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# Theory of Formation of Massive Stars via Accretion

## 1. Introduction

Massive stars play a key role in the sequence of events after the Big Bang that ultimately result in the development of life on Earth. They are the principal source of heavy elements and of UV radiation and are an important source of dust grains. Through a combination of winds, massive outflows, champagne flows, and supernova explosions they provide an important source of turbulence in the ISM of galaxies. This turbulence in combination with differential rotation presumably drives galactic dynamos. The galactic magnetic fields thus produced, interacting with supernova shock fronts, accelerate cosmic rays. Cosmic rays, UV radiation, and dissipation of turbulence are the principal sources of heating in the ISM, whereas heavy elements found in dust, molecules, and in atomic/ionic form ultimately are responsible for its cooling. Massive stars thus profoundly affect the star and planet formation process as well as the physical structure of galaxies.

In spite of the key role that these relatively short-lived massive stars play in the shaping of galactic structure and evolution, our understanding of their formation is still rather limited. The reason for this is three-fold: They are difficult to observe during the critical formation phases, they are rare, and the theoretical problem is extremely complex. Their formation is obviously not merely a scaled-up version of low mass star formation and obviously much more complex because of the proximity of high mass stars (among these the forming star itself), resulting in mutual interactions via gravitational torques, powerful winds and ionizing radiation.

Not only are massive stars formed less often than their low mass counterparts, their relevant time scales (contraction to hydrogen-burning and nuclear burning timescales) are shorter (see Fig. 1). Both effects result in fewer examples of high mass stars to be found in a given (early) evolutionary phase within a given volume. The low number statistics of high mass stars is partially offset by their higher luminosities, which allow us to study high mass stars at greater distances. However, insufficient spatial resolution is an issue — an entire cluster is often contained in a single observing pixel.

In the following I will not argue for or against the “accretion scenario” versus the “coalescence scenario” for high mass star formation, but rather investigate conditions under which accretion of material onto a massive star via an accretion disk is theoretically possible. The basic questions to be addressed are:

1. How is it possible to compress sufficient material to form a massive star into a sufficiently small volume within a sufficiently small time period?
2. How does forming massive star influence its immediate surroundings, eventually limiting the final mass?

As McKee & Tam (2003) have argued, turbulent and pressurized clouds permit sufficient material to be available in the cores of giant molecular clouds for high mass star formation. Here, we address the issue of further concentrating this material into a region of a few R within a few 105 yr.

## 2. The basic problem

A necessary condition to accrete sufficient material to produce a massive star ($`M>10`$ M) is: $`M_{}=_0^t\left[\dot{M}_{\mathrm{acc}}(t^{})\dot{M}_{\mathrm{out}}(t^{})\right]𝑑t^{}>10\mathrm{M}_{}`$, i.e., the infall (accretion) rate $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{acc}}`$ must greatly exceed the outflow rate $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{out}}`$ during a significant proportion of the formation process. For this to occur the acceleration due to gravity must exceed the outward directed radiative acceleration of the embryo source. Whereas gravity $`GM_{}/r^2`$ increases linearly with mass, the radiative acceleration of dusty material $`\kappa L/4\pi r^2c`$ is proportional to the stellar luminosity which increases as a high power of stellar mass (roughly $`L_{}M_{}^{3.2}`$ in the range $`0.01<M_{}/\mathrm{M}_{}<100`$). Thus, to allow infall we require $`\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}L/4\pi r^2c<GM_{}/r^2`$ with $`L=L_{}+L_{\mathrm{acc}}`$, which translates into

$$\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}<130\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{g}^1\left[\frac{M_{}}{10\mathrm{M}_{}}\right]\left[\frac{L}{1000\mathrm{L}_{}}\right]^1$$
(1)
This condition defines the maximum effective opacity $`\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ of accretable material. The (proto-)star’s luminosity is given by the sum of its intrinsic luminosity $`L_{}`$ and the luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{acc}}`$ emitted by the dissipation of kinetic energy of the material being accreted.

Dusty material generally has a very high opacity (Fig. 2); for the “hardness” of radiation expected from main sequence stars of 5 M and higher, the net force on typical dusty interstellar material ($`\kappa 100`$ cm2g-1) is directed away from the star (Fig. 3).

## 3. How does Nature solve this Problem?

To allow further growth of an already existing stellar embryo at least one of the following conditions must be met: a) $`\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ must be significantly lower than its ISM value for optical/UV radiation; b) The effective luminosity must be reduced; or c) “gravity” must be increased.

a) Reduce $`\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}`$:
As evident in Fig. 2 $`\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ can be significantly lower than its ISM value if the radiation field “seen” by the accreting material is shifted from the optical/UV into the far infrared, if the average size of dust grains increases (but remains “compact” rather than becoming “fractal”) or if most of the dust is destroyed. In their pioneering efforts Kahn (1975) and Wolfire & Cassinelli (1987) studied the 1D spherically symmetric accretion problem for massive star formation with emphasis on the dust opacity. Indeed, the latter authors concluded that massive stars can only form if the dust has been significantly modified, assuming an accretion flow that is steady-state and spherically symmetric. Of course, accretion may be non-steady and/or non-spherically symmetric and this basic premise may be invalid.

Another possibility to reduce the effective opacity is the accretion of optically thick “blobs”. In this case

$$\kappa _{\mathrm{eff}}=\pi R_{\mathrm{blob}}^2/M_{\mathrm{blob}}$$
(2)
As a particular subset of this family of solutions Bonnell et al. (1998) considered building up massive stars by coalescence of lower mass stars within a stellar cluster (see also Bonnell 2002).

Modifications to the opacity due to coagulation of dust and dust destruction processes during the collapse phase were calculated by Suttner & Yorke (2001) for three different detailed dust models (compact spherical particles, fractal BPCA grains, and fractal BCCA grains). Using a 2D (axial symmetry assumed) code that followed the dynamics of gas + 30 individual dust components, they find that even during the early collapse and the first $``$104 yr of dynamical disk evolution, the initial dust size distribution is strongly modified (Fig. 4). Close to the disk’s midplane coagulation produces dust particles of sizes of several 10 $`\mu `$m (for compact spherical grains) up to several mm (for fluffy BCCA grains), whereas in the vicinity of the accretion shock front (located several density scale heights above the disk), large velocity differences inhibit coagulation. Dust particles larger than about 1 $`\mu `$m segregate from the smaller grains behind the accretion shock. Due to the combined effects of coagulation and grain segregation the infrared dust emission is modified. Within the accretion disk a MRN (Mathis, Rumpl, & Nordsieck 1977) dust distribution provides a poor description of the general dust properties. Nevertheless, the radiative force acting on the infalling material is hardly affected.

b) Reduce the effective luminosity:
Yorke & Krügel (1977) solved the time dependent non-steady state accretion problem in spherical symmetry and were able to produce stars of masses 17 M and 36 M from clouds of masses 50 M and 150 M respectively — due to the effects of oscillatory “super-Eddington” accretion. Accretion was permitted during quiescent low luminosity phases. Also, the sheer weight of the entire dusty envelope forced material upon the star, even when the Eddington criterion was not fulfilled locally.

