the 1 dimensional case, we can write the Telegraph equation for the case of a resistive surface. At time $`t=0`$, a point charge is collected at the origin by a resistive anode surface of infinite radius (for simplicity). The 2-dimensional Telegraph equation for the charge density is:

$$\frac{\rho }{t}=h\left[\frac{^2\rho }{r^2}+\frac{1}{r}\frac{\rho }{r}\right],$$
(3)
where in this case, $`R`$ is the surface resistivity and $`C`$ is capacitance per unit area.

The solution for the charge density function in this case is given by:

$$\rho (r,t)=\frac{1}{2th}\mathrm{exp}(r^2/4th).$$
(4)
The charge density function (equation 4) for the resistive anode varies with time and is capacitively sampled by the readout pads. Fig. 2 shows the time evolution of the charge density for an initially localized charge cluster for our detector. The charge signal on a pad can be computed by integrating the time dependent charge density function over the pad area. The shape of the charge pulse on a pad depends on the pad geometry, the location of the pad with respect to the initial charge and the $`RC`$ time constant of the system.

### 2.2 Charge dispersion signal in micro-detectors with long readout strips

The charge dispersion measurements were carried out with a modified GEM detector with long anode strips. Since a spatial co-ordinate measurement for long strips is meaningful only in a direction transverse to the strip length, we can use the 1-dimensional Telegraph equation (1) to describe the situation. However, the solution for the charge density must account for the finite size of the resistive anode in contrast to the solution given by equation (2) in the long wire approximation.

The boundary conditions to solve equation (1) in this case are:

$$\rho (x=0,t)=\rho (x=s,t)=0;\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0}t\mathrm{},$$
(5)
where $`s`$ is the size of the resistive foil (assumed square) held at ground potential along its boundary.

The solution satisfying the finite boundary conditions is:

$$\rho (x,t)=\underset{m=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}A_m\mathrm{exp}[h(m\pi /s)^2t]\mathrm{sin}(xm\pi /s),$$
(6)
where the coefficients $`A_m`$ can be determined from the knowledge of the initial charge density:

$$A_m=\frac{2}{s}_0^s\rho (x,t=0)\mathrm{sin}(xm\pi /s)𝑑x.$$
(7)
The signal on a readout strip can be computed by integrating the charge density function over the strip width. Furthermore, the finite extent of the initial charge cluster, the intrinsic micro-detector charge signal rise time as well as the rise and fall time characteristics of the front-end electronics determine the shape of the measured signal shape. All these parameters need to be included in the model to compare to the experiment.

Model calculations were done for a GEM detector with a resistive anode readout with 1 mm wide strips. The anode resistivity and anode-readout gap limits the computed spatial spread of the charge dispersion over pads to about 700 $`\mu `$m comparable to transverse diffusion in a high magnetic field TPC. Simulated signals for the readout strip directly below the initial ionization charge cluster and for the next four adjacent strips are shown in Fig. 3. The same figure also shows the simulated pad response function or equivalently the spatial spread of an initially localized charge cluster due to charge dispersion.

## 3 Spatial resolution measurements in a GEM detector with a resistive anode

The charge dispersion test measurements were made with the modified double-GEM detector (Fig. 1) filled with Ar/CO2 90/10. A 50 $`\mu `$m thick Mylar film with a surface resistivity of 2.5 M$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ per square was glued to the pad readout board. The spacing between the anode and readout planes was close to 100 $`\mu `$m including the thickness of the glue.

The initial ionization is provided by x-ray photon conversion in the gas. The average photon energy was about 4.5 keV as low energy bremsstrahlung photons from the copper target x-ray tube, run at 7 kV, were absorbed by the material in the x-ray tube and detector windows. A $``$40 $`\mu `$m pinhole in a thin brass sheet was used to produce a miniaturized x-ray tube focal spot image in the GEM drift gap. The size of the x-ray spot at the detector is estimated to be on the order of 70 $`\mu `$m. After avalanche multiplication and diffusion, the RMS size of the electron cloud reaching the resistive anode was $``$400 $`\mu `$m. The gas gain was about 2500.

Signals were read out from 7 cm long and 1.5 mm wide strips. The front-end electronics consisted of Aleph  TPC wire charge preamplifiers followed by receiver amplifiers. Signals from 8 contiguous strips were digitized using two 4-channel Tektronix digitizing oscilloscopes. A computerized translation stage was used to move the x-ray spot in small steps over the width of the centre strip. One thousand event runs were recorded for each x-ray spot position on an event by event basis.

