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# Unusual Radio Properties of the BL Lac Object 0820+225

## 1 Introduction

BL Lacertae objects are highly variable, polarized, flat spectrum AGN that are distinguished from OVV quasars primarily by the absence of strong optical line emission. 5, 8.4, and 22 GHz global VLBI polarization observations have shown that the jet components in BL Lacertae objects are most often polarized with electric field parallel to the jet (Gabuzda, Pushkarev, & Cawthorne 2000; Gabuzda & Cawthorne 1996, 2000; and references therein). This has often been interpreted as evidence for transverse shocks that have compressed an initially random magnetic field B, so that the net B in the shocked region is perpendicular to the jet (Laing 1980; Hughes, Aller, and Aller 1989). Recently, evidence has been mounting that many of the transverse B fields observed in the VLBI jets of these sources may instead be associated with the dominant toroidal component of a possibly helical jet B field (Gabuzda 1999; Pushkarev & Gabuzda 2000; Gabuzda & Pushkarev 2001). We are undertaking a multi-frequency, multi-epoch VLBI study of the complete sample of BL Lacertae objects defined by Kühr and Schmidt (1990) in order to uncover the nature of the characteristic VLBI properties of these sources.

One of the advantages of making systematic observations of a complete sample is that we obtain information about a wide range of sources, not only a few of the brightest and, at first glance, most spectacular and interesting. This has proved to be very valuable in our multi-frequency (5, 8.4 and 15 GHz; February and April 1997) VLBA observations of sources in the Kühr & Schmidt sample. The object 0820+225 had not been studied previously using VLBI. This source has proved itself to be a rather unusual member of this sample for a number of reasons. Its integrated 5-GHz flux is of the order of 1 Jy, but its VLBI structure is very extended, and the VLBI core contains only a small fraction of the total mas-scale flux. This is particularly remarkable because 0820+225 is one of only a half dozen of the sample sources with large redshifts, $`z1`$ or slightly greater. This combination of extremely extended structure at high redshift makes it unique among the sample sources. First-epoch 5 GHz images (Gabuzda, Pushkarev, & Cawthorne 2000) show that the VLBI jet is highly curved, and forms an overall “S-like” shape. The origin of this curvature is unclear; it is suggestive of some type of instability in or precession of the VLBI jet.

The two 5 GHz images presented here are second and third-epoch images. Overall, the 5 GHz VLBI structure of the source is relatively stable, showing a number of features that appear to be nearly stationary. The multi-frequency images presented here reveal the presence of substantial rotation-measure (RM) gradients both along and across the jet. After accounting for the parsec-scale RM distribution, the polarization vectors in the inner section of the jet are well aligned with the local jet direction, so that the magnetic field in this part of the jet is transverse. The polarization in the more extended part of the jet is somewhat offset toward the outer edge of the jet and implies a longitudinal field, suggesting a shear interaction with a surrounding medium. The observed rotation measures suggest that the thermal gas causing the Faraday rotation has properties that are fairly typical of narrow-line clouds.

## 2 Observations and Reduction

### 2.1 5 GHz, epoch 1995.36

First-epoch global-VLBI $`I`$ and $`P`$ images of 0820+225 at 5 GHz have been presented by Gabuzda, Pushkarev, & Cawthorne (2000). Our second-epoch observations were obtained at epoch 1995.36 using a ten-station global array consisting of the Medicina (32 m), Effelsberg (100 m), St. Croix (25 m), Hancock (25 m), Green Bank (43 m), North Liberty (25 m), Owens Valley (25 m), Brewster (25 m), and Mauna Kea (25 m) antennas and the Westerbork phased array ($`\sqrt{14}\times 25`$ m). The observations were made under the auspices of the US and European VLBI networks. The north–south resolution provided by these observations is substantially improved due to the use of the two southern antennas St. Croix and Mauna Kea. The data were recorded using the MkIII system, and the data were subsequently correlated using the Mk IIIA correlator at the Max-Planck-Institut-für-Radioastronomie in Bonn.

The data reduction and imaging were done in the Brandeis VLBI package. The polarization calibration of these data was performed as described by Roberts, Wardle and Brown (1994). The instrumental polarizations for each antenna were determined from observations of the unpolarized sources 3C84 and OQ208. The absolute orientation of the polarization position angles was calibrated using VLBI observations of several compact polarized sources together with measurements of their integrated polarizations derived from nearly simultaneous VLA observations. The final uncertainty in the polarization position angles is about $`23^{}`$.

Images of the distribution of total intensity $`I`$ were made using a self-calibration algorithm similar to that described by Cornwell and Wilkinson (1981). Maps of the linear polarization111$`P=pe^{2i\chi }=mIe^{2i\chi }`$, where $`p=mI`$ is the polarized intensity, $`m`$ is the fractional linear polarization, and $`\chi `$ is the position angle of the electric vector on the sky, measured from north through east. $`P`$ were made by referencing the calibrated cross-hand fringes to the parallel-hand fringes using the antenna gains determined in the hybrid mapping, Fourier transforming the cross-hand fringes, and performing a complex CLEAN. This procedure registers the $`I`$ and $`P`$ maps to within a small fraction of a beamwidth.

### 2.2 Multi-frequency, epoch 1997.11

Our multi-frequency observations of 0820+225 were made in February 1997 (1997.11) with the ten antennas of the NRAO Very Long Baseline Array222The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.. Observations were obtained simultaneously at 15, 8.4, and 5 GHz with full polarization sensitivity. The data were calibrated and imaged in the NRAO AIPS package using standard techniques.

The strong source 3C84, which is essentially unpolarized at these wavelengths, was used to determine the instrumental polarizations of each antenna at each frequency. The absolute orientation of the polarization position angles was calibrated using VLBA observations of the compact, strongly polarised source 1823+568 together with measurements of its integrated polarization from VLA data obtained roughly one day after the end of the VLBA run. Here, also, the resulting uncertainty in the absolute $`\chi `$ values is about $`23^{}`$ at all frequencies.

## 3 Results and Discussion

Figures 14 show contour images of the total or linearly polarized flux density, with superposed sticks showing the orientation of the polarization position angles $`\chi `$. In each of the images, the restoring beam is indicated by a cross or ellipse in some corner of the map. Note that the $`I`$ and $`P`$ beams for the 1995.36 images in Fig. 1 are rather different; we show the $`P`$ image restored with its own beam in order to accurately reflect the different baseline coverages for the $`I`$ and $`P`$ datasets.

### 3.1 Total Intensity Structure

The VLBI structure of 0820+225 is very rich in both $`I`$ and $`P`$. Our 5 GHz images, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, follow the VLBI jet roughly 30 mas from the core. For ease of comparison, the contour levels in mJy for the $`I`$ images in Fig. 1 and the highest 12 contour levels in mJy for the $`I`$ images in Fig. 2 coincide. We can see that, in contrast to the overwhelming majority of BL Lacertae objects, the bulk of the parsec-scale flux is contained in the jet rather than the core. The VLBI jet bends quite strongly, in a shape that is suggestive of some type of precession or oscillatory instability. The 8.4 GHz image in Fig. 3a shows the extended VLBI jet in somewhat more detail. The jet gives the impression of being continuous, but also shows clear clumpiness in the brightness distribution. The 15 GHz image in Fig. 4a shows the inner part of the curved VLBI jet with higher resolution. The knotty structure of the jet is clearly visible.

Figure 5 shows the distribution of the spectral index calculated between 5 and 8.4 GHz, $`\alpha _{58}`$ ($`S\nu ^\alpha `$). We can see that all regions of the VLBI structure have steep spectra, indicating that they are optically thin. The spectral index throughout most of the outer jet is $`\alpha _{58}2.0`$ to $`2.5`$, while the spectra are less steep near the core and in the inner jet ($`\alpha _{58}0`$ to $`1`$). The spectrum is actually flattest near the westward bend, near the position of C2 (see Fig. 6).

### 3.2 Rotation Measure Distribution on Parsec Scales

Only two polarized features are detected in the inner part of the jet, and these are detected at all three frequencies. A comparison of the inner-jet region in the polarization images in Figs. 2b, 3b, and 4b immediately demonstrates the presence of a non-uniform frequency dependence for the observed polarization position angles. The knot roughly 3 mas from the core (“C1”) has nearly the same $`\chi `$ values at all three frequencies; in contrast, the three $`\chi `$ values for the knot roughly 6 mas from the core (“C2”) are very different. The top plot in Fig. 6 clearly shows that the observed $`\chi `$ values for both knots are consistent with $`\lambda ^2`$ dependences ($`\lambda =c/\nu `$ is the observing wavelength), as expected for Faraday rotation: the inferred rotation measure for the inner knot is only +42 rad/m2, while that for the outer knot is +353 rad/m2.

Polarized flux further from the core is detected only at 5 and 8.4 GHz. Therefore, we cannot strictly test there for a $`\lambda ^2`$ dependence of the measured $`\chi `$ values. Nonetheless, we can compare the $`\chi `$’s observed at the two frequencies and calculate the rotation measure implied if any difference is, indeed, due to external Faraday rotation. Figure 6 (bottom) shows the distribution of the inferred RMs based on a comparison of the images for the two lower frequencies; in the inner jet, these RMs are consistent with those derived using all three frequencies. There is evidence for inhomogeneity in the RM distribution in the outer jet as well; there is another region of high RM just to the west of the dip in the jet intensity about 8 mas from the core.

In general, the observed RMs decrease with distance from the core in the outer part of the jet. The RMs in the outer jet remain somewhat inhomogeneous, but have more modest values, some roughly comparable to the integrated RM determined using 1.50 and 1.67 GHz VLA observations, $`+81`$ rad/m2 (Pushkarev 2001). Since the 8.4 and 5 GHz polarization images presented here are already dominated by the outer jet, and this trend should continue toward lower frequencies, we expect that the 1.50–1.67 GHz polarization will be dominated by the contribution of regions lying $`15`$ mas or more from the core. The fact that the RMs inferred here for some parts of the outer jet are roughly comparable to the integrated value may indicate that we are just starting to detect a constant “foreground,” presumably Galactic, rotation measure. However, a substantial fraction of the outer 5-GHz jet has RMs that appreciably exceed the nominal integrated value, so that there is probably some contribution to the observed RMs from thermal plasma in the immediate vicinity of the BL Lac object throughout most of the observed 5-GHz VLBI jet. There is also some evidence that the observed RMs tend to be higher toward the southern edge of the jet; the physical origin for such a gradient is not clear.

Comparing Figs. 5 and 6 (bottom), we can see that the 5–8.4 GHz spectrum flattens in the core (as is expected) and also near the westward bend in the jet, where the rotation measures are highest. This is suggestive of either low-frequency absorption near this bend, or possibly of re-acceleration of electrons at this location. Both would be consistent with an interaction between the jet and external medium, and it is possible that this is related to the bending of the jet itself. We cannot test this idea more fully, however, since we were not able to image the region near and beyond this bend at 15 GHz, where we would expect absorption to be appreciably lower than at 5 GHz.