Nakano et al. (1995), however, point out that even a small amount of rotation leads to the formation of a circumstellar disk, and we thus expect accretion to proceed in 2D through an accretion disk, i.e. radiation pressure could blow away the tenuous polar regions but not the massive disk. Yorke & Bodenheimer (1999) studied this effect quantitatively. They find that whereas the central object may emit radiation isotropically, the radiation field quickly becomes anisotropic further from the center. For an outside observer and in particular for a dust grain attempting to accrete onto an existing protostellar disk, the radiative flux close to the equatorial plane can be much smaller than the component parallel to the rotation. This so-called “flashlight effect” (the “beaming” of radiation in the polar direction) occurs whenever a circumstellar disk forms.

As an example of the flashlight effect Fig. 5 displays the angle-dependent SEDs of a 2 M protostellar clump at two evolutionary times. The edge-on bolometric fluxes are a factor of 0.2 and 0.07 (respectively) less than what they would be for an isotropic source, whereas the pole-on bolometric fluxes are a factor of 2.6 and 2.9 greater. Moreover, the edge-on flux is dominated by the far infrared, which is far less effective at radiatively accelerating dusty gas than the mid- and near-infrared seen pole-on.

Although the flashlight effect allows dusty material to come close to the central source via a circumstellar disk, the material to be accreted eventually encounters optical and UV radiation from the central source. A necessary requirement for this material to be accreted rather than “blown out” by radiation is that the dust has been largely destroyed (or it has coagulated into larger particles) so that the opacity is dominated by the gaseous component.

Even though no massive disk has yet been directly observed around a main sequence massive star, there is much indirect evidence that such disks exist (Shepherd, Claussen, & Kurtz 2002). In their radio recombination maser studies and CO measurements Martin-Pintado et al. (1994) do find indirect evidence for both an ionized stellar wind and a neutral disk around MWC349. Moreover, several other high luminosity FIR sources — suspected embedded young OB stars — have powerful bipolar outflows associated with them (e.g., Eiroa et al. 1994; Shepherd et al. 2002). Such massive outflows are probably powered by disk accretion, and, similar to their low mass counterparts, the flow energetics appear to scale with the luminosity of the source (see Cabrit & Bertout 1992; Shepherd & Churchwell 1996; Richer et al. 2000).

If the primary source of the massive star’s material is from the surrounding molecular clump via accretion, then a circumstellar disk should be the natural consequence of the star formation process even in the high mass case. However, it should be difficult to observe disks around massive stars. The high FUV and EUV fluxes associated with high mass stars will begin to photoevaporate the disks on timescales of $``$10$`^5`$yr (Hollenbach et al. 2000), which will be observable as deeply embedded UCHiis with comparable lifetimes (Richling & Yorke 1997).

c) Increase Gravity: For completeness I mention the fact that the gravitational acceleration is enhanced with respect to radiative acceleration when massive stars form within a dense cluster of not so brightly radiating objects. For this to have a dominant effect we require that $`\rho _{\mathrm{objects}}\rho _{\mathrm{gas}}`$. In this scenario one requires a density-peaked cluster of low mass objects embedded within a molecular cloud. The effective gravity near the cluster’s center is enhanced relative to an isolated molecular cloud without the cluster and relative to off-center regions of the molecular cloud. If this were the only way to form massive stars, isolated massive stars may not exist at all or only in very exceptional cases.

## 4. What happens to the central (Proto-)Star during Accretion?

Because the luminosity is so critical during accretion up to high stellar masses, one must also consider the luminosity evolution of the accreting object. As discussed by Maeder (2002) and Yorke (2002) an initially low mass object that gains mass through accretion evolves substantially differently in the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram than a non-accreting protostar would (see Fig. 6).

Yorke’s (2002) tracks are qualitatively similar to the more detailed calculations by Behrend & Maeder (2001) and Meynet & Maeder (2000). Differences can be attributed to the starting mass, 0.1 M instead of 1 M, and the differing accretion rates. In all cases published to date, not only do the tracks of accreting objects consistently lie slightly below the equilibrium deuterium burning “birthline”, but the qualitative effect of more rapid accretion is to shift the tracks to even smaller radii away from the “birthline”. Indeed, the concept of “birthline” is no longer valid for stars more massive than $`M_{}>0.7`$ M, because deuterium is consumed faster than it can be accreted. The tracks of accreting stars eventually converge to the main sequence and follow along the ZAMS as more material is added. For e.g. an accretion rate of 10-3 M, hydrogen-burning begins at $`t1.3\times 10^4`$ yr, after $``$13 M have accreted.

I remind the reader that these tracks in the HR diagram do not reflect the actual observable bolometric luminosities of accreting protostars. Much of the accretion luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{acc}}`$ will be indistinguishable from the intrinsic luminosity $`L_{}`$ of the star. The importance of accretion luminosity, $`L_{\mathrm{acc}}GM\dot{M}/r`$ is exemplified in Fig. 7. At $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}=L_{}r/GM`$ accretion luminosity and intrinsic luminosity are equal (dash-dotted line for core hydrogen-burning stars and dash-triple dotted line for birthline stars). Above this line the luminosity is dominated by accretion; below the line it is dominated by the intrinsic stellar luminosity.

What order of magnitude of mass accretion rate can be expected? In order to produce a star of mass $`M`$ within, say 200,000 yr, an average accretion rate $`5\times 10^5`$ M yr-1 $`[M/\mathrm{M}_{}]`$ is necessary (dashed line in Fig. 7). Assuming this average accretion rate during the main accretion phase, we note that the luminosity of low mass stars is dominated by accretion luminosity, whereas for high mass stars the luminosity is initially determined by accretion but is eventually dominated by the intrinsic stellar luminosity. Of course the actual accretion rate may vary strongly from this average (see example given in Fig. 8). The maximum accretion rate possible onto a core hydrogen-burning star, assuming electron scattering and the effects of both the intrinsic stellar luminosity and accretion luminosity is given by the solid line. This maximum allowable accretion rate is modified for low mass stars if “birthline” stellar radii and luminosities are assumed (dotted line:).

Yorke & Sonnhalter (2002) consider the collapse of isolated, rotating, non-magnetic, massive molecular clumps of masses 30 M 60 M, and 120 M using an improved frequency-dependent radiation hydrodynamics code (see Fig. 8). The flashlight effect discussed in section 3 allows material to enter into the central regions through a disk. For massive stars it is important to take into account the frequency dependent nature of the opacity and the flux within the disk (rather than assuming either Rosseland or Planck “grey” opacities). For their 60 M case Yorke & Sonnhalter find that 33.6 M are accreted in the central regions as opposed to 20.7 M in a comparison “grey” calculation. Because these simulations cannot spatially resolve the innermost regions of the molecular clump, however, they cannot distinguish between the formation of a dense central cluster, a multiple system, or a single massive object. They also cannot exclude significant mass loss from the central object(s) which may interact with the inflow into the central grid cell. With the basic assumption that all material in the innermost grid cell accretes onto a single object, they are only able to provide an upper limit to the mass of stars which could possibly be formed.