For a given anode surface resistivity and readout geometry, the observed shape of the charge pulse depends on the strip position with respect to the location of primary charge cluster on the resistive anode. Fig. 4 shows an event where the x-ray ionization spot is located directly above the centre of a readout strip. A fast charge pulse is observed on the strip peaking in time with the maximum of the charge density at the anode surface above. Pulses on strips farther away have a slower rise time and peak late because the local charge density on the anode surface nearest the strip reaches its maximum later. Also, an early short duration induced pulse is visible for strips adjacent to the main strip. The induced pulses , produced by electron motion in the GEM induction gap, have demonstrated position sensitivity  but require the use of high-speed pulse shape sampling electronics. In addition, measurable induced pulses are specific to GEM detectors with sizeable induction gaps. For charge dispersion measurements described below, the induced GEM pulse information has not been used.

## 4 Data analysis and results

The charge dispersion signals were confined to a narrow region on the readout board in the present setup. There were measurable signals above noise only on three 1.5 mm wide strips. The analysis to determine the space point resolution from the event by event data consisted of following steps: a) Determine the pulse heights of signals on the strips, independent of rise time; b) Compute a centre of gravity position for the event from the measured pulse heights; c) Correct for the bias in the computed centre of gravity to obtain the position of the ionization cluster for the event. The standard deviation of the bias corrected centre of gravity position with respect to the known x-ray beam spot position for the run gives a measure of the space point resolution.

The data from each 1000 event run were sub-divided into two equal data sets: one used for calibration and one for resolution studies. The pulse heights were obtained by fitting polynomial functions to the digitized pulse shape data. The calibration data set was used to determine and fix the coefficients of polynomial functions (see Fig. 5) used subsequently in the analysis of events in the resolution data set.

The centres of gravity for the events in the calibration data set were computed from the measured pulse heights. The correction function for the bias in the centre of gravity method (see Fig. 6) was determined by plotting the mean value of computed centres of gravity against the known x-ray spot position for the individual runs.

The pulse heights and the peak positions for the events used for resolution studies were determined by fitting the pulses to the fixed polynomials shapes obtained from the corresponding calibration data set. The computed centres of gravity were converted to “true position” by interpolation using the bias correction function determined from the calibration data set. Fig. 7 shows the measured resolution function for the 1.5 mm wide strips at two different positions of the x-ray ionization spot over the strip. Fig. 8 shows the measured spatial resolutions and the position residuals: i.e. the deviation of measured positions from the micrometer settings. The small systematic trends apparent in the plot appear to be related to an imprecise knowledge of the experimental parameters in the present setup and any remaining biases in the present method of analysis. Nevertheless, the standard deviations of the position measurements, in the range of 50 to 80 $`\mu `$m, are all consistent with the size of the collimated x-ray spot at the detector.

## 5 Outlook and summary

We have demonstrated that a controlled $`RC`$ dispersion of the avalanche charge makes it possible to measure its position with a micro-detector with strips wider than have been used previously. The pad response function and signal shapes are determined by the anode surface resistivity and anode-readout plane gap. With the proper choice of the $`RC`$ time constant of the system, the charge dispersion technique will not compromise the counting rate ability of the detector. Nor should it compromise the 2-track resolving power of the detector which should be limited only by the diffusion effects in the gas. Once the characteristics of the charge dispersion signal are properly understood, it should also be possible to simplify the technique replacing the pulse shape measurement system with less expensive charge integrating electronics.

The charge dispersion space point resolution studies described here were done for long readout strips in a modified GEM detector with a resistive anode. Further experimental and simulation studies are in progress to investigate the spatial resolution capabilities of the charge dispersion technique with rectangular pads similar to those used in wire-cathode pad TPCs. We are also testing the concept of position sensing from charge dispersion with the Miromegas where the high anode resistance may help improve the detector HV stability as well as protect the front-end electronics from spark damage.

## Acknowledgments

The charge preamplifiers used in these measurements came from the Aleph TPC at CERN and we wish to thank Ron Settles for making these available to us. Ernie Neuheimer lent us his expertise in designing, building and troubleshooting much of the specialized electronics used for these measurements. Mechanical engineers Morley O’Neill and Vance Strickland helped with the detector design and in improving the clean-room facility used for the detector assembly. Philippe Gravelle provided technical assistance when needed. Our CO-OP students Alasdair Rankin and Steven Kennedy made significant contributions to all aspects of this research from hardware construction to improving the data acquisition software as well as writing some of the data analysis code. Finally, one of the authors (MSD) would like to express his thanks to V. Radeka for an illuminating discussion concerning the phenomenon of charge dispersion. This research was supported by a project grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.