### 3.3 Linear Polarisation Structure After “De-rotation”

Thus, the rotation-measure distribution is quite non-uniform, and the Faraday rotations implied in the regions of highest rotation measure at the lowest observed frequency can reach $`6070^{}`$. Therefore, it is essential to correct for the observed rotation measure distribution if we wish to infer the intrinsic values for $`\chi `$, and thereby the underlying magnetic field structure. Figure 7 shows the result of this correction. Here, we have adjusted the observed $`\chi `$ values in accordance with the rotation-measure distribution in Fig. 6 (bottom), then rotated the result by $`90^{}`$ so that it shows the distribution of the underlying magnetic field implied by the “de-rotated” $`\chi `$ values. Recall that all the observed 5 GHz components, including the core, are dominated by optically thin emission (Fig. 5), so that B is perpendicular to the polarization electric vector.

This figure shows that the magnetic field in the inner part of the jet, before the westward bend, is transverse to the local jet direction, and that the dominant field becomes longitudinal beyond this bend. In addition, inspection of Figs. 3b and 2b shows that the polarized emission in the outer part of the VLBI jet is offset toward the northern edge of the main ridge lines in the corresponding $`I`$ images. These properties are suggestive of an interaction between the jet and surrounding medium that enhances the longitudinal field component due to shear. The dominant magnetic field is longitudinal essentially throughout the outer portion of the jet. The inferred magnetic field pattern in the bright component roughly 20 mas from the core is complex. If the magnetic field sticks in this component in Fig. 7 reflect the direction of the underlying jet flow, this indicates that the jet turns sharply southward, then back eastward before continuing westward at the end of the visible jet; this is plausible, but must be verified by analysis of component motions in this region.

Figure 8 shows distributions of the degree of polarization $`m`$ superposed on $`I`$ images at 8.4 and 5 GHz. In each case, we include only those $`m`$ values for pixels where both polarization and total-intensity were clearly detected. We can see that $`m`$ in the jet is typically $`1015\%`$, and reaches 30–40% or more in some places. In the 5 GHz $`m`$ distribution, the degree of polarization increases toward the outer edge of the curved jet structure, consistent with the possibility that the longitudinal field has been more highly ordered there, where the shear interaction is strongest. The most unusual feature in the $`m`$ distribution at 8.4 GHz is the rather high inferred polarization in a region of low total intensity about 13 mas west and 8 mas south of the core. The map in Fig. 3b clearly shows the detection of polarized flux in this location, and gives no indication of a dip in polarized flux in the location of the dip in total intensity. If this region of high polarization – indicating a region of very highly ordered longitudinal field – is real, its origin is not obvious. One possibility is that the regions occupied by various components in the extended part of the jet have a much stronger transverse field component than this low-intensity region, which partially cancels the longitudinal field due to shear.

### 3.4 Estimation of the Magnetic-Field Strength and Properties of the Thermal Gas

Let us suppose that the thermal gas giving rise to the large RM in the vicinity of the westward bend just beyond “C2” has properties fairly typical of a narrow-line cloud. In particular, we will assume that its temperature is $`T10^4`$ K, as has been established from observations of forbidden and semi-forbidden lines (Koski 1978; Heckman & Balick 1979). If we then assume further that this cloud is in equipartition, we can derive at least a rough estimate for the magnetic field in this region using the relations (Burn 1966; Tucker 1975)

$$\mathrm{RM}=8.1\times 10^5N_e\stackrel{}{B}𝑑\stackrel{}{l}$$

$$\mathrm{RM}8.1\times 10^5N_eB_{}L$$

$$N_ekT\frac{B^2}{8\pi }$$

where the first equation gives the definition of the rotation measure and the second is an approximation to the RM for the case of electromagnetic radiation travelling a length $`L`$ through a region of homogeneous thermal plasma with the magnetic-field component along the line of sight equal to $`B_{}`$. Here, $`L`$ is in pc, $`B`$ and $`B_{}`$ are in G, the electron number density $`N_e`$ is in cm-3, and RM is in rad m-2. Eliminating $`N_e`$ and multiplying the observed rotation measure by $`(1+z)^2`$ to determine the RM in the source frame, we obtain

$$B^2B_{}\frac{RM(1+z)^2\pi kT}{10^5L}.$$

Approximating $`B_{}B`$, as we expect if the magnetic field has no special orientation relative to the line of sight to the radio source (this approximation should affect the final result by at most about a factor of two or so),

$$B^3\frac{\mathrm{RM}(1+z)^2\pi kT}{10^5L}$$

$$B\left[\frac{\mathrm{RM}(1+z)^2\pi kT}{10^5L}\right]^{1/3}$$

$$B3.8\times 10^5L^{1/3}.$$

Further, we have some idea of the size of the region of thermal gas giving rise to the rotation measure, based on the extent of the region of high rotation measure on the sky – say, about 5 mas. If the thermal-gas cloud were much bigger than this, we would expect the observed region of high rotation measure to be larger. Since 1 mas = 5.64 pc at the redshift of 0820+225 ($`H_o=75`$ km s-1 Mpc-1, $`q_o=0.5`$), this implies a diameter $`L`$ of about 20–30 pc, which is reasonable, given estimates of the size of the narrow-line region for nearby AGNs ($`r100`$ pc or slightly larger; Peterson 1997). Substituting this value into our expression for $`B`$, we obtain the estimate $`B1214\mu `$G for this region several tens of parsecs from the VLBI core, consistent with general expectations for the strength of the magnetic field on parsec scales (perhaps $`10100\mu `$G) and the inferred magnetic field on kiloparsec scales ($`0.151.5\mu `$G; see for example, Laing & Bridle 1987). While it does not provide us with precise estimates, this analysis does suggest parameters for the thermal gas associated with the Faraday rotation and the region in which it is located that are consistent with current concepts about narrow-line clouds.

## 4 Conclusion

Based on our earlier 5 GHz $`I`$ and $`P`$ VLBI images of 0820+225 (Gabuzda, Pushkarev & Cawthorne 2000), we already knew that this was an unusual source. It made it into the Kühr & Schmidt (1990) 1-Jy sample of BL Lac objects because its integrated flux at 5 GHz is, indeed, more than 1 Jy. Like the other sample sources, a high fraction of its integrated flux is on milliarcsecond scales. However, in sharp contrast to the other sources in the sample, only a small fraction of the flux on VLBI scales is contained in the VLBI core. The jet is very extended, especially given that the redshift of the source is relatively large for a BL Lac object, $`z=0.95`$; this means that the VLBI jet sprawls over some 150–200 pc, with much of the emission located at substantial distances from the VLBI core.

The multi-frequency VLBA images presented here have underlined the unusual nature of this object by revealing an extremely non-uniform distribution for the rotation-measure on milliarcsecond scales. Galactic clouds of thermal plasma would be far too large to account for inhomogeneity in the rotation measure on such small angular scales. It is virtually certain that the thermal plasma giving rise to the non-uniform Faraday rotation is in the immediate environment of the VLBI jet. Therefore, since the RM is larger by a factor of $`(1+z)^2`$ in the rest frame of the source, the intrinsic RM of the component “C2” 6 mas from the core is about 1300 rad m-2, and the RM gradient in this part of the jet is $`400`$ rad m-2 mas-1.

In addition, we have found compelling evidence for the formation of a shear layer in the outer part of the VLBI jet of 0820+225. While the inferred magnetic field in the inner part of the jet (after correction for the measured RM distribution) is transverse, the predominant magnetic field in the outer jet becomes longitudinal. The ordering of the longitudinal field in the outer jet is substantial, as indicated by the observed degrees of polarization at both 5 and 8.4 GHz, which reach $`3040\%`$. The degree of polarization across the 5-GHz jet increases toward the outer edge, consistent with the idea that it is here that the enhancement of the longitudinal field component by the shear interaction is strongest, as might be expected.

Thus, 0820+225 provides us with an interesting, seemingly paradoxical, combination of properties: very weak optical line emission, but clear evidence for the presence of appreciable quantitites of thermal gas in the immediate vicinity of the AGN. This suggests that the weak line emission in this object is not simply due to a lack of gas: the gas is present, but is either not exposed to ionizing continuum radiation or is in a hot phase not conducive to the formation of dense clouds (Corbett et al. 1996).

Given the recent detection of a non-uniform parsec-scale RM distribution in BL Lac itself as well (Reynolds et al. 2001), this presents the interesting possibility that the weak optical line emission characteristic of these sources is generally not associated with a dearth of thermal gas. Since there is no clear evidence that BL Lac objects are more beamed than core-dominated quasars (Ghisellini et al. 1993), it is also implausible that the optical continua of BL Lac objects as a class are so much more highly beamed than the continua of quasars that their emission lines are “swamped,” giving rise to a featureless continuum. Thus, the most simple and plausible explanation for the weakness of the optical emission lines of BL Lac objects may be that the ionizing continuum radiation is insufficient to produce optical lines as luminous as those in quasars. In the framework of unification schemes identifying the FR I radio galaxies as the parent population of BL Lac objects (Browne 1983; Wardle, Moore & Angel 1984), this is also consistent with the analysis of Baum et al. (1995), who found the optical emission lines of FR I radio galaxies to be systematically less luminous than those of FR II radio galaxies of the same total radio luminosity or radio core power, and concluded that this was most likely associated with a lack of ionizing uv continuum in FR I sources, rather than a lack of thermal gas.

We are currently engaged in a multi-epoch, multi-frequency VLBA project to study this object in more detail, and to search for possible superluminal motions and variations in the RM distribution. Such variations do not require changes in the Faraday screen (movement of blobs of thermal plasma, for example); the observed RM distribution could vary due to changes in the distribution of polarized emission behind the non-uniform Faraday screen. In this way, we hope that our multi-epoch study will provide further valuable information about both the distribution of thermal plasma in the vicinity of the BL Lac object and the properties of the unusual VLBI jet itself.

## 5 Acknowledgements

ABP acknowledges support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project code 99-0217799). DCG acknowledges support from the European Commission under the IHP Programme (ARI) contract No. HPRI-CT-1999-00045. We thank L. Gurvits for useful discussions in connection with this work.


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# Modulational instability in periodic quadratic nonlinear materials

## Abstract

We investigate the modulational instability of plane waves in quadratic nonlinear materials with linear and nonlinear quasi-phase-matching gratings. Exact Floquet calculations, confirmed by numerical simulations, show that the periodicity can drastically alter the gain spectrum but never completely removes the instability. The low-frequency part of the gain spectrum is accurately predicted by an averaged theory and disappears for certain gratings. The high-frequency part is related to the inherent gain of the homogeneous non-phase-matched material and is a consistent spectral feature.

The modulational instability (MI) of waveforms is a fundamental phenomenon in nonlinear media and is closely associated with the concept of self-localized waves, or solitons. Like solitons, MI occurs due to an interplay between nonlinear and dispersive or diffractive effects. It involves the exponential growth of weak perturbations through the amplification of sideband frequencies, which causes a destructive modulation of the carrier wave. Many diverse physical systems exhibit MI, e.g. fluids, plasmas, nonlinear optics, molecular chains, and Fermi-resonant interface waves and waveguide arrays. In nonlinear optics MI may appear as a transverse instability that breaks up a broad optical beam, thereby acting as a precursor for the formation of stable bright spatial solitons . Conversely, the stable propagation of dark solitons relies on the stability of the constant-intensity background and thus requires the absence of MI .

Here we study optical media with a purely quadratic ($`\chi ^{(2)}`$) nonlinearity. These materials are of significant technological interest due their strong and fast cascaded nonlinearities , which can support stable bright solitons in all dimensions . Moreover, they provide the most general means of studying nonlinear processes, because varying the phase mismatch between the fundamental and second-harmonic (SH) waves changes the nonlinearity from being distinctly quadratic to effectively cubic. The generality is further enhanced when the properties of the medium are modulated with long-period quasi-phase-matching (QPM) gratings. This periodicity not only allows one to tune the effective mismatch, but it also induces effective cubic nonlinearities , which may be engineered to different strengths and signs.

