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# Cool helium-rich white dwarfs from the Hamburg/ESO SurveyBased on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile. This research has made use of the Simbad database operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France, and of the Digitized Sky Survey, produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under US Government grant NAG W-2166.

## 1 Introduction

The Hamburg/ESO Survey for bright quasars (HES, Wisotzki et al. wisotzki (1996)) was initiated in 1990 to perform a spectroscopic survey, based on digitized objective-prism photographs taken with the ESO Schmidt telescope, in the southern hemisphere. A nominal area of $`9000`$ deg2 in the southern sky is covered with an average limiting magnitude on the prism plates of $`B17.5`$. It was conceived as a complement to the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS, Hagen et al. hagen (1995)), which aims at a complete coverage of the northern sky except for the galactic plane. Similar surveys have been conducted in the past to search for faint blue objects. Still in progress in the southern hemisphere are the Edinburgh-Cape survey (Stobie et al. stobie97 (1997)), the Homogenous Bright Quasar Survey (Cristiani et al. cristiani95 (1995)), and the Montreal-Cambridge-Tololo survey (Lamontagne et al. lamontagne00 (2000)).

The main goal of both the HES and the HQS survey is the compilation of a large sample of bright QSOs. In a first step QSO candidates are selected by various broadband color criteria and feature detection algorithms applied to spectra derived from low resolution scans of the prism plates (Wisotzki et al. wisotzki00 (2000)). Since among UV excess objects (i.e. $`UB<0.4`$) less than 10% can be expected to be QSOs, the Hamburg Quasar Survey and the Hamburg/ESO Survey are also a rich source of white dwarfs of various types, and early-type subdwarfs. In a recent paper, Homeier etal. (homeier (1998)) present an analysis of 80 DA white dwarfs detected through follow-up observations of the HQS. Reimers et al. (reimersa (1994), reimersb (1996), reimersc (1998)) reported on the detection of several new magnetic white dwarfs in the HES. A summary of helium-rich subluminous stars can be found in Heber et al. (heber96 (1996)) and an analysis of 47 sdO stars from the HQS in Lemke et al. (lemke98 (1998)).

In this paper we present the analysis of 40 helium-rich white dwarfs using LTE model atmospheres. The objects have been found in the HES and have entered the quasar candidate sample because of $`UB0.18`$. Due to the high spectral resolution of the HES spectra ($`15`$ Å at H$`\gamma `$), it is possible to identify most of the hot stars in the quasar candidate sample (see Reimers & Wisotzki reimers97 (1997) for example spectra) by their hydrogen and/or helium absorption lines. Featureless, very hot stars can be identified by their continuum shape. Therefore, the sample of stars presented in this paper is restricted to a temperature regime of 10000 K$`<`$ $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ $``$ 20000 K – as the analysis shows – in which neither strong absorption lines of helium nor a continuum shape notably different from that of a quasar are present. Because it was not possible to make a definitive distinction between quasars and stars on the basis of the HES objective prism spectra alone, spectroscopic follow-up observations have been performed.

## 2 Observational data

In Table 1 and Table 2 we summarize the follow-up spectroscopy and give coordinates, magnitudes, names from other surveys, and spectral types, if already existing, for the observed helium-rich white dwarfs. The instruments used for spectroscopy were the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC), the Danish Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (DFOSC), and the Boller & Chivens Spectrograph (B&C). A # in Table 1 refers to ESO numbering of grisms, for which details can be found in the according telescope manuals. In general a spectral range between about 3800Å and 7000Å up to 9000Å is covered with resolutions between about 100 to 500 Å/mm. The coordinates have been derived from the Digitized Sky Survey I (DSS-I). Therefore, finding charts can easily be obtained from the online DSS-I. Magnitudes are given as $`B_J`$ magnitude, which is defined by the sensitivity curve of the hyper-sensitized Kodak IIIa-J emulsion combined with the filter function of a Schott BG395 filter. $`B_J`$ is roughly equal to $`B`$ for objects around $`BV=0`$ and accurate to better than $`\pm `$ 0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$2 for all sample stars.

The spectra of all DB white dwarfs are depicted in Fig. 1 to 3. The spectra of DBA and DBAZ white dwarfs can be found in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, respectively, and the spectra of the DZ, DQ, and DC white dwarfs are summarized in Fig. 6.

## 3 Spectral analysis

### 3.1 Models

In order to derive effective temperatures the observed spectra have been fitted to model spectra of nearly pure helium atmospheres with a small admixture of hydrogen ($`10^6`$ relative to helium by number) covering a temperature range from 10000 K to 35000 K in 250 K steps up to 16000 K, in 500 K steps between 16000 K and 20000 K, and 1000 K steps above 20000 K. $`\mathrm{log}g`$ was given between 7.75 and 8.5 in 0.25 dex increments. Between 16500 K and 20000 K we extended the grid to $`\mathrm{log}g=9`$. He i line profiles were calculated with our LTE atmosphere codes (see Finley et al. finley (1997) for a recent description) in which the improved He i line broadening theory of Beauchamp et al. (beauchamp (1997)) was implemented. These Stark profiles have been calculated for temperatures ranging from 10000 K to 40000 K and consider broadening by ions and electrons. Line broadening by neutral perturbers, which becomes important at lower temperatures, was not included in our calculation of line profiles. This might lead to some uncertainties. However, a temperature determination from the continuum slopes of HE 0446$``$2531 and HE 0449$``$2554, for which we have absolutely calibrated flux spectra, showed the deviation in $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ to be less than 1000 K at temperatures of about 12000 K.

### 3.2 Determination of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$

Effective temperature and $`\mathrm{log}g`$ were determined in a $`\chi ^2`$ fitting procedure based on a Levenberg-Marquard algorithm (cf. Press et al. press (1992)) by comparison of He i line profiles with synthetic spectra from the He/H atmospheres. The method is very similar to that described in detail in Homeier et al. (homeier (1998)).

We started the fitting procedure with both temperature and $`\mathrm{log}g`$ as a free parameter. However, at the given data quality the dependence on $`\mathrm{log}g`$ turned out to be rather small, and it was thus not possible to determine it unambiguously. In most cases a higher $`\mathrm{log}g`$ could be compensated by a higher temperature, and vice versa, with roughly the same $`\chi ^2`$ value. Furthermore, systematic effects like small differences in the starting values for $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and $`\mathrm{log}g`$ might change the solution by much more than the statistical errors. We therefore determined $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ for $`\mathrm{log}g`$ fixed to 8, too. Comparison of temperatures derived from fits with $`\mathrm{log}g`$ as free parameter and fixed to 8 only revealed small differences, which could often be regarded as equal within their statistical errors. This is reflected by the mean of all fitted $`\mathrm{log}g`$ values of 8.15$`\pm `$0.24. In Table 3 we have compiled the results of our analysis. The given errors for temperatures and $`\mathrm{log}g`$ are formal statistical errors from the covariance matrix of the fit, which do not reflect any systematic errors. As has been discussed by many authors using similar methods (see e.g. Homeier et al. homeier (1998); Napiwotzki et al. napi (1999)), external errors can be higher by a large factor.

### 3.3 Determination of hydrogen and metal abundances

As for the DB stars, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ was determined for DBA and DBAZ white dwarfs by comparing He i line profiles with those from synthetic spectra of our He/H atmospheres. We did not perform selfconsistent calculations with hydrogen and metal lines already included in the atmospheres. In the next step model atmospheres for the derived effective temperatures were calculated which contain calcium and/or hydrogen in estimated amounts for the respective star. The resulting temperature and pressure stratification was then used to compute detailed synthetic spectra with varying calcium and/or hydrogen abundances. For HE 0446$``$2531 also magnesium and iron were considered. Abundances were then obtained by comparison of observed equivalent widths and line profiles to those from the synthetic spectra. Unless otherwise mentioned, equivalent widths of H$`\alpha `$, H$`\beta `$, and H$`\gamma `$ were determined between 6543 Å and 6583 Å, 4841 Å and 4881 Å, and 4310 Å and 4370 Å, respectively; equivalent widths of the Ca ii doublet were determined between 3890 Å and 3990 Å.