text:
# Quark fragmentation to 𝜋^±, 𝜋⁰, 𝐾^±, 𝑝 and 𝑝̄ in the nuclear environment

The HERMES Collaboration

## Abstract

The influence of the nuclear medium on lepto-production of hadrons was studied in the HERMES experiment at DESY in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of 27.6 GeV positrons off deuterium, nitrogen and krypton targets. The differential multiplicity for krypton relative to that of deuterium has been measured for the first time for various identified hadrons ($`\pi ^+`$, $`\pi ^{}`$, $`\pi ^0`$, $`K^+`$, $`K^{}`$, $`p`$ and $`\overline{p}`$) as a function of the virtual photon energy $`\nu `$, the fraction $`z`$ of this energy transferred to the hadron, and the hadron transverse momentum squared $`p_t^2`$. The multiplicity ratio is strongly reduced in the nuclear medium at low $`\nu `$ and high $`z`$, with significant differences among the various hadrons. The distribution of the hadron transverse momentum is broadened towards high $`p_t^2`$ in the nuclear medium, in a manner resembling the Cronin effect previously observed in collisions of heavy ions and protons with nuclei.

PACS numbers: 13.87.Fh, 13.60.-r, 14.20.-c, 14.40.-n

The phenomenon of confinement in QCD imposes itself dynamically in the process of hadronization, i.e. the mechanism by which final-state hadrons are formed from a quark that has been struck hard. This process, also known as the fragmentation of quarks into hadrons, can be described by fragmentation functions $`D_f^h(z)`$, denoting the probability that a quark of flavor $`f`$ produces a hadron of type $`h`$ carrying a fraction $`z`$ of the energy of the struck quark in the target rest frame. In the nuclear medium additional soft processes may occur before the final-state hadron is completely formed. The nuclear environment may thereby influence the hadronization process, e.g. cause a change in the quark fragmentation functions, in analogy to the EMC finding of a medium modification of the quark distribution functions AUB83 .

The understanding of quark propagation in the nuclear medium is crucial for the interpretation of ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions, as well as high energy proton-nucleus and lepton-nucleus interactions BAI00 . Quark propagation in the nuclear environment involves processes like multiple interactions with the surrounding medium and induced gluon radiation, resulting in energy loss of the quark. If the final hadron is formed inside the nucleus, the hadron can interact via the relevant hadronic interaction cross section, causing a further reduction of the hadron yield. Therefore, quark and hadron propagation in nuclei are expected to result in a modification i.e. a “softening” of the leading-hadron spectra NI79  compared to that from a free nucleon. By studying the properties of the leading-hadrons emerging from nuclei, information on the characteristic time-distance scales of hadronization can be derived.

The hadronization process in the nuclear medium is traditionally described in the framework of phenomenological string models BI80 ; GY90 ; CZ92 ; AK02  and final state interactions of the produced hadrons with the surrounding medium FAL03 . Alternatively, in-medium modifications of the quark fragmentation functions have been proposed, either expressed in terms of their nuclear rescaling DE85 ; ACC02 , or parton energy loss arleo  and higher-twist contributions to the fragmentation functions GUO04 , or in terms of a gluon-bremsstrahlung model for leading hadron attenuation boris . The models of Refs. ACC02 ; boris  also incorporate hadronic final state interactions. These recent QCD-inspired models provide a theoretical description of the hadronization process in deep-inelastic scattering, relativistic heavy-ion collisions GUO04  and Drell-Yan reactions on nuclear targets arleo ; DY . Moreover, some of these models contain a so-far untested QCD prediction, i.e. that the induced radiative energy loss of a quark traversing a length $`L`$ of hot or cold matter is proportional to $`L^2`$ BA97  due to the coherence of the gluon radiation process LPM .

Semi-inclusive deep-inelastic lepton-nucleus collisions are most suitable to obtain quantitative information on the hadronization process. In contrast to hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus scattering, in deep-inelastic scattering no deconvolution of the parton distributions of the projectile and target particles is needed, so that hadron distributions and multiplicities from various nuclei can be directly related to nuclear effects in quark propagation and hadronization.

The experimental results for semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering on nuclei are usually presented in terms of the hadron multiplicity ratio $`R_M^h`$, which represents the ratio of the number of hadrons of type $`h`$ produced per deep-inelastic scattering event on a nuclear target of mass A to that from a deuterium target (D). The ratio $`R_M^h`$ depends on the leptonic variables $`\nu `$ and $`Q^2`$, where $`\nu `$ and $`Q^2`$ are the energy in the target rest frame and the squared four-momentum of the virtual photon respectively, and on the hadronic variables $`z`$ and $`p_t^2`$, where $`p_t`$ is the hadron momentum component transverse to the virtual photon direction. Fig. 1 illustrates the definition of the relevant lepton and hadron kinematic variables for this analysis.