One can speculate on the affect that outflows will have on the accretion through an accretion disk. The inner part of the accretion disk could well look like the configuration shown in Fig. 9. Radiation and the stellar wind from the central star (presumably already hydrogen-burning) evacuate a cavity in the polar direction as shown in the example depicted in Fig. 8. At the interface between the supersonic outflowing stellar wind and the denser subsonic Hii disk atmosphere some disk material will be removed but it is unlikely that this can prevent inward flow of disk material. Inward radial flow of dusty molecular gas is allowed in the equatorial plane of the disk (assuming angular momentum is transfered outward) because of the low radially directed radiation flux (flashlight effect). Angular momentum transfer could result from either magnetic fields in the disk or from the tidal effect of nearby stars. Indeed, rapid accretion through a disk may be a direct consequence of having nearby companions, thus explaining why massive stars are generally members of multiple systems.

Once the disk material crosses $`r_{\mathrm{dust}}25\mathrm{AU}[M_{}/30\mathrm{M}_{}]^{1.6}`$, the radius of dust destruction, its opacity decreases and it is not easily stopped by radiation. It is, however, still unclear how the disk material ultimately flows onto the star. Surely, the disk “puffs up” close to the star, in analogy to the accretion disks in AGNs. Outside of $`r_{\mathrm{evap}}130\mathrm{AU}[M_{}/30\mathrm{M}_{}]`$, where the escape velocity is less than 10 km s-1, the disk loses material via photoevaporation on a time scale of $``$105 yr. This is of the same order as the accretion time scale; these competing effects will determine the final mass of the star.

## 5. Discussion and Conclusions

Massive stars can in principle be formed via accretion through a disk. An accreting star quickly evolves to the main sequence after about 10 M have accreted, but the star is not readily observable as such. Still obscured by the material in the vicinity, the appearance will be that of an UCHii. Radiative acceleration, photoevaporation, and stellar winds eventually destroy the disks, but prior to this accretion onto the star provides an additional source of luminosity. This accretion is expected to be highly variable and episodic. A powerful radiation-driven outflow in the polar directions and a “puffed-up” (thick) disk result from the high luminosity of the central source. The details of how disk material ultimately flows onto the star is still unclear — as is often the case for accretion disks in general.

In this report I have not addressed the issues of embryo multiple systems (binaries, etc.) which compete for accretable material. Future studies will have to address this issue as well as the interactions of nearby disks with multiple massive stars to provide a more realistic picture of massive star formation.

Accretion via accretion disks is a universal astrophysical phenomenon, which operates at scales ranging from the central machines of AGNs to X-ray binaries and perhaps to planets. Why should accreting massive stars be an exception?

### Acknowledgments.

This research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and has been supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the auspices of the “Origins” Program and grant NRA-99-01-ATP-065.

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# Comment on “Dynamic Wetting by liquids of different viscosity”, by T.D. Blake and Y.D. Shikhmurzaev

## Abstract

We comment on a recent theory of dynamic wetting, that is based directly upon a model for interface formation, introduced by Shikhmurzaev. We argue that the treatment of surface tension and its relaxation, inherent in the original model, is physically flawed.

In a recent paper BS02 , Blake and Shikhmurzaev utilize a model for interface formation, proposed initially by Shikhmurzaev S93 ; S94 , to interpret their measurements of the velocity dependence of the dynamic contact angle at a moving contact line. They determine some of the parameters contained in the model, in particular, their viscosity dependence. In this comment, we point out that the key quantities upon which this model is based have no well-defined physical meaning. More specifically, the treatment of surface tension which underlies the theory does not correspond to any known physical mechanism. As a result, the model leads to consequences which are physically absurd and which are at odds with available experimental data. Furthermore, we show that the values for model parameters, purportedly estimated in BS02 , depart by many orders of magnitude from what is physically reasonable.

The model in Ref.BS02  is based on the fundamental assumption that the surface tension of a pure liquid is determined by a ‘surface equation of state’, which fixes its value as function of surface parameters (see also S93 , section 2.1). As an approximation, the surface tension $`\sigma `$ is assumed to depend on the ‘surface density’ $`\rho ^s`$ alone, cf. equations (1) and (4) of BS02 :

$$\sigma =\gamma (\rho _0^s\rho ^s),$$
(1)
where $`\gamma `$ and $`\rho _0^s`$ are phenomenological constants. In BS02 , Shikhmurzaev’s model is applied to both the free liquid-gas and the liquid-solid interface, but we will focus on the former, so there is no need for an index on $`\sigma `$. Equation (1) makes no physical sense. Firstly, as explained in RW82 , p. 31 ff, surface density as introduced by Gibbs cannot be an intrinsic property of the surface of a pure liquid. It depends solely on the definition of what Gibbs calls the dividing surface between the two phases. Conventionally, for a pure liquid, one defines the dividing surface in such a way that the surface density vanishes (RW82 , p. 31), a choice which is called the equimolar surface. Secondly, the surface is not an independent thermodynamic system that would allow relations between its extensive and intensive parameters to be defined, as is done in S93 ; S94 ; BS02 , and as is implied by (1). As pointed out in RW82 , p.33, the surface exists only by virtue of the bulk phases that surround it; it does not form an autonomous phase. Hence an expression such as $`\sigma =\sigma (\rho ^s)`$, as given in BS02 , is meaningless as regards surface thermodynamics, no matter how $`\rho ^s`$ is defined.

We illustrate our criticism further by pointing out two of the consequences of the ansatz (1), which we think are absurd. Equation (13) of BS02  states that the surface tension should go to zero with surface thickness $`h`$ (assuming $`\rho _e^s`$ is constant, as is implied in the text). This is well known not to be the case, see RW82  p. 16 ff and p.47, which provides an authoritative critique of treatments based on point-thermodynamics. Of course, $`h`$ is not really an independent quantity, rather, it is determined by the conditions of thermodynamic equilibrium at the surface. However by considering, for example, different temperatures, different interface density profiles can effectively be realized. Given the interface profile, the surface tension can be calculated essentially by mechanical arguments RW82 . (For a slowly-varying profile, treated in the square-gradient approximation of Rayleigh and van der Waals, the result is equation (1.43) or (3.11) of RW82 .) If anything, the surface tension will be larger for a sharp interface ($`h=0`$) then for the real smooth one. The reason is that the real interface shape is one that minimizes the total free energy (grand potential) of the inhomogeneous fluid (see RW82 , p. 54 ff). Indeed, at high temperatures, when the interface becomes more diffuse, surface tension decreases (cf. Figs. 1.5, 1.6, and 6.5 RW82 ).

Next, we consider equation (14) of BS02  for the typical time scale $`\tau `$, over which the surface tension reaches its equilibrium value after a fresh surface is created. The time $`\tau `$ is claimed to be proportional to the viscosity $`\mu `$ of the fluid, and a specific estimate is given for $`\mu =672mPas`$, for which the value is supposed to lie between $`\tau =2.5\times 10^6s`$ and $`8.3\times 10^6s`$. To a first approximation, we in fact believe that the timescale needed to establish a surface tension in a pure fluid is essentially zero: force is transmitted with the speed of light, giving $`\tau 10^{18}s`$ for molecular sizes. The interfacial profile, and thus the surface tension, subsequently relaxes toward its equilibrium value, but even for this process the author’s numbers appear to be a gross over-estimation. The thickness of the liquid-gas interface is typically 2 or 3 molecular diameters near the triple-point (RW82 , Chs 6 and 7); this gives about $`5\times 10^{10}m`$. Dividing this length by the speed of sound in a typical simple liquid, we arrive at $`\tau _s10^{12}s`$. In other words, $`\tau `$ will be given by a typical collision time in the liquid, which is not related in any simple way to the fluid viscosity.

