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# Cold Molecular Gas, PDRs, and the Origin of H i in Galaxies

## 1. Introduction

This conference is mainly concerned with the results of observing H i in galaxies, a subject which owes its advancement to the great strides we have made in radiometers and radio telescopes since the first detections in the early-1950s. These advances have included the development of large filled apertures such as the NRAO 300-foot telescope and the Arecibo Observatory, and especially the great synthesis-imaging instruments of the world, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and the Very Large Array.

We have been mapping galaxies in H i at ever-increasing resolution and sensitivity for nearly 50 years, but as far as I know no one has seriously asked the question: Where does the H i come from? This question is likely to seem naive whether you are a theorist or an observer, but probably for diametrically-opposed reasons! If you are an observer who studies H i in galaxies with the VLA, as most of us here today are, then you probably assume that the H i is in some sense primordial, i.e. it was present in the galaxy before any stars were formed, and the stars formed from it, and anyone who would question that point of view must be out of touch with the mainstream. On the other hand, if you are a theorist who studies the physical state of the ISM, you know that the time scales for the formation and destruction of H2 in the ISM are so short that essentially all of the H i in a galaxy has been in the form of H2 many times during a galaxy lifetime, and to ask where the H i comes from in a galaxy is a naive question similar to “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”

From the point of view of the basic physics, two H i atoms will have a lower energy state if they can get together and make an H2 molecule. A physicist would therefore expect that, if there is a channel for this interaction to get rid of its binding energy and angular momentum, and if there is enough time, in the absence of a source of continual energy input the gas would all be in the form of H2. In pure H i gas, there is a small but non-zero probability that a collision of two H i atoms will indeed form an H2 molecule by emission of quadrupole radiation. This reaction is favored at low temperatures and high volume densities. The re-formation rate can be increased by many orders of magnitude if dust grains are present in the gas. H2 molecules are destroyed by UV photons, creating two H i atoms by photodissociation. The equilibrium state of the gas then depends on the balance between dissociation and re-formation, and the relative amounts of N(H2)/N(H i) may vary considerably over a galaxy. Indeed, we may expect to find both H2 and H i in various amounts near any and all sources of far-UV photons. What observational evidence is there for this association in galaxies?

Photodissociation regions (PDRs) have been identified in the Galactic ISM both in the general diffuse gas and in dense regions near hot young stars. Theoretical work on PDRs has been stimulated by recent satellite observations (e.g. COBE, ISO, and SWAS), and detailed models exist especially for the dense surfaces of molecular clouds ($`10^210^7`$ cm-3) which are illuminated by intense far-UV fluxes ($`10^010^6`$ times the local average interstellar radiation field (ISRF) near the Sun). Hollenbach & Tielens (1999) have recently written an excellent review on this subject with many references. By now we can say that the basic physics is well understood, and calculations of infrared line ratios and even line intensities are quite successful at accounting for the observations under a wide range of physical conditions in the Galactic ISM.

Perhaps less well known is the fact that the same physics used to calculate the mid-IR lines of H2 from the ISM also provides a straightforward way to calculate the amount of H i resulting from dissociation of the H2 molecules under the action of the same UV photons which provide the mid-IR excitation. However, an important difference between the mid-IR and 21-cm radio observing techniques now comes into play; in the mid-IR, observational selection favors high-density, high-UV-flux situations which lead to high surface brightness. But measurements of the 21-cm H i line favor the lower-density, lower-UV-flux situations, since in these cases the H i is spatially more extended and the observational beam filling factors are therefore larger, making the emission easier to detect with radio telescopes.

## 2. The association of H i with H2

### 2.1. …in the Galaxy

Envelopes of H i are often found around Galactic GMCs (1-10 pc scale; e.g. Andersson, Wannier, & Morris 1991; see Blitz 1993 for a summary) and have been ascribed to photodissociation of the GMC surface by the ISRF. Reach, Koo, & Heiles (1994) find evidence for H2 in some interstellar cirrus clouds with high column densities (N(H i) $`>4\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2) in quantities about equal to, or greater than the H i in spite of the fact that these clouds are likely to be fully exposed to the far-UV flux from the Galactic plane. In the very few instances where the viewing geometry is favorable, and when the line-of-sight superposition can be separated using radial velocity information, H i “blankets” can be seen between B Stars & GMCs (10-100 pc scale); a clear example of this is Maddalena’s Cloud, which has been described as a large PDR of size $`50\times 200`$ pc dissociated by far-UV photons from one or two B5-O9 stars each located about 50 pc from the H i (Williams & Maddalena 1996).