The multiplicity ratio is defined as:

$$R_M^h(z,\nu ,p_t^2,Q^2)=\frac{\frac{N_h(z,\nu ,p_t^2,Q^2)}{N_e(\nu ,Q^2)}|_A}{\frac{N_h(z,\nu ,p_t^2,Q^2)}{N_e(\nu ,Q^2)}|_D},$$
(1)
where $`N_h`$ is the yield of semi-inclusive hadrons in a given ($`z,\nu `$,$`p_t^2`$,$`Q^2`$)-bin, and $`N_e`$ the yield of inclusive deep-inelastic scattering leptons in the same ($`\nu `$,$`Q^2`$)-bin. The ratio $`R_M^h`$ is usually evaluated as a function of $`\nu `$ and $`z`$ only, while integrating over all other kinematic variables, as existing data for $`R_M^h`$ show a weak dependence on either $`Q^2`$ or $`p_t^2`$ hunen ; EMC .

In the past, semi-inclusive leptoproduction of undifferentiated hadrons from nuclei was studied at SLAC with electrons osborne , and at CERN and FNAL with high-energy muons by EMC EMC  and E665 Xe . Recently, HERMES reported more precise data AIR01  on the production of charged hadrons, as well as identified $`\pi ^+`$ and $`\pi ^{}`$ mesons, in deep-inelastic positron scattering on nitrogen relative to deuterium. A significant difference was found between the multiplicity ratio of positive and negative hadrons, while the multiplicity ratio for identified pions was found to be the same for both charges. In order to clarify this issue, additional measurements of $`R_M^h`$ with identification of other hadron species have been performed at HERMES.

In this paper we present results on the hadron multiplicities on krypton relative to deuterium, providing the first measurements of the multiplicity ratio for identified pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons. Additionally the nitrogen data for charged hadrons and identified pions are reevaluated, now covering a wider kinematic range than in Ref. AIR01 . The measurements described were performed with the HERMES spectrometer hermesdetector  using the 27.6 GeV positron beam stored in the HERA ring at DESY. The spectrometer consists of two identical halves located above and below the positron beam pipe. Both the scattered positrons and the produced hadrons were detected simultaneously within an angular acceptance of $`\pm `$ 170 mrad horizontally, and $`\pm `$ (40 – 140) mrad vertically.

The data were collected using krypton and deuterium gas targets internal to the positron storage ring. Either polarised deuterium or unpolarised high density krypton gas was injected into a 40 cm long tubular open-ended storage cell. Target areal densities up to 1.4 $`\times `$ 1016 nucleons/cm2 were obtained for krypton. During these high-density runs HERA operated in a dedicated mode for the HERMES experiment. This made it possible to accumulate the krypton statistics within a few days in 1999. The deuterium data were collected over a period of one year (1999) with a lower-density polarised target. The yields from deuterium were averaged over the two spin orientations.

The positron trigger was formed by a coincidence between signals from three scintillator hodoscope planes, and a lead-glass calorimeter where a minimum energy deposit of 3.5 GeV (1.4 GeV) for unpolarised (polarised) target runs was required. The identification of the scattered positrons was accomplished using a transition-radiation detector, a scintillator preshower counter, and an electromagnetic calorimeter.

The identification of charged pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons was accomplished using the information from the RICH detector RICH , which replaced a threshold Čerenkov counter used in the previously reported measurements on 14AIR01 . This detector uses two radiators, a 5 cm thick wall of silica areogel tiles followed by a large volume of C4F10 gas, to provide separation of pions, kaons, and protons over most of the kinematic acceptance of the spectrometer. The pions and kaons identified by the RICH detector are analysed in the momentum region between 2.5 GeV and 15 GeV, while for the identified protons and antiprotons the momentum region is restricted to the range between 4 GeV and 15 GeV in order to reduce possible contaminations from misidentified hadrons. The identification efficiencies and contaminations for pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons have been determined in a Monte Carlo simulation as a function of the hadron momentum and multiplicity in the relevant detector half. These RICH performance parameters were verified in a limited kinematical domain using known particle species from identified resonance decays. They were used in a matrix method to unfold the true hadron distributions from the measured ones.

The electromagnetic calorimeter calo  provided neutral pion identification by the detection of two neutral clusters originating from the two decay photons. Each of the two clusters was required to have an energy $`E_\gamma 0.8`$ GeV. The background was evaluated in each kinematic bin by fitting the two-photon invariant mass spectrum with a Gaussian plus a polynomial that fits the shape of the background due to uncorrelated photons. The number of detected $`\pi ^0`$ mesons was obtained by integrating the peak, corrected for background, over the $`\pm `$2$`\sigma `$ range with respect to the centroid of the Gaussian. The identified neutral pions were analysed in the same momentum range as the charged pions, i.e. between 2.5 GeV and 15 GeV.