When comparing HE 0446-2531 and HE 0449-2554, the great difference in calcium abundances (approximately a factor of 30) is surprising because temperatures are similar, and equivalent widths differ only by a factor of 2. However, their hydrogen abundances also differ by about a factor of 20. This affects the atmospheric structure since hydrogen contributes electrons, and changes the opacity. In turn the changed atmospheric structure does influence the line spectrum.

## 4 Discussion of individual objects

### 4.1 DB white dwarfs

#### 4.1.1 HE 0127$``$3110

HE 0127$``$3110 was observed several times during the follow-up observations performed for the HES: Spectra were obtained in September 1992 (used here), September 1994, November 1994, and November 1998. Spectra from 1994 show broad absorption troughs, varying in depth and profile, whereas the September 1992 spectrum resembles a DB spectrum. After a careful inspection of individual telescope pointings to exclude the accidental observation of a different star, we conclude that HE 0127$``$3110 is variable.

The only common feature of all spectra is an absorption line at 5876 Å which can be attributed to He i. The broad absorption features in the spectra of 1994 led to the classification as a magnetic DA white dwarf with a polar field strength of 176 MG (Reimers et al. reimersb (1996)). In this scenario the putative He i line at 5876 Å is due to a hydrogen H$`\alpha `$ component ($`2s_03p_0`$), which becomes stationary only at a field strength of 235 MG with a minimum wavelength of 5830 Å. It is interesting to mention that HE 2201$``$2250, whose spectrum looked almost identical to the 1994 spectra of HE 0127$``$3110 (Reimers et al. reimersb (1996)), meanwhile also changed its spectroscopic appearance to a DB white dwarf. A detailed discussion will be published in a forthcoming paper.

### 4.2 DBA white dwarfs

#### 4.2.1 HE 1002$``$1929 and HE 1102$``$1850

In the spectra of HE 1002$``$1929 and HE 1102$``$1850 the H$`\alpha `$ line is clearly visible with equivalent widths of $`(3.6\pm 1)`$ Å and $`(2.4\pm 0.6)`$ Å, respectively. The H$`\beta `$ line (W($`\lambda `$)=$`(1.1\pm 0.6)`$ Å) can be detected only in the spectrum of HE 1102$``$1850, despite the larger equivalent width of H$`\alpha `$ in HE 1002$``$1929 and a similar temperature. From the equivalent widths we calculated hydrogen abundances of $`(5_2^{+5})10^5`$ and $`(2_1^{+2})10^5`$ for HE 1002$``$1929 and HE 1102$``$1850, respectively. Metal lines could not be detected.

#### 4.2.2 HE 2147$``$0950 and HE 2237$``$0509

HE 2147$``$0950 and HE 2237$``$0509 show absorption features at the position of H$`\alpha `$ with equivalent widths of $`(3.5\pm 0.5)`$ Å and $`(3.4\pm 1.0)`$ Å, respectively. Because both spectra are very noisy, this should be taken with caution. The measured equivalent widths would correspond to hydrogen abundances of $`(4\pm 2)10^5`$ and $`(6\pm 4)10^5`$, respectively.

### 4.3 DBAZ white dwarfs

#### 4.3.1 HE 0446$``$2531

The most prominent lines in the November 1998 spectrum of HE 0446$``$2531 are hydrogen lines of the Balmer series up to H$`\gamma `$, the He i line at 4471 Å and a somewhat weaker He i line at 5876 Å. The October 1997 spectrum is too noisy to let the Balmer lines be discerned. Equivalent widths for H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\beta `$ were determined between 6530 Å and 6590 Å, and 4820 Å and 4885 Å, respectively. Together with the equivalent width of H$`\gamma `$ they result in a hydrogen abundance of $`(7_2^{+3})10^4`$. The equivalent width of the calcium doublet was determined between 3850 Å and 4050 Å to comprise the whole doublet. This is justified because the He i line at 4026 Å is to weak to significantly contribute. The calcium abundance derived from an equivalent width of $`(52.5_6^{+5})`$ Å (unweighted mean from the October 97 and November 98 spectrum) amounts to $`(2\pm 1)10^6`$. At 3704 Å, 3735 Å, 3834 Å, and 5170 Å lines can be detected, which are most probably due to neutral magnesium and neutral as well as ionized iron. With this assumption we derive abundances of $`(2_1^{+3})10^6`$ and $`(2\pm 1)10^6`$ for magnesium and iron, respectively.

#### 4.3.2 HE 0449$``$2554

Since the November 94 spectrum is very noisy HE 0449-2554 was reobserved in November 1998. Besides the doublet of calcium at 3934 Å and 3968 Å already seen in the November 94 spectrum, the new spectrum clearly shows an H$`\alpha `$ line. At 4471 Å and 5876 Å also weak features can be spotted. They are consistent with line depths and line strengths of corresponding He i lines in a synthetic spectrum with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ = 12200 K. The equivalent width of the H$`\alpha `$ line ($`(2.8\pm 0.5)`$ Å) corresponds to a hydrogen abundance of $`(3\pm 1)10^5`$. The unweighted mean equivalent width of the calcium doublet from both observing runs ($`23.9_3^{+2}`$ Å) was taken to determine a calcium abundance of $`(7\pm 2)10^8`$.

#### 4.3.3 HE 1350$``$1612

In addition to He i lines also H$`\alpha `$, H$`\beta `$, and the Ca ii doublet at 3934 Å and 3968 Å can be detected in the spectrum. With an effective temperature of 14600$`\pm `$90 K, this star is one of the very few DBAZ stars in the temperature range of about 15000 K, where He i lines make temperature determinations reliable. The only other such star known is HS 2253+8023 (Friedrich et al. 1999a ; 1999b ), and perhaps GD40, with a published equivalent width of H$`\alpha `$ of 1 Å (Greenstein & Liebert greenstein (1990)). Hydrogen and calcium abundances determined from equivalent widths amount to $`(2\pm 1)10^5`$ and $`(2_{1.5}^{+1.0})10^7`$, respectively.

### 4.4 DZ white dwarfs

#### 4.4.1 HE 0122$``$2244

The Ca ii doublet at 3934 Å/3968 Å and an otherwise featureless spectrum classify HE 0122$``$2244 as a DZ white dwarf. An approximate temperature of $`10000_{1000}^{+2000}`$ K for $`\mathrm{log}g=8`$ was determined from the continuum slope of the photometric November 98 spectrum. For this temperature the equivalent width of the Ca ii doublet ($`18.7_5^{+4}`$ Å, unweighted mean) corresponds to a calcium abundance of $`(4_2^{+1})10^{10}`$.

### 4.5 DC and DQ white dwarfs

#### 4.5.1 HE 0052$``$2511

Weak flux depressions at 5000 Å and 6300 Å are the only features in the observed spectral range from 3500 Å to 9200 Å. Therefore, this star might be of type DC, or possibly a magnetic white dwarf. If this star is magnetic, the main constituent of its atmosphere could be helium, because helium, contrary to hydrogen, has no stationary components and hence has no detectable features over a wide range of field strengths (Schmelcher, priv.comm.).

#### 4.5.2 HE 0309$``$2105

HE 0309$``$2105 was already observed by Sefako et al. (sefako99 (1999)). On the basis of its colours ($`BV=0.10\pm 0.05`$, $`UB=0.08\pm 0.05`$) derived from $`UBV`$ photometry they were not able to classify the object. However, our synthetic colours derived from prism plates of the HES and confirmed by spectroscopy yield $`BV=0.10\pm 0.08`$ and $`UB=0.88\pm 0.08`$, respectively, which place HE 0309$``$2105 well in the regime of white dwarfs in the two-colour diagram. Together with its featureless spectrum it is therefore classified as DC.

#### 4.5.3 HE 0442$``$3027

C2 bands might be the reason for weak flux depressions at 4700 Å and 5100 Å. Therefore, HE 0442$``$302 might rather be a DQ than a DC.

#### 4.5.4 HE 1146$``$0109

HE 1146$``$0109 displays strong C2 bands at 4670 Å and 5140 Å. Since no other features can be detected in the spectrum, the star is classified as DQ.

#### 4.5.5 HE 2237$``$3630

This star has a composite spectrum, which shows no clear features bluewards of 5800 Å, and strong TiO bands redwards of 5800 Å. There are hints for absorption features at 3730 Å and 4026 Å, which could be attributed to helium, and one at 5170 Å, which could possibly be due to magnesium and iron. We assume that HE 2237$``$3630 is a binary star with a helium-rich white dwarf component and a M-dwarf component.