### 2.2. …and in other nearby galaxies:

The first indication that photodissociation may be operating to affect the large-scale morphology (100-1000 pc) of the H i in galaxies was found in M83 by Allen, Atherton, & Tilanus (1986), who noticed a spatial separation between a particularly well-defined dust lane and the associated ridge of H i and H ii in M83. Other studies have followed on M83 and on other galaxies (M51, M100; see Smith et al. (2000) for references) and have generally agreed that the initial interpretation in terms of photodissociation remains a viable option. The separation in the case of M83 is about 500 pc, and arises because of the difference between the spiral pattern speed and the rotation speed of the gas, coupled with the time for collapse of GMCs and the time that a massive young star lives on the main sequence.

The first study to successfully identify the characteristic PDR “shell” morphology of H i in close association with far-UV sources in a nearby galaxy was carried out on M81 by Allen et al. (1997). The problem is, of course, to obtain sufficient linear resolution ($`100`$ pc) in the H i observations to permit one to identify the morphology of the PDR structures. An important point to note is that the best “correlation” is between the H i and the far-UV, not between the H i and the H$`\alpha `$.

A study similar to M81 but with more quantitative results has recently been carried out on M101 by Smith et al. (2000), who used VLA-H i and UIT far-UV data to identify and measure PDRs over the whole extent of the M101 disk. From these observations they derived the volume density of the H2 in the adjacent GMCs in the context of the PDR model. Figure 1 shows the best estimate of the H2 volume densities of GMCs near a sample of 35 young star clusters. The range in density (30 - 1000 cm-3) is typical for GMCs in our Galaxy, lending support to the use of the PDR picture, and also shows little trend with galactocentric distance.

There is also IR spectral evidence that PDRs are important for understanding the physics of the ISM in galaxy disks. KAO observations of the $`158\mu `$m C ii line suggest that as much as 70%-80% of the H i in NGC 6946 could be produced by photodissociation (Madden et al. 1993), and ISO spectra in the mid-IR indicate that the bulk of the mid-IR emission from galaxy disks arises in PDRs (Laurent et al. 1999; Roussel, Sauvage, & Vigroux 2000; Vigroux et al. 1999).

## 3. Cold molecular gas in the inner disk of M31

What evidence do we have that significant quantities of molecular gas could be “hiding” in the ISM of many galaxies? Well, we do know that many galaxies contain dark matter, and at present there seems to be nothing wrong with assuming that at least some part of that dark matter is in the form of a disk of molecular gas. Low-density molecular gas could escape detection since the excitation of the CO molecules may be subthermal, but in that case it is not likely that much mass is involved. If gravitationally-significant amounts of H2 are present, say M(H2) $`>`$ M(H i), then the molecular gas would have to be more dense, and also generally cold in order to escape detection in the extensive CO(1-0) emission line surveys of galaxy disks. Such gas could exist in well-shielded parts of galaxies where the UV flux and cosmic ray density are both very low.

The inner disk of M31 is just such a “cold” environment, and it was here where an initial detection of faint CO emission emanating from large dark dust clouds was first reported (Allen & Lequeux 1993). Modelling of this data (Allen et al. 1995) confirmed that the “cold gas” interpretation was viable. Subsequent observations discovered similar emission in other dust clouds in the inner disk (Loinard, Allen, & Lequeux 1996), and also showed that such emission is ubiquitous in the inner disk of M31 (Loinard, Allen, & Lequeux 1995), covering more than half of the annular area between about 1 and 8 kpc in galactocentric radius. The distinction between cold, extensive gas and small, warm, beam-diluted condensations was made in favor of the former with a combination of JCMT CO(3-2) and OVRO CO(1-0) synthesis-imaging observations on the dust cloud D478 by Loinard & Allen (1998). The bulk of the molecular gas in this GMC-sized cloud appears as an absorbing screen at $`3.5`$ K. There is no reason to presume that D478 is peculiar, so we must conclude that cold molecular gas is indeed extensively present in the inner disk of M31.

