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# Strangeness production in heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies

## 1 Introduction

The original motivation to study the kaon production in heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies, namely to extract information on the nuclear equation of state (EOS) at high densities is a matter of current debate. Already in the first theoretical investigations by transport models it was noticed that the $`K^+`$ yield reacts sensitive on the nuclear equation of state . The yields were found to be about a factor 2–3 larger when a soft EOS was applied compared to a hard EOS. At that time the available data  already favored a soft equation of state. However, calculations as well as the experimental data were still burdened with large uncertainties.

In  we studied the question if in the meantime decisive information on the nuclear EOS can be extracted from subthreshold kaon production in heavy ion collisions. There are several reasons why it appears worthwhile to do this: Firstly, there has been significant progress in the recent years towards a more precise determination of the elementary kaon production cross sections , based also on new data points from the COSY-11 for the reactions $`ppp\mathrm{\Lambda }K^+`$ very close to threshold . Secondly, the KaoS Collaboration has performed systematic measurements of the $`K^+`$ production far below threshold in heavy ($`Au+Au`$) and light ($`C+C`$) systems . Looking at the ratios built from heavy and light systems possible uncertainties which might still exist in the theoretical calculations should cancel out to a large extent which allows to draw reliable conclusions. Furthermore, far below threshold the kaon production is a highly collective process and a particular sensitivity to the compression of the participant matter is expected.

## 2 The Model

The present investigations are based on the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) transport model . For the nuclear EOS we adopt soft and hard Skyrme forces corresponding to a compression modulus of K=200 MeV and 380 MeV, respectively, and with a momentum dependence adjusted to the empirical optical nucleon-nucleus potential . The saturation point of nuclear matter is thereby fixed at $`E_B=16`$ MeV and $`\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}=0.17\mathrm{fm}^3`$ . The calculations include $`\mathrm{\Delta }(1232)`$ and $`N^{}(1440)`$ resonances. The QMD approach with Skyrme interactions is well tested, contains a controlled momentum dependence and provides a reliable description of the reaction dynamics in the SIS energy range, expressed e.g. by collective nucleon flow observables as well as particle production. In contrast to AGS energies where the creation of resonance matter may lead to an effective softening of the EOS, baryonic resonances with masses above the $`N^{}(1440)`$ can safely be neglected for the reaction dynamics at SIS energies.

We further consider the influence of an in-medium kaon potential based on effective chiral models . The $`K^+`$ mean field consists of a repulsive vector part $`V_\mu =3/8f_\pi ^2j_\mu `$ and an attractive scalar part $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_S=m_\mathrm{K}m_\mathrm{K}^{}=m_\mathrm{K}\sqrt{m_\mathrm{K}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}/f_\pi ^2\rho _S+V_\mu V^\mu }`$. Here $`j_\mu `$ is the baryon vector current and $`\rho _S`$ the scalar baryon density and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}=450`$ MeV. Following  in the vector field the pion decay constant in the medium $`f_\pi ^2=0.6f_\pi ^2`$ is used. However, the enhancement of the scalar part using $`f_\pi ^2`$ is compensated by higher order contributions in the chiral expansion , and therefore here the bare value is used, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}\rho _S/f_\pi ^2`$. Compared to other chiral approaches  the resulting kaon dispersion relation shows a relatively strong density dependence. The increase of the in-medium $`K^+`$ mass $`\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}`$, Eq. (2), with this parametrisation is still consistent with the empirical knowledge of kaon-nucleus scattering and allows to explore in-medium effects on the production mechanism arising from zero temperature kaon potentials. For the kaon production via pion absorption $`\pi BYK^+`$ the elementary cross section of  are used. For the $`NNBYK^+`$ channels we apply the cross sections of Ref.  which give a good fit to the COSY-data close to threshold. For the case of $`N\mathrm{\Delta }BYK^+`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }BYK^+`$ reactions experimental data are rare. Thus we rely on the model calculation of ref. . In the case that a $`N^{}`$ resonance is involved in the reaction we used the same cross section as for nucleons. In the presence of scalar and vector fields the kaon optical potential in nuclear matter has the same structure as the corresponding Schroedinger equivalent optical potential for nucleons

$$U_{\mathrm{opt}}(\rho ,𝐤)=\mathrm{\Sigma }_S+\frac{1}{m_\mathrm{K}}k_\mu V^\mu +\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_S^2V_\mu ^2}{2m_\mathrm{K}}.$$
(1)
and leads to a shift of the thresholds conditions inside the medium. To fulfill energy-momentum conservation the optical potential is absorbed into an newly defined effective mass

$$\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}(\rho ,𝐤)=\sqrt{m_\mathrm{K}^2+2m_\mathrm{K}U_{\mathrm{opt}}(\rho ,𝐤)}$$
(2)
which is a Lorentz scalar and sets the canonical momenta on the mass-shell $`0=k_\mu ^2\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}^2`$. Thus, e.g., the threshold condition for $`K^+`$ production in baryon induced reactions reads $`\sqrt{s}\stackrel{~}{m}_B+\stackrel{~}{m}_Y+\stackrel{~}{m}_K`$ with $`\sqrt{s}`$ the center–of–mass energy of the colliding baryons. For a consistent treatment of the thresholds the scalar and vector baryon mean fields entering into eq. (2) are determined from two versions of the non-linear Walecka model with K=200/380 MeV, respectively . The hyperon field is thereby scaled by 2/3 which yields also a good description of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ flow . Since the parameterizations chosen for the non-linear Walecka model yield the same EOS as the Skyrme ones, the overall energy is conserved. The kaon production is treated perturbatively and does generally not affect the reaction dynamics .

## 3 Probing the nuclear EOS by subthreshold $`K^+`$ production

The $`K^+`$ excitation function for $`Au+Au`$ and $`C+C`$ reactions starting from 0.8 A$``$GeV which is far below threshold ($`E_{thr}=`$ 1.58 GeV) has been measured by the KaoS Collaboration . In  we calculated this excitation function for a soft/hard EOS including the in-medium kaon potential. For both systems the agreement with the KaoS data  is very good when a soft EOS is used. In the large system there was a visible EOS effect which is absent in the light system. The inclusion of the repulsive in-medium $`K^+`$ potential is thereby essential to reproduce the data . Already in the light system the $`K^+`$ yield is reduced by about $`50\%`$. To extract more clear information on the nuclear EOS, in Fig. 1 we considered the ratio $`R`$ of the kaon multiplicities obtained in $`Au+Au`$ over $`C+C`$ reactions, normalized to the corresponding mass numbers. The kaon potential is included since without the in-medium potential one is not able to reproduce the experimental $`K^+`$ yields .

The calculations are performed under minimal bias conditions with $`b_{\mathrm{max}}=11`$ fm for $`Au+Au`$ and $`b_{\mathrm{max}}=5`$ fm for $`C+C`$ and normalized to the experimental reaction cross sections . Both calculations show an increase of $`R`$ with decreasing incident energy down to 1.0 A$``$GeV. However, this increase is much less pronounced when the stiff EOS is employed. In the latter case $`R`$ even decreases at 0.8 A$``$GeV whereas the soft EOS leads to an unrelieved increase of $`R`$. At 1.5 A$``$GeV which is already very close to threshold the differences between the two models become small. The strong increase of $`R`$ can be directly related to higher compressible nuclear matter. The comparison to the experimental data from KaoS  where the increase of $`R`$ is even more pronounced strongly favors a soft equation of state.

To obtain a quantitative picture of the explored density effects in Fig. 2 the baryon densities are shown at which the kaons are created. The energy is chosen most below threshold, i.e. at 0.8 A$``$GeV and only central collisions are considered where the effects are maximal. $`dM_{K^+}/d\rho `$ is defined as

$$dM_{K^+}/d\rho =\underset{i}{\overset{N_{K^+}}{}}\frac{dP_i}{d\rho _B(𝐱_i,t_i)}$$
(3)
where $`\rho _B`$ is the baryon density at which the kaon $`i`$ was created and $`P_i`$ is the corresponding production probability. For the comparison of the two systems the curves are normalized to the corresponding mass numbers.

Fig.2 illustrates several features: Only in the case of a soft EOS the mean densities at which kaons are created differ significantly for the two different reaction systems, i.e. $`<\rho /\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}>`$=1.46/1.40 for $`C+C`$ and 1.47/1.57 for $`Au+Au`$ using the hard/soft EOS. Generally, in $`C+C`$ reactions densities above $`2\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}`$ are rarely reached whereas in $`Au+Au`$ the kaons are created at densities up to three times saturation density. Furthermore, for $`C+C`$ the density distributions are weakly dependent on the nuclear EOS. The situation changes completely in $`Au+Au`$. Here the densities profile shows a pronounced EOS dependence . Moreover, the excess of kaons obtained with the soft EOS originates almost exclusively from high density matter which demonstrates that compression effects are probed.