This estimate is consistent with typical decay times of correlation functions in simple liquids measured by neutron scattering as well as with those found in molecular dynamics simulations HM86 . Note also that Brillouin scattering from density fluctuations in bulk liquids, where the wavelengths involved are much larger,of the order of $`5\times 10^7m`$, is characterized by shifts of frequency of typically $`10^{10}Hz`$ and that Brillouin spectra for liquid interfaces correspond to the same range of frequency shifts D82 . We are not aware of any physical mechanism that would give rise to relaxation times in the order of $`10^6s`$.

One might argue that as the authors’ estimates are based on their own measurements of a moving contact line, they should provide independent evidence for the consistency of the assumptions of the model. Unfortunately, we do not believe this to be the case. The reason is that the authors’ theory refers to what they term the dynamic contact angle $`\theta _d`$, determined solely by a balance of surface tensions, cf. equation (7) of BS02 . Viscous forces and, therefore, interface bending does not enter their description. The measurement of the interface angle was however performed at a scale of about a $`mm`$. It is well known that the interface near a moving contact line is highly curved G85 , which is the result of viscous forces which therefore cannot be ignored. This is best appreciated in the case of a perfectly wetting fluid, where the contact line is preceded by a precursor film G85 . Hence no interface formation is taking place, yet on macroscopic scales measured contact angles have a speed dependence consistent with Tanner’s law G85 . This implies that in the partially wetting case, considered here, any effects of interface bending would have to be carefully subtracted for a correct interpretation of experimental data.


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# CERN Axion Solar Telescope as a probe of large extra dimensions

## I INTRODUCTION

A few years ago an approach was put forward Ark98  in which heavy mass scales in four dimensions could be replaced by lighter mass scales in higher dimensions. Such a class of theories is nowadays conventionally considered in the context of the brane paradigm. In one class of models extra dimensions are felt only by gravity (as well as other fields transforming as singlet under the Standard-Model gauge group); in the other class they are felt also by gauge fields. In the former case, the Standard-Model fields are confined to a (3+1)-dimensional subspace of a higher-dimensional space some dimensions of which are compactified with a relatively large radius. The absence of any observed deviation from ordinary Newtonian gravity in Cavendish-type laboratory experiments implies that the largest compactification radius is smaller than around 0.2 mm Hoy01 .

The main goal in both classes of models is to provide a unified theory in which the electroweak scale $`M_W10^2\mathrm{GeV}`$ and the high energy scales (Planck Ark98 , string Wit96 , and GUT scales Die98 ) can coexist. The same scenario has also been successfully applied to neutrino as well as to axion phenomenology. Namely, a higher-dimensional seesaw mechanism may provide light neutrino masses without heavy mass scales Die99 . Similarly, axion invisibility can be achieved in extra dimensions even with a low fundamental Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scale Die00 .

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is designed to search for solar axions of a broad energy spectrum which peaks at about 4 keV, through their conversion into real photons inside the transverse magnetic field Zio99 ; Ira02 . This telescope may improve the current laboratory bounds on the axion-photon coupling, $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }6\times 10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}^1`$ for $`m0.03`$ eV and $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }6.810.9\times 10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}^1`$ for $`m0.050.27\mathrm{eV}`$ Mori98 , by a factor of ten or even more. It also has the potential to extend for the first time the axion searches beyond the limit $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}^1`$ arising from astrophysical constraints on anomalous energy loss by stars Raf02 . Although the CAST telescope could in principle be sensitive to axion masses in the range of a few keV, the coherence-loss constraints Bib89 ; Laz92  reduce the sensitivity down to around 1 eV.

The first goal of the present note is to interpret prospects of CAST in the light of the theory with large extra spatial dimensions. We focus on the case when the limit on the size of two large extra compact dimensions is set by direct tests of gravity Hoy01 . Our second goal is to explore the potential of CAST for testing the presence of large extra dimensions.

## II QCD AXIONS AND CAST

Axions are pseudoscalars arising in models which resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) by the PQ mechanism Pec77 . Owing to their potential abundance in the early universe, they are also well-motivated candidates for the dark matter of the universe. In both classes of (conventional) invisible axion models referred to as KSVZ or hadronic axion models Kim79  (where axions do not couple to electrons at tree level) and DFSZ or grand unified theory (GUT) models Din81 , the axion-photon coupling strength is given by the relation

$$g_{a\gamma \gamma }=\frac{\alpha }{2\pi f_{\mathrm{PQ}}}(E/N1.93\pm 0.08).$$
(1)
Here $`E/N`$ is a model-dependent numerical parameter for hadronic axions, while for DFSZ axions $`E/N=8/3`$. Furthermore, the mass of the (QCD) axion $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ is related to the PQ symmetry breaking scale $`f_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ by

$$m_{\mathrm{PQ}}=6\mathrm{eV}\frac{10^6}{f_{\mathrm{PQ}}/1\mathrm{GeV}}.$$
(2)
In order to avoid ambiguities owing to the model-dependence of the parameter $`E/N`$ for hadronic axions, it proved more convenient to make constraints on the axion-photon coupling than on the PQ energy scale or on the axion mass.

In contrast, cosmological considerations and astrophysical arguments (i.e., axion emission due to nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung from the supernova SN 1987A) bound the axion mass into two possible ranges Raf96 . The first window is $`10^5\mathrm{eV}m_{\mathrm{PQ}}10^2\mathrm{eV}`$, in which case the axion could constitute the cold dark matter of the universe. The second one, being around ten to twenty electronvolts, appears to be of interest for hot dark matter. However, such astrophysical constraints on $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$, although the most stringent, suffer from statistical weakness (with only 19 neutrinos being observed) as well as from all uncertainties related to the axion emission from a hot/dense medium. It is therefore of crucial importance to probe the axion properties in a model-independent way Krc98 ; Krc01 .

Currently, laboratory searches for solar axions Laz92 ; Avi98 ; Mori98 ; Ber01  are being extended by the CAST experiment at CERN. This telescope uses a decommissioned LHC prototype magnet with a field of 9 T and a length $`L`$ of 10 m. The magnet contains two straight beam pipes with an effective cross sectional area $`S=2\times 14\mathrm{cm}^2`$, and is mounted on a moving platform with low-background X-ray detectors on either end allowing it to track the Sun about 3 hours per day.