How much mass could be in such a component? Loinard & Allen (1998) suggested that if the GMCs were at least marginally bound, then H2 mass surface densities of order $`100`$ $`M_{}`$ pc-2 would be present in the inner disk of M31. However, very recently Pringle, Allen, & Lubow (2000) have argued that GMCs are unbound, transient objects that are not formed from in situ cooling of H i, but from the agglomeration of the dense phase of the ISM, much of which is already molecular. How much mass is in this component is presently the big question, but it’s a delicate one that needs some careful thought, and I am not prepared to address it here any further just yet.

## 4. Gas, dust, and young stars in the outer disk of M31

The presence of significant amounts of molecular gas in the INNER parts of a galaxy may not be so remarkable in the context of the conventional wisdom about the state of the ISM in galaxies; however, I think most of the H i observers would expect that the H i present in the far OUTER parts of a galaxy is much more “primordial”, and that star formation away out there is going to be rare. Recent results by Cuillandre et al. (2000) contradict both of these bits of conventional wisdom. These authors used a large-format CCD on the CFHT to observe stars and background galaxies in a field covering the outer parts of M31 from 23 to 33 kpc, beyond R25, a field in which the H i was mapped more than 25 years ago (Emerson 1974; Newton & Emerson 1977) with one of the pioneering H i imaging synthesis radio telescopes, the “1/2-mile telescope” at Cambridge, England. In particular, Cuillandre et al. compared V-I color-magnitude diagrams for H i-rich regions with the diagrams for H i-poor regions, and discovered evidence for dust mixed in with the H i in amounts corresponding to 0.3 - 0.4 of the amounts in the Solar neighborhood. This gas is therefore not primordial, at least not in the usual sense of not having been processed in stars. Furthermore, they discovered young B stars correlated with the H i, confirming that massive star formation is going on at the present time. The close association between H i and the young stars in the outer disk of M31 is shown in Figure 2. The presence of current, ongoing star formation implies that H2 must therefore also be present, mixed in with the H i, in order to form these massive stars.

Could the photodissociation picture developed by Smith et al. (2000) for M101 also work in the outer disk of M31? A back-of-the-envelope calculation using the formalism in the Smith et al. paper is encouraging; compact clouds of H2 with densities of order 100 cm-3 are needed, similar to M101. However, in M31 the field is clean and unconfused, and a complete census of all far-UV-producing stars can be done. Here we have perhaps the best laboratory yet for testing the photodissociation picture; a quantitative analysis is in progress.

## 5. Future perspectives

I have summarized some of the currently-available evidence in favor of viewing H i as a product of the star formation process rather than a precursor to it, and presented a case that H2 is likely to be present in significant quantities in most galaxies. How much H2 is really present in any given galaxy? I believe this is presently an open question, the answer to which is likely to have important consequences for several areas of astrophysics.

#### Acknowledgments.

I am grateful to my colleagues at STScI for helping to provide a scientifically-stimulating atmosphere, and especially to our theorists Mike Fall and Nino Panagia for discussions on the ideas described in this paper.

## References

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# References

berman2.tex ———- X-Sun-Data-Type: default X-Sun-Data-Name: berman2.tex X-Sun-Charset: us-ascii X-Sun-Content-Lines: 221

Onset of Chaos in a Model of Quantum Computation

G.P.Berman\[a\],F.Borgonovi\[b,c\], F.M.Izrailev\[d\], V.I.Tsifrinovich\[e\]

\[a\]Theoretical Division and CNLS, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
\[b\]Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Cattolica, via Musei 41, 25121 Brescia, Italy
\[c\] I.N.F.M., Gruppo Collegato di Brescia and I.N.F.N., Sezione di Pavia Italy
\[d\]Instituto de Fisica, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Apdo. Postal J-48, Puebla 72570, Mexico
\[e\] IDS Department, Polytechnic University, Six Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Recently, the question of a relevance of quantum chaos has been discussed in applications to quantum computation . Indeed, according to the general approach to closed systems of finite number of interacting Fermi-particles (see, e.g. ), as the interaction between quibits increases a kind of chaos is expected to emerge in the energy spectra and structure of many-body states. Specifically, the fluctuations of energy levels and components of the eigenstates turn out to be very large and they are described by the random matrix theory. Clearly, if this happens in a quantum computer, it may lead to a destruction of the coherence (due to an internal decoherence inside many-body states) required for quantum computations. It is important to stress that the quantum chaos occurs not only in the systems with random interactions, but also for purely dynamical interactions. In the latter case, the mechanism of chaos is the non-linear two-body interaction represented in the basis of non-interacting particles.