The density effect is also clearly reflected in the $`A_{\mathrm{part}}`$ dependence of the kaon multiplicities. Fig. 3 compares the $`A_{\mathrm{part}}`$ dependence in $`Au+Au`$ and $`C+C`$ reactions, now for 1.0 AGeV laboratory energy. In both cases the kaon multiplicities as well as $`A_{\mathrm{part}}`$ which has been derived within the geometrical model, are normalized to the corresponding mass numbers. As can be seen from there, in $`C+C`$ the $`A_{\mathrm{part}}`$ dependence of the kaon production is completely insensitive to the nuclear equation of state. The large system, in contrast, shows a distinct EOS dependence. In $`Au+Au`$ the enhanced kaon production which is due to higher compression when a soft EOS is used, becomes more and more pronounced with increasing centrality. However, one has to keep in mind that the large difference between the soft and hard EOSs in most central reactions is washed out to some extent in minimal bias reactions. There the bulk of kaons originates from semi-central reactions $`b5`$ fm, corresponding to $`A_{\mathrm{part}}/A_{\mathrm{max}}0.7`$. In this context it will be very helpful to study the EOS dependence also in $`C+Au`$ reactions and to compare to forthcoming data from KaoS .

### 3.1 How firm are the conclusions?

Of course now the question arises, how firm conclusions on the nuclear EOS are which can be drawn from kaon production in heavy ion reactions. Possible concerns might be based on the facts that subthreshold kaons are an extremely rare probe and not all elementary production cross sections have been measured.

In heavy ion collisions the $`K^+`$ production runs over two major channels, namely baryon-baryon induced reactions $`BBBYK^+`$ and pion-baryon induced reactions $`\pi BYK^+`$ which are both about equally important . In both cases the initial baryons can either be nucleons or nucleon resonances (mainly $`\mathrm{\Delta }(1232)`$), the hyperons are $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ or $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ hyperons. Processes with nucleon resonances in the final state are energetically suppressed. Concerning the knowledge of the elementary reaction cross section the situation is presently as follows: the $`NN`$ and $`\pi N`$ cross sections are quite well under control since these channels have been measured in $`pp`$ reactions  and in $`\pi ^\pm p`$ reactions. The reactions which involve nucleon resonances, in particular with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$’s in the initial states ($`i=N\mathrm{\Delta },\pi \mathrm{\Delta },\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }`$) are less secure due to the lack of corresponding experimental data. Thus one has to rely on model assumptions. The cross sections which have been used in the present transport calculations are based on the effective Lagrangian model of Refs. . The isospin dependence of the cross sections is thereby determined in the standard way by isotopic relations assuming iso-spin independent matrix elements.

Hence there exists still some uncertainty in the transport calculations due to the incomplete knowledge of the elementary reaction cross sections. There are, however, two good arguments why conclusions on the EOS dependence of the kaon production should be rather robust against such possible uncertainties:

* Changes of the production cross sections shift absolute yields but considering the ratio of different reaction systems such errors drop out in leading order.
* Conclusions are based on the slope of this ratio as a function of energy. It is rather unlikely that an incomplete knowledge of the cross sections, e.g. concerning their isospin dependence, can create the observed energy dependence. The systematics of spurious contributions should be flat as a function of energy. Otherwise one have to assume extremely unconventional threshold effects.

To be more quantitative we consider in the next figure the excitation function of $`R`$ for the various production channels. There the ratios $`R_i`$ are built separately for the production channels with initial states $`i=NN,\pi N,N\mathrm{\Delta },\pi \mathrm{\Delta },\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }`$. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the shape of $`R`$ is not strongly influenced by the $`N\mathrm{\Delta },\pi \mathrm{\Delta }`$ channels which are the most insecure ones. The excitation function for the $`N\mathrm{\Delta }`$ contribution varies only little as a function of energy and is similar using the different EOSs. The contribution of the $`\pi \mathrm{\Delta }`$ channel is decreasing for both, a hard and a soft EOS. The shape of $`R`$ is to most extent determined by the $`NN`$ and $`\pi N`$ contributions. In our calculations the latter channel is responsible for the decrease of $`R`$ very far below threshold when the hard EOS is applied.

These findings are generally confirmed by independent transport calculations of the Nantes group using the IQMD transport model  shwon in Fig. 5. These calculations include an in-medium kaon potential derived in relativistic mean field theory (RMF)  which is somewhat less repulsive than that one used in our calculations. For the soft EOS the IQMD calculations coincide almost with the present results . For the hard EOS there exist still deviations concerning the slope of $`R`$ going far below threshold. This could be due to the different in-medium potentials and is an open question which has to be resolved by future investigations. However, the two sets of transport calculations show a good overall agreement and both rule out the hard EOS from the comparison with data. The shaded area in Fig. 5 can be taken as the existing range of uncertainty in the theoretical model description of the considered observable.

Moreover, the IQMD calculations were also repeated with an alternative set of $`N\mathrm{\Delta };\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }NYK^+`$ cross sections taken from  which are about a factor of two larger than those from Tsushima et al. . The ratio $`R`$ is almost completely independent on this change. Another prove for the robustness of this observable is the fact influence of the repulsive $`K^+`$ potential which decreases the total kaon yield by about a factor drops almost completely out when ratio of the two different mass systems is built .

### 3.2 Are the conclusions consistent with information from other sources?

Finally the question arises up to which degree a consistent picture has emerged after more than ten years of intensive experimental and theoretical efforts to understand the kaon production at intermediate energies. In the following I will argue that concerning $`K^+`$ we have in the meantime a rather consistent picture while for $`K^{}`$ the situation is not yet so clear.

The reason is that subthreshold $`K^+`$ production is easier to handle, both from the experimental and the theoretical side. Due to the lower threshold there are much more data with much higher precision available than for $`K^{}`$. Also theoretically the medium dependence of the $`K^+`$ meson properties are better under control. The mean field approximation seems to work, i.e. mass shifts and can be taken from the leading order chiral Lagrangian  and in the medium there exits still a well established quasi-particle pole . This allows a treatment within standard transport based on the quasi-particle approximation. The $`K^{}N`$ system, on the other hand, lies in the vicinity of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{1405}`$ resonance which implies a strong coupling to this state. Hence a simple mean field picture will not work but a coupled channel treatment of the $`K^{}`$ in the medium is necessary . As a consequence, the $`K^{}`$ has complicated spectral properties in the medium and a simple quasi-particle picture is nor more suitable . This requires a more sophisticated treatment within transport simulations which accounts at least approximately for the off-shell contributions of the spectral functions . In the latter case the interpretation of existing data with the help of transport simulation has not yet reached a level which allows to say that the $`K^{}`$ properties are settled.

Coming back to the $`K^+`$ the situation is much more satisfying. Most transport calculations agree on the necessity of a repulsive $`K^+`$ potential in order to understand total yields as well as the collective motion of $`K^+`$ mesons, i.e. in-plane and out of-plane flow . This picture was recently complemented by measurements of the $`K^+`$ production in proton-nucleus reactions . Although such reactions test only subnormal nuclear densities they are much easier to handle than the complicated dynamical evolution of heavy ion reactions. Corresponding data $`pA`$ from ANKE revealed strong evidence for a repulsive $`K^+`$ potential which is of the order of magnitude as predicted by effective chiral lagrangiens.

#### 3.2.1 Many-body calculations

Concerning the nuclear equation of state one has to confront the information from subthreshold $`K^+`$ production with the knowledge obtained from other sources: At intermediate energies heavy ion reactions test the density range between two and three times nuclear density. The information from kaon production implies that in this density range the EOS should show a soft behavior. One has of course to be aware that the adopted Skyrme forces are simplified interactions which are easy to handle but must not be very realistic.

A microscopic approach to nuclear matter which is based on realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions has to solve the correlated quantum-mechanical many-body problem. Such an approach is ,e.g., the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach which accounts for the two-body correlation in the medium solving the Bethe-Goldstone equation, i.e. the Lippmann-Schwinger equation in the medium. The relativistic version, i.e. the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (DBHF) approach delivers quite reasonable values for the nuclear saturation mechanism  and can thus be considered as a reliable method to extrapolate the many-body approach to higher nuclear densities. In Fig. 6 we compare DBHF results obtained with two slightly different NN-interactions, i.e. Bonn A and Bonn B  to the simple Skyrme type equations of state. The results of advanced DBHF calculations are taken from . In this context it may worthwhile to mention that very similar results to  were recently obtained by Weise and coworkers in a treatment of the nuclear many-body problem based on chiral perturbation theory . Generally such many-body calculations predict a relatively soft behavior of the EOS in the relevant density range, i.e. for densities below about three times saturation density. In the microscopic approach the high density behavior is, however, only loosely connected to the curvature at saturation density. For Bonn A and B the compressibilities are quite different while the EOSs at high densities are very close. Below $`3\rho _0`$ both are not too far from the soft Skyrme EOS.