Hadronic axions could be produced abundantly in the core of the Sun by the Primakoff conversion of the blackbody photons in the Coulomb fields of nuclei and electrons in the solar plasma. The outgoing axion flux is robust and does not depend on subtle details of the solar model. It is approximately given by DiL00

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\mathrm{\Phi }(E)}{dE}}`$ $`=`$ $`4.20\times 10^{10}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{keV}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{g_{a\gamma \gamma }}{10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}^1}}\right)^2`$ (3)
$`\times {\displaystyle \frac{Ep^2}{e^{E/1.1}0.7}}(1+0.02m).`$
Here $`d\mathrm{\Phi }(E)/dE`$ is the axion flux at the Earth, differential with respect to axion energy ($`E`$), and expressed as a function of axion mass ($`m`$). The quantities $`E`$, $`p=\sqrt{E^2m^2}`$, and $`m`$ are to be taken in keV. The probability for an axion-to-photon conversion in the presence of a transverse magnetic field ($`B`$) and a refractive medium (i) is given by Bib89

$`P_{a\gamma }^i(m)`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{Bg_{a\gamma \gamma }}{2}}\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{1}{q_i^2+\mu _i^2/4}}`$ (4)
$`\times \left[1+e^{\mu _iL}2e^{\mu _iL/2}\mathrm{cos}(q_iL)\right],`$
where $`q_i=|(m_{\gamma i}^2m^2)/2E|`$ is the momentum difference between photons in the medium and axions, and $`\mu _i`$ denotes the inverse absorption length for X-rays. The effective mass (plasma frequency) for an X-ray in He can be described in terms of the operating pressure $`P_i`$ (at 300 K) as $`m_{\gamma i}/1\mathrm{eV}\sqrt{(P_i/1\mathrm{atm})/15}`$. The coherence condition $`q_iL<\pi `$ Laz92  requires $`m0.02\mathrm{eV}`$ for a photon energy of 4.2 keV (the average axion energy) and a coherence length of 10 m in vacuum. To search for axions more massive, coherence can be restored by filling the magnetic conversion region with buffer gas. Integrating over all axion energies, the expected number of photons $`N_{\gamma i}(m)`$, being detected during the times of solar alignment with the magnet ($`t_i`$), is finally

$$N_{\gamma i}(m)=_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\mathrm{\Phi }(E)}{dE}P_{a\gamma }^i(m)St_i𝑑E,$$
(5)
assuming 100% detection efficiency for the conversion X-rays. At a fixed pressure $`P_i`$, the response of CAST will be a sharply peaked function of the actual axion mass $`m`$, with the fractional resolution $`\mathrm{\Delta }m/m_{\gamma i}5.2\times 10^4(m_{\gamma i}/1\mathrm{eV})^2`$. A general analysis of the experimental prospects Zio99  explores the full two-dimensional ($`m,g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$) space for QCD axions rather than the narrow band defined by conventional axion models (although it remains the best-motivated region), as it is shown in Fig. 2. The experiment is being operated in a scanning mode in which the gas pressure is varied in appropriate steps (1 yr with vacuum, an additional 1 yr with a He gas pressure increased from 0-1 atm in 100 increments, and an additional 1 yr with 1-10 atm in 365 increments) to cover a range of possible axion masses up to 0.82 eV.

## III CAST AND LARGE EXTRA DIMENSIONS

Large extra dimensions aim to stabilize the mass hierarchy (i.e., the hierarchy between the Planck scale and the electroweak scale) by producing the hugeness of the Planck mass $`M_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$ via the relation

$$M_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2=M_D^{n+2}V_n,$$
(6)
where $`V_nR^n`$ is the full volume of the compactified space, and the fundamental scale is set at $`M_D\mathrm{TeV}`$. As already stressed, a singlet higher-dimensional axion field is also free to propagate into the bulk and therefore a similar volume-suppressed formula can be used to lower the fundamental Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scale $`\overline{f}_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ Ark98 ; Die00 ; Cha00

$$f_{\mathrm{PQ}}^2=\overline{f}_{\mathrm{PQ}}^2M_S^\delta V_\delta ,$$
(7)
where $`M_S`$ is the string scale, $`M_SM_D`$. Since the phenomenologically allowed region for $`f_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ (also generating the coupling between the axion and matter) is such that $`f_{\mathrm{PQ}}M_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$, the axion must be restricted to a subspace of the full higher-dimensional bulk ($`\delta <n`$), if $`\overline{f}_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ is to reside in the TeV-range Die00 . Still, $`\delta =n`$ is possible for $`\overline{f}_{\mathrm{PQ}}\mathrm{TeV}`$ DiL00 ; Hor02 .

In Ref. Die00  the full generalization of the higher-dimensional PQ mechanism was given, including a thorough discussion of how extra space dimensions may contribute to the invisibility of the PQ axion. All new phenomena contributing to the invisibility of the axion and found there rely on a nontrivial axion mass matrix. Such a matrix is induced by a mixing between the four-dimensional axion and the infinite tower of KK excitations. The most interesting phenomenological consequence implied by such a mixing is a decoupling of the mass eigenstate of the axion from the PQ scale (for $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}>(1/2)R^1`$). Since this feature is crucial for our considerations here, we discuss it in more detail below.

Now, we can focus on the higher-dimensional case by considering first the KK decomposition of the axion field. As a major step, we need to calculate the estimated number of X-rays at the pressure $`P_i`$ as a function of the KK axion mass. The masses of the KK modes are given by

$$m_\stackrel{}{\delta }=\frac{1}{R}\sqrt{n_1^2+n_2^2+\mathrm{}+n_\delta ^2}\frac{|\stackrel{}{\delta }|}{R},$$
(8)
where we assume that all $`n`$ extra dimensions are of the same size $`R`$. When the mass splitting for the size $`R`$ ($`1/R`$) is sufficiently small, one is allowed to use integration instead of summation Gui99 . We have already mentioned that because of the nontrivial axion mass matrix, neither the four-dimensional axion nor the KK states represent the mass eigenstates. Instead, the eigenvalues are given as solutions to the transcendental equation Die00

$$\pi R\lambda \mathrm{cot}(\pi R\lambda )=\frac{\lambda ^2}{m_{\mathrm{PQ}}^2}.$$
(9)
Hence, in order to estimate the number of modes with the KK index between $`n`$ and $`n+dn`$, one should parameterize the whole set of eigenvalues of (9). This can be done by solving (9) for two limiting cases, $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$ and $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$. We find for the eigenvalues

$`\lambda _0m_{\mathrm{PQ}},`$
$`\lambda _n{\displaystyle \frac{n}{R}},n=1,2,\mathrm{}\mathrm{if}m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1,`$ (10)
and

$$\lambda _n\frac{2n+1}{2R},n=0,1,2,\mathrm{}\mathrm{if}m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1.$$
(11)
The results from Ref. Die00 , where only the mass of the axion zero-mode was estimated, can now be easily reproduced from our expressions (10) and (11). In Fig. 1 we show the mass of the first KK state as a function of $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R`$. It can be seen how the mass quickly approaches its limiting value (3/2)$`R^1`$. A similar feature was found in Ref. Die00  for the zero-mode.