Numerical analysis  of the simplest model of a quantum computer (2D model of $`1/2`$-spins with a random interqubit interaction $`J`$) shows that as the number, $`L`$, of qubits increases, the chaos threshold $`J_{cr}`$ decreases as $`J_{cr}1/L`$. Consequently, it was claimed that the onset of quantum chaos is a real danger for the quantum computers with large $`L1`$. On the other hand, in  is was argued that in order to treat this problem properly, one needs to distinguish between the chaotic properties of stationary states and the dynamical process of quantum computation.

Below, we report our theoretical and numerical results for a realistic model of quantum computer, described in . We consider both stationary and dynamical approaches to the model in the region of a non-selective excitation which prepares a homogeneous superposition of $`N=2^L`$ states needed to implement both the Shor and the Grover algorithms.

The model describes a 1-dimensional chain of $`L`$ interacting $`1/2`$-spins in the constant magnetic field $`B^z`$, subjected to a sum of $`p=1,\mathrm{},P`$ time-dependent rectangular pulses of a circular polarized magnetic field rotating in the $`x,y`$-plane . Each of the pulses has the amplitude $`b_{}^p`$, frequency $`\nu _p`$, phase $`\phi _p`$, and is non-zero during the time $`T_p=t_{p+1}t_p`$. The Hamiltonian has the form,

$$=\underset{k=0}{\overset{L1}{}}(\omega _kI_k^z+2\underset{n>k}{}J_{k,n}I_k^zI_n^z)$$

$$\frac{1}{2}\underset{p=1}{\overset{P}{}}\mathrm{\Theta }_p(t)\mathrm{\Omega }_p\underset{k=0}{\overset{L1}{}}\left(e^{i\nu _pti\phi _p}I_k^{}+e^{i\nu _pt+i\phi _p}I_k^+\right),$$
(1)
where the “pulse function” $`\mathrm{\Theta }_p(t)`$ is $`1`$ during the $`p`$-th pulse. The quantities $`J_{k,n}`$ are the constants of Ising interactions between two qubits, $`\omega _k`$ are the frequencies of the spin precession in the $`B^z`$field, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_p`$ is the Rabi frequency corresponding to the $`p`$-th pulse. The operators $`I_k^\pm =I_k^x\pm iI_k^y`$ are defined by the relations $`I_k^{x,y,z}=(1/2)\sigma _k^{x,y,z}`$, the latter being the Pauli matrices.

The Hamiltonian for a single pulse can be written in the coordinate system, rotating around $`z`$-axes with the frequency $`\nu _p`$. Thus, for one pulse the model is described by the stationary Hamiltonian (below, $`\phi _p=\pi /2,\mathrm{\Omega }_p=\mathrm{\Omega },\nu _p=\nu `$). We mainly study the nearest-neighbor interaction (N-interaction) between qubits for the dynamical case, $`J_{k,n}=J\delta _{n,k+1}`$, and when all $`J_{k,k+1}`$ are random. In contrast to the model with homogeneous magnetic field , we consider a constant gradient magnetic field with linear dependence on the position of the $`k`$-th qubit, $`\delta _k=|\omega _{k+1}\omega _k|\omega _k=ak`$, with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_pJ_{k,n}\delta \omega _k\omega _k`$. Thus, for the dynamical $`N`$interaction the Hamiltonian reads,

$$H=\underset{k=0}{\overset{L1}{}}\left[\delta _kI_k^z+\mathrm{\Omega }I_k^y\right]2J\underset{k=0}{\overset{L2}{}}I_k^zI_{k+1}^z;\delta _k=\omega _k\nu .$$
(2)
For this Hamiltonian we have developed a theory  which predicts two transitions which depend on the interaction $`J`$. The first transition was called in  the delocalization border which corresponds to the transition to weak chaos for,

$$J>J_{cr}\frac{4a^2}{\mathrm{\Omega }}.$$
(3)
By weak chaos we mean a kind of randomness in many-body states, together with the absence of the Wigner-Dyson (WD) distribution $`P(s)`$ for the spacings between energy levels of the Hamiltonian (2). The latter distribution is a strong evidence of quantum chaos in the energy spectra of chaotic quantum systems. It typically emerges above the delocalization border . Instead, the form of $`P(s)`$ in our model is very close to Poisson, which is known to occur in integrable systems. Our analytic approach allows one to explain this unexpected result by showing that, indeed, the model (2) is close to the integrable one, even in the case of a completely random $`N`$-interaction .