## 5 Discussion

We have presented a model atmosphere analysis of cool helium-rich white dwarfs found in the Hamburg/ESO survey for which follow-up spectroscopy has been performed. Since the selection criterium for these stars was confined to a continuum slope similar to QSOs, and no strong absorption lines, this sample of helium-rich white dwarfs is biased towards $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ below 20000 K.

Among the 33 analyzed DB stars, we found 4 DBA, if we include HE 2147$``$0950 and HE 2237$``$0509 with a somewhat uncertain identification of H$`\alpha `$, and 3 DBAZ stars; hence, a fraction of 21% in our sample shows traces of hydrogen. This is consistent with the findings of Shipman et al. (shipman87 (1987)), who found 19% DBA white dwarfs in their complete sample of cool DB stars from the Palomar-Green survey.

Especially the DBAZ stars are important in the context of the ongoing discussion of accretion of hydrogen and metals from the interstellar medium. Since the diffusion times of metals in helium-rich atmospheres are short compared to evolutionary time scales (Paquette et al. paquette (1986)), it is generally accepted that metals cannot be of primordial origin but must be accreted from the interstellar medium. Compared to the accretion-diffusion model of Dupuis et al. (dupuisa (1992), 1993a , 1993b ), which predicts element abundances in cool white dwarf atmospheres in consideration of accretion from the interstellar medium, the derived Ca abundances for the DBAZ stars found and the magnesium and iron abundance for HE 0446$``$2531 are consistent with accretion in solar element proportions at high accretion rates. For HE 0446$``$2531 it is also possible to determine metal-to-metal ratios. Whereas the Fe/Mg ratio falls within the predicted range, the Fe/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios are below their respective lower limits, but given the large errors they might still be compatible with accretion in solar element proportions.

Contrary to the metals, which sink down in the atmospheres and disappear very rapidly, hydrogen has the tendency to float on top of a helium-rich atmosphere. It is therefore accumulated with time in the surface layers. Thus one would expect a metal-to-hydrogen ratio, which is below the solar value. As already observed in other helium-rich metal-line white dwarfs (see Dupuis et al. 1993b  for a compilation) the Ca/H ratio is larger by a factor of $`10^3`$ to $`10^4`$ than the solar value for the new DBAZ stars, supporting the hypothesis that accretion of hydrogen is somehow reduced compared to accretion of metals. The mechanism most widely discussed for this “hydrogen screening” is the propeller mechanism of Illarionov & Sunyaev (illarionov (1975)), originally developed for accretion of interstellar matter onto neutron stars. Wesemael & Truran (wesemael82 (1982)) first discussed it in the context of white dwarfs. They proposed that metals are accreted in the form of grains onto a slowly rotating, weakly magnetized ($`10^5`$ G) white dwarf, whereas ionized hydrogen is repelled at the Alfvén radius. However, it remains to be demonstrated that the necessary conditions for rotation, magnetic field and hydrogen-ionizing radiation are fulfilled to make the propeller mechanism operate.

###### Acknowledgements.

The Hamburg/ESO Survey has been supported by the DFG under grants Re 353/33 and Re 353/40. Work on the Hamburg Quasar Survey in Kiel is supported by a grant from the DFG under Ko 738/10-3. We want to thank Dr. E. Chavira (INAOE) for supplying finding charts of PHL objects. D.K. is grateful to Dr. Jay Holberg (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) and Dr. Jim Liebert (Steward Observatory) for their hospitality during his sabbatical at the University of Arizona.


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# Multi-Player and Multi-Choice Quantum Game

## Abstract

We investigate a multi-player and multi-choice quantum game. We start from two-player and two-choice game and the result is better than its classical version. Then we extend it to $`N`$-player and $`N`$-choice cases. In the quantum domain, we provide a strategy with which players can always avoid the worst outcome. Also, by changing the value of the parameter of the initial state, the probabilities for players to obtain the best payoff will be much higher that in its classical version.

quantum game; quantum strategy

Compared to the long history of mathematics and human conflict, game theory is a relatively recent creation. Since the first book of Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern,book  game theory has shed new light on economics, social science and evolutionary biology.add3  In view of the information hold by the players, games can be classified into different types. An important type of games is complete information static games, in which the players cannot obtain any information about actions of their opponents and cannot communicate with each other. In this kind of games, each player can only select his/her strategy depending on information of his/her own. Therefore the result of the game may not be the best possible one. A famous example is the traditional Prisoner’s Dilemma. Another reason that contributes to this situation is that each rational player would like to maximize his/her individual advantage rather than the collective benefit of all the players (this is actually a key assumption in both the classical game theory and the quantum game theory).

Quantum game theory is a new born branch of quantum information theory. In a quantum game, even though the players cannot obtain any information about actions of their opponents (such as in classical ones), but things are totally different due to the possible entanglement between the states of the players. When states of the players are entangled, local operation of a single player on his/her own state can affect states of other players, so the payoff for the players could be different from (maybe better than) that in the classical version of the game. This novel feature led the game theory into the quantum domain and some marvelous results were found.6 ; 7 ; 8  Goldenberg et al.1  presented a two-party protocol for quantum gambling and their protocol allows two remote parties to play a gambling game, such that in a certain limit it becomes a fair game. Meyer2  investigated the PQ Game — a coin tossing game — and found out that one player could increase his payoff by implementing quantum strategy against his classical opponent. Eisert et al.3  quantized the Prisoner’s Dilemma. For this particular case they showed that the game ceases to pose a dilemma if quantum strategies are allowed for. Marinatto et al. investigated the quantization of the Battle of Sexes Game.pla1  Research on evolutional procedure of quantum games are also presented.pra1 ; pla2  Benjamin et al.4 ; newsud  presented the study of quantum games with more than two players. They demonstrated that such games can exhibit ”coherent” equilibrium strategies. All these works were based on maximally entangled states. Recently, we investigated the correlations between entanglement and quantum games.our-pla  The results showed that for the particular case of the quantum Prisoners’ Dilemma, the property of the game changes fascinatingly with the variation of the measure of the game entanglement. What is more, although quantum games are mostly explored theoretically, we have just successfully realized the quantum Prisoners’ Dilemma experimentally on a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computer.our-prl ; newsud

Two things have been taken into consideration by all the researchers. The first is that the players care most about the expected payoff, which is the average payoff the players can obtain after the game being repeated many times. The second is that each of the players has only “a qubit,” which means that each of them will end in two states, either $`|0`$ or $`|1`$, after the outcome state being measured. Yet in fact we can find many cases in which these two points are not of vital importance. Furthermore, cases that do not contain these two points can also be found. In many cases, the game can not be played for the second time. In these cases, the players care most about what payoffs they can at least obtain. Thus each of them will take the best to avoid the worst outcome. Here the payoff they can at least obtain becomes more important to the players than the average payoff. In addition, in many cases, the players have more than two choices. When the players have $`k`$ choices (denoted by $`|0,|1,\mathrm{},|k1`$), the state of each player should be superposition of $`|0,|1,\mathrm{},|k1`$. The operation of a single player can be represented by a $`k`$-dimension unitary operator.

In this Letter, we investigate multi-player and multi-choice games by quantizing the “Truckers Game,”5 (specified as followed) which is significant in social life. We start by investigating a game of two truckers. Then we generalize it to the $`N`$-trucker game. The result shows that if the truckers play in the quantum world, they can always avoid the worst outcome while in the classical world the worst outcome will always occur with certain probability. The probability of the best outcome can be much higher than that in the classical world if a different value is set for the parameter in the initial state.

We suppose that $`N`$ truckers are planning to go to city B from city A. There are $`N`$ roads connecting the two cities and all of them are assumed to have the same length. Since each of the $`N`$ truckers does not know other truckers’ choices, so each of them can only choose his way randomly. The payoff for a certain trucker depends on how many truckers choose the same road as he/she does. The more truckers choose the same road, the less payoff this certain trucker obtains. If all of them choose the same road, the outcome is the worst because of the possible traffic jamming. The probability of this situation is $`P_{worst}^C`$.

$$P_{worst}^C=\frac{N}{N^N}$$
(1)
The superscript $`C`$ denotes classical condition. On the contrary, if they all choose different roads, the outcome is the best because there will not be any traffic jamming. The probability of this situation is $`P_{best}^C`$.

$$P_{best}^C=\frac{N!}{N^N}$$
(2)
It is obvious that in order to avoid the worst outcome, the truckers will do their best to avoid choosing the same road. Since they can not obtain information from each other, the worst outcome will happen with certain probability $`P_{worst}^C=N/N^N`$. If we quantize this game, the truckers can definitely avoid the worst outcome by implementing quantum strategies (without knowing what other truckers choose) and the probability to obtain the best outcome can be much higher than that in classical game if a different value of the parameter in the initial state is set.