Scattered positrons were selected by imposing the constraints $`Q^2>1`$ GeV2, $`W=\sqrt{2M\nu +M^2Q^2}>2`$ GeV for the invariant mass of the photon-nucleon system where $`M`$ is the nucleon mass, and $`y=\nu /E<`$ 0.85 for the energy fraction of the virtual photon. The requirements on $`W`$ and $`y`$ are applied to exclude nucleon resonances and to limit the magnitude of the radiative corrections, respectively. In the previously reported data on 14AIR01  an additional constraint $`x=\frac{Q^2}{2M\nu }>0.06`$ for the Bjorken scaling variable was applied, in order to exclude the kinematic region where an anomalous ratio of the longitudinal to transverse cross sections for deep-inelastic scattering from 14N appeared. Since that report this anomaly was found to be due to a peculiar local instrumental inefficiency, for which corrections have now been evaluated erratum . By applying these corrections the $`x`$-range was extended down to $`x`$=0.02 both for the new data and for the previously published 14N data.

Most of the hadrons from target fragmentation were suppressed by the requirement $`z>`$ 0.2. The lower constraint on the hadron momentum implies that the $`z`$acceptance is restricted to rather large values as $`\nu `$ decreases. Hence, to ensure that the $`\nu `$-dependence of the multiplicity ratio does not correspond to a strong variation of the mean $`z`$-value, the present data were confined to $`\nu >`$ 7 GeV.

Under the kinematic constraints described above, the number of selected deep-inelastic scattering events is 8.2 (7.3) $`\times 10^5`$ for krypton (deuterium). The number of charged pions is 11.3 (13.5) $`\times 10^4`$, while the number of neutral pions is 1.9 (2.3) $`\times 10^4`$. The number of kaons is 2.1 (2.3) $`\times 10^4`$, and the number of protons and antiprotons is 1.1 (1.1) $`\times 10^4`$.

The data have been corrected for radiative processes involving nuclear elastic, quasi-elastic and inelastic scattering, using the codes of Refs. Tera ; Akush . The code of Ref. Akush  was modified to include the measured semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering cross sections. The size of the radiative corrections applied to $`R_M^h`$ was found to be negligible in most of the kinematic range, with a maximum of about 7% at the highest value of $`\nu `$, as most of the radiative contributions cancel in the multiplicity ratio GAR02 .

The charged pion sample is contaminated by pions originating from the decay of heavier mesons. The main effect on the pion multiplicities is due to the decay of exclusively produced $`\rho ^0`$ vector mesons, which may affect the multiplicities by an amount ranging from about 1% at low $`z`$ up to 30% (45%) at high $`z`$ for positive (negative) pions, as has been estimated from a Monte Carlo simulation. The effect on the super-ratio $`R_M^h`$ is smaller, but does not cancel as the $`\rho ^0`$ vector meson are also attenuated in the nuclear medium. By taking into account the measured $`\rho ^0`$ nuclear transparency CT02 , the remaining effect on $`R_M^h`$ has been estimated and included in the systematic uncertainty. No correction was applied to $`R_M^h`$. Pions resulting from the decay of $`\rho ^0`$ mesons formed in the fragmentation process are included in $`R_M^h`$.

The systematic uncertainty is reduced due to the fact that super-ratios of seminclusive and inclusive yields are measured. The contributions to the systematic uncertainty of $`R_M^h`$ arise from radiative corrections ($`<`$ 2%), hadron identification (1.5% for neutral pions, 0.5% for kaons, 1% for protons and 2% for antiprotons), overall efficiency ($`<`$ 2%), and $`\rho ^0`$-meson production for positive (0.3% - 4%) and negative (0.3% - 7%) pions GAR02 .

The geometric acceptance for semi-inclusive hadron production has been verified to be the same for both the krypton and deuterium targets by studying the multiplicity ratio as a function of the hadron polar angle. This ratio was found to be constant within the experimental precision.

The multiplicity ratio has been determined as a function of either $`z`$, $`\nu `$ or $`p_t^2`$, while integrating over all other kinematic variables. In Fig. 2 the multiplicity ratios for all charged hadrons with $`z>`$ 0.2 are presented as a function of $`\nu `$ together with data of previous experiments on nuclei of similar size. In the top panel the HERMES data on Kr are compared with the SLAC osborne  and CERN EMC  data for Cu.

In the lower panel the reevaluated HERMES data on 14N are displayed together with data on 12osborne ; EMC . Due to the extension down to $`x`$=0.02, the 14N data shown in Fig. 2 have a higher statistical accuracy than the data reported in Ref. AIR01 . The HERMES data for $`R_M^h`$ are observed to increase with increasing $`\nu `$, roughly approaching the EMC results at higher values of $`\nu `$. The discrepancy with the SLAC data is partially due to the fact that semi-inclusive cross section ratios were measured at SLAC instead of multiplicity ratios. Thus no corrections in the SLAC data were made for the target-mass dependence of the inclusive deep-inelastic scattering cross section, as discussed in Ref. AIR01 .