The estimate (3) turns out to be very different from that obtained in  for a homogeneous magnetic field. Indeed, according to (3), the (weak) chaos border is independent of the number of qubits. Therefore, a magnetic field with a constant gradient strongly reduces the unwanted effects of quantum chaos. Numerical data show that one needs to have a relatively weak interaction, $`JJ_{cr}`$, in order to avoid large errors in the structure of many-body states, which appear as a result of weak chaos.

Another unexpected analytical prediction which is confirmed by the numerical data, is that the delocalization border (3) remains the same for the case when all qubits interact with each other with random interactions, $`J_{k,n}`$. However, in this case, the delocalization border (3) coincides with the onset of strong chaos. The latter is characterized by strong (almost Gaussian) fluctuations of the components of eigenstates, and by a WD-distribution for $`P(s)`$. Theoretical analysis shows that the mechanism of this transition to strong chaos is related to a strong overlap of energy bands in the spectra of the Hamiltonian (2).

We have also studied the errors that arise when preparing the uniform many-body state from the ground state. For this, we computed the evolution of the wave function in the model (1), during one pulse with $`\phi =\pi /2`$. Without the interaction, $`J=0`$, and at the absence of the magnetic field gradient, at the end of the pulse all components of the wave function are the same, $`\psi _n^0=1/\sqrt{N}`$. The interaction causes in some errors which can be characterized by the amplitude, $`\eta =||\psi _n|\psi _n^0|_n`$, and the phase, $`\varphi =\mathrm{arctan}(Im\psi _n/Re\psi _n)_n`$, where $`\mathrm{}_n`$ means the average over different $`n`$ components. Numerical data show that the errors decrease with an increase of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ as $`\eta \mathrm{\Omega }^2`$, and $`\varphi \mathrm{\Omega }^1`$ in agreement with simple analytical estimates. As one can see, the delocalization border does not influence the errors. This means that weak chaos is not important for this kind of evolution (“non-selective”) of our system. Indeed, this evolution lasts only a short time ($`\tau =\pi /\mathrm{\Omega }`$) compared with the inverse distance between nearest levels inside the energy band. Therefore, when the bands are non-overlapped, weak chaos does not influence the dynamics. On the other hand, as $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ decreases, the bands start to overlap which strongly increases errors in the wave function.

The work of GPB and VIT was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the contract W-7405-ENG-36, by the National Security Agency (NSA) and by the Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA). FMI acknowledges the support by CONACyT (Mexico) Grant No. 34668-E.


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# Introduction

## Introduction

Quantum field theories in noncommutative spaces  with noncommutative time coordinate are notoriously ill-defined. Heuristically, noncommutative particles of momentum $`p^\mu `$ can be regarded as rigid, extended dipoles oriented along the four-vector $`L^\mu =\theta ^{\mu \nu }p_\nu `$, and interacting through the end-points . It is already clear from this consideration that noncommutative time coordinates imply particles effectively ‘extended in time’. Thus, the breakdown of naive criteria of local causality, in the form of ‘advanced effects’ in tree-level scattering processes, should not come as a surprise (c.f. ).

On a more technical level, these theories have no straightforward Hamiltonian quantization (see however ) and are defined, in an operational sense, via the Feynman diagram expansion . It is thus necessary to check explicitly the unitarity of the theory. Indeed, in a theory with built-in nonlocality in time, it is hard to imagine an appropriate notion of causality which is at the same time useful and nontrivial. It is more likely that these theories must be interpreted as S-matrix theories, in the same sense as critical string theory. Thus, from this very fundamental point of view, we may regard the existence of a consistent S-matrix as the weakest possible notion of causality.

More specifically, it was shown in  that the stringy regularization of such systems is ill-defined. Following , we can recover certain noncommutative field theories (NCFTs) as an appropriate low-energy limit of D-brane dynamics in the background of a constant electromagnetic field. While this limit is smooth in string perturbation theory for the case of a background magnetic field, it is problematic for a background electric field111The marginal case of a null electromagnetic background $`𝐄𝐁=𝐄^2𝐁^2=0`$ is also smooth, c.f. .. This is tied to the well-known instabilities of open-string dynamics in the presence of electric fields , i.e. beyond a maximal value of the electric field, the D-brane becomes effectively tachyonic. Since the time-noncommutativity is directly related to the electric field, and this must be large (in string units) in the low-energy limit, one finds that the low-energy limit always lies on the tachyonic regime of D-brane dynamics. Therefore, consistency of the string background requires the scale of time noncommutativity to be of the same order of magnitude as the string scale.