We first present the simple two-trucker game. The physical model for this situation is given in figure(1).

We send each player a $`2`$-state system in the zero state. The input state is $`|\psi =|00`$. The gate $`R`$ is $`R=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)`$. Here $`U_1`$ and $`U_2`$ are the strategies that two truckers adopt respectively.

The state after gate $`J`$ is $`|\psi _i=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(|00|11\right)`$. If $`U_1=U_2=H`$, here $`H=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 1\\ 1& 1\end{array}\right)`$ is the Hadamard gate, the final state is $`|\psi _f=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(|01+|10\right)`$. From $`|\psi _f`$, we can see that the two truckers are definitely in different roads. Thus, the probability of the best outcome is $`1`$ and the worst situation is avoided. This is the result that the truckers want.

After we investigated quantum two-trucker game, now we study the general version of this game which includes $`N`$ truckers and $`N`$ roads.

We number the truckers from $`0`$ to $`N1`$ and the roads from $`0`$ to $`N1`$. If trucker $`0`$ chooses the road $`j_0`$, trucker $`1`$ chooses the road $`j_1`$,…, and trucker $`N1`$ chooses the road $`j_{N1}`$, then the state is described by $`|j_0j_1\mathrm{}j_{N1}`$. The game is started from the state $`|00\mathrm{}0`$. Then a transforming gate is used to obtain the initial state which is denoted by $`|\psi _i`$, see equation(3).

$$|\psi _i=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\omega _N^{kp}|kk\mathrm{}k$$
(3)
where $`\omega _N=e^{2\pi i/N}`$. Here $`p`$ is the parameter that determines the phases of the terms in the expression of the initial state. It is obvious that $`|\psi _i`$ is symmetric with respect to the interchange of the truckers. Now the truckers make their decisions on which way to go. We assume that all of them adopt the same strategy. The rationality partially comes from the game symmetry. However the symmetry of the game does not guarantee that all the players choose the same strategy. Even symmetric games can have asymmetric solutions.our-prl  While in practice, if a symmetric game has a solution consisting of different strategies, the players would be confused in choosing one from them. Therefore a symmetric solution will be more advantageous than an asymmetric one. Asymmetric solutions will be impracticable in symmetric games.

We denote the strategic operator by $`U`$. It is obvious that $`U`$ is an $`N`$-dimension unitary operator that performs on the state of an individual trucker. The explicit expression of $`U`$ is

$$U=\left(u_{ij}\right)_{N\times N}\text{ , }u_{ij}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}(\omega _N)^{ij}$$
(4)
where $`i,j=0,1,\mathrm{}N1`$, and $`\omega _N=e^{2\pi i/N}`$. $`U`$ is unitary because

$$\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}u_{ki}^{}u_{kj}=\frac{1}{N}\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\omega _N^{k(ji)}=\delta _{ij}\text{ , }U^+U=I$$
(5)
As the trucker operators are denoted by $`U`$, so $`|\psi _i`$ is performed by $`U^N`$. The final state $`|\psi _f`$ is

$`|\psi _f`$ $`=`$ $`U^N|\psi _i`$ (6)
$`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}\right)^{N+1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j_0=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \underset{j_{N1}=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}`$
$`\left(\omega _N^{kp}u_{kj_0}\mathrm{}u_{kj_{N1}}|j_0\mathrm{}j_{N1}\right)`$
Therefore the coefficient of $`|j_0\mathrm{}j_{N1}`$ is apparent

$`C_{j_0\mathrm{}j_{N1}}`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}\right)^{N+1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}\omega _N^{kp}u_{kj_0}\mathrm{}u_{kj_{N1}}`$ (7)
$`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}\right)^{N+1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}\omega _N^{km}`$
where $`m=j_0+\mathrm{}+j_{N1}+p`$.

In some cases the truckers want to guarantee that the payoffs they can at least obtain is better than the one when they all choose the same way, the parameter $`p`$ can here be set as $`p=1`$. Thus $`|\psi _i`$ is

$$|\psi _i=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\omega _N^{k1}|kk\mathrm{}k$$
(8)
Therefore

$`C_{j_0\mathrm{}j_{N1}}`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}\right)^{N+1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}\omega _N^ku_{kj_0}\mathrm{}u_{kj_{N1}}`$ (9)
$`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}\right)^{N+1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}\omega _N^{km}`$
where $`m=j_0+\mathrm{}+j_{N1}+1`$. When $`j_0=j_1=\mathrm{}=j_{N1}=j`$, the outcome is the worst and the coefficient of $`|jj\mathrm{}j`$ is

$$C_{jj\mathrm{}j}=\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}\right)^{N+1}\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\omega _N^{k(jN+1)}=0$$
(10)
From equation(10) we see that the worst situation will not occur. The payoffs the truckers can at least obtain can be definitely better than that of the worst outcome.

If the truckers want to increase the probability of the occurrence of the best outcome, the parameter can be set as $`p=N(N1)/2`$. Thus $`|\psi _i`$ is

$$|\psi _i=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}\underset{k=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\omega _N^{kN(N1)/2}|kk\mathrm{}k$$
(11)
When $`j_0,j_1,\mathrm{},j_{N1}`$ are different from each other, there is only one truck in one road and the situation is the best. The probability of this case is

$$P_{best}^Q=N!\left|C_{01\mathrm{}N1}\right|^2=NN!/N^N$$
(12)
The superscript Q denotes quantum condition. Compared with the classical probability given in Eq. (2), we have

$$P_{best}^Q=NP_{best}^C$$
(13)
Thus the quantum probability is $`N`$ times higher than the classical one.

From the above description, we see that the outcome state of the game is closely related to the value of parameter $`p`$ in the initial state. By changing the value of parameter $`p`$, the various needs of the truckers can be catered to. If the truckers expect a higher probability of the best outcome, the value of parameter $`p`$ can be set as $`\frac{N(N1)}{2}`$. On the other hand, if they demand the removal of the worst situation, the value of parameter $`p`$ can be set as $`1`$.

To conclude, we suggest that, besides the expected payoff, the payoff that a player can at least obtain in an unrepeatable game is also important and worth commenting. In most common cases, the players tend to have several choices instead of only two. From this perspective, we investigate the game of the truckers, in which each trucker can only play for one time and has more than two roads to choose from. Assuming that all the players adopt the same strategy, then the game is symmetric with respect to the interchange of the players, the truckers can always avoid choosing the same way. While in the classical version of this game, the worst outcome will occur with a certain probability. If the truckers care most about the probability for the best outcome to occur, in which all truckers choose different roads, the value of the parameter $`p`$ can be reset to make the probability much higher than that in the classical game.

Due to the complexity of this N-player and N-choice game, we just present the novel features that accompany the worst and the best outcome of the game. Since the coefficient described in Eq. (7) is either $`\sqrt{N/N^N}`$ or $`0`$, and the square norm of the coefficient is the probability that the final state (after being measured) collapses into the corresponding basis, so the probability of the result is $`N/N^N`$, which is $`N`$ times higher than that in the classical game, or just $`0`$. Whether the probability is $`0`$ or not depends on both the basis and the initial state of the game. Different from the classical game, in the quantum game by setting different values of parameter $`p`$, truckers can always meet their various needs, removing the worst outcome or increasing the probability for the best outcome to occur, without knowing the choices of other truckers.