Except in special cases, MI is unavoidable in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials. Optical pulses can be modulationally stable only if the dispersion has opposite sign at the fundamental and SH frequencies. Transverse inhomogeneities, as in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ waveguide arrays, may also eliminate MI . However, CW beams propagating in pure homogeneous $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials are always unstable . Naturally, a cubic (Kerr) nonlinearity is always present in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials, and if defocusing and sufficiently strong, it may eliminate MI . Unfortunately, the cubic nonlinearity in conventional $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials is usually focusing, though it may be a factor in the recent observation of apparently stable quadratic optical vortex solitons .

We consider transverse MI of CW beams in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials whose linear and nonlinear properties are both modulated and make a detailed study of the instability gain spectra. Because such spectra can now be measured in the laboratory, studying their profiles has direct experimental relevance. Our purpose is to identify regimes with no MI, or with a maximum gain that is small enough to allow spatial dark solitons to propagate stably over experimentally relevant distances. It is known that, in a system with cubic nonlinearity, periodic dispersion (as in dispersion-managed fibers) or nonlinearity can reduce the growth rate of fluctuations. We find that, in quadratic materials, the periodicities also drastically alter the MI gain spectrum but they do not entirely remove the instability.

We numerically find exact plane-wave solutions and apply Floquet theory to determine their MI gain spectrum. Numerical simulations, with exact plane-wave solutions seeded with noise as initial conditions, confirm the Floquet gain spectra. In the regime of efficient quasi-phase-matching, we find that the MI gain spectrum contains two distinct and well-separated features with fundamentally different physical origins. The low-frequency part of the gain, which to our knowledge has not been predicted before, is accurately predicted by an averaged theory and disappears for certain grating modulations. The high-frequency part of the spectrum is related to the inherent gain of the non-phase-matched material (i.e., with no gratings) and appears to be unavoidable. However, because they are consistently small, the high-frequency peaks can be ignored under a less stringent definition of experimental stability. This gives the possibility of stable plane waves as predicted by the averaged theory.

The system under consideration consists of a CW beam (carrier frequency $`\omega `$) and its SH propagating in a lossless 1D slab waveguide under conditions for QPM type-I second-harmonic generation (SHG). Both the linear and quadratic nonlinear susceptibilities are periodic along the $`Z`$-direction of propagation, as illustrated in Fig. 1, but are constant along the transverse $`X`$-direction. The modulation of the refractive index is assumed to be weak: $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_j(Z)/\overline{n}_j`$$``$1, where $`n_j(Z)=\overline{n}_j+\mathrm{\Delta }n_j(Z)`$ and $`j`$ refers to the frequency $`j\omega `$. For many materials and etching techniques, such a linear grating appears inevitably when the nonlinear susceptibility is altered . We consider gratings for forward QPM only, such that the grating period is much longer than the optical period and we can neglect Bragg reflections. The evolution of the slowly varying beam envelopes is then given by

$`i_ZE_1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_X^2E_1+\alpha _1(Z)E_1+\chi (Z)E_1^{}E_2\mathrm{e}^{i\beta Z}`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (1)
$`i_ZE_2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}_X^2E_2+2\alpha _2(Z)E_2+\chi (Z)E_1^2\mathrm{e}^{i\beta Z}`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (2)
where $`E_1`$=$`E_1(X,Z)`$ and $`E_2`$=$`E_2(X,Z)`$ are the envelope functions of the fundamental and SH, respectively. The coordinates $`X`$ and $`Z`$ are in units of the input beam width $`X_0`$ and the diffraction length $`L_d`$=$`k_1X_0^2`$, respectively. The parameter $`\beta `$=$`\mathrm{\Delta }kL_d`$ is proportional to the mismatch $`\mathrm{\Delta }k`$=$`k_22k_1`$, where $`k_j`$=$`j\omega \overline{n}_j/c`$ is the average wave number. Thus $`\beta `$ is positive for normal dispersion and negative for anomalous dispersion. The normalized refractive-index grating is $`\alpha _j(Z)`$=$`L_d\omega \mathrm{\Delta }n_j(Z)/c`$, and the normalized nonlinear grating is $`\chi (Z)`$=$`L_d\omega d_{\mathrm{eff}}(Z)/(\overline{n}_1c)`$, where $`d_{\mathrm{eff}}`$=$`\chi ^{(2)}/2`$ is given in MKS units.

To consider a plane wave with longitudinal wave number offset $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and transverse wave number $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, we transform to the new variables $`w(x,z)`$=$`E_1(X,Z)\mathrm{exp}(i\mathrm{\Omega }Xi\mathrm{\Lambda }Z)`$, $`v(x,z)=E_2(X,Z)\mathrm{exp}(2i\mathrm{\Omega }X2i\mathrm{\Lambda }Z+i\stackrel{~}{\beta }Z)`$, $`x`$=$`\sqrt{\eta }(X+\mathrm{\Omega }Z)`$, and $`z`$=$`\eta Z`$, where $`\eta =|\mathrm{\Lambda }+\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }^2|`$ for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$ and $`\eta `$=1 otherwise. We have also introduced a residual effective mismatch $`\stackrel{~}{\beta }`$=$`\beta k_g`$. This gives the equations

$`i_zw+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_x^2wrw+\alpha _1^{}(z)w+\chi ^{}(z)w^{}v\mathrm{e}^{i\kappa z}`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (3)
$`i_zv+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}_x^2v\sigma v+2\alpha _2^{}(z)v+\chi ^{}(z)w^2\mathrm{e}^{i\kappa z}`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (4)
where $`r=\mathrm{sgn}(\mathrm{\Lambda }+\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }^2)`$, $`\sigma =2r\stackrel{~}{\beta }/\eta `$, and $`\kappa =k_g/\eta `$. Note that $`r`$=0 when $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$=$`\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }^2`$. We Fourier-expand the rescaled gratings, $`\alpha _j^{}(z)`$=$`\alpha _j(Z)/\eta `$ and $`\chi ^{}(z)=\chi (Z)/\eta `$:

$$\alpha _j^{}=a_j^{}\underset{n}{}g_n\mathrm{e}^{in\kappa z},\chi ^{}=d_0^{}+d^{}\underset{n}{}g_n\mathrm{e}^{in\kappa z},$$
(5)
where, for the square waveform that we consider (Fig. 1), $`g_n`$=$`2s/(i\pi n)`$ for $`n`$ odd and $`g_n`$=0 for $`n`$ even. The sign $`s`$=$`\mathrm{sgn}(\kappa )`$ is included to ensure that the expansions give the same grating form for both signs of $`\kappa `$. The gratings will drive a periodic variation in $`z`$ of spatial frequency $`\kappa `$ in the fields of system (4). We explicitly include this fast variation by expanding the fields in Fourier series also:

$$w=\underset{n}{}w_n(x,z)\mathrm{e}^{in\kappa z},v=\underset{n}{}v_n(x,z)\mathrm{e}^{in\kappa z}.$$
(6)
For plane-wave solutions $`(w,v)`$=$`(w_s,v_s)`$, all the coefficients $`w_n`$ and $`v_n`$ are constants determined by

$`(n\kappa +r)w_n+a_1^{}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}g_{nl}w_l+{\displaystyle \underset{l,p}{}}D_{n+lp1}w_l^{}v_p`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (7)
$`(n\kappa +\sigma )v_n+2a_2^{}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}g_{nl}v_l+{\displaystyle \underset{l,p}{}}D_{nlp+1}w_lw_p`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (8)
where $`D_n`$=$`d^{}g_n+d_0^{}\delta _n`$, $`\delta _n`$ being Kronecker’s delta. We find the solution numerically using a standard relaxation technique based on Newton’s method.

We determine the linear stability of the plane-wave solutions by using exact Floquet theory . For perturbations of transverse frequency offset $`\nu `$:

$`w(x,z)`$ $`=`$ $`w_s(z)+\delta w_1(z)\mathrm{e}^{i\nu x}+\delta w_2^{}(z)\mathrm{e}^{i\nu x},`$ (9)
$`v(x,z)`$ $`=`$ $`v_s(z)+\delta v_1(z)\mathrm{e}^{i\nu x}+\delta v_2^{}(z)\mathrm{e}^{i\nu x},`$ (10)
the linear growth is governed by the linearized equation $`_z𝐏=M(z)𝐏`$, where $`𝐏(z)`$ and the matrix $`M(z)`$ are

$`𝐏=\left(\begin{array}{c}\delta w_1\\ \delta w_2\\ \delta v_1\\ \delta v_2\end{array}\right),M=i\left(\begin{array}{cccc}a& b& c^{}& 0\\ b^{}& a& 0& c\\ 2c& 0& d& 0\\ 0& 2c^{}& 0& d\end{array}\right),`$ (19)
and where we have defined the components $`a=\nu ^2/2r+\alpha _1^{}(z)`$, $`b=v_s(z)\chi (z)\mathrm{e}^{i\kappa z}`$, $`c=w_s(z)\chi (z)e^{i\kappa z}`$ and $`d=\nu ^2/4\sigma +2\alpha _2^{}(z)`$.

Because of the periodicity in $`\alpha _j^{}`$, $`\chi ^{}`$, $`w_s`$ and $`v_s`$, the matrix $`M`$ is also periodic with period $`z_p=2\pi /|\kappa |`$. To determine the stability, we need only find the eigenvalues $`\lambda _i`$ of the mapping $`\delta T`$ of the solution over one period: $`𝐏(z+z_p)=\delta T𝐏(z)`$. We calculate $`\delta T`$ numerically by integrating the linearized equation  with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. If all the $`\lambda _i`$ lie on the unit circle for every $`\nu `$, then the solutions $`w_s`$ and $`v_s`$ are stable; otherwise there is a gain whose profile is $`g`$=$`\mathrm{max}\{\mathrm{}[\mathrm{ln}(\lambda _i)/z_p]\}`$. We note that the actual growth rate at short distances may differ from $`g`$, depending on the overlap of the initial perturbation with the unstable eigenvector. However, for larger distances ($`z>1/g`$), as we consider here, the growth rate will approach the limiting maximum value $`g`$.

As a first example, we calculate the Floquet gain spectrum for a conventional domain-reversal grating in LiNbO3 ($`a_1^{}`$=$`a_2^{}`$=$`d_0^{}`$=0) for $`r`$=$`1`$, $`\kappa `$= 100 and exact phase matching ($`\sigma `$=$`2`$). As Fig. 3(a) shows, the spectral features fall into two well-separated regions: two low-frequency bands around $`\nu `$=2.0 and $`\nu `$=3.4, and a narrow high-frequency band at $`\nu `$=14.2. For comparison Fig. 3(b) plots the gain for a GaAs/AlAs superstructure with a nonlinear grating etched though quantum-well disordering ($`d_0^{}/d^{}`$=4.6) and a linear grating chosen to be $`(a_1^{}a_2^{})/\kappa `$=$`1/9.2`$. High-frequency gain bands are again present, but the low-frequency bands are absent. Further results show that such narrow, high-$`\nu `$ bands are a general feature of the gain spectrum for QPM gratings. They are related to the inherent MI in the non-phase-matched, gratingless $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ material: Each gain peak that appears in the gratingless spectrum usually also appears in the Floquet spectrum, typically with the same height and spectral location. An exception is the gain from the symmetric grating case ($`d_0^{}`$=0), as in LiNbO3, where the original ‘homogeneous’ peak is suppressed. Often, as in Fig. 3(b), this peak is split into two or more closely spaced components by the grating.