Finally, the total number of X-rays due to all modes of the KK tower reads

$`N_{\gamma i}^{KK}=S_\delta R^\delta {\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑mm^{\delta 1}N_{\gamma i}(m)G(m)`$
$`\mathrm{if}m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$ (12)
and

$`N_{\gamma i}^{KK}=S_\delta R^\delta {\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑mm^{\delta 1}N_{\gamma i}(m+1/2R)`$
$`\times G(m+1/2R)`$
$`\mathrm{if}m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1,`$ (13)
where $`S_\delta 2\pi ^{\delta /2}/\mathrm{\Gamma }(\delta /2)`$ is the surface of a unit radius in $`\delta `$ dimensions and $`G(m)`$ is defined as

$$G(m)=\stackrel{~}{m}^4(\stackrel{~}{m}^2+1+\pi ^2/y^2)^2,$$
(14)
with $`\stackrel{~}{m}m/m_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$ and $`y1/m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R`$. The function $`G(m)`$ arises from the mixing between the KK axion modes entering the KK decomposition of the higher-dimensional axion field and the corresponding normalized mass eigenstates Die00 . It also implies both production and detection of KK axions to occur on our Standard-Model brane. The function $`G(m)`$ also incorporates the effect of rapid decoherency Die00  of the only linear combination of KK states of the bulk axion which couples to Standard-Model fields. This means that the production and subsequent detection of this particular linear combination of KK states are strongly suppressed. As a consequence our results always reflect a volume-suppressed coupling $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }1/f_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$. If it was not for the decoherency, the linear combination would be coupled to photons with an unsuppressed coupling $`1/\overline{f}_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$.

## IV DISCUSSION

In order to achieve an upper limit on the coupling of the axion to photons from the prospects of CAST in the framework of large extra dimensions, we apply the central limit theorem at 3 $`\sigma `$ level

$$\underset{i}{}N_{\gamma i}^{KK}3\sqrt{\underset{i}{}N_{bi}},$$
(15)
where $`N_{bi}`$ is the background of the X-ray detector (with numerical values taken from Ref. Zio99 ). For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that all axions have an average energy of 4.2 keV. Combining Eq. (15) with Eqs. (3)-(5) and (12)-(14) for the case of two extra dimensions (we take the largest compactification radius of 0.150 mm as set by direct tests of Newton’s law Hoy01 ), we have derived limits on the axion-photon coupling $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ as a function of the fundamental PQ mass, as shown in Fig. 2.

Although the multiplicity of KK states to which CAST could be sensitive is large ($`10^3`$ for $`\delta =1`$ and $`10^6`$ for $`\delta =2`$), one can see from Fig. 2 that the upper limit on $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ is only at most an order of magnitude more stringent than that obtained in conventional theories. This is due to the fact that CAST is a tuning experiment, i.e., the coherence condition at a fixed pressure is fulfilled only within a very narrow window of axion masses around $`mm_{\gamma i}`$. The corresponding width ranges (depending on pressure) from $`10^2\mathrm{eV}`$ down to $`10^3\mathrm{eV}`$. Another feature visible in Fig. 2 is a strong decrease in sensitivity to $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ for $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R20`$ if $`\delta =2`$ and for somewhat lower values if $`\delta =1`$. This is due to the fact that in the regime $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$, $`G(m)`$ decreases as fast as $`1/(m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R)^8`$. It is just the regime in which the obtained limits on $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ cannot be coupled with the zero-mode axion mass ($`m_a(1/2)R^1=6.6\times 10^4\mathrm{eV}`$) via relations (1) and (2) because in higher dimensions the mass of the axion is approximatively given as $`m_a\mathrm{min}((1/2)R^1,m_{\mathrm{PQ}})`$ Die00 . In contrast with the case of ordinary QCD axions, in theories with large extra dimensions zero-mode axions with masses outside the favored band (as determined by conventional axion models in four dimensions) arise quite naturally.

Now we would like to point to a new phenomenon predicted for CAST: sensitivity to particular KK axions. We have already noted that physical KK modes are given by Eqs. (10) and (11). It is expected that more than one axion signal may be observed at different pressures of the gas. Therefore, the detection of the corresponding X-rays at least at two pressures may be the signal for the presence of large extra dimensions. As the CAST experiment is scanning the range of axion masses up to 0.82 eV, this requirement actually defines a sensitivity of the experiment to test the compactification radius. From Eqs. (10) and (11) we obtain $`R370\mathrm{nm}`$ if $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R>1`$ and $`R250\mathrm{nm}`$ if $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R<1`$, with $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}^1`$. It should be noted here that with the CAST sensitivity to $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ the former result holds only for $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$; for $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}R1`$ the sensitivity rapidly decreases due to the suppression from the $`G(m)`$ function. The present modifications of CAST may increase its sensitivity to $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ by a factor of 1.5 Ira02 , providing the sensitivity as mentioned above is of the order of that derived from the solar age consideration Krc03 . Note that in a recent review of the Particle Data Group Hag02  the bound on $`R`$ for the case of two extra dimensions, coming from astrophysics, was listed to have a value within the range 90 to 660 nm (for the most stringent constraints, see the recent work Han03 ).

In conclusion, we have explored the potential of the CAST experiment for observing KK axions coming from the solar interior. Because of the restrictive coherence condition, in theories with two extra dimensions (with $`R=0.150`$ mm) a sensitivity in axion-photon coupling improves at most one order of magnitude in both data taking phases. In this case, the obtained limit on $`g_{a\gamma \gamma }`$ cannot be coupled with the mass of the axion, which is essentially given by the (common) radius of the extra dimensions. In addition, we have demonstrated that the CAST experiment, being a tuning experiment with respect to axion masses, may not be sensitive only to an integrated effect of KK modes up to the kinematical limit but also to particular KK axions. With a requirement to have at least two signals while changing pressure of the gas, we have found that CAST is capable of probing (two) large extra dimensions with a compactification radius $`R`$ down to around 250 nm if $`m_{\mathrm{PQ}}<1/(2R)`$, and down to around 370 nm if $`1/(2R)<m_{\mathrm{PQ}}`$.


text:
# Breakdown by a magnetic field of the superconducting fluctuations in the normal state in Pb1-xInx alloys

## Abstract

The effects induced on the magnetization by coherent fluctuating Cooper pairs in the normal state have been measured in Pb1-xInx alloys up to high magnetic fields, of amplitudes above $`H_{C2}(0)`$, the upper critical field extrapolated to $`T`$=0 K. Our results show that in dirty alloys these superconducting fluctuation effects are, in the entire $`HT`$ phase diagram above $`H_{C2}(T)`$, independent of the amount of impurities and that they vanish when $`H1.1H_{C2}(0)`$. These striking results are consistent with a phenomenological estimate that takes into account the limits imposed by the uncertainty principle to the shrinkage, when $`H`$ increases, of the superconducting wave function.

After the pioneering theoretical proposals in the sixties, it was soon realized that in addition to their intrinsic interest the fluctuating Cooper pairs created in the normal state by the unavoidable thermal agitation provide a useful tool in studying the superconducting transition. Since then, the superconducting fluctuations (SF) in the normal state have been extensively studied in low- and high-$`T_C`$ superconductors, and at present many of their main aspects are well understood. However, their behaviour under strong magnetic fields \[of the order of $`H_{C2}(0)`$, the upper critical field amplitude extrapolated to $`T`$=0 K\] is still an open problem. In fact, a central question remains unaddressed, both experimentally and theoretically, until now: Up to what magnetic field amplitudes may the SF in the normal state survive? The interest of this question is enhanced by the fact that it may concern the general behaviour of the Cooper pairs above and below the superconducting transition in the presence of strong “antisymmetric” perturbations (which “act with opposite sign on the two members of a Cooper pair”) and it could then have implications well beyond the SF issue, including the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity or the interplay between normal-state properties and high temperature superconductivity.