\*Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 10075041 and 10075044, and the Science Foundation for Young Scientists of USTC.


text:
# Study of 𝜏 Decays to Six Pions and Neutrino

## Abstract

The $`\tau `$ decays to six-pion final states have been studied with the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. The measured branching fractions are $`(\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau )=(2.2\pm 0.3\pm 0.4)\times 10^4`$ and $`(\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau )=(1.7\pm 0.2\pm 0.2)\times 10^4`$. A search for substructure in these decays shows that they are saturated by intermediate states with $`\eta `$ or $`\omega `$ mesons. We present the first observation of the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\omega \nu _\tau `$ and the branching fraction is measured to be $`(1.2\pm 0.2\pm 0.1)\times 10^4`$. The measured branching fractions are in good agreement with the isospin expectations but somewhat below the Conserved-Vector-Current predictions.

preprint:   CLNS 00/1687  CLEO 00-16

A. Anastassov,1 J. E. Duboscq,1 E. Eckhart,1 K. K. Gan,1 C. Gwon,1 T. Hart,1 K. Honscheid,1 D. Hufnagel,1 H. Kagan,1 R. Kass,1 T. K. Pedlar,1 H. Schwarthoff,1 J. B. Thayer,1 E. von Toerne,1 M. M. Zoeller,1 S. J. Richichi,2 H. Severini,2 P. Skubic,2 A. Undrus,2 S. Chen,3 J. Fast,3 J. W. Hinson,3 J. Lee,3 D. H. Miller,3 E. I. Shibata,3 I. P. J. Shipsey,3 V. Pavlunin,3 D. Cronin-Hennessy,4 A.L. Lyon,4 E. H. Thorndike,4 C. P. Jessop,5 V. Savinov,5 T. E. Coan,6 V. Fadeyev,6 Y. Maravin,6 I. Narsky,6 R. Stroynowski,6 J. Ye,6 T. Wlodek,6 M. Artuso,7 R. Ayad,7 C. Boulahouache,7 K. Bukin,7 E. Dambasuren,7 S. Karamov,7 G. Majumder,7 G. C. Moneti,7 R. Mountain,7 S. Schuh,7 T. Skwarnicki,7 S. Stone,7 G. Viehhauser,7 J.C. Wang,7 A. Wolf,7 J. Wu,7 S. Kopp,8 A. H. Mahmood,9 S. E. Csorna,10 I. Danko,10 K. W. McLean,10 Z. Xu,10 R. Godang,11 G. Bonvicini,12 D. Cinabro,12 M. Dubrovin,12 S. McGee,12 G. J. Zhou,12 E. Lipeles,13 S. P. Pappas,13 M. Schmidtler,13 A. Shapiro,13 W. M. Sun,13 A. J. Weinstein,13 F. Würthwein,13,***Permanent address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139. D. E. Jaffe,14 G. Masek,14 H. P. Paar,14 E. M. Potter,14 S. Prell,14 D. M. Asner,15 A. Eppich,15 T. S. Hill,15 R. J. Morrison,15 R. A. Briere,16 G. P. Chen,16 W. T. Ford,17 A. Gritsan,17 J. Roy,17 J. G. Smith,17 J. P. Alexander,18 R. Baker,18 C. Bebek,18 B. E. Berger,18 K. Berkelman,18 F. Blanc,18 V. Boisvert,18 D. G. Cassel,18 P. S. Drell,18 K. M. Ecklund,18 R. Ehrlich,18 A. D. Foland,18 P. Gaidarev,18 R. S. Galik,18 L. Gibbons,18 B. Gittelman,18 S. W. Gray,18 D. L. Hartill,18 B. K. Heltsley,18 P. I. Hopman,18 L. Hsu,18 C. D. Jones,18 D. L. Kreinick,18 M. Lohner,18 A. Magerkurth,18 T. O. Meyer,18 N. B. Mistry,18 E. Nordberg,18 J. R. Patterson,18 D. Peterson,18 D. Riley,18 A. Romano,18 J. G. Thayer,18 D. Urner,18 B. Valant-Spaight,18 A. Warburton,18 P. Avery,19 C. Prescott,19 A. I. Rubiera,19 H. Stoeck,19 J. Yelton,19 G. Brandenburg,20 A. Ershov,20 Y. S. Gao,20 D. Y.-J. Kim,20 R. Wilson,20 T. Bergfeld,21 B. I. Eisenstein,21 J. Ernst,21 G. E. Gladding,21 G. D. Gollin,21 R. M. Hans,21 E. Johnson,21 I. Karliner,21 M. A. Marsh,21 M. Palmer,21 C. Plager,21 C. Sedlack,21 M. Selen,21 J. J. Thaler,21 J. Williams,21 K. W. Edwards,22 R. Janicek,23 P. M. Patel,23 A. J. Sadoff,24 R. Ammar,25 A. Bean,25 D. Besson,25 X. Zhao,25 S. Anderson,26 V. V. Frolov,26 Y. Kubota,26 S. J. Lee,26 R. Mahapatra,26 J. J. O’Neill,26 R. Poling,26 T. Riehle,26 A. Smith,26 C. J. Stepaniak,26 J. Urheim,26 S. Ahmed,27 M. S. Alam,27 S. B. Athar,27 L. Jian,27 L. Ling,27 M. Saleem,27 S. Timm,27 and F. Wappler27

1Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210

2University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019

3Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

4University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627

5Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94309

6Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275

7Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244

8University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712

9University of Texas - Pan American, Edinburg, TX 78539

10Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235

11Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

12Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202

13California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

14University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093

15University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

16Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

17University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0390

18Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

19University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611

20Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

21University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801

22Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

and the Institute of Particle Physics, Canada

23McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3A 2T8

and the Institute of Particle Physics, Canada

24Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York 14850

25University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045

26University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

27State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222

The decays of the $`\tau `$ lepton provide a good test of the Standard Model predictions for the hadronic weak current. The six-pion branching fractions are related to the isovector part of the $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation cross section by the Conserved Vector Current (CVC) hypothesis. Isospin symmetry relates the relative branching fractions of the decays $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$, $`\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$, and $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}5\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$. Therefore, the study of six-pion decays can be used to test the CVC hypothesis and isospin predictions. A better understanding of the resonance substructure in the decays is also of particular interest because of the potential application in suppressing the hadronic background in the measurement of the $`\tau `$ neutrino mass. In this Letter, we present a study of the decays  $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$. This includes measurements of the branching fractions and the search for resonance substructure. The latter results are used to identify the vector and axial-vector current contributions to the inclusive branching fractions and allow the proper comparison of the results with the CVC and isospin symmetry predictions.

The data used in this analysis were collected with the CLEO detector  at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) at center-of-mass energy of $`10.6`$ GeV. The sample corresponds to a total integrated luminosity $`13.5\mathrm{fb}^1`$ and contains $`12.3\times 10^6\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ events .

For the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ ($`3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$) we select events with four (six) charged tracks and zero net charge. The momentum of each track must be greater than $`100`$ MeV and the polar angle $`\theta `$ of each track with respect to the beam must satisfy $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta |<0.90`$. The track must be consistent with originating from the $`e^+e^{}`$ interaction point. This vertex requirement also suppresses the background from $`\tau `$ events with a $`K_S`$ or photon conversion. The $`K_S`$ background is further reduced by rejecting events containing a detached vertex with a $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ mass consistent with the nominal $`K_S`$ mass.

We define two exclusive sets of photon candidates in the barrel calorimeter ($`|\mathrm{cos}\theta |<0.80`$): high quality (HQ) and low quality (LQ) photons. The selection criteria for HQ photons are designed to minimize the contamination of fake showers from hadronic interactions, while the acceptance of LQ photons ensures high event detection efficiency. A HQ photon must have an energy $`E_\gamma >120`$ MeV and a lateral profile of energy deposition consistent with that expected for a photon. The Fisher discriminant technique  is used to differentiate a real photon from a fake photon. The discriminant function is a linear combination of the energy of the shower and its distance to the intersection of the nearest charged track with the calorimeter surface. We use Monte Carlo simulated events (see below) to obtain the discriminant function that maximizes the separation between real and fake photons. A LQ photon is defined as a shower that does not pass the HQ photon requirements but has $`E_\gamma >30`$ MeV. The Fisher discriminant for differentiating a real photon from a fake photon is only used in the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ due to the higher photon multiplicity. HQ photons in the endcap calorimeter ($`0.80<|\mathrm{cos}\theta |<0.95`$) are selected as in the barrel.

Each event is divided into two hemispheres using the plane perpendicular to the thrust axis , calculated using both charged tracks and photons. There must be one charged track in one hemisphere (tag) recoiling against three or five charged tracks in the other hemisphere (signal), depending on the decay mode.