The low-frequency features in the gain spectrum are accurately predicted by approximate averaged-field equations for the DC components $`(\overline{w},\overline{v})=(w_0,v_0)`$. From Eqs. (4) these equations are found to be

$`i_z\overline{w}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_x^2\overline{w}r\overline{w}+\rho \overline{w}^{}\overline{v}+\gamma (|\overline{v}|^2|\overline{w}|^2)\overline{w}=0,`$ (20)
$`i_z\overline{v}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}_x^2\overline{v}\sigma \overline{v}+\rho ^{}\overline{w}^2+2\gamma |\overline{w}|^2\overline{v}=0,`$ (21)
where $`\rho =2is(d^{}+2d_0^{}(a_1^{}a_2^{})/\kappa )/\pi `$ and $`\gamma =(d_0^2+d^2(18/\pi ^2))/\kappa `$. The averaged equations are valid for small residual mismatch ($`\beta ^{}\beta `$) and small grating period ($`\kappa 1`$). They show that the linear grating may decrease the strength of the effective quadratic nonlinearity, possibly even to zero . More importantly, the nonlinear grating induces cubic nonlinearities. These can be defocusing ($`\gamma >0`$)  and may thus stabilize plane waves . We find that Eqs. (21) indeed have modulationally stable plane-wave solutions in a large regime for $`r=1`$, as shown in Fig. 2(a), where $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }=\gamma /|\rho |^2`$ gives the relative strength of the cubic nonlinearity. The figure also shows that, since the mismatch $`\sigma `$ cannot be large (otherwise the averaged equations are invalid), the effective quadratic nonlinearity $`|\rho |`$ must be reduced (i.e., $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ increased) to get a stable solution.

The case shown in Fig. 3(a) corresponds to having $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }=44.5`$, $`\sigma =2`$, which lies outside the region of stability predicted by the averaged equations. The gain profile, shown in Fig. 3(c), matches exactly the low-frequency part of the Floquet spectrum. The case in Fig. 3(b) corresponds to $`\rho =0`$, in which case the averaged equations reduce to two coupled Schrödinger equations. The plane-wave solution $`w_0`$=$`\sqrt{r/\gamma }`$, $`v_0`$=0 is stable for $`\gamma `$$`>`$0 ($`r`$=$`1`$), in agreement with the absence of low-frequency bands in the exact Floquet spectrum.

Figure 2(b) shows the maximum gain calculated from Floquet theory for a given modulation depth. Where the averaged equations predict MI, the Floquet gain is large, in agreement with the averaged results. However where the averaged equations predict stability, Floquet theory finds a residual gain, due to the high-frequency gain bands. However, because the residual gain is often small and narrow, it may be neglected under a reasonable definition of experimental stability, which allows for a small growth over say 10 diffractions lengths (typical length scale in experiments). Neglecting the high-frequency gain bands causes the results of Floquet and average-field calculations to coincide and whole regions in parameter space of “experimentally stable” plane-waves to appear. These regions are even larger than shown in Fig. 2 and also appear for $`r`$=$`+1`$ and $`r`$=0. We demonstrate this experimental stability by simulating the propagation of dark solitons with Eq. (2), shown in Fig. 4(a). The parameters correspond to a nonlinear grating induced in GaAs/AlAs through quantum-well disordering, as in Fig. 3(b) but with no linear modulation. Stable propagation of the dark soliton can be seen for over 60 diffraction lengths. Now because of the small gain in highly non-phase-matched materials, such stable propagation can also be achieved without the nonlinear grating (Fig. 4(b)). But the SHG efficiency is then very low, as evidenced by the relative SH intensity being a factor of 10 less than with the grating.

The Floquet spectral results are confirmed by numerical simulations of Eqs. (2). We launch plane waves seeded with Gaussian white noise to excite all spatial frequencies. The gain spectrum is then calculated from the Fourier-transformed fundamental $`\stackrel{~}{w}`$ as $`\stackrel{~}{g}(\nu )=(\mathrm{ln}|\stackrel{~}{w}(z_2,\nu )|\mathrm{ln}|\stackrel{~}{w}(z_1,\nu )|)/(z_2z_1)`$ . As shown in Fig. 5, the simulations agree with the Floquet curves, in both the low-$`\nu `$ (Fig. 5(b)) and high-$`\nu `$ (Fig. 5(c)) regions.

In summary, we have used an exact Floquet technique to find the MI gain spectrum in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials with general QPM gratings. Due to the periodicity, novel high- and low-frequency gain bands appear in the spectrum. A simple approximate averaged-field theory correctly predicts the low-frequency gain bands. The high-frequency peaks that are consistently present in the spectrum are typically small and may be neglected under a realistic definition of experimental stability. The predictions of the averaged and the exact Floquet analyses then agree, and stable plane waves and dark solitons become possible, even under conditions close to phase matching.

MI is yet to be investigated in $`\chi ^{(2)}`$ materials with both linear and nonlinear QPM gratings. However, it is now possible to directly probe the gain spectrum in experiments , and thus the interesting spectral profiles predicted here may be verified in the laboratory.

This work is supported by the Danish Technical Research Council under grant no. 5600-00-0355.


text:
# A Proposed New Test of General Relativity and a Possible Solution to the Cosmological Constant Problem

## Abstract

Following a conjecture of Feynman, we explore the possibility that only those energy forms that are associated with (massive or massless) particles couple to the gravitational field, but not others. We propose an experiment to deflect electrons by a small charged sphere to determine if the standard general relativity or this modified one corresponds to reality. The outcome of this experiment may also solve the cosmological constant problem.

04.80.Cc, 98.80.Es, 04.20.Cv, 04.50.+h

The equivalence of mass and energy, expressed in his celebrated formula $`E=mc^2`$, led Einstein to postulate that the energy-momentum tensor $`T^{\mu \nu }`$ in the field equation of general relativity

$$R^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{2}g^{\mu \nu }R=\frac{8\pi G}{c^4}T^{\mu \nu },$$
(1)
contains all kinds of energies, such as matter, radiation, electromagnetic, vacuum, etc. Thus assuming that the vacuum energy is negligible, the field equation (1) outside an object of total mass $`M`$ and static electric charge $`Q`$ containg no neutral and charged masses or other fields around it reduces to

$$R^{\mu \nu }=\frac{8\pi G}{c^4}T_{EM}^{\mu \nu },$$
(2)
where $`T_{EM}^{\mu \nu }`$ is the traceless energy-momentum tensor of the electric field due to the charge $`Q`$ of the object. For the purpose of this letter we shall classify different energy types into two. The first class is the set of energy types with which massive or massless particles are associated. Thus the energy of an already existing mass distribution is obviously of this class The mass of the distribution may be constantly changing due to its mechanical energy, its absorbtion or loss of heat energy, etc. Furthermore, while we can estimate how much electromagnetic binding energy of an atom contributes to its rest mass we do not know, for example, how much weak and gravitational energies contribute to it. We also know from the Eötvös experiment that electromagnetic binding energy contributes equally to inertial and gravitational massess. We assume this is the case for the other energy types.  . Since the energy in an electromagnetic wave (electromagnetic radiation) is carried in packages that behave like massless particles (photons) the electromagnetic radiation energy is also of this class Recall that though massless, an ‘effective mass’ can be assigned to photons. . Energies associated with other massless particles like neutrinos and gravitons are further examples. Each energy type in this class may rightly be called ‘mass energy’ or ‘particle energy’. The second class is the set of energy types with which no particles are associated §§§Of course, there is an ‘equivalent mass’ through $`E=mc^2`$ for such energies too. But the crucial point is that there is no already existing massive or massless particles associated with them.  . The energies in the electric fields of a static charge distribution and between the plates of a capacitor as well as the vacuum energy are of the second class.

There is plenty of emprical proof, such as the successes of the big-bang cosmology and the deflection of light by the sun, that the first class energies couple to the gravitational field. But there does not exist any emprical proof at present for the coupling of the second class energies to the gravitational field. Therefore, we do not know with certainty if Eq. (2) corresponds to a fact of nature. It lacks experimental support. There is the intriguing possibility that we shall consider in this letter, as first hinted by Feynman  when he said ’…Now gravity is supposed to interact with every form of energy and should interact then with this vacuum energy. And therefore, so to speak, a vacuum would have a weight-an equivalent mass energy-and would produce a gravitational field. Well, it doesn’t! The gravitational field produced by the energy in the electromagnetic field in a vacuum-where there’s no light, just quiet, nothing-should be enermous, so enermous, it would be obvious. The fact is, it’s zero! Or so small that it’s completely in disagreement with what we’d expect from the field theory. This problem is sometimes called the cosmological constant problem. It suggests that we’re missing something in our formulation of the theory of gravity. It’s even possible that the cause of the trouble-the infinities-arises from the gravity interacting with its own energy in a vacuum. And we started off wrong because we already know there’s something wrong with the idea that gravity should interact with the energy of a vacuum. So I think the first thing we should understand is how to formulate gravity so that it doesn’t interact with the energy in a vacuum…’ According to this conjecture of Feynman there is the possibility that the right side of Eq. (2) may be zero:

$$R^{\mu \nu }=0.$$
(3)
The importance of confronting with experiment the predictions of equations (2) and (3) is not merely academic. If it turns out that Eq. (3) is the one favored by nature, we then have a very simple solution  to the cosmological constant problem . It would mean that being of the second class, the vacuum energy does not couple to the gravitational field. The present value of the vacuum energy density is as large as it had been in the early universe. The cosmological constant, however, is simply zero, as it has always been.