The breakdown of the stringy regularization for time-NCFT is a strong hint at the inconsistency of these models. Still, one can imagine some contrived analytic continuation of the background parameters, so that the open-string perturbation theory does converge in the formal low-energy limit to the series of Feynman diagrams of the time-NCFT. In particular, a formal continuation of the closed string coupling $`g_sig_s`$ and an exchange of the roles of space and time in the plane of the electric field would do the job (c.f. ).

Therefore, it is desirable to find an internal inconsistency of the Feynman expansion in time-NCFTs. Such an inconsistency was found in , where a violation of the unitarity cutting rules was reported in a number of examples. The authors of  showed that scattering amplitudes have extra singularities that cannot be understood in terms of unitarity thresholds. In itself, this does not furnish a no-go argument for time-NCFT, since Feynman diagrams in ordinary theories are known to present the so-called ‘anomalous thresholds’ whose interpretation in terms of unitarity rules is very problematic (see  for a review).

Thus, it is crucial to interpret physically the new singularities in order to evaluate the viability of time-NCFTs. One interesting possibility would be that NCFTs mimic open-string theory in the sense that unitarity of the S-matrix restricted to open-string initial and final states requires the introduction of closed strings as states in the asymptotic Hilbert space, since they contribute singularities in intermediate channels. In an analogous fashion, it is possible that the S-matrix of time-NCFT becomes unitary once we add appropriate new states to the asymptotic Hilbert space.

In fact, such a possibility is hinted at by the simplest example of a ‘noncommutative singularity’, i.e. the case of the normal-ordering correction to the propagator of massless $`\varphi _{}^4`$ theory in four dimensions. In the commutative theory (or at the level of planar diagrams in the noncommutative theory) the normal-ordering diagram has no analytic structure, since it contributes a quadratically divergent constant renormalizing the mass. On the other hand, the nonplanar diagram, viewed as a one-to-one scattering amplitude, is given by

$$i𝒜(p)=i\lambda \frac{1}{6}\frac{d^4q}{(2\pi )^4}e^{i\stackrel{~}{p}q}\frac{i}{q^2+i0}=i\frac{\lambda }{24\pi ^2}\frac{1}{pp+i0},$$
(1)
where $`\stackrel{~}{p}^\mu p_\nu \theta ^{\nu \mu }`$ and $`pp\stackrel{~}{p}^2`$. Thus, we find a contribution to the imaginary part:

$$2\mathrm{Im}(𝒜)=\frac{\lambda }{12\pi }\delta (pp).$$
(2)
Let us now suppose the initial energy positive $`p^0>0`$ and a single noncommutative plane $`[x^0,x^1]=i\theta _e`$. Then we can write the analog of the optical theorem for this quantity by introducing $`1=d^4k\delta (kp)`$ and obtain:

$$2\mathrm{Im}(𝒜)=\frac{d^3𝐤}{2(2\pi )^3|k_1|}\left(\frac{(2\pi )^2\lambda }{6\theta _e^2}\right)\delta (pk).$$
(3)
Thus, we see that the cutting rules can be formally recovered if we introduce new states $`|\chi _k`$ in the asymptotic Hilbert space with dispersion relation $`k_0=|k_1|`$. They mix with the off-shell $`\varphi `$ quanta with an effective coupling $`\lambda _{\varphi \chi }=\sqrt{4\pi ^2\lambda /6\theta _e^2}`$. All this is strongly reminiscent of the situation one finds in nonplanar open-string scattering amplitudes. In that case, nonplanar amplitudes show new poles, without a clear interpretation in terms of open-string intermediate states. It turns out that they just represent the amplitude for an open string to mix with closed strings. Therefore, in the particular case of the diagram considered here, the $`\chi `$ particles are analogous to closed strings. This analogy is sharpened by considering the ‘dipole’ picture of noncommutative particles , since this is equivalent to rigid open strings. Then, the new states arise from ‘cutting the dipole’ in the intermediate loop.