In the tag hemisphere, the total invariant mass of charged tracks and photons must satisfy $`M_{tag}<0.5\mathrm{GeV}`$. In the signal hemisphere, there should be at least six (two) photons forming three (one) $`\pi ^0`$ candidates for the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ ($`3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$). The $`\pi ^0`$ candidates are reconstructed from photon pairs in the barrel calorimeter. All HQ photons in the barrel must be used in the reconstruction and no HQ photon in the endcap is allowed. In case of multiple entries, we select the photon combination with smallest $`\chi ^2=_{i=1}^{3(1)}[S_{\gamma \gamma }^2]_i`$, where $`S_{\gamma \gamma }=(m_{\gamma \gamma }m_{\pi ^0})/\sigma _{\gamma \gamma }`$ ($`\sigma _{\gamma \gamma }`$ is the mass resolution calculated from the energy and angular resolution of each photon). The signal region for the $`\pi ^0`$ candidates is defined as $`3.5<S_{\gamma \gamma }<2.5`$. In the case of $`\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ we use sideband subtraction to estimate the fake $`\pi ^0`$ background, with sidebands defined as $`8.5<S_{\gamma \gamma }<5.5`$ and $`4.5<S_{\gamma \gamma }<7.5`$. The total invariant mass of the hadronic system in the signal hemisphere must satisfy $`M_{6\pi }<M_\tau =1.777\mathrm{GeV}`$ . The signal hemisphere must have a positive pseudo-neutrino mass:

$$M^2=M_\tau ^2+M_{6\pi }^22M_\tau E_{6\pi }^{}>0,$$

where $`E_{6\pi }^{}`$ is the energy of the six-pion system in the $`\tau `$ rest frame, assuming that the $`\tau `$ has the full beam energy and that the $`\tau `$ direction is given by the momentum vector of the six-pion system. This cut selects events with tau-like kinematics, suppressing both the hadronic background and the $`\tau `$ migration background from lower multiplicity decays where the six-pion momentum is not as good of an approximation of the $`\tau `$ direction. The background from $`\tau `$ decays with Dalitz $`\pi ^0`$ decays or photon conversion in inner detector material is suppressed by requiring that any pairs of oppositely charged tracks have invariant mass exceeding 120 MeV when at least one of the pair is identified as an electron and assigning the electron mass to both tracks. The electron identification requires that a track is matched to a shower with shower energy to momentum ratio exceeding 0.85, and, if available, specific ionization in the drift chamber consistent with that expected for an electron. Two-photon backgrounds are eliminated by requiring the direction of the missing momentum of the event to satisfy $`|\mathrm{cos}\theta _{missing}|<0.9`$.

The detection efficiency and $`\tau `$ migration background are calculated with a Monte Carlo technique. We use the KORALB/TAUOLA program  for the $`\tau `$ event simulation. The decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ is modeled using a mixture of $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\eta \nu _\tau `$, $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}2\pi ^0\eta \nu _\tau `$, and $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}2\pi ^0\omega \nu _\tau `$. The other decay $`\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ is modeled using a mixture of $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\eta \nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\omega \nu _\tau `$. The relative mixtures are determined from the measured branching fractions presented in this and a previous Letter . We assume that the $`3\pi \eta `$ decays proceed through $`\pi f_1`$ with a spectral function dominated by the form factor of the $`a_1(1260)`$ resonance . The $`3\pi \omega `$ system is modeled assuming dominance of the $`\rho (1700)`$ resonance. The detector response is simulated using the GEANT program . The hadronic background is calculated empirically using a sample of high-mass tagged events ($`1.8<M_{tag}<2.8\mathrm{GeV}`$) obtained from the data with the assumption that $`M_{tag}`$ and $`M_{6\pi }`$ are not correlated. The invariant mass spectra of the six-pion hadronic systems after applying all selection criteria are shown in Fig. 1. There is good agreement between the data and expectation. The signal, background, and detection efficiency are summarized in Table I. The $`\tau `$ background includes the decays with $`K_S\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\pi ^0\pi ^0`$.

The six-pion $`\tau `$ decays can proceed through the $`\eta `$ or $`\omega `$ intermediate hadronic states. Figure 2 shows the invariant mass spectra of $`3\pi `$ combinations in the $`\eta `$ mass region. To improve the resolution, the $`\pi ^0`$ candidates have been kinematically constrained to the nominal $`\pi ^0`$ mass. In the search for $`\eta \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$, we reduce the combinatoric background by rejecting events with $`3\pi ^0`$ invariant mass within 20 MeV ($``$3$`\sigma `$) of the nominal $`\eta `$ mass. There are clear enhancements at the $`\eta `$ mass in all three spectra. The invariant mass spectra of $`3\pi `$ combinations in the $`\omega `$ mass region are shown in Fig. 3. There is also a clear signal at the $`\omega `$ mass. In particular, the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\omega \nu _\tau `$ is observed for the first time.

The $`\eta `$ and $`\omega `$ signals are extracted by maximum likelihood fits with a dual Gaussian over a polynomial background. The shapes have been constrained to the Monte Carlo expectations. The results are summarized in Tables II and III.

There are several sources of systematic errors. These include the uncertainty in the number of produced $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ pairs (1.4%), charged track reconstruction (1% per track), $`\pi ^0`$ reconstruction (4% per $`\pi ^0`$), efficiency (1-5%) and $`\tau `$ migration background (4-12%) estimates due to limited Monte Carlo statistics, hadronic background estimates (4-9%), mixtures of various intermediate states (1-6%) and branching fractions of $`\eta 3\pi ^0`$ and $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ and $`\omega \pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$ . For the extraction of $`\omega `$ and $`\eta `$ signals, there are also systematic errors (5-10%) resulting from the choice of combinatorial background shape and fit region. The branching fractions with systematic errors are listed in Tables I-III. The results represent significant improvement in precision over previous measurements . The branching fractions for the two decays with $`\omega `$ in the final states are somewhat smaller than the recent calculations by Gao and Li .

The results on the six-pion decays can be compared with the isospin symmetry and CVC predictions, after correcting for the contributions from the axial-vector current $`\tau ^{}(3\pi )^{}\eta \nu _\tau `$, which also violates isospin conservation with the decays $`\eta 3\pi ^0`$ and $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0`$. To reduce the uncertainty in the corrections, we use measurements from these decays and the decay $`\eta \gamma \gamma `$  to obtain the average branching fractions: $`\overline{}(\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\eta \nu _\tau )=(2.4\pm 0.5)\times 10^4`$ and $`\overline{}(\tau ^{}\pi ^{}2\pi ^0\eta \nu _\tau )=(1.5\pm 0.5)\times 10^4`$. This yields the vector current branching fractions: $`_V(\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau )=(1.1\pm 0.4)\times 10^4`$ and $`_V(\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau )=(1.1\pm 0.2)\times 10^4`$, corresponding to $``$50% and $``$65%, respectively, of the inclusive six-pion branching fractions.

The isospin model  classifies $`n`$-pion final states into orthogonal isospin partitions and determines their contributions to the branching fractions. The partitions are labeled by three integers $`(n_1,n_2,n_3)`$, where $`n_3`$ is the number of isoscalar subsystems of three pions, $`n_2n_3`$ is the number of isovector systems of two pions, and $`n_1n_2`$ is the number of single pions. For $`n=6`$ there are four partitions: 510 ($`4\pi \rho `$), 330 ($`3\rho `$), 411 ($`3\pi \omega `$), and 321 ($`\pi \rho \omega `$), denoted according to the lowest mass states. The isospin model imposes constraints on the relative branching fractions, which can be tested by comparing the fraction

$`\mathrm{f}_{2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0}={\displaystyle \frac{_V(\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau )}{_V(\tau ^{}(6\pi )^{}\nu _\tau )}}`$ (1)
to a similar fraction $`\mathrm{f}_{3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0}`$, where $`_V(\tau ^{}(6\pi )^{}\nu _\tau )`$ is the sum of the branching fractions for the three six-pion vector decays. Figure 4 shows $`\mathrm{f}_{2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0}`$ vs. $`\mathrm{f}_{3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0}`$ with our new measurement of the branching fractions. The measurement is presented as a line because $`_V(\tau ^{}\pi ^{}5\pi ^0\nu _\tau )`$ has not been measured yet. The result is consistent with the isospin expectation since the experimental measurement overlaps with the isospin triangle. Our result indicates the 321 ($`\pi \rho \omega `$) partition is dominant because the decays $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}2\pi ^0\omega \nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\omega \nu _\tau `$ saturate the six-pion (vector) decays.