#### 3.2.2 Nucleon Flow

Another observable which helps to constrain the nuclear mean field and the underlying EOS at supra-normal densities is the collective nucleon flow . The transverse flow $`v_1`$ has been found to be sensitive to the EOS and, in particular in peripheral reactions, to the momentum dependence of the mean field . The elliptic flow $`v_2`$, in addition, is very sensitive to the maximal compression reached in the early phase of a heavy ion reaction. The cross over from preferential in-plane flow $`v_2<0`$ to preferential out-off-plane flow $`v_2>0`$ around 4-6 AGeV has also led to speculations about a phase transition in this energy region which goes along with a softening of the EOS .

The present situation can be summarized as follows: At SIS energies existing flow data are consistent with the usage of mean fields which are close to those obtained from microscopic DBHF calculations, both concerning their density and momentum dependence . A detailed comparison to FOPI data  for $`v_1`$ and $`v_2`$ between 0.2 and 0.8 AGeV favors thereby a relatively soft EOS  such as the DBHF result for Bonn A (K=230 MeV, shown in Figure 6). The full flow excitation function, ranging from low SIS up to top AGS energies, has been studied in . The conclusion from this study was that, both, super-soft equations of state (K=167 MeV) as well as hard EOSs (K$`>`$300 MeV) are ruled out by data. Hence the picture is again consistent with the information obtained from kaon production.

## 4 Summary

To summarize, we find that at incident energies far below the free threshold $`K^+`$ production is a suitable tool to study the dependence on the nuclear equation of state. Using a light system as reference frame there is a visible sensitivity on the EOS when ratios of heavy ($`Au+Au`$) over light ($`C+C`$) systems are considered. Transport calculations indicate that the $`K^+`$ production gets hardly affected by compressional effects in $`C+C`$ but is highly sensitive to the high density matter ($`1\rho /\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}3`$) created in $`Au+Au`$ reactions. Results for the $`K^+`$ excitation function in $`Au+Au`$ over $`C+C`$ reactions as measured by the KaoS Collaboration, strongly support the scenario of a soft EOS. This statement turns out to be rather robust against possible model uncertainties: It is almost independent on the variation of particular reaction channels where elementary cross sections are uncertain. It is also insensitive to the inclusion/neglection of a changing in-medium kaon mass as predicted by chiral models. The idea of a soft EOS in the considered density range is also consistent with the knowledge from microscopic many-body theory and from nuclear flow analysis in heavy ion reactions.

Concerning the quest for in-medium modification of the kaon properties transport calculation have in the meantime reached a certain level of consistency: The explanation of the total $`K^+`$ yields and the $`K^+`$ flow requires the presence of a repulsive in-medium potential. This picture has been complemented by measurements of kaon production in $`p+A`$ reactions.

### Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following persons who all contributed to the results discussed in the present work: Amand Faessler, T. Gross-Boelting, Z. Wang, E. Zabrodin, and Y.-M. Zheng.


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# Chiral multiplets of excited mesons.

## I Introduction

A recent partial wave analysis  of $`\overline{p}p`$ annihilation at LEAR in the energy range 1.9 - 2.4 GeV has revealed a lot of new meson states in this mass region. Very many of them do not fit into the traditional potential description which is based on the $`{}_{}{}^{2S+1}L_{J}^{}`$ classification scheme. For instance, they cannot be accommodated by the constituent quark model . Some of the particular examples are discussed in refs. . If these experimental results are correct, then it means that a ”harmony” of the potential description is certainly not adequate for highly excited states (where the valence quarks should be expected to be ultrarelativistic) and some other physical picture and classification scheme must be looked for.

In ref.  it has been suggested that spontaneously broken chiral symmetry of QCD must be restored in the upper part of hadron spectra, which is evident by the (almost) systematical parity doubling of $`N`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ states at $`M1.7`$ GeV. This idea has been substantiated on the basis of the operator product expansion in QCD and analyticity of the two-point function (dispersion relation) . This effective chiral symmetry restoration has been referred to as chiral symmetry restoration of the second kind  in order to distinguish this phenomenon from the other phenomena of chiral symmetry restoration in the vacuum state at high temperature and/or density. The essence of the present phenomenon is that the quark condensates which break chiral symmetry in the vacuum state (and hence in the low-lying excitations over vacuum) become simply irrelevant (unimportant) for the physics of the highly excited states and the physics here is such as if there were no chiral symmetry breaking in the vacuum. The valence quarks simply decouple from the quark condensates and consequently the notion of the constituent quarks with dynamical mass induced by chiral symmetry breaking becomes irrelevant in highly excited hadrons . Instead, the string picture with quarks of definite chirality at the end points of the string should be invoked . In recent lattice calculations DeGrand has demonstrated that indeed in the highly excited mesons valence quarks decouple from the low-lying eigenmodes of the Dirac operator (which determine the quark condensate via Banks-Casher relation) and hence decouple from the quark condensate of the QCD vacuum .

If it is true that chiral symmetry is effectively restored, then classification of hadrons should be performed according to the chiral group of QCD. This group strongly constrains the amount of certain mesons and their relative energies. In ref.  we have classified all excited mesons with spin $`J=0`$ according to the chiral group and have shown that indeed the pattern of these mesons above 1.7 GeV region certainly favours chiral symmetry restoration of the second kind. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 where $`\pi (I=1,0^+)`$ and $`\overline{q}q`$ $`f_0(I=0,0^{++})`$ states  are shown (which must be chiral partners in the chiral symmetry restored regime).

The symmetry restoration implies that it must be seen also in all other $`\overline{q}q`$ mesonic states. The purpose of this paper is to classify observed $`\overline{q}q`$ mesons according to chiral representations and demonstrate that the experimental patterns of $`J=1,2,3`$ mesons do confirm this phenomenon. Experimental data on higher spin states are scarce and it is not yet possible to provide any systematic description though predictions can be made.

## II Classification of the $`\overline{q}q`$ mesons according to the chiral group.

Mesons reported in ref.  are obtained in $`\overline{p}p`$ annihilations, hence according to OZI rule we have to expect them to be $`\overline{q}q`$ states with $`u`$ and $`d`$ valence quark content. Hence we will consider

$$U(2)_L\times U(2)_R=SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R\times U(1)_V\times U(1)_A,$$
(1)
the full chiral group of the QCD Lagrangian. In the following chiral symmetry will refer to specifically the $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ symmetry, which is perfect due to very small masses of $`u,d`$ quarks as compared to the only dimensional parameter of QCD, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{QCD}`$, and the typical hadronic scale of 1 GeV.

$`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ is a symmetry with respect to two independent rotations of the left-handed and right-handed quarks in the isospin space. Hence the irreducible representations of this group can be specified by the isospins of the left and right quarks, $`(I_L,I_R)`$. The total isospin of the state can be obtained from the left and right isospins according to the standard angular momentum addition rules

$$I=|I_LI_R|,\mathrm{},I_L+I_R.$$
(2)
All hadronic states are characterised by a definite parity. However, not all irreducible representations of the chiral group are invariant under parity. Indeed, parity transforms the left quarks into the right ones and vice versa. Hence while representations with $`I_L=I_R`$ are invariant under parity (i.e. under parity operation every state in the representation transforms into the state of opposite parity within the same representation), this is not true for the case $`I_LI_R`$. In the latter case parity transforms every state in the representation $`(I_L,I_R)`$ into the state in the representation $`(I_R,I_L)`$. We can construct definite parity states only combining basis vectors from both these irreducible representations. Hence it is only the direct sum of these two representations

$$(I_L,I_R)(I_R,I_L),I_LI_R.$$
(3)
that is invariant under parity. This reducible representation of the chiral group is an irreducible representation of the larger group, parity-chiral group .

When we consider mesons of isospin $`I=0,1`$, only three independent irreducible representations of the parity-chiral group exist.