A stronger attenuation is observed for Kr than for 14N, the average ratios and the total experimental uncertainties being $`R_M^h`$=0.802 $`\pm `$ 0.021 and $`R_M^h`$=0.954 $`\pm `$ 0.023, respectively. Fig. 3 shows the dependence on $`z`$ of the same multiplicity ratios for $`\nu >`$ 7 GeV. This figure includes the region $`z<0.2`$, which contains contributions from both target fragmentation hadrons and leading hadrons decelerated in nuclear re-scattering. Qualitatively, the dependences on $`\nu `$ and $`z`$ of the Kr data resemble those of the 14N data, but the features are more pronounced.

The measured $`\nu `$\- and $`z`$-dependences for both krypton and nitrogen are compared to several model calculations shown in Figs. 2 and 3 as solid curves ACC02 , and dot-dashed curves GUO04 . In Ref. ACC02  the nuclear modification of hadron production in deep-inelastic scattering is described as a rescaling of the quark fragmentation functions, supplemented by nuclear absorption. In this model the nuclear absorption contribution is dominated by the string interaction, while the subsequent interaction of the fully formed hadron contributes only a few percent to $`R_M^h`$ for krypton. The calculation overestimates the 14N attenuation, but gives a fairly good account of both the $`\nu `$ and $`z`$ dependences, for $`z>`$ 0.2, of the Kr data. In Ref. GUO04  nuclear modification of the quark fragmentation process in deep-inelastic scattering has been evaluated taking into account multiple parton scattering and induced energy loss in the medium. The only free parameter of this model was tuned to reproduce the 14N data, and the derived energy loss has been used to determine the initial gluon density in the Au+Au collision data collected by the PHENIX collaboration at RHIC PH01 . The model roughly reproduces the changes in $`R_M^h`$ when going from nitrogen to krypton.

For the first time the $`\nu `$-dependences of the multiplicity ratio were studied for identified neutral and charged pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons, as shown in the left part of Fig. 4. The corresponding $`z`$-dependences of $`R_M^h`$ with $`\nu >`$ 7 GeV are shown in the right part of Fig. 4. In the bottom panels the average values for $`Q^2`$ and $`z`$ or $`\nu `$ are displayed for all the presented data. The results for both charge states of the pion and the kaon are compared to the calculations of Ref. ACC02 . A good description for the $`\pi ^\pm `$ and $`K^+`$ data is observed, while the attenuation is under-predicted for the $`K^{}`$ data. No model predictions are available for protons and antiprotons.

Average $`R_M^h`$ values are obtained by integrating yields over $`\nu `$ and $`z`$. The results presented in Fig. 4 and the average $`R_M^h`$ values reported in Table 1 for $`z>`$ 0.2, show that the multiplicity ratios for positive and negative pions are similar, in agreement with what was already found on 14AIR01 . In addition, the multiplicity ratio for neutral pions is found to be consistent, within the total experimental uncertainties, with that for charged pions as well as for negative kaons. However, $`R_M^h`$ for positive kaons is significantly larger. An even larger difference is observed between protons and their antiparticles compared to the meson case. These differences in $`R_M^h`$ of positive and negative kaons, as well as those between protons and antiprotons, are still present at higher values of $`z`$. This is shown in the last column of Table 1, where the average $`R_M^h`$ values are reported for $`z>`$ 0.5, i.e. when emphasising leading hadrons. In addition the $`z>`$ 0.5 range is most suitable to compare $`R_M^h`$ of mesons and baryons as this comparison is performed at the same average $`\nu `$ as shown in the bottom right panel of Fig. 4.

It has been suggested GUO04  that the observed differences in $`R_M^h`$ can be attributed to the mixing of quark and gluon fragmentation functions. This mixing gives a different modification of the quark and antiquark fragmentation functions in nuclei, thus leading to a more significant difference between the multiplicity ratio of protons and antiprotons than between those of mesons. The observed differences in the multiplicity ratios can also be interpreted in terms of different formation times of baryons and mesons KOP85 , or in terms of different hadron-nucleon interaction cross sections PDG . While this cross section is similar for positive and negative pions, it is larger for negative kaons as compared to positive kaons, and even larger for antiprotons than protons, in qualitative agreement with the trend shown by the data.

The data for identified charged pions produced on Kr and 14N for $`z>`$ 0.5 were used to estimate the mass-number dependence of the nuclear attenuation. The nitrogen data, measured in a more restricted momentum range between 4–13.5 GeV due to use of the Čerenkov detector, are shown in the upper right panel of Fig. 4. By using the same constraints on the krypton data and assuming a simple $`A^\alpha `$-dependence of the nuclear attenuation $`1R_M^h`$, the experimental data are found to be closer to the $`A^{\frac{2}{3}}`$-dependence GAR02  predicted in Ref. GUO04 , than the $`A^{\frac{1}{3}}`$-dependence that follows from models based on nuclear absorption effects only. Data on more nuclei are needed to enable systematic studies of the $`A`$-dependence of the nuclear attenuation effects.