The CVC hypothesis combined with isospin symmetry predicts that the branching fractions for both $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ are greater than $`(2.5\pm 0.4)\times 10^4`$ . This is somewhat larger than the measured branching fractions for the six-pion vector decays. The discrepancy is even more significant if we compare the predicted inclusive branching fraction $`_{CVC}(\tau ^{}(6\pi )^{}\nu _\tau )=(12.3\pm 1.9)\times 10^4`$ with the sum of the measured six-pion vector branching fractions under the assumption that $`_V(\tau ^{}\pi ^{}5\pi ^0\nu _\tau )`$ is comparable with or smaller than $`_V(\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+3\pi ^0\nu _\tau )`$ and $`_V(\tau ^{}3\pi ^{}2\pi ^+\pi ^0\nu _\tau )`$ . This assumption is consistent with the observation that the six-pion vector decays are saturated by intermediate states with an $`\omega `$ meson, which implies a small decay width for the 510 ($`4\pi \rho `$) state, the only state that contributes to the decay $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}5\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$. The discrepancy might be explained by sizable presence of $`I=0`$ states in the $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation data that should be subtracted before calculating the CVC prediction.

In conclusion, the branching fractions for two six-pion decays have been measured with much improved precision. The resonance substructure in the decays has been studied. In particular, the decay $`\tau ^{}2\pi ^{}\pi ^+\omega \nu _\tau `$ has been observed for the first time. Within the statistical precision, the decays are saturated by $`\eta `$ and $`\omega `$ intermediate states. The measured branching fractions are in good agreement with the isospin expectations but somewhat below the CVC predictions.

We gratefully acknowledge the effort of the CESR staff in providing us with excellent luminosity and running conditions. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Research Corporation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the A.P. Sloan Foundation, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Texas Advanced Research Program, and the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung.


text:
# Control of Coherent Acoustic Phonons

## Abstract

Using sub-picosecond optical pump-probe techniques, coherent zone-folded longitudinal acoustic phonons (ZFLAPs) were generated and controlled in an InGaN multiple quantum well structure. A one-pump, one-probe differential transmission technique revealed that carriers injected near the barrier band edge were quickly captured into the quantum wells and generated strong coherent ZFLAP oscillations. Two-pump differential transmission was used to generate and control coherent ZFLAP oscillations through the relative timing and amplitude of the two pump pulses. Enhancement and suppression of ZFLAP oscillations were demonstrated, including complete cancellation of generated acoustic phonons for the first time in any material system. Coherent control was used to demonstrate that ZFLAPs are generated differently in InGaN multiple quantum wells than in GaAs/AlAs superlattices.

78.47.+p, 73.50.-h, 63.22.+m, 63.20.Kr

The techniques of ultrafast optical spectroscopy have provided unprecedented capabilities to generate and control coherent quantum mechanical processes and to examine fundamental physical phenomena such as relaxation, dephasing, and squeezing. The ability to control coherent behavior is well established in atomic and molecular systems . Demonstrations of control of coherent behavior in condensed matter systems has been more problematical , primarily because of the much faster dephasing times and difficulty of manipulating coherent states on time scales much shorter than this. Recent demonstrations of control and entanglement of excitonic and biexcitonic states in semiconductor quantum dots  suggest that such problems are not insurmountable, and that control of coherent phenomena in condensed matter systems is achievable.

Inevitably, electron-phonon interactions limit the dephasing time of electronic or excitonic coherent states, so understanding and controlling the effects of phonons is fundamental interest . Particularly challenging is the optical investigation of acoustic phonons in bulk semiconductors because the phonon dispersion relation permits only low frequency Brillouin scattering. However, it is well understood that a semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) produces zone folding of the acoustic phonon branch so that direct excitation is possible . Recently, it has been demonstrated that particularly strong coherent zone-folded longitudinal acoustic phonon (ZFLAP) oscillations can be generated and observed in InGaN MQW structures . In this paper, the optical mechanism for generating these coherent ZFLAP oscillations is shown to be impulsive, like the striking of a bell, much like the impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) technique . Demonstration of coherent ZFLAP control follows, including the first complete cancellation of generated acoustic phonons in InGaN or any other material system. The utility of coherent acoustic phonon control is exemplified by demonstrating that acoustic phonons are generated somewhat differently in InGaN MQWs than in GaAs/AlAs superlattices (SLs).

The MQW sample used here was grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at the University of California at Santa Barbara using a modified two-flow horizontal reactor on double polished c-plane sapphire . It consists of a $`10`$ period, $`12`$ nm per period MQW with $`3.5`$ nm wide In0.15Ga0.85N quantum wells and $`8.5`$ nm wide In0.05Ga0.95N:Si barriers . The MQW structure is capped with a $`100`$ nm GaN layer and is grown on a $`2\mu `$m GaN:Si layer. The Si doping concentration in the barriers is $`10^{18}`$ cm-3.

In previous room temperature measurements of carrier capture in this sample, photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopies identified the energies of the quantum well states and the barriers, respectively . The peak PL emission occurred at $`2.99`$ eV, corresponding to electron-hole recombination from the lowest energy quantum well subband states. The broad PLE absorption peak for emission at $`2.99`$ eV occurred near $`3.22`$ eV, corresponding to electron-hole (e-h) pairs being generated near the MQW barrier band edge.

Wavelength-degenerate, sub-picosecond, pump-probe differential transmission (DT) has been used to measure the electron capture time . A strongly wavelength-dependent bi-exponential decay of the created carriers (Fig. 1) indicated that electrons were captured with a time constant between $`0.31`$ \- $`0.54`$ ps. Electrons were most efficiently captured from 3D barrier states to 2D confined QW states when e-h pairs were generated within $`50`$ meV of the $`3.22`$ eV barrier. Because of the greater density of states in the valence band, holes were captured too quickly to be measured. The strained material generates a large ($`1`$ MV/cm) piezoelectric (PZE) field in the MQWs,  and the width of the PL signal and region of efficient carrier capture ($`100`$ meV) suggest sizable material inhomogenieties.

Remarkably strong damped oscillations in the DT signal are observed, suggesting the generation of coherent phenomena in the quantum wells (Fig. 1). The damped oscillations always started at the peak of the pump pulse (t=$`0`$) and are described by A$`exp`$(-t/$`\tau `$)$`cos`$($`2\pi `$t/P+$`\pi `$), whose phase term $`\pi `$ signifies that the oscillations were always observed to start at a minimum. Observing similar phenomena in similar MQW structures, Sun et al.  concluded that such oscillations are the manifestation of coherent ZFLAPs by demonstrating that the oscillation period P increased linearly with increasing MQW period d as P = d/vs, where vs is the sound velocity. The ZFLAPs propagate along the c-axis of the wurtzitic InGaN. The oscillations observed in our d = $`12`$ nm MQW sample occurred with a period P = $`1.44`$ ps (frequency = $`f_0`$ = $`23`$ cm-1). Preliminary spontaneous Raman measurements confirmed a ZFLAP frequency of $`23`$ cm-1, yielding a sound velocity of $`8333`$ m/s . The measured characteristic damping time of these oscillations ($`\tau `$ = $`12`$ ps) sets a lower limit for the ZFLAP coherence time.

The sound velocity has not been measured directly in any InGaN material; however, the value in bulk GaN along the c-axis is well established between $`7990`$ \- $`8020`$ m/s . Although InGaN is expected to be a softer material with a slower sound velocity, our low In content MQWs should not deviate much from the bulk GaN values. Using the c-axis elastic stiffness tensor element (C33) and the density values for GaN ($`395`$ GPa, $`6.087`$ g/cm3) and InN ($`200`$ GPa, $`6.890`$ g/cm3),  the average sound velocity in the MQW region can be estimated to be $`7888`$ m/s. The difference in the measured and calculated values may arise from the strain-induced piezoelectric field in the MQW region which tends to stiffen the material and raise the sound velocity along the c-axis .