(i) (0,0). Mesons in this representation must have isospin $`I=0`$. At the same time $`I_R=I_L=0`$. This can be achieved when either there are no valence quarks in the mesonHence glueballs must be classified according to this representation ; with no quark content this representation contains the state of only one parity., or both valence quark and antiquark are right or left. If we denote $`R=(u_R,d_R)`$ and $`L=(u_L,d_L)`$, then the basis states of both parities can be written as

$$|(0,0);\pm ;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}R\pm \overline{L}L)_J.$$
(4)
Note that such a system can have spin $`J1`$. Indeed, valence quark and antiquark in the state (4) have definite helicities, because generically helicity = +chirality for quarks and helicity = -chirality for antiquarks. Hence the total spin projection of the quark-antiquark system onto the momentum direction of the quark is $`\pm 1`$. The parity transformation property of the quark-antiquark state is then regulated by the total spin of the system

$$\widehat{P}|(0,0);\pm ;J=\pm (1)^J|(0,0);\pm ;J.$$
(5)
(ii) (1/2,1/2). In this case the quark must be right and the antiquark must be left, and vice versa. These representations combine states with I=0 and I=1, which must be of opposite parity. The basis states within the two distinct representations of this type are

$$|(1/2,1/2);+;I=0;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}L+\overline{L}R)_J,$$
(6)
$$|(1/2,1/2);;I=1;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}\stackrel{}{\tau }L\overline{L}\stackrel{}{\tau }R)_J,$$
(7)
and

$$|(1/2,1/2);;I=0;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}L\overline{L}R)_J,$$
(8)
$$|(1/2,1/2);+;I=1;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}\stackrel{}{\tau }L+\overline{L}\stackrel{}{\tau }R)_J.$$
(9)
In these expressions $`\stackrel{}{\tau }`$ are isospin Pauli matrices. The parity of every state in the representation is determined as

$$\widehat{P}|(1/2,1/2);\pm ;I;J=\pm (1)^J|(1/2,1/2);\pm ;I;J.$$
(10)
Note that the two distinct (1/2,1/2) irreducible representations of $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ form one irreducible representation of $`U(2)_L\times U(2)_R`$.

(iii) (0,1)$``$(1,0). The total isospin is 1 and the quark and antiquark must both be right or left. This representation is possible only for $`J1`$. The basis states are

$$|(0,1)+(1,0);\pm ;J=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\overline{R}\stackrel{}{\tau }R\pm \overline{L}\stackrel{}{\tau }L)_J$$
(11)
with parities

$$\widehat{P}|(0,1)+(1,0);\pm ;J=\pm (1)^J|(0,1)+(1,0);\pm ;J.$$
(12)
In the chirally restored regime the physical states must fill out completely some or all of these representations. We have to stress that usual quantum numbers $`I,J^{PC}`$ are not enough to specify the chiral representation. It happens that some of the physical particles with the given $`I,J^{PC}`$ belong to one chiral representation (multiplet), while the other particles with the same $`I,J^{PC}`$ belong to the other multiplet. Classification of the particles according to $`I,J^{PC}`$ is simply not complete in the chirally restored regime. This property will have very important implications as far as the amount of the states with the given $`I,J^{PC}`$ is concerned.

In order to make this point clear, we will discuss some of the examples. Consider $`\rho (1,1^{})`$ mesons. Particles of this kind can be created from the vacuum by the vector current, $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^\mu \stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$. Its chiral partner is the axial vector current, $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^\mu \gamma ^5\stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$, which creates from the vacuum the axial vector mesons, $`a_1(1,1^{++})`$ . Both these currents belong to the representation (0,1)+(1,0) and have the right-right $`\pm `$ left-left quark content. Clearly, in the chirally restored regime the mesons created by these currents must be degenerate level by level and fill out the (0,1)+(1,0) representations. Hence, naively the amount of $`\rho `$ and $`a_1`$ mesons high in the spectrum should be equal. This is not correct, however. $`\rho `$-Mesons can be also created from the vacuum by other type(s) of current(s), $`\overline{\psi }\sigma ^{0i}\stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$ (or by $`\overline{\psi }^\mu \stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$). These interpolators belong to the (1/2,1/2) representation and have the left-right $`\pm `$ right-left quark content. In the regime where chiral symmetry is strongly broken (as in the low-lying states) the physical states are mixtures of different representations. Hence these low-lying states are well coupled to both (0,1)+(1,0) and (1/2,1/2) interpolators. However, when chiral symmetry is (approximately) restored, then each physical state must be strongly dominated by the given representation and hence will couple only to the interpolator which belongs to the same representation. This means that $`\rho `$-mesons created by two distinct currents in the chirally restored regime represent physically different particles. The chiral partner of the $`\overline{\psi }\sigma ^{0i}\stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$ (or $`\overline{\psi }^\mu \stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$) current is $`\epsilon ^{ijk}\overline{\psi }\sigma ^{jk}\psi `$ ( $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5^\mu \psi `$, respectively) Chiral transformation properties of some interpolators can be found in ref. .. The latter interpolators create from the vacuum $`h_1(0,1^+)`$ states. Hence in the chirally restored regime, some of the $`\rho `$-mesons must be degenerate with the $`a_1`$ mesons ((0,1)+(1,0) multiplets), but the others \- with the $`h_1`$ mesons ((1/2,1/2) multiplets)§§§ Those $`\rho (1,1^{})`$ and $`\omega (0,1^{})`$ mesons which belong to (1/2,1/2) cannot be seen in $`e^+e^{}hadrons`$.. Consequently, high in the spectra the combined amount of $`a_1`$ and $`h_1`$ mesons must coincide with the amount of $`\rho `$-mesons. This is a highly nontrivial prediction of chiral symmetry.

Actually it is a very typical situation. Consider $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons as another example. They can be interpolated by the tensor field $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^\mu ^\nu \psi `$ (properly symmetrised, of course), which belongs to the (0,0) representation. Their chiral partners are $`\omega _2(0,2^{})`$ mesons, which are created by the $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5\gamma ^\mu ^\nu \psi `$ interpolator. On the other hand $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons can also be created from the vacuum by the $`\overline{\psi }^\mu ^\nu \psi `$ type of interpolator, which belongs to the (1/2,1/2) representation. Its chiral partner is $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5^\mu ^\nu \stackrel{}{\tau }\psi `$, which creates $`\pi _2(1,2^+)`$ mesons. Hence in the chirally restored regime we have to expect $`\omega _2(0,2^{})`$ mesons to be degenerate systematically with some of the $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons ((0,0) representations) while $`\pi _2(1,2^+)`$ mesons must be degenerate with other $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons (forming (1/2,1/2) multiplets). Hence the total number of $`\omega _2(0,2^{})`$ and $`\pi _2(1,2^+)`$ mesons in the chirally restored regime must coincide with the amount of $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons.

These examples can be generalized to mesons of any spin $`J1`$. Those interpolators which contain only derivatives $`\overline{\psi }^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\psi `$ ( $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\psi `$) have quantum numbers $`I=0,P=(1)^J,C=(1)^J`$ ($`I=1,P=(1)^J,C=(1)^J`$) and transform as (1/2,1/2). Their chiral partners are $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^5^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\psi `$ ( $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\psi `$, respectively) with $`I=1,P=(1)^{J+1},C=(1)^J`$ ($`I=0,P=(1)^{J+1},C=(1)^J`$, respectively). However, interpolators with the same $`I,J^{PC}`$ can be also obtained with one $`\gamma ^\eta `$ matrix instead one of the derivatives, $`^\eta `$: $`\overline{\psi }^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\gamma ^\eta \mathrm{}\psi `$ ( $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\gamma ^\eta \mathrm{}\psi `$). These latter interpolators belong to (0,0) ((0,1)+(1,0)) representation. Their chiral partners are $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\gamma ^\eta \mathrm{}\psi `$ ( $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^5^\mu ^\nu \mathrm{}\gamma ^\eta \mathrm{}\psi `$) which have $`I=0,P=(1)^{J+1},C=(1)^{J+1}`$ ($`I=1,P=(1)^{J+1},C=(1)^{J+1}`$). Hence in the chirally restored regime the physical states created by these different types of interpolators will belong to different representations and will be distinct particles while having the same $`I,J^{PC}`$. One needs to indicate chiral representation in addition to usual quantum numbers $`I,J^{PC}`$ in order to uniquely specify physical states in the chirally restored regime.

In the next section we will present experimental data and show that all these predictions of chiral symmetry are indeed verified.

## III Chiral multiplets of $`J=1,2,3`$ mesons.

A detailed analysis of all chiral multiplets with $`J=0`$ has been performed in ref.  and we do not repeat it here. In Table 1 we present all mesons with $`J=1,2,3`$ in the energy range 1.9-2.4 GeV obtained in refs. . So it is important to see whether these experimental results fall into chiral multiplets and whether the data set is complete. Below we will show that indeed these data remarkably confirm the predictions of chiral symmetry restoration. We will start with chiral multiplets having $`J=2`$ because the data seems to be indeed complete for the $`J=2`$ states.