The $`p_t`$ distribution of the observed hadrons is expected to be broadened on a nuclear target compared to a proton target due to multiple scattering of the propagating quark and hadron. This effect is known as the Cronin effect CR75  and has previously been observed in heavy-ion and hadron-nucleus induced reactions. A nuclear enhancement at high $`p_t^2`$ is also observed in the HERMES data shown in Fig. 5 both for 14N and Kr nuclei. In this plot the EMC EMC  data on Cu which cover a different $`\nu `$-range, 10 $`<\nu <`$ 80 GeV, are also displayed. The data for $`p_t^2<0.7`$ GeV2 show the attenuation previously discussed, while the data for $`p_t^20.7`$ GeV2 reflect the $`p_t`$-broadening ascribed to multiple scattering effects. This effect is similar to the one reported for proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions CERN  but is smaller in magnitude. The enhancement is also predicted to occur at a $`p_t`$-scale of about 1-2 GeV WA01 ; KOP02 , in agreement with the semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering data shown in Fig. 5. The HERMES data may help to interpret the new relativistic heavy-ion results from SPS HI01  and RHIC PH01 , which show a weaker $`p_t`$ enhancement than expected from the original Cronin effect.

In summary, the multiplicities of charged hadrons and of identified pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons on krypton relative to deuterium were measured for the first time. The data show that the multiplicity ratio $`R_M^h`$ is reduced at low $`\nu `$ and high $`z`$. Different multiplicity ratios were observed for various hadrons. In contrast to the similarity between positive and negative pions, a significant difference in $`R_M^h`$ is found between positive and negative kaons and a larger difference between protons and antiprotons. The different results for various hadrons may reflect differences in the modification of quark and antiquark fragmentation functions GUO04  and/or in the hadron nucleon interaction cross sections.

The hadron multiplicity is observed to be enhanced at high $`p_t^2`$ in the nuclear medium, showing evidence of the Cronin effect in deep-inelastic scattering process. This effect is similar to the one observed in hadron nucleus scattering, with a rise of $`R_M^h`$ to values above unity for $`p_t^2`$ 1 GeV2.

Additional measurements of differential hadron multiplicities on both light and heavy nuclei with pion, kaon and proton identification are underway at HERMES. Such measurements will also help to clarify the issues raised by the present data concerning the mass-number dependence of the hadronization process and of the Cronin effect for various identified hadrons.

We thank A. Accardi, F. Arleo, W. Cassing, T. Falter, B.Z. Kopeliovich, U. Mosel, J. Nemchik, H.J. Pirner and X.N. Wang for many interesting discussions on this subject. We gratefully acknowledge the DESY management for its support, the staffs at DESY, and the collaborating institutions for their significant effort. This work was supported by the FWO-Flanders, Belgium; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the ESOP, INTAS and TMR network contributions from the European Union; the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN); Monbusho International Scientific Research Program, JSPS and Toray Science Foundation of Japan; the Dutch Foundation for Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM); the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council; and the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.


text:
# NLO SCALE DEPENDENCE OF SEMI-INCLUSIVE PROCESSES.

## 1 Introduction

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS), driven both by crucial breakthroughs in the QCD description of these processes and also by an incipient availability of data .

Although QCD corrections to SIDIS are well known at LO , until Ref.  no computations had been done up to NLO accuracy, nor assessments of how relevant the non homogeneous scale dependence might be. In LO, non homogeneous evolution effects are restricted to a relatively small kinematic region. This suggested to neglect these effects in many phenomenological analyses of polarized SIDIS, leading baryon production, and diffractive DIS .

In NLO the above mentioned kinematical restrictions are no longer present, which in principle may lead to important corrections. At variance with the totally inclusive case, for the computation of the SIDIS NLO corrections it is necessary to keep additional variables unintegrated. This leads to entangled singularities in more than one variable which requires special prescription techniques .