The purpose of this letter is to propose a deflection of electrons by a positively charged sphere experiment to distinguish between equations (2) and (3). To this end, we shall need the solutions of these equations. The solution of Eq. (2) for a static and spherical distribution of mass $`M`$ and electric charge $`Q`$ located at $`r=0`$ is known as the Reissner-Nordstrøm solution . It is given by

$`ds^2=\left(12{\displaystyle \frac{GM}{c^2r}}+{\displaystyle \frac{Gk_eQ^2}{c^4r^2}}\right)c^2dt^2\left(12{\displaystyle \frac{GM}{c^2r}}+{\displaystyle \frac{Gk_eQ^2}{c^4r^2}}\right)^1dr^2`$ (4)
$`r^2d\theta ^2r^2sin^2\theta d\varphi ^2,`$ (5)
where $`k_e`$ is the electric(Coulomb) constant. It should be noted that according to Eq. (3), the electric field of the sphere does not contribute to its gravitational field and hence must assert itself separately and independently. Therefore, for weak fields Eq. (3) must reduce to Laplace’s equation

$$^2(\mathrm{\Phi }_G+\mathrm{\Phi }_E)=0,$$
(6)
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_G`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_E`$ are the gravitational and electric potentials of the sphere. Finding the solution of Eq. (3) proceeds along the lines of the Schwarzschild solution . We find

$`ds^2=\left(12{\displaystyle \frac{GM}{c^2r}}2{\displaystyle \frac{e}{m}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_eQ}{c^2r}}\right)c^2dt^2\left(12{\displaystyle \frac{GM}{c^2r}}2{\displaystyle \frac{e}{m}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_eQ}{c^2r}}\right)^1dr^2`$ (7)
$`r^2d\theta ^2r^2sin^2\theta d\varphi ^2,`$ (8)
where $`e`$ and $`m`$ are the charge and the mass of an electron-a test particle-in the viscinity of the spherical object Eq. (8) can also be obtained intuitively by classical energy considerations. Consider an electron moving radially away from a sphere of mass $`M`$ and charge $`Q`$. For the electron to escape from this object at a distance $`r`$ from its center and reach infinity with zero speed, the escape velocity $`v_{esc}`$ satisfies $`mv_{esc}^2/2GmM/rek_eQ/r=0.`$ Replacing $`v_{esc}`$ with $`c`$, the speed of light, (so that the electron cannot escape from the surface of radius r) and dividing it by $`mc^2/2`$ the left side of this equation becomes $`(12GM/c^2r2ek_eQ/mc^2r)`$, which is the $`g_{00}`$ in Eq. (8) . . To find the trajectory of an electron deflected by a positively charged sphere we also need the equations describing the trajectory according to equations (2) and (3). They are

$$\frac{d^2x^\mu }{ds^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^\mu \frac{dx^\alpha }{ds}\frac{dx^\beta }{ds}=\frac{e}{mc^2}F_\alpha ^\mu \frac{dx^\alpha }{ds},$$
(9)
according to Eq. (2), and

$$\frac{d^2x^\mu }{ds^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^\mu \frac{dx^\alpha }{ds}\frac{dx^\beta }{ds}=0,$$
(10)
according to Eq. (3) Note that charged particles follow the geodesics, Eq. (10), of the metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$. This is a consequence of Eq. (3). Note also that there is a different metric for each particle with a different charge-to-mass ratio. The resulting theory, therefore, is a multi-metric theory.. Here $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\alpha \beta }^\mu `$ and $`F_{\mu \alpha }=A_\alpha /x^\mu A_\mu /x^\alpha `$ are the connection coefficients and the electromagnetic field strength tensor, with $`A_\mu =(k_eQ/r,0)`$ being the electromagnetic four-potential of the sphere. Before we indulge in obtaining the orbit equations in experimentally relevant form, we propose the following experiment. Consider a rectangular vacuum chamber. Let a small metallic sphere of radius $`R25cm`$ positively charged to a voltage $`V(R)=k_eQ/R`$ be hanged freely from an insulating thread. Let an electron gun be located at a distance $`d`$ away from the equator (the $`\theta =\pi /2`$ plane) of the sphere with an impact parameter $`b`$ which is the horizontal distance between the initial path of the ejected electron beam and the center of the sphere. Thus the initial position of the beam is $`(x_i,y_i)=(b,d)`$ at an angle $`\varphi _i=\pi /2+arctan(b/d)`$. Put a calibrated fluorescent screen on the negative $`y`$ axis at $`\varphi =3\pi /2`$. The initial conditions for solving the differential equations that we shall obtain (see equations (17) and (18) ) are $`u(\varphi _i)=r_i^1`$ and $`du/d\varphi (\varphi _i)=\sqrt{r_i^2/b^21/r_i}`$ with $`r_i=\sqrt{b^2+d^2}`$. Make a large enough glass window on the side of the box facing the screen (or monitor the position of the electron beam on the screen electronically). Compare the reading of the position of the beam with the predictions of the equations that we obtain now.

Using spherical coordinates, we write the line element in the form

$$ds^2=e^\eta c^2dt^2e^\eta dr^2r^2d\theta ^2r^2sin^2\theta d\varphi ^2.$$
(11)
Inserting $`d\theta /ds=0`$ in Eq. (9) and integrating the equations obtained for the coordinates $`x^0=ct`$ and $`x^3=\varphi `$ we get

$$\frac{dt}{ds}=\frac{e^\eta }{c}\left(\frac{qk_eQ}{mc^2}\frac{1}{r}+a\right),$$
(12)
$$r^2\frac{d\varphi }{ds}=h,$$
(13)
where $`a`$ and $`h`$ are integration constants. Using equations (12) and (13) in the equation obtained from the condition of timelike geodesics $`g_{\mu \nu }(dx^\mu /ds)(dx^\nu /ds)=1`$, putting $`e^\eta 1`$ \**\**\**For a sphere of $`M=1kg`$, $`R=5cm`$, $`V(R)=10^3V`$, we have for an electron just grazing the sphere $`g_{00}^{RN}=(12m_G/R+GV(R)^2/k_ec^4)=(11.48\times 10^{26}+9.19\times 10^{49})1`$. , and then differentiating with respect to $`du/d\varphi `$ we get

$$\frac{d^2u}{d\varphi ^2}+u=\frac{m_E}{h^2}+\frac{m_E^2}{h^2}u,$$
(14)
where $`u=1/r`$ and the constant $`a`$ has been set to $`1`$ so that when $`h=l/mc`$, with $`l=mr^2\dot{\varphi }`$ being the ordinary angular momentum, the first term on the right side of Eq. (14) agrees with the corresponding Newtonian expression. Here $`m_E=ek_eQ/mc^2=eRV(R)/mc^2`$ has the dimension of length and corresponds to $`m_G=GM/c^2`$ in the Schwarzschild solution. On the other hand, we obtain from Eq. (10)

$$\frac{dt}{ds}=\frac{e^\eta }{c}$$
(15)
and Eq. (13) remains intact. By putting $`e^\eta =(12m_G/r2m_E/r)(12m_E/r)`$ and proceeding as above we get

$$\frac{d^2u}{d\varphi ^2}+u=\frac{m_E}{h^2}+3m_Eu^2.$$
(16)
$`mch`$ is the conserved angular momentum of the electron in its rest frame. $`h`$ can be expressed in terms of $`l`$, the angular momentum in the laboratory frame, using equations (12) and (13) in the Reissner-Nordstrøm case and equations (15) and (13) in our case. They are, respectively, $`h=l(1+m_Eu)/mc`$ and $`h=l(12m_Eu)^1/mc`$. Inserting these in equations (14) and (16) we finally obtain

$$\frac{d^2u}{d\varphi ^2}+u=\frac{m^2c^2}{l^2}\frac{m_E}{\left(1+m_Eu\right)},$$
(17)
which is the orbit equation for the Reissner-Nordstrøm solution, and

$$\frac{d^2u}{d\varphi ^2}+u=\frac{m^2c^2}{l^2}m_E\left(12m_Eu\right)^2+3m_Eu^2,$$
(18)
which is the orbit equation in our case which we call modified general relativity. By using the initial conditions stated above these equations can be solved numerically for $`r=1/u`$, the predicted position of the electron beam on the screen from the center of the sphere. By comparing the experimental value with these predictions, the correct theory can be determined. In Figures 1 and 2 we depict the trajectory of the electrons according to the two theories. It is seen that the difference between the two predictions is large enough. Hence the experimentally favored one can be picked up rather easily.

Before we conclude, we wish to clarify the implications of the Eötvös experiment in regard to the theory presented here. The electromagnetic energy of the atoms, or any other form of energy, in an object has already been converted to mass ( and thus belongs to the first type in our classification of the energy types above). What the Eötvös experiment tells us is that the electromagnetic energy contributes in equal amounts to gravitational and inertial masses. It does not tell us that this energy couples to the gravitational field independently as energy. Had the electromagnetic energy coupled to the gravitational field independently, a deflection in the balance of the Eötvös apparatus would have been seen when two equal massess having considerably different electromagnetic binding energies were used. Of course this does not happen.

In conclusion, we have explored the conjecture of Feynman on a reformulation of general relativity. In this new scheme only the ‘mass energy’ couples to the gravitational field, but not other energy forms. We have proposed a deflection of electrons by a charged sphere experiment. The significance of this experiment is that it not only provides a new test of general relativity but also may point out to the solution of the cosmological constant problem. Not being a wave, the energy of the vacuum is not associated with quantized packages and a formula like $`Ef`$, with $`f`$ being the frequency, cannot be written and an effective mass $`m_{eff}f/c^2`$ cannot be defined. Thus according to the scheme presented here the field equation for vacuum is $`R^{\mu \nu }=0`$, implying that the cosmological constant $`\lambda =(8\pi G/c^4)\rho _V`$ of standard general relativity, with $`\rho _V`$ being the vacuum energy density, is $`\lambda =0\times \rho _V=0`$ here. $`\lambda `$ has always been equal to zero! Keeping on mind that (i) standard general relativity remains one of the least tested of scientific theories, and (ii) the theory presented here offers a very simple solution to the cosmological constant problem, the immediate performance of the experiment suggested here cannot be overemphasized.

We wish to thank Dr. Bahram Mashhoon for an e-mail correspondence on the implications of the Eötvös experiment.


text:
# Exact Zero-Modes of the Compact QED Dirac Operator

## Abstract

We calculate the low-lying eigenmodes of the Neuberger overlap-Dirac operator for $`4d`$ compact lattice QED in the quenched approximation. In the strong coupling phase we find exact zero-modes, quite similar as in non-Abelian lattice QCD. Subsequently we make an attempt to identify responsible topological excitations of the U(1) lattice gauge theory.

In recent years the spectrum of the Dirac operator in QCD-like theories has been related to random matrix theory (RMT), see  for a review. RMT reproduces the effective, finite-volume partition function results of Ref. . What enters into the RMT description of the low-energy, finite-volume scaling behavior are universal symmetry properties of the Dirac operator and the topological charge and the value of the chiral condensate of the gauge configuration under consideration . Via the Atiyah-Singer index theorem the topological charge is mapped on the number of fermionic zero-modes of the Dirac operator. The symmetry properties of the Dirac operator fall into three classes, corresponding to the chiral orthogonal, unitary, and symplectic ensembles . This classification is intimately connected to the chiral symmetry properties of fermions. A good non-perturbative regularization of QCD should therefore retain those chiral symmetry properties. Based on the overlap formalism , such a lattice regularization emerged only recently with the massless Neuberger overlap-Dirac operator  given by

$$D=\frac{1}{2}\left[1+\gamma _5ϵ\left(H_w(m)\right)\right],$$
(1)
where $`\gamma _5H_w(m)`$ is the usual Wilson-Dirac operator on the lattice and $`ϵ`$ the sign function. The mass $`m`$ has to be chosen to be positive and well above the critical mass for Wilson fermions but below the mass where the doublers become light on the lattice.

Previously the low-lying spectrum of the operator (1) was calculated for various QCD ensembles  and agreement with RMT predictions was observed. In this paper we expand such calculations to compact, quenched lattice QED with the U(1) lattice gauge theory Wilson action

$$S\{U_l\}=\beta \underset{p}{}(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _p).$$
(2)
Here $`\beta =1/g^2`$, $`U_l=U_{x,\mu }=\mathrm{exp}(i\theta _{x,\mu })`$, with $`\theta _{x,\mu }(\pi ,+\pi ]`$ and $`\theta _p=\theta _{x,\mu \nu }=\theta _{x,\mu }+\theta _{x+\widehat{\mu },\nu }\theta _{x+\widehat{\nu },\mu }\theta _{x,\nu }`$ for $`\nu \mu `$. For $`\beta <\beta _c1.01`$, this theory is in the confinement phase, exhibiting a mass gap and monopole excitations . This phase exhibits chiral symmetry breaking and the chiral condensate is, according to the Banks-Casher relation , determined by the small eigenvalues of the Dirac operator. Properties of the chiral phase have been studied numerically in Refs. . In the strong-coupling limit $`\beta 0`$, chiral symmetry breaking follows rigorously from infrared bounds  and it has also been calculated explicitly . For $`\beta >\beta _c`$, the theory is in the chirally symmetric Coulomb phase with a massless photon . There are many interesting questions concerning the order of the transition between the two phases and the possibility of a non-trivial continuum limit for $`\beta \beta _c^{}`$ .