(0,0)

$`\omega _2(0,2^{})f_2(0,2^{++})`$

$`1975\pm 201934\pm 20`$

$`2195\pm 302240\pm 15`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`\pi _2(1,2^+)f_2(0,2^{++})`$

$`2005\pm 152001\pm 10`$

$`2245\pm 602293\pm 13`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`a_2(1,2^{++})\eta _2(0,2^+)`$

$`2030\pm 202030\pm \mathrm{?}`$

$`2255\pm 202267\pm 14`$

(0,1)+(1,0)

$`a_2(1,2^{++})\rho _2(1,2^{})`$

$`1950_{70}^{+30}1940\pm 40`$

$`2175\pm 402225\pm 35`$

We see systematic patterns of chiral symmetry restoration. In particular, the amount of $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ mesons coincides with the combined amount of $`\omega _2(0,2^{})`$ and $`\pi _2(1,2^+)`$ states. Similarly, number of $`a_2(1,2^{++})`$ states is the same as number of $`\eta _2(0,2^+)`$ and $`\rho _2(1,2^{})`$ together. All chiral multiplets are complete. While masses of some of the states will be definitely corrected in the future experiments, if new states might be discovered in this energy region in other types of experiments, they should be either $`\overline{s}s`$ states or glueballs.

Consider now the $`J=1`$ multipletsThe state $`\rho (1,1^{})`$ mentioned in the Table at $`2110\pm 35`$ is given below at the mass 2150, because it is this value for this state which is given in PDG . The $`\rho (1,1^{})`$ state at 1900, used in the classification, is seen in $`e^+e^{}`$ (see PDG) and not seen in $`\overline{p}p`$..

(0,0)

$`\omega (0,1^{})f_1(0,1^{++})`$

$`\mathrm{?}1971\pm 15`$

$`\mathrm{?}2310\pm 60`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`\omega (0,1^{})b_1(1,1^+)`$

$`1960\pm 251960\pm 35`$

$`2205\pm 302240\pm 35`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`h_1(0,1^+)\rho (1,1^{})`$

$`1965\pm 451970\pm 30`$

$`2215\pm 402150\pm \mathrm{?}`$

(0,1)+(1,0)

$`a_1(1,1^{++})\rho (1,1^{})`$

$`1930_{70}^{+30}1900\pm \mathrm{?}`$

$`2270_{40}^{+55}2265\pm 40`$

Here, like for the $`J=0,2`$ states, we again observe patterns of chiral symmetry restoration. Two missing $`\omega (0,1^{})`$ states are yet missing.

Below are the multiplets for $`J=3`$.

(0,0)

$`\omega _3(0,3^{})f_3(0,3^{++})`$

$`\mathrm{?}2048\pm 8`$

$`2285\pm 602303\pm 15`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`\omega _3(0,3^{})b_3(1,3^+)`$

$`1945\pm 202032\pm 12`$

$`2255\pm 152245\pm \mathrm{?}`$

(1/2,1/2)

$`h_3(0,3^+)\rho _3(1,3^{})`$

$`2025\pm 201982\pm 14`$

$`2275\pm 252260\pm 20`$

(0,1)+(1,0)

$`a_3(1,3^{++})\rho _3(1,3^{})`$

$`2031\pm 122013\pm 30`$

$`2275\pm 352300_{80}^{+50}`$

Data on $`J4`$ is scarce. While some of the multiplets are well seen, it is not yet possible to provide any systematic analysis. The prediction is that for $`J=4`$ the pattern should be the same as for $`J=2`$, while for $`J=5`$ it should be similar to $`J=1,3`$ cases.

## IV Evidence for $`U(1)_A`$ restoration.

It is important to see whether there are also signatures of the $`U(1)_A`$ restoration. This can happen if two conditions are fulfilled : (i) unimportance of the axial anomaly in excited states, (ii) chiral $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ restoration (i.e. unimportance of the quark condensates which break simultaneously both types of symmetries in the vacuum state). Some evidence for the $`U(1)_A`$ restoration has been reported in ref.  on the basis of $`J=0`$ data. Yet missing $`a_0`$ and $`\eta `$ states have to be discovered to complete the $`U(1)_A`$ multiplets in the $`J=0`$ spectra. In this section we will demonstrate that the data on the $`J=1,2,3`$ present convincing evidence on $`U(1)_A`$ restoration.

First, we have to consider which mesonic states can be expected to be $`U(1)_A`$ partners. The $`U(1)_A`$ transformation connects interpolators of the same isospin but opposite parity. But not all such interpolators can be connected by the $`U(1)_A`$ transformation. For instance, the vector currents $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^\mu \psi `$ and $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^\mu \psi `$ are invariant under $`U(1)_A`$. Similarly, the axial vector interpolators $`\overline{\psi }\gamma ^5\gamma ^\mu \psi `$ and $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^5\gamma ^\mu \psi `$ are also invariant under $`U(1)_A`$. Hence those interpolators (states) that are members of the $`(0,0)`$ and $`(0,1)+(1,0)`$ representations of $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ are invariant with respect to $`U(1)_A`$. However, interpolators (states) from the distinct (1/2,1/2) representations which have the same isospin but opposite parity transform into each other under $`U(1)_A`$. For example, $`\overline{\psi }\psi \overline{\psi }\gamma ^5\psi `$, $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\psi \overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^5\psi `$, and those with derivatives: $`\overline{\psi }^\mu \psi \overline{\psi }\gamma ^5^\mu \psi `$, $`\overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }^\mu \psi \overline{\psi }\stackrel{}{\tau }\gamma ^5^\mu \psi `$, etc. If the corresponding states are systematically degenerate, then it is a signal that $`U(1)_A`$ is restored. In what follows we show that it is indeed the case.

J=1

$`\omega (0,1^{})h_1(0,1^+)`$

$`1960\pm 251965\pm 45`$

$`2205\pm 302215\pm 40`$

$`b_1(1,1^+)\rho (1,1^{})`$

$`1960\pm 351970\pm 30`$

$`2240\pm 352150\pm \mathrm{?}`$

J=2

$`f_2(0,2^{++})\eta _2(0,2^+)`$

$`2001\pm 102030\pm \mathrm{?}`$

$`2293\pm 132267\pm 14`$

$`\pi _2(1,2^+)a_2(1,2^{++})`$

$`2005\pm 152030\pm 20`$

$`2245\pm 602255\pm 20`$

J=3

$`\omega _3(0,3^{})h_3(0,3^+)`$

$`1945\pm 202025\pm 20`$

$`2255\pm 152275\pm 25`$

$`b_3(1,3^+)\rho _3(1,3^{})`$

$`2032\pm 121982\pm 14`$

$`2245\pm \mathrm{?}2260\pm 20`$

We see systematic doublets of $`U(1)_A`$ restoration. Hence two distinct (1/2,1/2) multiplets of $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ can be combined into one multiplet of $`U(2)_L\times U(2)_R`$. So we conclude that the whole chiral symmetry of the QCD Lagrangian $`U(2)_L\times U(2)_R`$ gets approximately restored high in the hadron spectrum.

## V Discussion and conclusions

We have classified $`\overline{q}q`$ meson states in the $`u,d`$ sector according to chiral symmetry of QCD. Then we have presented recent experimental data on highly excited meson states which provide evidence that in the high-lying mesons both $`SU(2)\times SU(2)`$ and $`U(1)_A`$ get restored. Hence the highly excited states should be classified according to $`U(2)_L\times U(2)_R=SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R\times U(1)_V\times U(1)_A`$ symmetry group of QCD Lagrangian. Usual quantum numbers such as $`I,J^{PC}`$ are not enough to uniquely specify the states.

It is useful to quantify the effect of chiral symmetry breaking (restoration). An obvious parameter that characterises effects of chiral symmetry breaking is a relative mass splitting within the chiral multiplet. Let us define the chiral asymmetry as

$$\chi =\frac{|M_1M_2|}{(M_1+M_2)},$$
(13)
where $`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$ are masses of particles within the same multiplet. This parameter gives a quantitative measure of chiral symmetry breaking at the leading (linear) order and has the interpretation of the part of the hadron mass due to chiral symmetry breaking.

For the low-lying states the chiral asymmetry is typically 0.3 - 0.6 which can be seen e.g. from a comparison of the $`\rho (770)`$ and $`a_1(1260)`$ or the $`\rho (770)`$ and $`h_1(1170)`$ masses. If the chiral asymmetry is large as above, then it makes no sense to assign a given hadron to the chiral multiplet since its wave function is a strong mixture of different representations and we have to expect also large nonlinear symmetry breaking effects. However, at meson masses about 2 GeV the chiral asymmetry is typically within 0.01, as can be seen from the multiplets presented in this paper, and in this case the hadrons can be believed to be members of multplets with a tiny admixture of other representations. Unfortunately there are no systematic data on mesons below 1.9 GeV and hence it is difficult to estimate the chiral asymmetry as a function of mass ($`\sqrt{s}`$). Such a function would be crucially important for a further progress of the theory. So a systematic experimental study of hadron spectra is difficult to overestimate. However, thanks to the $`0^{++}`$ glueball search for the last 20 years, there are such data for $`\pi `$ and $`f_0`$ states, as can be seen from Fig. 1 (for details we refer to ). According to these data we can reconstruct $`\chi (\sqrt{s}1.3GeV)0.03÷0.1`$, $`\chi (\sqrt{s}1.8GeV)0.008`$, $`\chi (\sqrt{s}2.3GeV)0.005`$. We have to also stress that there is no reason to expect the chiral asymmetry to be a universal function for all hadron channels. Hadrons with different quantum numbers feel chiral symmetry breaking effects differently, as can be deduced from the operator product expansions of two-point functions for different currents. A task of the theory is to derive these chiral asymmetries microscopically. A comment on the present theoretical state of the arts is in order.