In this Letter, we attempt to answer the question stated above by presenting measurements of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(T,H)`$, the magnetization induced by SF in the normal state, in Pb1-xInx alloys with 0$`x`$0.45, and up to field amplitudes well above $`H_{C2}(0)`$. Our experiments show that the intrinsic SF (not affected by dynamic and non-local electrodynamic effects) are immune to the presence of non-magnetic impurities and that, independently of the superconductors’ dirtiness, $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(T,H)`$ vanishes when $`H`$ becomes close to $`1.1H_{C2}(0)`$. This striking behaviour, not predicted by the existing phenomenological or microscopic approaches for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(T,H)`$, is crudely explained here by taking into account the limits imposed by the uncertainty principle to the shrinkage of the superconducting wave function when the magnetic field increases. This will extend to high fields our previous proposals for the SF at high reduced temperatures, in spite that the magnetic field is an antisymmetric perturbation.

Among the available low- and high-$`T_C`$ superconductors, we choose the Pb-In alloys to study the high-field behaviour of the SF for four main reasons: i) Its entire $`HT`$ phase diagram is, even for $`HH_{C2}(0)`$, easily accessible with the existing high resolution, SQUID based, magnetometers. ii) By changing the In concentration, it is possible to cover both type I and type II superconductors and also the range from the clean to the dirty limits (see Table I). This is a crucial advantage because it has allowed us to separate the “universal” magnetic field effects on the SF from those associated with the dynamic and non-local electrodynamic effects, these last being strongly material-dependent. iii) It is also possible to obtain alloys with high stoichiometric quality. This is another crucial advantage, because it minimizes the spurious magnetization rounding associated with $`T_C`$ inhomogeneities, that otherwise would be entangled with the intrinsic rounding due to the SF. iv) The normal-state magnetic susceptibility of these samples is almost independent of $`T`$ and $`H`$ up to, at least, $`5T_{C0}`$ and $`5H_{C2}(0)`$. This allows a very reliable obtainment of the background magnetization around $`T_C(H)`$ by linear extrapolation of the as-measured $`M(T)_H`$ or $`M(H)_T`$ well above $`T_C(H)`$. Moreover, by electrochemically coating with a normal metal (i.e., Au or Cu), it is easy to eliminate in Pb-In alloys the surface superconductivity between $`H_{C2}(T)`$ and $`H_{C3}(T)`$, which otherwise would complicate the analysis above $`H_{C2}(T)`$ for $`T<T_{C0}`$, the zero-field critical temperature. The synthesis of this type of alloys and some of their general characteristics (including the values of the critical fields) have been already described in various earlier works which address other phenomena in these materials. Other experimental details will be published elsewhere.

The presence of fluctuating Cooper pairs above $`T_C(H)`$ produces a rounding of the as-measured susceptibility versus magnetic field curves, as illustrated in Fig. 1. This example also shows that this rounding is progressively reduced as the applied field increases and it completely vanishes when the reduced field, $`hH/H_{C2}(0)`$, becomes close to 1.1. The finite-field effects may be described quantitatively through the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ curves, as the one presented in Fig. 2, which corresponds to a temperature above $`T_{C0}`$ \[i.e., $`ϵ>0`$, where $`\epsilon \mathrm{ln}(T/T_{C0})`$ is the reduced temperature\]. As may be seen in this figure, in the low-field region $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ agrees with the Prange predictions and provides then a direct indication that in this dirty superconductor $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h,\epsilon )`$ is not appreciably affected by non-local electrodynamic effects. The results of Fig. 2 also show that when $`h\stackrel{>}{_{}}0.2`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ begins to decrease and for $`h\stackrel{>}{_{}}1.1`$ the fluctuation-induced diamagnetism vanishes. The upper horizontal scale in Fig. 2 illustrates that at these high fields the GL coherence length, which for $`h|\epsilon |`$ behaves as $`\xi (h)_\epsilon \sqrt{2}\xi (0)h^{1/2}`$, becomes of the order of $`\xi _0`$, the actual (or Pippard) superconducting coherence length at $`T`$=0 K. This scale was obtained by using $`\xi (0)=0.74\xi _0`$, which is still a good approximation in the dirty limit. When compared with our previous results at low field amplitudes but at high reduced temperatures, this last finding already suggests that in spite of the antisymmetric character of the magnetic field the vanishing of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ may also be due to the limits imposed by the uncertainty principle to the shrinkage of the superconducting wave function. When the shrinkage of the superconducting wave function is due to a magnetic field, this leads to:

$$\xi (h)_\epsilon \stackrel{>}{_{}}\xi _0,$$
(1)
where $`\xi _0`$ for each alloy is related to $`\xi _0^{Pb}`$ for pure Pb by $`\xi _0(\xi _0^{Pb}\mathrm{})^{1/2}`$. The above inequality directly leads to a critical reduced-field, $`h^C`$, given by $`h^C=2(\xi (0)/\xi _0)^2`$, above which all the SF vanish. By using again $`\xi (0)=0.74\xi _0`$, we obtain $`h^C1.1`$, in excellent agreement with the results of Figs. 1 and 2. As $`\xi (0)/\xi _0`$ is almost material-independent, Eq. (1) predicts that the above value of $`h^C`$ will be “universal”. This striking prediction is confirmed at a quantitative level by the experimental results at $`T_{C0}`$ for all the samples studied in this work and summarized in Fig. 3: Independently of the superconductor dirtiness and also of their type I or type II character, the SF vanish when $`h1.1`$. Another central result shown by Fig. 3 is that all the data for the different dirty alloys collapse on the same curve: this provides a direct experimental demonstration that in the absence of non-local electrodynamic effects, the SF are not affected by impurities.

The data summarized in Fig. 3 are also particularly well adapted to probe in the high-field region below $`h^C`$ the applicability of the existing theoretical approaches for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$: in the absence of material-dependent effects (as dynamic or non-local effects), the Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau (GGL) approach without any cutoff (as first proposed by Prange) predicts that at $`T_{C0}`$ all the data must collapse on the same, field-independent curve (dot-dashed line in Fig. 3). The failure of the Prange approach when $`h`$ increases, also shown by the results of Fig. 2, was already observed by Gollub and coworkers in their pioneering measurements, which did not cover the high-field regime (they extended only up to $`h0.6`$). Most of these last measurements were done in clean low-$`T_C`$ superconductors and they were entangled with the non-local effects that already at low fields reduce the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_{T_{C0}}/H^{1/2}T_{C0}`$ amplitude well below the theoretical value. We have also observed this reduction in pure Pb, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The introduction in the GGL Prange approach of different cutoffs, which consider the short-wavelength fluctuation effects at high reduced temperatures and fields but do not take into account Eq. (1) (see also below), will lead to a decrease of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ when $`h`$ increases. However, as illustrated in Fig. 2 for the case of the kinetic-energy or momentum cutoff, the resulting $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ (dotted line) still does not account for the experimental decrease with $`h\stackrel{>}{_{}}0.2`$.