The coherent ZFLAP oscillations were strongest near the wavelength of most efficient carrier capture ($`3.18`$ eV) and were only observed within $`40`$ meV of that energy \[Fig. 2(a)\]. Once carriers are captured into the wells, electrons and holes are separated by the strong PZE field and partially screen it. A nearly instantaneous change in the material stress results, impulsively inducing ZFLAP oscillations . The screened PZE field also blueshifts the absorption band edge through the quantum-confined Franz-Keldysh effect (QCFKE). The ZFLAP oscillation modulates the carrier distribution that in turn modulates the strength of the QCFKE and the absorption band shift, thereby producing oscillations in the DT signal. Thus, the span of pump/probe energies over which ZFLAP oscillations are observed corresponds to the region of carrier capture and the width of the barrier absorption band edge.

To measure the dependence of the ZFLAP oscillation strength on pump intensity, the $`3.183`$ eV pump and probe beams were focused to diameters of $`75`$ and $`40`$ microns, respectively. The time-averaged pump intensity was varied from $`98`$ to $`787`$ W/cm2, while the probe intensity was kept at a constant $`11`$ W/cm2. Fig. 2(b) demonstrates that the strength of the oscillations in this low excitation regime increases linearly with increasing pump intensity.

To achieve control of these coherent ZFLAPs, it is necessary to be able to manipulate them on timescales shorter than the oscillation period. The pulse widths of the frequency-doubled, $`80`$ MHz Ti:Sapphire laser pulses ($`<100`$ fs) and the temporal resolution ($`7`$ fs) of the $`1`$ $`\mu `$m-per-step scanning motors of the delay lines for the DT pump-probe apparatus are much smaller than the ZFLAP oscillation period P. Coherent amplification and suppression of ZFLAPs may be demonstrated by the use of two-pump, one-probe DT. The relative timing of the two pump pulses determines whether the coherent ZFLAP oscillations add constructively (e.g. delay $`\mathrm{}`$t = P) or destructively (e.g. $`\mathrm{}`$t = P/$`2`$). All three pulses were derived from the same frequency doubled Ti:Sapphire laser pulse and were independently delayed with respect to each other through the use of various beam splitters and delay stages. For simplicity, the pump pulses were delayed relative to a fixed length probe pulse pathway, and the two pump pulses were delayed relative to each other by the use of a second delay stage mounted on the first. The three beams were made to overlap on the sample by passing through a common lens in a coplanar geometry. The pump spot sizes were chosen to allow maximum pump intensity while ensuring the probe spot diameter was well within those of the two pump spots.

Fig. 3 demonstrates the coherent amplification (”in-phase”, $`\mathrm{}`$t = P) and cancellation (”out-of-phase”, $`\mathrm{}`$t = P/$`2`$) of room temperature ZFLAP oscillations. To examine the damped ZFLAP oscillations, a simple bi-exponential decay was fit to the data, beginning at the peak of the second pump curve. The residual of the fit reveals the damped oscillation of the ZFLAP, and a damped cosine oscillation was fit to the residual as before to measure the amplitude A2 and decay $`\tau _2`$ of the oscillation (Fig. 4). The simple, damped oscillation following the second pump suggests that the decay time of the second ZFLAP oscillation is the same as the first ($`\tau _1`$ = $`\tau _2`$ = $`\tau `$) and that phase coherence is maintained between the two oscillations for at least $`12`$ ps.

Even though the first ZFLAP oscillations have decayed somewhat by the time of the second pump, it was observed that the intensity of the second pump must be *increased* relative to the first for exact amplitude doubling or cancellation. To provide a quantitative measure of the degree of amplification or suppression as a function of relative pump intensities, the amplitude A2, referenced to the amplitude of the first ZFLAP oscillations at the time of the second pump \[A$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{1}{}^{}`$ = A$`{}_{1}{}^{}exp`$(-$`\mathrm{}`$ t/$`\tau `$)\], is plotted in Fig. 5 for both the ”in-phase” and ”out-of-phase” cases. Negative values for the ”out-of-phase” A2/A$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{1}{}^{}`$ indicate a relative $`\pi `$ phase shift in amplitude, signifying that the second ZFLAP oscillations are stronger than the first. Roughly the same pump intensity is required to double the oscillations as to cancel them (I2/I1 $``$ $`1.3`$). Assuming the strength of the oscillations increases linearly with pump intensity \[Fig. 2(b)\], the predicted A2/A$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{1}{}^{}`$ = $`1\pm `$ (I2/I1) $`exp`$($`\mathrm{}`$ t/$`\tau `$) roughly agrees with the data with no additional adjustable parameters for both in-phase (+) and out-of-phase (-) cases (Fig. 5). The slight discrepancy may be the result of PZE field screening by the carriers captured after the first pulse, reducing the efficiency of ZFLAP generation by the second pulse.

This ability to generate and control spectrally pure, very high frequency coherent ZFLAPs represents a new experimental regime for the phonon scientist. For the first time, a single acoustic phonon mode may be generated and controlled. Its spectral purity and strength derive from three attributes. First, impulsive DT does not generate acoustic phonons at frequencies given by the folded dispersion relation and the wavevector of the incident light . In contrast with backscattering Raman these phonon doublets are of great spectroscopic benefit but represent a tremendous hinderance for phonon control. Second, previous studies of ZFLAP oscillations in GaAs/AlAs SLs using forward-scattering ISRS revealed a fundamental ZFLAP mode ($`f`$ = $`f_0`$) and its second harmonic ($`f`$ = 2$`f_0`$) . Two-pump phonon control was able to suppress the fundamental ZFLAP mode while enhancing its second harmonic, even when the second harmonic was not apparent in the one-pump data. By contrast, InGaN MQW ZFLAP overtone harmonics were surprisingly missing in the one- and two-pump configurations. As suggested by Fig. 4, the two-pump data most strongly supports the hypothesis of no overtones, and statistical analysis rejects overtones of any amplitude, relative to the fundamental, of more than 5%. Third, the one-pump, DT-induced ZFLAP oscillations were more than 10 times stronger than those reported for the GaAs/AlAs SL, even though the GaAs/AlAs SL had 4 times as many periods and was pumped almost 10 times harder . The likely explanation again lies with the intrinsic strain-induced PZE field in the InGaN MQWs. Photogenerated carriers partially screen the PZE field, suddenly relieving some of the incredible strain in the MQWs and impulsively generating strong, coherent ZFLAP oscillations. The relative strain relief is apparently much greater than the strain induced by the ISRS photogenerated carriers in unstrained GaAs/AlAs SLs.

The out-of-phase data in Fig. 3 represents the first experimental demonstration of complete coherent acoustic phonon cancellation in any material system. The scientific and technological utility of single mode acoustic phonon generation and control is made even more attractive by the fact that it requires merely a standard 80 MHz, unamplified, mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser, two delay stages, and a room temperature, short period MQW. Already, coherent control of ZFLAPs has revealed a fundamental difference in the generation of acoustic phonons in GaAs/AlAs SLs and InGaN MQWs. In addition, it is now possible to cancel coherent ZFLAPs one half period after their creation. The resulting single mode acoustic phonon impulse can propagate through the sample and may be traced temporally or mapped spatially. Conversely, repeated excitation with multiple in-phase pulses can continue to amplify the ZFLAP oscillations parametrically, permitting an investigation of phonon ”gain”, acoustic nonlinearity, and the role of the PZE field. These coherent techniques will enable unprecedented investigations of poorly understood acoustic phonon reflection and transmission at interfaces, with substrates, or in other materials to which the MQW is bonded. More generally, complex temporal pump pulse waveforms, created by genetic learning algorithms  and spatial light modulators, can be used as a coherent terahertz ultrasonic transducer to create non-trivial phonon excitations to explore or control phonon mediated decay or dephasing of carriers and excitons.

The samples were grown by A. C. Abare, S. Keller, and S. P. DenBaars of the University of California, Santa Barbara. We thank R. Merlin for numerous valuable discussions, for suggesting the coherent control experiment with P. H. Bucksbaum, and for performing the coherent Raman measurements with J. Zhao. We thank A. C. Abare and M. J. Bergmann for the X-ray measurements and acknowledge additional helpful discussions with M. A. Stroscio and H. C. Casey, Jr. This work was supported by ARO grant No. DAAH04-93-D-0002 and by DARPA/ARO grant DAAH04-96-0076.


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