Naively one would expect that the operator product expansion of the two-point correlator, which is valid in the deep Euclidean domain , could help us. This is not so, however, for two reasons. First of all, we know phenomenologically only the lowest dimension quark condensate. Even though this condensate dominates as a chiral symmetry breaking measure at the very large space-like $`Q^2`$, at smaller $`Q^2`$ the higher dimensional condensates, which are suppressed by inverse powers of $`Q^2`$, are also important. These condensates are not known, unfortunately. But even if we knew all quark condensates up to a rather high dimension, it would not help us. This is because the OPE is only an asymptotic expansion . While such kind of expansion is very useful in the space-like region, it does not define any analytical solution which could be continued to the time-like region at finite $`s`$. While convergence of the OPE can be improved by means of the Borel transform and it makes it useful for SVZ sum rules for the low-lying hadrons, this cannot be done for the higher states. So in order to estimate chiral symmetry restoration effects one indeed needs a microscopic theory that would incorporate at the same time chiral symmetry breaking and confinement.

The question is which physical picture is compatible with this symmetry restoration for highly excited mesons. It has been shown in ref.  that viewing excited hadrons as strings with quarks of definite chirality at the end points of the string is consistent with chiral symmetry of QCD. However, we can extend chiral symmetry to the larger symmetry. If one assumes that the spin degree of freedom of quarks (i.e. their helicity) is uncorrelated with the energy of the string, then we have to expect that all possible states of the string with all possible helicity orientations of quarks with the same spin must have the same energy. This means that all possible different $`SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ multiplets with the same $`J`$ must be degenerate. If we look carefully at the data presented in this paper we do see this fact. Does it mean that we observe a restoration of larger symmetry which includes chiral $`U(2)_L\times U(2)_R`$ group as a subgroup, i.e. symmetry which is higher than the symmetry of the QCD Lagrangian !? There is simpler solution to this problem. There is a reducible representation which combines (0,0), (1/2,1/2), (1/2,1/2) and (0,1)+(1,0) - it is $`[(0,1/2)(1/2,0)]\times [(0,1/2)(1/2,0)]`$, which is still a representation of the parity-chiral group, i.e. it is still a representation of the symmetry group of the QCD Lagrangian. This representation is nothing else but a product of the massless quark and antiquark fields. Hence a degeneracy within such a reducible representation is indeed compatible with the string with massless quarks with definite chirality at the end points of the string.

## VI Acknowledgements

I am grateful to D.V. Bugg for comments on the data . I am also thankful to C. Lang for careful reading of the manuscript. The work was supported by the FWF project P16823-N08 of the Austrian Science Fund.

Table 1 Mesons obtained in $`\overline{p}p`$ annihilation at 1.9 - 2.4 GeV. The extra broad $`f_2(0,2^{++})`$ state with $`M=2010\pm 25`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=495\pm 35`$ seen in the $`\eta \eta `$ channel only is not included in the Table. If it is a real state, then it can be either glueball or $`\overline{s}s`$ state because it is not seen in the $`\pi \pi `$ channel.

| Meson | I | $`J^{PC}`$ | Mass (MeV) | Width (MeV) | Reference |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $`f_1`$ | 0 | $`1^{++}`$ | $`1971\pm 15`$ | $`240\pm 45`$ |  |
| $`f_1`$ | 0 | $`1^{++}`$ | $`2310\pm 60`$ | $`255\pm 70`$ |  |
| $`f_2`$ | 0 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`1934\pm 20`$ | $`271\pm 25`$ |  |
| $`f_2`$ | 0 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2001\pm 10`$ | $`312\pm 32`$ |  |
| $`f_2`$ | 0 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2240\pm 15`$ | $`241\pm 30`$ |  |
| $`f_2`$ | 0 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2293\pm 13`$ | $`216\pm 37`$ |  |
| $`\eta _2`$ | 0 | $`2^+`$ | $`2030\pm \mathrm{?}`$ | $`205\pm \mathrm{?}`$ |  |
| $`\eta _2`$ | 0 | $`2^+`$ | $`2267\pm 14`$ | $`290\pm 50`$ |  |
| $`f_3`$ | 0 | $`3^{++}`$ | $`2048\pm 8`$ | $`213\pm 34`$ |  |
| $`f_3`$ | 0 | $`3^{++}`$ | $`2303\pm 15`$ | $`214\pm 29`$ |  |
| $`a_1`$ | 1 | $`1^{++}`$ | $`1930_{70}^{+30}`$ | $`155\pm 45`$ |  |
| $`a_1`$ | 1 | $`1^{++}`$ | $`2270_{40}^{+55}`$ | $`305_{35}^{+70}`$ |  |
| $`a_2`$ | 1 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`1950_{70}^{+30}`$ | $`180_{70}^{+30}`$ |  |
| $`a_2`$ | 1 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2030\pm 20`$ | $`205\pm 30`$ |  |
| $`a_2`$ | 1 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2175\pm 40`$ | $`310_{45}^{+90}`$ |  |
| $`a_2`$ | 1 | $`2^{++}`$ | $`2255\pm 20`$ | $`230\pm 15`$ |  |
| $`\pi _2`$ | 1 | $`2^+`$ | $`2005\pm 15`$ | $`200\pm 40`$ |  |
| $`\pi _2`$ | 1 | $`2^+`$ | $`2245\pm 60`$ | $`320_{40}^{+100}`$ |  |
| $`a_3`$ | 1 | $`3^{++}`$ | $`2031\pm 12`$ | $`150\pm 18`$ |  |
| $`a_3`$ | 1 | $`3^{++}`$ | $`2275\pm 35`$ | $`350_{50}^{+100}`$ |  |
| $`\rho `$ | 1 | $`1^{}`$ | $`1970\pm 30`$ | $`260\pm 45`$ |  |
| $`\rho `$ | 1 | $`1^{}`$ | $`2110\pm 35`$ | $`230\pm 50`$ |  |
| $`\rho `$ | 1 | $`1^{}`$ | $`2265\pm 40`$ | $`325\pm 80`$ |  |
| $`b_1`$ | 1 | $`1^+`$ | $`1960\pm 35`$ | $`230\pm 50`$ |  |
| $`b_1`$ | 1 | $`1^+`$ | $`2240\pm 35`$ | $`320\pm 85`$ |  |
| $`\rho _2`$ | 1 | $`2^{}`$ | $`1940\pm 40`$ | $`155\pm 40`$ |  |
| $`\rho _2`$ | 1 | $`2^{}`$ | $`2225\pm 35`$ | $`335_{50}^{+100}`$ |  |
| $`\rho _3`$ | 1 | $`3^{}`$ | $`1982\pm 14`$ | $`188\pm 24`$ |  |
| $`\rho _3`$ | 1 | $`3^{}`$ | $`2013\pm 30`$ | $`165\pm 35`$ |  |
| $`\rho _3`$ | 1 | $`3^{}`$ | $`2260\pm 20`$ | $`160\pm 25`$ |  |
| $`\rho _3`$ | 1 | $`3^{}`$ | $`2300_{80}^{+50}`$ | $`340\pm 50`$ |  |
| $`b_3`$ | 1 | $`3^+`$ | $`2032\pm 12`$ | $`117\pm 11`$ |  |
| $`b_3`$ | 1 | $`3^+`$ | $`2245\pm \mathrm{?}`$ | $`320\pm 70`$ |  |
| $`\omega `$ | 0 | $`1^{}`$ | $`1960\pm 25`$ | $`195\pm 60`$ |  |
| $`\omega `$ | 0 | $`1^{}`$ | $`2205\pm 30`$ | $`350\pm 90`$ |  |
| $`h_1`$ | 0 | $`1^+`$ | $`1965\pm 45`$ | $`345\pm 75`$ |  |
| $`h_1`$ | 0 | $`1^+`$ | $`2215\pm 40`$ | $`325\pm 55`$ |  |
| $`\omega _2`$ | 0 | $`2^{}`$ | $`1975\pm 20`$ | $`175\pm 25`$ |  |
| $`\omega _2`$ | 0 | $`2^{}`$ | $`2195\pm 30`$ | $`225\pm 40`$ |  |
| $`\omega _3`$ | 0 | $`3^{}`$ | $`1945\pm 20`$ | $`115\pm 22`$ |  |
| $`\omega _3`$ | 0 | $`3^{}`$ | $`2255\pm 15`$ | $`175\pm 30`$ |  |
| $`\omega _3`$ | 0 | $`3^{}`$ | $`2285\pm 60`$ | $`230\pm 40`$ |  |
| $`h_3`$ | 0 | $`3^+`$ | $`2025\pm 20`$ | $`145\pm 30`$ |  |
| $`h_3`$ | 0 | $`3^+`$ | $`2275\pm 25`$ | $`190\pm 45`$ |  |


text:
# Automated Determination of Stellar Population Parameters in Galaxies Using Active Instance-based Learning

## 1. Introduction

The availability for the first time of huge astronomical spectroscopic surveys such as the SDSS, with more than $`10^6`$ spectra, will allow the determination of intrinsic physical parameters of a large number of galaxies, including the age distribution or star formation history and metallicity distribution of their stellar populations.