Using the staggered Dirac operator, RMT predictions for U(1) lattice gauge theory were previously investigated. In both, the strong coupling as well as the Coulomb phase, the nearest neighbor spacing distribution of the complete eigenvalue spectrum was found to be in agreement with the Wigner surmise of the unitary RMT ensemble , indicating quantum chaos. In the strong coupling phase, below the Thouless energy, the small eigenvalues were observed to contribute to the chiral condensate similarly as for the SU(2) and SU(3) gauge groups , in agreement with the chiral unitary RMT ensemble.

For non-Abelian gauge theories the topological charge is determined by the instantons  of the gauge configuration. The topological structure of the Abelian U(1) gauge theory is different. Therefore, our first question is whether the overlap-Dirac operator will exhibit exact zero-modes . To answer it, we have analyzed configurations on $`L^4`$ lattices at $`\beta =0.9`$ in the confined phase and at $`\beta =1.1`$ in the Coulomb phase. With an overrelaxation/heatbath algorithm we generated 500 configurations per lattice of linear size $`L=4`$, $`6`$ and $`8`$. After thermalization, the configurations were separated by 100 sweeps, with each sweep consisting of 3 overrelaxation updates of each link, followed by one heatbath update. On each configuration the lowest 12 eigenvalues of the overlap-Dirac operator (1) were calculated using the the Ritz functional algorithm  with the optimal rational approximation of Ref.  to $`ϵ\left(H_w(m)\right)`$ and $`m`$ set to 2.3.

In the confined phase exact zero-modes of the operator (1) were indeed found and are compiled in Table 1. There $`n_0^{(\nu )}`$ denotes the number of configurations on which we found a zero-mode of degeneracy $`\nu `$; $`n_0^{(0)}`$ is the number of configurations with no zero-mode. The total number of zero-modes in all produced configurations (of a given lattice size) is

$$n_0^{\mathrm{tot}}=\underset{\nu =1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\nu n_0^{(\nu )}.$$
(3)
The highest degeneracy observed was $`\nu =3`$. No zero-modes were found in the Coulomb phase.

For each topological sector $`\nu `$, chiral RMT predicts the distribution of the lowest non-zero eigenvalue $`\lambda _{\mathrm{min}}`$ in terms of the rescaled variable

$$z=\mathrm{\Sigma }V\lambda _{\mathrm{min}},$$
(4)
where $`V`$ is the volume of the system and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ the infinite volume value of the chiral condensate $`\overline{\psi }\psi `$ determined up to an overall wave function renormalization. For the U(1) gauge group the unitary ensemble applies and the RMT predictions for the $`\nu =0,1,2`$ probability densities $`\rho _{\mathrm{min}}^{(\nu )}(z)`$ are

$$\rho _{\mathrm{min}}^{(\nu )}(z)=\frac{z}{2}\{\begin{array}{cc}e^{z^2/4}\mathrm{for}\nu =0,\hfill & \\ I_2(z)e^{z^2/4}\mathrm{for}\nu =1,\hfill & \\ [I_2(z)^2I_1(z)I_3(z)]e^{z^2/4}\mathrm{for}\nu =2.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(5)
The chiral condensate is related to the expectation value of the smallest eigenvalue. For degeneracy $`\nu `$ we have

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }=\mathrm{\Sigma }^{(\nu )}=\frac{z^{(\nu )}}{V\lambda _{\mathrm{min}}^{(\nu )}},$$
(6)
where the result is supposed to be independent of $`\nu `$ and

$$z^{(\nu )}=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑zz\rho _{\mathrm{min}}^{(\nu )}(z).$$
(7)
Using analytical and numerical integration the expectation values $`z^{(\nu )}`$ are easily calculated. One finds

$$z^{(0)}=1.772453851,z^{(1)}=3.107798700$$
(8)
$$\mathrm{and}z^{(2)}=4.344018125.$$
(9)
Using these numbers, the values $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{(\nu )}`$ follow from Eq. (6) and Table 2 collects, for the various lattice sizes and $`\nu `$’s, the results which we obtain from our data. Within our limited statistical accuracy, and allowing for some finite-size effects, the different $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{(\nu )}`$ values are consistent with one another.

Next, we compare the analytical distributions $`\rho _{\mathrm{min}}^\nu `$ (5) with our computation. For $`\nu =0`$, $`1`$ and $`2`$, Fig. 1 displays the exact RMT probability densities $`\rho _{\mathrm{min}}^{(\nu )}`$ of Eq. (5) and the corresponding histograms from our data. Using the definition (4) of the $`z`$-variable and for $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{(\nu )}`$ values of Table 2, all lattice sizes are combined for each $`\nu `$ and the comparison is parameter free. Figure 1 shows that the histograms follow the shift of the RMT probability densities and their general shape. The high peak of the $`\nu =2`$ histogram is interpreted as a statistical fluctuation and consistent with the low statistics we have for this case. This claim is made quantitative by applying the two-sided Kolmogorov test  to the discrepancy between the RMT and our empirical distributions, which leads to the satisfactory $`Q`$ values in the last row of Table 1. The topological structure of the U(1) gauge theory is not as extensively studied as the non-Abelian case. Nevertheless, with torons , monopole solutions  and Dirac sheets  a number of topological objects are known for the U(1) gauge theory and their possible relationship to the zero-modes of the overlap-Dirac operator is discussed in the remainder of this paper.

Torons. For a fixed link $`(x,\widehat{\mu })`$ we average the angle $`\theta _{x,\mu }`$ over the perpendicular 3d space to obtain $`\overline{\theta }_i^\mu `$, $`i=0,\mathrm{},L1`$. We define the toron charge for direction $`\widehat{\mu }`$ as the sum, using periodic boundary conditions,

$$q_{\mathrm{tor}}^\mu =\frac{1}{2\pi }\underset{i=1}{\overset{L}{}}\overline{\theta }_{i,i1}^\mu ,$$
(10)
where $`\overline{\theta }_{i,i1}^\mu `$ is the shorter distance between $`\overline{\theta }_i^\mu `$ and $`\overline{\theta }_{i1}^\mu `$ on the circle, yielding an integer quantity. Table 3 gives the distributions of the total toron charges

$$q_{\mathrm{tor}}=\underset{\mu =1}{\overset{4}{}}q_{\mathrm{tor}}^\mu $$
(11)
for all our configurations at $`\beta =0.9`$ in the confined phase. No non-zero toron charges are found at $`\beta =1.1`$ in the Coulomb phase.

At $`\beta =0.9`$ we checked for correlations between toron charges $`q_{\mathrm{tor}}^\mu `$ and $`q_{\mathrm{tor}}`$ with the degeneracy of our exact zero-modes and found none within the limitations of our statistical errors. Table 4 includes the average number of torons versus $`\nu `$ (i.e. the average of the absolute values of the charges listed in Table 3). From $`L=4`$ to $`6`$ there is an increase with lattice size, but no statistically significant dependence on $`\nu `$.

Monopoles and Dirac sheets. The U(1) plaquette angles $`\theta _{x,\mu \nu }`$ are decomposed into the “physical” electromagnetic flux through the plaquette $`\overline{\theta }_{x,\mu \nu }`$ and a number $`m_{x,\mu \nu }`$ of Dirac strings passing through the plaquette

$$\theta _{x,\mu \nu }=\overline{\theta }_{x,\mu \nu }+2\pi m_{x,\mu \nu },$$
(12)
where $`\overline{\theta }_{x,\mu \nu }(\pi ,+\pi ]`$. We shall call plaquettes with $`m_{x,\mu \nu }0`$ Dirac plaquettes. The monopole charges in elementary $`3d`$ cubes are defined as the net number of Dirac strings entering or exiting these cubes. The worldlines of these monopoles on the dual lattice are closed, either within the lattice volume or by the periodic boundary conditions. The dual integer valued plaquettes

$$m_{x,\mu \nu }^{}=\frac{1}{2}\epsilon _{\mu \nu \rho \sigma }m_{x,\rho \sigma }$$
(13)
form Dirac sheets bounded by the worldlines of monopole-antimonopole pairs. Due to the periodic boundary conditions they can also be closed without the presence of any monopoles or antimonopoles. In the remainder we shall refer to these as Dirac sheets. A Dirac sheet in the x-y plane of the $`4d`$ lattice must contain at least $`L_zL_t`$ Dirac plaquettes. Of course, monopole loops can form “holes” in these Dirac sheets. So, in practice we defined the number of Dirac sheets in the x-y plane as the closest integer to $`N_{1,2}/(L_zL_t)`$ where $`N_{1,2}`$ is the total number of Dirac plaquettes in the x-y planes.

In the confined phase we find a large number of monopoles whereas the typical Dirac sheet numbers are $`0`$ and $`\pm 1`$ (only on the $`8^4`$ lattices we found at $`\nu =0`$ a single configuration with two Dirac sheets). The average numbers of monopoles and Dirac sheets do not correlate with the topological charge $`\nu `$ (i.e. our zero-mode degeneracy) as the numbers of Table 4 show. One might observe a slight increase of the monopole number with $`\nu `$ which has no statistical significance. The average number of Dirac sheets shows no lattice size dependence within the limits of our statistics. In the Coulomb phase we find few monopoles and no Dirac sheets.

All these topological configurations have in common with the zero-mode degeneracy that they are turned on at the phase transition from order (Coulomb) to disorder (confined). However, in the confined phase we found no detailed correlation between any of the topological phenomena and the zero-mode degeneracy of the overlap-Dirac operator. This might be related to the fact that the zero-mode susceptibility, depicted in the last column of table 1, decreases and may approach zero for $`L\mathrm{}`$.

In contrast to these statistical findings there is an interesting observation that ordered Dirac sheet configurations give rise to zero-modes of the overlap-Dirac operator, with the number of zero-modes being equal to the number of Dirac sheets . One might understand this from the fact that a Dirac sheet is a $`2d`$ gauge configuration that contains unit topological charge in the $`2d`$ sense, kept constant in the two orthogonal directions. One might even verify this coincidence  by cooling or smoothing of equilibrium gauge fields .

To investigate these correlations further we have, following Refs. , factorized our gauge configurations into monopole and photon fields in the following way

$$\theta _{x,\mu }^{\mathrm{mon}}=2\pi \underset{x^{}}{}G_{x,x^{}}_\nu ^{}m_{x^{},\nu \mu }$$
(14)
$$\theta _{x,\mu }^{\mathrm{phot}}=\underset{x^{}}{}G_{x,x^{}}_\nu ^{}\overline{\theta }_{x^{},\nu \mu }.$$
(15)
Here $`^{}`$ acts on $`x^{}`$, the quantities $`m_{x,\mu \nu }`$ and $`\overline{\theta }_{x,\mu \nu }`$ are defined in Eq. (12) and

$$G_{x,x^{}}=\underset{p_\mu (p0)}{}\frac{1}{_\nu 4\mathrm{sin}^2(\frac{p_\nu a}{2})}\mathrm{exp}\left[\underset{\mu }{}ip_\mu (x_\mu x_\mu ^{})\right]$$
(16)
is the lattice Coulomb propagator. One can show that $`\theta _{x,\mu }=\theta _{x,\mu }^{\mathrm{mon}}+\theta _{x,\mu }^{\mathrm{phot}}`$ is up to a gauge transformation identical with the original $`\theta _{x,\mu }`$ defined by $`U_{x,\mu }=\mathrm{exp}(i\theta _{x,\mu })`$.