## 2 $`𝒪(\alpha _s^2)`$ corrections.

The cross section for a one-particle inclusive process in which a lepton scatters off a nucleon and a hadron is tagged in the final state can be written as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma }{dx_Bdydv_hdw_h}}=`$
$`{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=q,\overline{q},g}{}}{\displaystyle _{x_B}^1}{\displaystyle \frac{du}{u}}{\displaystyle _{v_h}^1}{\displaystyle \frac{dv_j}{v_j}}{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑wf_{i/P}\left({\displaystyle \frac{x_B}{u}}\right)D_{h/j}\left({\displaystyle \frac{v_h}{v_j}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{d\widehat{\sigma }_{ij}}{dx_Bdydv_jdw_j}}\delta (w_hw_j)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}{\displaystyle _{\frac{x_B}{1(1x_B)v_h}}^1}{\displaystyle \frac{du}{u}}M_{i,h/P}({\displaystyle \frac{x_B}{u}},(1x_B)v_h)(1x_B){\displaystyle \frac{d\widehat{\sigma }_i}{dx_Bdy}}\delta (1w_h),`$ (1)
where in addition to the usual DIS variables $`x_B`$ and $`y`$, we introduce energy and angular variables $`v_h=E_h/E_0(1x_B)`$ and $`w_h=\frac{1\mathrm{cos}\theta _h}{2}`$. $`E_h`$ and $`E_0`$ are the energies of the final state hadron and of the incoming nucleon in the $`\stackrel{}{P}+\stackrel{}{q}=0`$ frame, respectively. $`\theta _h`$ is the angle between the momenta of the hadron and the virtual photon in the same frame.

The first term in eq.(2), contain the partonic cross section which develop forward collinear singularities ($`w_h=1`$) that can not be factorized in the usual partonic densities and fragmentation functions $`f_{i/P}`$ and $`D_{h/j}`$, respectively. This divergences are factorized into fracture functions $`M_{i,h/P}`$ and lead to their non homogeneus scale dependence.

$`{\displaystyle \frac{M_{i,h/P}(\xi ,\zeta ,Q^2)}{\mathrm{log}Q^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _s(Q^2)}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\frac{\xi }{1\zeta }}^1}{\displaystyle \frac{du}{u}}P_{ij}(u)M_{j,h/P}({\displaystyle \frac{\xi }{u}},\zeta ,Q^2)`$ (2)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _s(Q^2)}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi }}{\displaystyle _\xi ^{\frac{\xi }{\xi +\zeta }}}{\displaystyle \frac{du}{u}}{\displaystyle _{\frac{\zeta }{\xi }}^{\frac{1u}{u}}}{\displaystyle \frac{dv}{v}}P_{kij}(u,v)f_{j/P}({\displaystyle \frac{\xi }{u}},Q^2)D_{h/k}({\displaystyle \frac{\zeta }{\xi v}},Q^2)`$
The first order corrections to the one-particle inclusive cross section can be found in . At $`𝒪(\alpha _s^2)`$ the prescription of overlapping divergences in the region $`\text{B0}=\{u[x_B,x_u],v[v_h,a],w[0,1]\}`$ with $`x_u=x_B/(x_B+(1x_B)v_h)`$ and $`w_r=(1v)(1u)x_B/v(ux_B)`$, can be done using the prescription

$`(1w)^{1+ϵ_1}(w_rw)^{1+ϵ_2}\stackrel{\text{B0}}{}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+ϵ_1)\mathrm{\Gamma }(1ϵ_1ϵ_2)}{ϵ_1(ϵ_1+ϵ_2)\mathrm{\Gamma }(1ϵ_2)}}\delta (1w)\delta (av)(az)^{ϵ_1+ϵ_2}\left(a(1a)\right)^{1ϵ_1ϵ_2}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{ϵ_1}}\delta (1w)\left((av)^{1+ϵ_1+ϵ_2}\right)_{+v[z,\underset{¯}{a}]}\left(v(1a)\right)^{1ϵ_1ϵ_2}w_r^{ϵ_1}`$
$`\times {}_{2}{}^{}F_{1}^{}[ϵ_1,ϵ_1+ϵ_2,1+ϵ_1;{\displaystyle \frac{1}{w_r}}]+\left((1w)^{1+ϵ_1}(w_rw)^{1+ϵ_2}\right)_{+w[0,\underset{¯}{1}]}`$ (3)
and with a similar recipe for $`\text{B1}=\{u[x_B,x_u],v[a,1],w[0,w_r]\}`$

## 3 Scale Dependence

Figure 1 compares (for different values of $`\xi `$ and $`\zeta `$) the relative size of the LO and NLO contributions to the non homogeneous term in the evolution equation (2) computed with standard sets of parton distributions and fragmentation functions  for the case $`i=q`$ and $`h=\pi ^+`$. The inset plots show the integral over $`Q^2`$ of this contributions.

The $`𝒪(\alpha _s^2)`$ contributions to the evolution equations are mild in most of the kinematical range, however they are as important or even larger than the $`\alpha _s`$ ones for small values of $`x_B`$, where these last contributions are suppressed by the available phase space. This behavior, at variance with the LO case, allows the non homogeneous effects to be sizable even at larger hadron momentum fractions, thus being relevant for the scale dependence of a SIDIS process.

## 4 Acknowledgements

Partially supported by CONICET, ANPCyT, UBACYT, and Fundación Antorchas. C.A.G.C. acknowledges the Departamento de Física Teorica, Universidad de Valencia for the warm hospitality extended to him.