The importance of the accurate knowledge of these parameters for cosmological studies and for the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution cannot be overestimated. Template fitting has been used to carry out estimates of the distribution of age and metallicity from spectral data. Although this technique achieves good results, it is very expensive in terms of computing time and therefore can be applied only to small samples.

Starting from a grid of theoretical population synthesis models we constructed a set of model galaxies with a distribution of ages, metallicities and intrinsic reddening. Using this set we have explored a new method that maximizes speed and accuracy. Our proposed technique combines standard least-squares fitting with an active instance-based machine learning algorithm. Experimental results show that this method can estimate with high speed and accuracy the physical parameters of the stellar populations. Based on empirical evidence we believe that this method can be applied with equal success to other astronomical problems, reducing the computational cost and thus providing the capability of analyzing larger quantities of astronomical data.

## 2. Description of the Models

For the spectral synthesis of simple stellar populations the atmospheric models have been folded with the predicted number of stars along isochrones of given age and metal content (Bressan et al. 1994). The atmosphere models have been inserted in low resolution Kurucz models (Kurucz 1993) in order to preserve the complete energy distribution.

The models have the following characteristics:

* Ages are from $`10^6yr`$ to $`2\times 10^{10}yr`$ in logarithmic steps:
\[$`10^6yr,10^8yr`$,$`10^{8.3}yr`$,$`10^{8.6}yr`$,$`10^9yr`$,$`10^{9.6}yr`$,$`10^{9.78}yr`$,$`10^{10}yr`$ ,$`10^{10.2}yr`$\]
* Metallicity has the values Z=\[0.0004, 0.004, 0.008, 0.02, 0.05\] in Solar units
* The resolution is smoothed at the desired value.

For the present experiments we used solar metallicity (0.02) and a resolution of 20 Å.

## 3. The Proposed Solution

Given an observed galaxy spectrum we would like to determine the relative distribution of ages and their intrinsic reddening. We restricted the problem to finding three contribution of ages: starbursts of age 1Myr, an intermediate age population with age between 100Myr and 1000Myr and an old population with age greater than 1000Myr. Each of the three populations is affected by the same reddening law which is defined as follows:

$$R(c_i,\lambda )=1e^{\lambda \times c_i}$$
(1)
where $`c_i`$ is the free parameter of each stellar population and $`\lambda `$ is the wavelength, in this case going from 890Å to 2.301 $`\mu `$m. In order to determine the free parameters of reddening and the relative contributions we pose the problem as an optimization problem, where a modified version of a machine learning algorithm is trained to estimate the reddening parameters of the three populations. Once we have an estimate of the reddening we can compute the relative contribution of ages, $`\stackrel{}{A}`$, with a pseudo inverse matrix as follows:
Let $`M=[\stackrel{}{m_1},\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{m_9}]`$ be the grid of our nine theoretical models described earlier. $`\stackrel{}{o}`$ is the observed spectrum, and $`\stackrel{}{r}=c_1,c_2,c_3`$ is the vector of the free reddening parameters predicted by the learning algorithm for $`\stackrel{}{o}`$. We can compute $`S=[\stackrel{}{F_{1r}},\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{F_{9r}}]`$, by applying to the theoretical models the reddening function as defined in equation 2.

$$\stackrel{}{F_{ir}}(\lambda )=\stackrel{}{m_i}(\lambda )\times R(c_i,\lambda )$$
(2)
We know that the observed spectrum $`\stackrel{}{o}`$ is the product of $`S`$ and the unknown relative contributions $`\stackrel{}{A}`$,

$$\stackrel{}{o}=\stackrel{}{A}\times S$$
(3)
$$\stackrel{}{A}=S^{}\times \stackrel{}{o}$$
(4)
then by computing $`S^{}`$, the pseudo-inverse of $`S`$, we can determine the relative contribution of ages, as equation 4 shows. The following section introduces the optimization procedure used in this work.

## 4. The Optimization Procedure

We are interested in the problem of finding the parameters of a known analytic function that best match an observation. Let $`\stackrel{}{o}`$ be the observed galactic spectrum variable, let $`f(\stackrel{}{r})`$ be a function with the same dimensionality as $`o`$. The goal of the optimization procedure is to obtain the value of $`f(\stackrel{}{r})`$ that minimizes the error $`e=|of(\stackrel{}{r})|`$. In order to solve the problem more efficiently, we pose it as a learning problem, where a learning algorithm learns the reddening parameters $`\stackrel{}{r}`$, and with a forward model we compute $`f(\stackrel{}{r})`$. The training set used by the algorithm, $`f(\stackrel{}{x_i}),\stackrel{}{t}_i`$, is formed by randomly generated reddening parameters, $`\stackrel{}{x_i}`$, and their corresponding galactic spectra, $`\stackrel{}{t_i}`$, where contributions of ages were also generated randomly; its test set consists of the galactic spectra to be analyzed denoted here by $`\stackrel{}{o}_1,\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{o}_n`$ and it outputs an estimate of $`\stackrel{}{r_1},\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{r_n}`$ that is expected to minimize the errors $`e_1,\mathrm{},e_n`$. When a new set of solutions $`\stackrel{}{r_1},\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{r_n}`$ is proposed by the algorithm, we compute their corresponding $`f(\stackrel{}{r_1}),\mathrm{},f(\stackrel{}{r_n})`$, using equations 2,3 and 4, and use the new pairs $`f(\stackrel{}{r_i}),\stackrel{}{o}_i^{}`$ to augment the training set, and continue this iterative process until convergence is attained. Since this type of active learning adds to the training set examples that are progressively closer to the points of interest, the errors are guaranteed to decrease in every iteration. The pseudocode of the algorithm is the following:

1. Generate randomly an initial set of vectors $`\stackrel{}{x}_i,\mathrm{}\stackrel{}{x}_m`$ and compute their corresponding $`f\left(\stackrel{}{x}_1\right),\mathrm{},f\left(\stackrel{}{x}_m\right)`$.
2. Let $`P=f\left(\stackrel{}{x}_1\right),\stackrel{}{t}_1,\mathrm{},f\left(\stackrel{}{x}_m\right),\stackrel{}{t}_m`$ be the initial training set.
3. Let $`T=\stackrel{}{o}_1,\mathrm{},\stackrel{}{o}_n`$ be the test set.
4. While $`T`$ is not empty

1. Train an approximator A using P as training set
    2. For each $`\stackrel{}{o}_i`$ in $`T`$

    * Use A to predict $`\stackrel{}{r}_i^{}`$
        * Generate $`\stackrel{}{o}_i^{}`$
        * $`P=Pf\left(\stackrel{}{r}_i^{}\right),\stackrel{}{o}_i^{}`$
        * If $`\left|o_i\stackrel{}{o}_i^{}\right|<threshold`$ remove $`o_i`$ from $`T`$

In this problem the approximator mentioned in step 4.1 is Locally Weighted Linear Regression, an instance-based learning algorithm that has shown good results in similar optimization problems (Fuentes & Solorio 2003).

## 5. Experimental Results

In order to evaluate our proposed solution we experimented generating randomly 500 spectra together with metallicities and intrinsic reddening, we then generated their corresponding spectra. From this set we selected randomly 150 spectra that were used as the test set, the remaining spectra were used as the training set. We repeated this process 10 times, and reported the overall average. Table 2 presents mean absolute errors in estimating age distributions, in Table 1 we show the errors in the reddening parameters. Figure 1 shows a comparison between a test example and the predicted one. On average, it takes 15 seconds to predict the parameters of a single spectrum.

## 6. Conclusions

We presented in this work an optimization algorithm that can estimate with high accuracy age distributions and reddening of stellar population in galaxies. The algorithm achieves convergence by iteratively creating new data points that lie in the vicinity of the query point. One important feature of this method is its high speed, it takes 15 seconds to estimate the parameters of a single spectrum. This represents a great advantage over other more conventional methods proposed for this problem, which may take several hours to find the solution for a single spectrum.