The results in Figs. 2 and 3 also show that the existing microscopic approaches for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$, which do not take into account Eq. (1), also fail to account for our experimental results at high fields. The dashed lines correspond to the approach proposed by Maki and Takayama and by Klemm, Beasley and Luther (MT-KBL theory) for the dirty limit. This approach generalizes for dirty superconductors the pioneering calculations of Lee and Payne. We have estimated these curves without any adjustable parameter (by using the values of Table I). As may be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the agreement with the experimental data at low and moderate field amplitudes (up to $`h0.2`$) is excellent. However, there is strong disagreement at high fields.

Could the theoretical approaches summarized above explain the high-field behaviour of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ if Eq. (1) is taken into account? A full answer to this question could be obtained only on the grounds of the microscopic approaches . This task is out of the scope of our present Letter. However, a crude but probably the simplest way to obtain a qualitative answer to this question is to introduce Eq. (1) in the GGL approach, even though far from $`T_{C0}`$ or at high fields this approach may be not formally applicable. In fact, in this way we may probe if the limitations imposed by the uncertainty principle is the dominant effect on the SF at high magnetic fields, in spite of the antisymmetric character of the magnetic field. To do that, we first note that in terms of the “total energy” $`E_{nk_z}`$ of the fluctuating modes of Landau level index $`n=0,1,\mathrm{}`$ and wave vector parallel to the field $`k_z`$, this constraint may be written as:

$$E_{nk_z}ϵ+(2n+1)h+\xi ^2(0)k_z^2\stackrel{<}{_{}}(\xi (0)/\xi _0)^2,$$
(2)
where the energies are expressed in units of $`\mathrm{}^2/2m^{}\xi ^2(0)`$, and $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`m^{}`$ are, respectively, the Planck constant and the effective mass of the Cooper pairs. To take into account Eq. (2) at high fields, we introduce a total-energy-dependent weighting function, $`W(E_{nk_z})`$, pondering the contribution of each fluctuating mode in the free-energy statistical sum. This procedure is similar to the one proposed by Patton, Ambegaokar and Wilkins (PAW). However, PAW’s approach does not take into account the limits imposed by the uncertainty principle to the shrinkage of the superconducting wave function. In fact, PAW’s calculations are equivalent to the choice $`W_{\mathrm{PAW}}(E_{nk_z})=\mathrm{ln}[1+\mathrm{exp}(E_{nkz}/h_0)]/\mathrm{ln}E_{nk_z}`$, which does not consider the inequality (2). Here the reduced field $`h_0`$ corresponds to the maximum of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_{T_{C0}}`$ curve, and therefore in our Pb-In alloys it will be $`0.2\stackrel{<}{_{}}h_0\stackrel{<}{_{}}0.25`$. In our present study, to reproduce the rapid fall-off of the SF expected when the inequality (2) begins to be violated, we introduce an additional prefactor to the penalization function, using $`W(E_{nk_z})=W_{\mathrm{PAW}}(E_{nk_z})(1+\mathrm{exp}[(E_{nk_z}(\xi (0)/\xi _0)^2\delta )/\delta ])^1`$. This additional prefactor has the form of a Fermi-Dirac distribution function, presenting a step-like decay starting at energies $`(\xi (0)/\xi _0)^2`$ and with $`\delta `$ as typical half-width. By repeating the standard GGL calculations for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(T,H)`$ in isotropic 3D superconductors above the transition but now including the weighting function $`W(E_{nk_z})`$, we obtain:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }M=\frac{k_\mathrm{B}T}{\pi \varphi _0}_0^{\mathrm{}}dk_z\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{}{h}\left[W(E_{nk_z})h\mathrm{ln}E_{nk_z}\right],$$
(3)
where $`k_B`$ is the Boltzmann constant and $`\varphi _0`$ the flux quantum. This formula may be numerically computed thanks to the rapid decay of $`W(E_{nk_z})`$ as $`n`$ or $`k_z`$ increase. In Figs. 2 and 3 we plot the results of that evaluation as a solid line. In making these computations we have used the values of $`\xi (0)`$ and $`T_{C0}`$ given in Table I and $`(\xi (0)/\xi _0)^2=0.55`$. We also used $`h_0=0.22`$ and $`\delta =0.2`$, which are the values giving a better agreement with our experimental results. As may be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, this agreement is excellent in all the studied $`h`$\- and $`\epsilon `$-range, and it also includes the vanishing of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(h)_\epsilon `$ at $`h^C1.1`$.

Another well-known procedure to shrink the collective wave function of the fluctuating Cooper pairs is, as noted before, to increase the temperature well above $`T_{C0}`$ in the absence of or under low magnetic fields. In fact, we have recently studied in detail the behaviour of the SF in this case in different low-$`T_C`$ and high-$`T_C`$ superconductors through measurements of the paraconductivity or of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M(\epsilon )_h`$ in the low field limit ($`h/\epsilon 1`$). When both types of experiments are compared, they further suggest a similar pair breaking mechanism when $`\epsilon `$ approaches $`\epsilon ^C0.55`$ or $`h`$ approaches $`h^C1.1`$, despite the magnetic field being an “antisymmetric” perturbation. These results also demonstrate that in the absence of non-local electrodynamic effects (which affect only the clean and low-$`\kappa `$ Pb), the SF in the normal state are unaffected by impurities (as sown in Fig. 3). This immunity of the SF against both impurities and (antisymmetric) magnetic field perturbations, which is also confirmed by measurements of the paraconductivity at high reduced temperatures in high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTSC) with different doping levels, is to some extent similar to the stability shown by the flux quantization below $`H_{C2}(T)`$. Our results suggest then the existence of an unexpected “quantum protectorate” for the coherent fluctuating Cooper pairs above $`H_{C2}(T)`$, that is only broken by the limits imposed by the uncertainty principle. Its extension in the $`ht`$ phase diagram is represented in Fig. 4, which corresponds to the Pb-45 at. % In alloy.

In conclusion, we believe that the measured ($`h`$-$`t`$) phase diagram shown in Fig. 4 is representative of all type II superconductors unaffected by non-local electrodynamic effects, as the dirty low-$`T_C`$ superconductors. In principle, this ($`h`$-$`t`$) phase diagram could also apply to HTSC, which are extremely type II superconductors also unaffected by non-local effects. However, this last suggestion obviously needs further experimental verification, in particular in view of the recent observation of anomalous thermomagnetic effects well above $`T_C(H)`$ in some underdoped cuprates. Other open questions which deserve further studies are the SF in presence of magnetic order (our present results also suggest the robustness of the SF against this antisymmetric perturbation) or the relationships between our crude theoretical analysis and the available microscopic approaches for the SF around $`T_C(H)`$ .

We thank Prof. J.B. Goodenough for his careful reading of our manuscript and helpful remarks. We acknowledge the financial support from the ESF “Vortex” Program, the CICYT, Spain, under grants no. MAT2001-3272 and MAT2001-3053, the Xunta de Galicia under grant PGIDT01PXI20609PR, and by Unión Fenosa under grant 220/0085-2002.