This is a different way to probe the topological content of a gauge theory and we computed so far the total density of eigenvalues, with $`\rho (\lambda )𝑑\lambda =V`$. We found that the zero-modes lie solely in the monopole part of the gauge field and are completely absent in the photonic field. Using periodic boundary conditions in space and anti-periodic boundary conditions in time , this was seen both for the overlap-Dirac operator and for the quasi-zero-modes of the staggered Dirac operator, see Fig. 2. At the moment we are accumulating statistics to perform a decomposition into different topological sectors and to obtain an analogous analysis as we did with the original U(1) field above. It is of further interest to study space-time correlations between different topological objects. We pose the question of the existence of local correlations between the topological charge density and the monopole density. We plan to calculate spatial correlations with the wave functions related to fixed zero-mode number $`\nu `$ and hope to understand the confining mechanism of compact QED.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported in part by the US Department of Energy under contract DE-FG02-97ER41022 and by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung under project P14435-TPH.


text:
# 1 Energy-level diagram

Quantum control of population inversion in the presence of spontaneous emission

S. G. Schirmer, Andrew D. Greentree and A. I. Solomon

Quantum Processes Group, Departments of Applied Maths and Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom

Tel: +44-1908-652326, Fax: +44-1908-652140, S.G.Schirmer@open.ac.uk

## Abstract

The detrimental effect of spontaneous emission on the performance of control schemes designed to achieve population inversions between the ground state and a highly excited atomic state is studied using computer simulations.

© 2024 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: 020.0020,140.7242,270.3430

We consider a $`N`$-level quantum system with energy levels $`E_n`$ and corresponding energy eigenstates $`|n`$ for $`n=1,2,\mathrm{},N`$. Assuming that the system is initially in the ground state $`|1`$, our objective is to maximize the population difference between the ground state and the excited state $`|N`$ by applying a sequence of simple control pulses. For simplicity, we shall restrict our attention here to control schemes involving only transitions between adjacent energy levels in the model and control pulses that are resonant with one of the allowed transition frequencies. It will be assumed that the allowed transition frequencies $`\mu _n=E_{n+1}E_n`$ for $`n=1,2,\mathrm{},N1`$ are distinct and sufficiently separated so that off-resonant effects can be neglected.

If we neglect the finite lifetimes of the excited states and assume that each control pulse interacts only with its resonant transition, then it can easily be shown, e.g., using Lie group decompositions , that a complete population transfer from the ground state to the highest excited state $`|N`$ can be achieved by applying a sequence of $`N1`$ control pulses such that the $`n`$th pulse is resonant with the $`n`$th transition frequency $`\mu _n`$ and has a total pulse area of $`\pi /(2d_n)`$, where $`d_n`$ is the absorption oscillator strength of the transition $`|n|n+1`$. The length and shape of the pulses do not influence the outcome of the control process as long as the pulse areas remain fixed. For a real system, however, the decay of the excited states by spontaneous emission reduces the populations of the excited states and ultimately leads to the repopulation of the ground state, which is detrimental to achieving population inversion. Our aim is to study the effect of spontaneous emission on the outcome of the control process using computer simulations. Due to space constraints, we only consider a four-level model of Rubidium with energy levels and transitions as indicated in Fig. 2 as a concrete example. If dissipative effects are neglected then it can easily be seen that a complete population transfer from the ground state $`|1=|5S_{1/2}`$ to the excited state $`|4=|6P_{3/2}`$ can be achieved by applying a sequence of three control pulses of frequencies $`\mu _1`$, $`\mu _2`$ and $`\mu _3`$ and pulse areas $`\pi /(2d_1)`$, $`\pi /(2d_2)`$ and $`\pi /(2d_3)`$, respectively, and that the result of the control process is independent of the shape and length of the control pulses. If dissipative effects such as the finite lifetimes of the excited states are taken into account, however, then a complete population transfer can usually not be achieved, and the performance of the control process depends significantly on the shape and length of the control pulses employed.

Fig. 2 shows the difference between the populations of states $`|1`$ and $`|4`$, $`\rho _{44}\rho _{11}`$, at the conclusion of the control process as a function of the total control time $`T_f`$ for various ratios of the pulse lengths, as obtained from a computer simulation of the control process. Note that for very short control times the final yield is around 90% of the theoretical maximum value of one. As the total control time increases, the final yield $`\rho _{44}\rho _{11}`$ decreases since dissipative effects accumulate. However, the computer simulation suggests that the final yield also depends considerably on the ratio of the pulse lengths, not just the total control time $`T_f`$. For our four-level Rubidium system, the naive choice of equal pulse lengths, i.e., pulse ratios $`1:1:1`$, consistently results in the worst yield, independent of the total control time $`T_f`$. Another obvious choice of the pulse lengths according to the ratio of the lifetimes of the excited states results only in a marginal improvement. However, the final yield and the threshold value of $`T_f`$ for population inversion increase considerably as the ratio of the first two pulses versus the last pulse increases. These at first quite startling results can be partly explained by the vastly different lifetimes of the excited states of Rubidium. The lifetime of state $`|2=|5P_{3/2}`$ is less than a third of that of $`|3=|4D_{5/2}`$ and almost one fourth of that of $`|4=|6P_{3/2}`$. Hence, state $`|2`$ is the weakest link in the chain and it is therefore imperative to minimize the time the system spends in state $`|2`$ in order to reduce dissipative losses. However, choosing the pulse lengths according to the ratio of the lifetimes of the excited states is not sufficient since the amount of time the system spends in state $`|n`$ in the control scheme under consideration is roughly proportional to $`(\mathrm{\Delta }t_{n1}+\mathrm{\Delta }t_n)/2`$, not simply $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n`$. We see that it is advantageous to choose the pulse lengths $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n`$, $`n=1,2,3`$, such that $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_2+\mathrm{\Delta }t_3>3(\mathrm{\Delta }t_1+\mathrm{\Delta }t_2)`$, which explains why increasing the ratio of the pulse length of the third pulse compared to that of the first two pulses tends to reduce the repopulation of the ground state due to spontaneous emission and thus improves the performance of the control scheme.

Fig. 3 shows the (envelopes of the) control pulses and the corresponding evolution of the energy-level populations if dissipative effects due to spontaneous emission are neglected (center) and if realistic lifetimes of the excited states are assumed (right). The total pulse length in the example is 30 ns, where the first and second pulse are both 6 ns long while the third pulse is 18 ns. The cumulative effect of spontaneous emission is clearly noticeable by comparing the graphs.

The example studied in this paper suggests that it is possible to achieve substantial population inversions between the ground state and a highly excited state of an atom (or possibly ion or molecule) by applying a sequence of short control pulses, even if the finite lifetimes of the intermediate excited states are taken into account. In spite of inevitable population losses due to spontaneous emission, pulse lengths and ratios can be adjusted to minimize dissipative effects and achieve substantial yields. We believe such a scheme could be used to calculate the pulse configurations required to build short wavelength pulse lasers in the UV or even X-ray regime by applying a sequence of short optical-frequency laser pulses to a cloud of trapped atoms or ions to achieve population inversion between the ground state and a highly excited state.


text:
# Magnetotransport through a strongly interacting quantum dot

\[

## Abstract

We study the effect of a magnetic field on the conductance through a strongly interacting quantum dot by using the finite temperature extension of Wilson’s numerical renormalization group method to dynamical quantities. The quantum dot has one active level for transport and is modelled by an Anderson impurity attached to left and right electron reservoirs. Detailed predictions are made for the linear conductance and the spin-resolved conductance as a function of gate voltage, temperature and magnetic field strength. A strongly coupled quantum dot in a magnetic field acts as a spin filter which can be tuned by varying the gate voltage. The largest spin-filtering effect is found in the range of gate voltages corresponding to the mixed valence regime of the Anderson impurity model.

\]

There is currently much interest in understanding the equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport properties of nanoscale size quantum dots . Due to the small size of these dots (ca. $`100\mathrm{n}\mathrm{m}`$ in diameter), their level spacing, $`\delta `$, is less than an order of magnitude smaller than the charging energy, $`U`$, for adding an electron to such a dot. Provided the quantization of levels on the dot is not destroyed by a large coupling to the reservoirs, single electron effects, such as Coulomb blockade are observed. A more subtle effect of large charging energies, however, is the creation of new states of many-body character at the Fermi level at sufficiently low temperatures by the Kondo effect . This allows a quantum dot to transmit perfectly at low enough temperatures, even when no single-particle charge excitation of the dot is in resonance with the chemical potential of the reservoirs. The effect requires a spin degenerate state on the dot, which can be achieved, for example, by adjusting the dot levels $`\epsilon _i`$ with a gate voltage so that the dot contains an odd number of electrons. The validity of this picture has been demonstrated by recent experimental work . For example, the predicted anomalous enhancement of the conductance with decreasing temperature  has been observed for an odd number of electrons on the dot, and the signatures of the Kondo resonance, and its splitting in a magnetic field, have been seen in the differential conductance of quantum dots with an odd number of electrons (and its absence for an even number). Recently, the low temperature unitarity limit of perfect transmission, corresponding to a conductance of $`2e^2/h`$ for a single channel, has been measured for a range of gate voltages . As in , the results for the zero field conductance were found to be in very good agreement with the theoretical calculations based on the Anderson impurity model (AM) .

There has been much less work done on the transport properties of strongly interacting quantum dots in a magnetic field, especially theoretically. Some recent calculations on the Kondo model in a field yielded the spectral densities and magnetoconductance of a quantum dot in the Kondo regime . Quantum dots, however, can be tuned into other interesting regimes, such as the mixed valent regime, by adjusting the gate voltage on the dot . In order to describe the full range of behaviour observed in quantum dots, the more general AM is required. In this paper we address theoretically the effects of a magnetic field on transport through a quantum dot in the various regimes of interest by starting from an AM. We also make predictions for the spin-resolved magnetoconductance. Although spin-resolved measurements have so far not been carried out for quantum dots, this is likely to change given the current experimental interest in realizing spin-resolved currents through mesoscopic systems .