## References

Bressan A. & Chiosi C. & Fagotto F. 1994, ApJS 94,63

Fuentes O. & Solorio T. 2003, AIA2003, Spain

Kurucz R. L. 1993, CD-ROM13: Atlas9, SAO,Harvard, Cambridge


text:
# Non-linear space-time dynamics of ultrashort wave-packets in water

## Abstract

We have monitored the space-time transformation of 150-fs pulse, undergoing self-focusing and filamentation in water, by means of the nonlinear gating technique. We have observed that pulse splitting and subsequent recombination apply to axial temporal intensity only, whereas space-integrated pulse profile preserves its original shape.

Spatial and temporal transformations of wave packets which undergo self-focusing in transparent media with Kerr nonlinearity attract a great deal of interest from the point of view both of fundamental and applied science. Self-focusing of ultrashort light pulses with power well exceeding that for continuous-wave (CW) beam collapse gives rise to a variety of spatial, temporal and interrelated (spatio-temporal, ST) effects and has been a topic of intense theoretical and experimental research Chernev ; Rothenberg ; Luther ; Trippenbach ; Gaeta ; Ranka98 ; Diddams ; Fibich . Discovery of a long range propagation (filamentation) of ultrashort laser pulses in air boosted an interest in ST transformation through filamentation dynamics in gasses Mlejnek2 ; Couairon02a , solids Tzortzakis01a  and liquids Dubietis ; Liu .

Numerical models of different complexity have been elaborated to study temporal, and, more generally, ST dynamics. Propagation of intense light pulses in media with rather distinct optical properties (amount of normal GVD, nonlinearity, etc; namely gasses, solids and liquids) under various initial conditions (pulse duration, beam width, power, wavelength) has been examined. In spite of different regimes, temporal pulse splitting emerged as a common feature resulting from the interplay between self-focusing, self-phase-modulation and normal dispersion. The open question is then what happens after the pulse splitting occurs. A scenario leading to subsequent multiple splitting has been predicted, but not observed directly (see the discussion in Ref Berge02  and references therein). In Ref. Diddams  pulse recombination after splitting has been observed and attributed to possible underlined multiple splitting.

More recently, two interpretations have been proposed for understanding filament formation in condensed matter. Some of the present Authors, after having experimentally demonstrated that filaments cannot be treated as a self guided beams, have outlined the key role plaid by non-linear losses in ruling a spontaneous transformation from gaussian to conical (Bessel-like) wave, in the frame of a CW model DubietisPRL . In this context, the conical wave provides the beam with a large (and not absorbed) power reservoir that keeps ”refuelling” the hot central spot and so ensures stationarity, even in presence of non-linear losses. Independently from this work, a second approach has been proposed Kolesik  sharing with the first the genuine idea of filaments as non-soliton, but conical waves. The important difference is that here the Authors have outlined the key role of chromatic dispersion, fully neglected in previous case, thus interpreting the filament on the basis the dynamics of non-linear X waves Valiulis ; Conti ; Di Trapani .

The major problem concerning the experimental characterization of the wave packet dynamics is that most of the measurements have been limited either to the pure temporal domain, by on-axis auto or cross correlation technique, or to the pure spatial one, by time integrated CCD-based detection. An example of ST experimental characterization has been that reported in Ref Kumagai . The used technique, based on optical polarigraphy, has shown indeed a quite poor resolution, and did not allowed the fine details of the ST structure to be recovered. In a recent work related to the investigation of the nonlinear dynamics of X-waves in quadratic non-linear media some of the present authors have demonstrated a very powerful, high ST resolution 3D-mapping technique, based on the use of ultrafast $`\chi ^2`$ (sum-frequency, SF) gate Di Trapani ; Trull . The approach resembles the crosscorrelation measurement to some extent, but instead of recording the space-integrated (or simply on-axis) signal, here the entire space-resolved SF profile is captured. The whole wave-packet is then reconstructed from the assembly of time slices recorded at different delay times.

In this work we apply the same technique to provide a complete characterization of the nonlinear ST dynamics of ultrashort wave-packets in water. The results confirm the occurrence of the pulse recombination after splitting. However the feature of the peripheral part of the beam seems to indicate that observed recombination has to be linked not to multiple splitting, but in contrast to refocusing of the non-trapped portion of the beam DubietisPRL ; Kolesik .

In our experiment, a light filament was excited by launching a focused 0.9-$`\mu `$J ($`P=5P_{cr}`$, where $`P_{cr}=1.15MW`$ is the critical power for CW self-focusing), 150-fs, 527-nm pulses into a syringe shaped water cell, using focusing geometry as described in Ref. Dubietis  (note that the actual focal length is 50cm and not 50mm, as written in Ref. Dubietis  owing to typing mistake). The input pulses were generated by a frequency up-converted optical parametric amplifier (TOPAS, Light Conversion Ltd.), pumped by 100-fs, 800-nm pulses delivered by Ti:Sapphire laser system (Spitfire, Spectra Physics) at 1 kHz repetition rate. A high contrast, 20-fs and 13-$`\mu `$J probe pulse with wavelength centered at 710 nm was provided by a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier (TOPAS White, Light Conversion Ltd.) pumped by frequency doubled Ti:Sapphire laser pulses. The non-linear gating was performed *via* SF mixing the probe and the image of the output wave-packet in a thin (20 $`\mu `$m) type I phase-matching $`\beta `$-barium borate crystal under slightly noncollinear geometry. SF signal centered at 302 nm was then imaged onto high dynamic range (16-bit) CCD camera (Andor Technology). We employed a probe pulse with constant intensity over large area (note 1 mm FWHM diameter) and ensured that SF process is performed in the low conversion limit. Then by spanning the delay t using 12 fs steps (see Fig. 1), the complete intensity map I(x, y, t, z) was retrieved, the ultimate temporal resolution being defined by the probe pulse width, by its front steepness and by its intensity contrast.

Fig. 2 illustrates the full characterization of the wave-packet at different z, as obtained by changing the length of the water cell. In the right panel we show the time-integrated energy density (fluence) distribution at the output facet of the cell, as recorded by the CCD detector using suitable imaging telescope. In the left panel we plot the reconstructed ST intensity profiles (3D maps). We note that the launched pulse has asymmetric temporal profile (see 3D map at z=0 mm in Fig. 2 with a shoulder on its trailing edge). We expect that this shoulder, because of its low intensity, does not play a major role in the nonlinear dynamics. The results show that a single filament of $`45\mu `$m FWHM diameter is formed, being surrounded by oscillating annular ring structure. The ST maps show evident pulse splitting on axis at z=22 mm, followed by pulse recombination at z=30mm. Out of the beam axis intense modulated wings appear, whose intensity remain peaked at the pulse central temporal coordinate. This last feature is particularly important if one accounts that the major part of the wave-packet energy is indeed contained into the outer part of the beam. In fact, direct measurements by means of pinholes and stoppers has shown that the filament contains only $`20\%`$ of the pulse total energy DubietisPRL . This feature is clarified also by the results in Fig. 3, where the temporal distribution of the on-axis intensity and of the total power (the space-integrated intensity) are compared. These results show that the widely used term ”pulse splitting” is, at least in this case, incorrect. In fact, not the entire wave-packet gets split in the time scale, but only the very central (on-axis) portion of it. Indeed the power distribution remains peaked at the pulse center at any value of z. These results let us foresee that pulse recombination could appear because of refocusing of a portion of the power distributed in these intense outer rings. To our opinion, these findings provide an indication of the fact that the wave-packet is attempting a reshaping toward a supported eigenmode of the system, either with dominant Bessel type DubietisPRL  or X-type Kolesik  profile, owing to the interplay among self-focusing, dispersion and nonlinear losses.

In conclusion, by using high-resolution, high dynamic range detection of the ST intensity profile, we have demonstrated that pulse splitting and recombination of intense, ultra-short pulses in water characterize just the temporal intensity profile *at the beam center*, but not the pulse as a whole. The entire wave-packet dynamic seems ruled by relevant energy exchange between the beam center and the self-built, slowly decaying, oscillating tails.

The authors acknowledge valuable contribution of E. Gaižauskas, G. Valiulis, G. Tamošauskas, M. A. Porras and the support from MIUR (Cofin01/FIRB01), DGI BFM2002-04369-C04-03 and EC CEBIOLA (ICA1-CT-2000-70027) contracts.

1 Permanent address: Department of Quantum Electronics, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio Ave. 9, bldg.3, LT-2040 Vilnius, Lithuania.

2 Permanent address: Departament de Fisica i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, C/Colom 1, 08222 Terrassa, Spain.