Model— A quantum dot consisting of a single correlated level $`\epsilon _d`$ with Coulomb repulsion $`U`$ and coupled to left and right free electron reservoirs via energy independent lead couplings $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_L`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_R`$ can be reduced to an AM in which a correlated level couples with strength $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_L+\mathrm{\Gamma }_R`$ to just one free electron reservoir :

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\sigma }{}}\epsilon _dd_\sigma ^{}d_\sigma +Ud_{}^{}d_{}d_{}^{}d_{}+g\mu _BHS_z^d`$ (1)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}\epsilon _kc_{k,\sigma }^{}c_{k,\sigma }+{\displaystyle \underset{k,\sigma }{}}v(c_{k,\sigma }^{}d_\sigma +d_\sigma ^{}c_{k\sigma }),`$ (2)
Here, $`\epsilon _d`$ denotes the topmost occupied level of the dot, which we take to be responsible for transport. All other energy levels of the dot are assumed unimportant for transport and are neglected. The gate voltage, $`V_g`$, on the dot, is linearly related to the level position $`\epsilon _d`$, $`eV_g\epsilon _d`$. The first two terms in $``$ represent the correlated level, the third term is a magnetic field coupling only to the impurity spin $`S_z^d=\frac{1}{2}(d_{}^{}d_{}d_{}^{}d_{})`$, the fourth term is the free electron reservoir (a particular linear combination of the original left and right reservoirs, the other combination, decouples from the impurity and is therefore not included here) and the last term is the hybridization of the impurity to the reservoir giving a lead coupling $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_L+\mathrm{\Gamma }_R`$. The current, $`I=I(T,H,V)`$, is given by

$`I=c{\displaystyle \underset{\sigma }{}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H,V)(f_L(\omega )f_R(\omega ))𝑑\omega .`$ (3)
$`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H,V)`$ is the spectral density of the dot, which for $`V>0`$ is a non-equilibrium quantity, $`f_{L,R}`$ are the Fermi functions of the left and right leads, whose chemical potentials are $`\mu _{L,R}=\pm |e|V/2`$, and, $`V`$ is the transport voltage across the dot. The constant $`c`$ is given by $`c=4e\mathrm{\Gamma }_L\mathrm{\Gamma }_R/\mathrm{}(\mathrm{\Gamma }_L+\mathrm{\Gamma }_R)`$. We assume, from here on, symmetric coupling to the leads, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_L=\mathrm{\Gamma }_R`$. The linear magnetoconductance, $`G(T,H)=_\sigma G_\sigma (T,H)=lim_{V0}dI/dV`$, is written as a sum of spin-resolved magnetoconductances, $`G_\sigma `$, where

$`G_\sigma (T,H)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{e^2}{\mathrm{}}}\mathrm{\Gamma }{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\omega A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H)\left({\displaystyle \frac{f(\omega )}{\omega }}\right).`$ (4)
$`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H)=lim_{V0}A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H,V)`$ is an equilibrium spectral density and is expressed in terms of the local level Green function, $`𝒢_{d,\sigma }`$, by

$`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi }}\mathrm{Im}𝒢_{d,\sigma }(\omega +iϵ,T,H),`$ (5)
where $`𝒢_{d,\sigma }=1/(\omega \epsilon _dg\mu _BH\sigma /2+i\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Sigma }_\sigma (\omega ))`$ and where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_\sigma (\omega )`$ is the correlation part of the self-energy.

Method and calculations— We calculate $`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H)`$ by using Wilson’s NRG method  extended to finite temperature dynamics, with recent refinements  which improve the high energy features, such as the single-particle excitations at $`\omega \epsilon _d`$ and $`\omega \epsilon _d+U`$, of the AM.

For the calculations we used $`U/\pi \mathrm{\Gamma }=3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.01D`$, with $`D=1`$ the half-bandwidth of the free electron reservoir, whose spectral density is taken to be independent of energy (we also set $`|e|=g=\mu _B=k_B=1`$ so that quantities like $`H/T_K`$, $`V/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the figures should be interpreted as $`g\mu _BH/k_BT_K`$ and $`|e|V/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$). This choice of parameters suffices to account for all interesting effects of correlation. Depending on the dot level position, there are three regimes of interest : (i) the Kondo regime, $`0.5U\epsilon _d\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, characterized by an exponentially small scale $`T_K(U\mathrm{\Gamma }/2)^{1/2}\mathrm{exp}(\pi \epsilon _d(\epsilon _d+U)/2\mathrm{\Gamma }U)`$, (ii) the mixed valent regime $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\epsilon _d0`$ characterized by the charge fluctuation scale $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and, (iii), the empty orbital regime $`\epsilon _d0`$ characterized by a scale $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_d\epsilon _d`$, corresponding to the renormalized level position. The region $`\epsilon _d0.5U`$ is related to that for $`\epsilon _d0.5U`$ by particle-hole symmetry: $`(\epsilon _d,H)((\epsilon _d+U),H)`$. As a consequence we have

$`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H,\epsilon _d)=A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H,(\epsilon _d+U)).`$ (6)
We use this to calculate $`G,G_{}`$ and $`G_{}`$ at all relevant $`\epsilon _d`$. Throughout this paper, we define $`T_K`$ to be the HWHM of the $`T=H=0`$ Kondo resonance at the particle-hole symmetric point $`\epsilon _d/U=0.5`$ (mid-valley point in Fig. 2). It has the value $`T_K0.001=\mathrm{\Gamma }/10`$.

Spectral densities— Fig. 1a-d summarizes the behaviour of the spectral density $`A_\sigma (\omega ,T,H)`$ in zero and finite magnetic fields which will be useful for discussing the conductance results below (for full details see ). The general trends in the Kondo regime at $`H=0`$ are two almost temperature independent resonances at $`\omega \epsilon _d`$ and $`\omega \epsilon _d+U`$ and a strongly temperature dependent Kondo resonance at $`\omega 0`$ (cf. Fig. 1a,c). Fields comparable to $`T_K`$ result in a large shift of spectral weight in $`A_{}`$ from the excitation at $`\epsilon _d`$ to the one at $`\epsilon _d+U`$ (and an opposite shift in $`A_{}`$). The Kondo resonance in $`A_{}`$ ($`A_{}`$) shifts upwards (downwards) by an amount $`H`$ and is reduced in height  (cf. Fig. 1a,b). In the mixed valent regime, the Kondo resonance has merged with the excitation at $`\epsilon _d`$ to form a renormalized resonance of width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ lying close to but above the Fermi level at $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_d<\mathrm{\Gamma }/2`$. The excitation at $`\epsilon _d+U`$ has little weight. The resonance at $`\stackrel{~}{\epsilon }_d\epsilon _d`$ in the empty orbital regime is almost independent of temperature and field on scales comparable to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the one at $`\epsilon _d+U`$ is no longer discernable.

Gate voltage dependence of the conductance— The gate voltage dependence of the linear conductance is shown in Fig. 2a-d for several temperatures and magnetic field strengths. Consider first the zero field case. The charging energy, $`U`$, corresponds to the separation between the Coulomb blockade peaks at high temperature (these arise when $`\epsilon _d`$ or $`\epsilon _d+U`$ coincide with the Fermi level of the leads). On lowering the temperature these peaks move together as a result of the development of the Kondo resonance in region 1, as observed experimentally . The conductance in region 1 continues to increase with decreasing temperature, eventually reaching the unitarity limit of $`2e^2/h`$, which has recently been seen in experiments . As a check on our $`T0`$ results for all $`\epsilon _d`$ we have shown the $`T=0`$ unitarity curve  (which follows from )

$`G(T=H=0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2e^2}{h}}\mathrm{sin}^2(\pi n_d/2),`$ (7)
with the dot level occupancy, $`n_d`$, deduced from the spectral densities. As in the experiments , the enhancement of the conductance with decreasing temperature in the Kondo and mixed valent regimes (regions 1 and 2 in Fig. 2) is in marked contrast to the suppression of the conductance with decreasing temperature in the empty orbital case (region 3).

On applying a small magnetic field we see a drastic change in the total conductance in the Kondo regime. A magnetic field suppresses the Kondo effect, tending to split the total spectral density at the Fermi level, and thereby decreases the conductance in the Kondo valley (region 1). A sizeable effect is also seen in the mixed valent regime, but very little change is observed in the empty orbital case. The effects of a magnetic field become even more apparent in spin-resolved quantities such as $`G_{}`$ in Fig. 3 (from Eq. (6) $`G_{}`$, as a function of $`\epsilon _d`$, is the mirror reflection of $`G_{}`$ about $`\epsilon _d=0.5U`$). Again, the main effect of a field is to change dramatically the conductance in the Kondo regime (region 1 of Fig. 2a) with some changes also in the mixed valent regime. The low $`T`$ asymmetry in the conductance $`G_{}`$ about $`\epsilon _d=0.5U`$ at finite fields reflects the fact that the $`H=0`$ Kondo resonance lies just above the Fermi level for $`\epsilon _d>0.5U`$ but just below the Fermi level for $`\epsilon _d<0.5U`$. Consequently, applying a field $`+H`$, which moves the Kondo resonance in $`A_{}`$ upwards, leads to a suppression of $`G_{}`$ for the former case and an enhancement for the latter. A quantum dot in a field is seen to act as a spin-filter as discussed in  for dots weakly coupled to leads ($`G_\sigma e^2/h`$). We note that the effect is largest in the mixed valent regime (see Fig. 4 below).

Temperature dependence of the conductance— Fig. 4 shows the temperature dependence of the spin-resolved conductance at several magnetic fields and for gate voltages corresponding to Kondo (Fig. 4a), mixed valent (Fig. 4b) and empty orbital regimes (inset to Fig. 4a). The results for the Kondo regime are similar to those calculated directly from the Kondo model , except that charge fluctuations, absent in the former, give rise, in the AM, to a small peak at $`T\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in $`G_\sigma `$. At low temperatures, $`T<T_K`$, the two spin components of the Kondo resonance move away from the Fermi level and decrease in height with increasing field . This leads to the observed strong suppression of both $`G_{}(T<T_K)`$ and $`G_{}(T<T_K)`$ and to the appearance for $`H0.5T_K`$ of a noticeable peak at $`TH`$ and would be experimentally observable in transport measurements of $`G(T,H)`$. The behaviour in the mixed valent (Fig. 4b) and empty orbital (inset to Fig. 4a) regimes is different. $`G_{}`$ is suppressed whereas $`G_{}`$ is enhanced by increasing the field. This is understood by noting that for these cases, the resonance in the spectral density at $`H=0`$ lies above the Fermi level (see Fig. 1), and application of a field has little effect on the height of the spin components, $`A_\sigma `$, of the spectral density (in contrast to the Kondo regime). The main effect is to shift these components in opposite directions, resulting in $`A_{}(\omega =0,T=0,H)`$ increasing and $`A_{}(\omega =0,T=0,H)`$ decreasing with increasing field, which thereby gives rise to the opposite trends in $`G_{}`$ and $`G_{}`$. The main difference between the mixed valent and empty orbital cases, is the stronger field dependence of $`G_\sigma `$ for the former.

In summary we have studied magnetotransport through a strongly interacting quantum dot with one active level for transport. Quantitative agreement with the $`H=0`$ conductance as a function of temperature has already been demonstrated for quantum dots in heterostructures  and more recently also for quantum dots defined in carbon nanotubes . Our predictions for the conductance in a magnetic field can be directly tested with measurements on quantum dots with a field parallel to the plane of the quantum dot so that orbital effects can be neglected. Such experiments are currenlt being planned . There is also much interest in realizing spin polarized currents through mesoscopic devices, such as quantum dots, so our results for spin-resolved conductances in a magnetic field could eventually be tested against experiment. Our results show that a strongly coupled quantum dot ($`G_\sigma e^2/h`$) in a magnetic field acts as a spin-filter as found for weakly coupled ($`G_\sigma e^2/h`$) quantum dots . The largest spin-filtering effect is in the mixed valent regime.

Useful discussions with J. von Delft, S. De Franceschi, D. Goldhaber-Gordon, E. Kats, P. Krüger, D. Loss, Ph. Nozières, F. Pistolesi and E. Sukhorukov are gratefully acknowledged.