Notice that the effective coupling for producing the $`\chi `$ particles blows-up in the limit $`\theta _e0`$, reflecting a non-analiticity in the commutative limit –a typical UV/IR mixing. Another peculiar property of the $`\chi `$ particles is their lack of propagation in commutative spatial directions. The $`\chi `$ particles could be regarded as excitations of ‘$`\chi `$-fields’, a generalization of those proposed in  in order to reconcile the Wilsonian interpretation of the renormalization group and the IR divergences found in spatially noncommutative theories. The main difference is that these fields are associated to propagating particles rather than being Lagrange multipliers. Thus, they cannot be simply considered as formal devices but must be included in any attemp to consistently construct the time-NCFT.

In the following section, we study the general structure of the ‘noncommutative singularities’ at one-loop and attemp to give an interpretation along these lines. Using results from , we will show that the unitarity-violating singularities in time-NCFT can be manipulated into a form that is strongly reminiscent of undecoupled closed-string modes. Thus, the cutting rules can be formally satisfied by adding an appropriate set extra asymptotic degrees of freedom. On the other hand, unitarity is not restored in a strict sense, because the extra states are necessarily tachyonic. Thus, time-NCFT appears to be perturbatively inconsistent, even if we try to add new degrees of freedom into the problem. Our discussion closes the conceptual gap between the string-theorerical arguments of  and the field-theoretical arguments of .

In the last section of the paper we come back to the issue of unitarity versus causality. We study in detail some criteria for microscopic causality at the quantum level. These criteria are relevant in situations where some Lorentz subgroup involving boosts remains unbroken. In particular, we will expose the impact of the quantum UV/IR mixing on the locality properties of the theory.

## Noncommutative Singularities at One-loop Order

For a general one-loop diagram with $`N`$ vertices in $`d`$-dimensional $`\varphi _{}^n`$ theory we have

$$i𝒜_{\{p_a\}}=\frac{(i\lambda )^N}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}\frac{d^dq}{(2\pi )^d}[\mathrm{Moyal}]\underset{a=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{i}{(q+Q_a)^2m^2+i0},$$
(4)
where $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ is the symmetry factor of the diagram, and $`Q_a+q`$ is the momentum running through the $`a`$’th propagator. There is an overall momentum conservation delta function $`\delta (_ap_a)`$ that we omit in the following. The Moyal phase can be factorized into the overall phase of the diagram $`𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}`$, depending only on the external momenta $`p_a`$, and the nontrivial phase depending on the loop momentum $`q`$, given by

$$\mathrm{exp}(ip_\mu \theta ^{\mu \nu }q_\nu )=\mathrm{exp}(i\stackrel{~}{p}q),$$

where $`p`$ is the total momentum flowing through the ‘nonplanar channel’.

We can evaluate the loop-momentum integral by introducing Feynman parameters $`x_a`$ in the usual fashion:

$`i𝒜`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^N(N1)!}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}}𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}{\displaystyle [dx]\frac{d^dq}{(2\pi )^d}\frac{e^{i\stackrel{~}{p}q}}{\left[_ax_a(q+Q_a)^2m^2+i0\right]^N}}`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^N(N1)!}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}}𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}e^{i\stackrel{~}{p}{\scriptscriptstyle x_aQ_a}}{\displaystyle [dx]\frac{d^dq}{(2\pi )^d}\frac{e^{i\stackrel{~}{p}q}}{(q^2M_x^2+i0)^N}},`$
where

$$[dx]_0^1\underset{a}{}dx_a\delta (\underset{a}{}x_a1),$$

and we have defined an $`x_a`$-dependent effective mass

$$M_x^2=m^2x_aQ_a^2+(x_aQ_a)^2.$$
(6)
The resulting momentum integral can be evaluated exactly in terms of appropriate Bessel functions (c.f. for example ):

$`𝒜`$ $`=`$ $`2(\lambda /2)^N(2\pi )^{\frac{d}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}}`$ (7)
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle [dx]e^{i\stackrel{~}{p}{\scriptscriptstyle x_aQ_a}}\left(M_x^2\right)^{\frac{d}{2}N}\frac{K_{\frac{d}{2}N}\left[\sqrt{M_x^2(pp+i0)}\right]}{\left[\sqrt{M_x^2(pp+i0)}\right]^{\frac{d}{2}N}}},`$
with the convention that all branch cuts are drawn along the negative real axis.

The most significant property of this representation is the occurrence of a generic branch-point singularity at $`pp=0`$. The noncommutativity matrix $`\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$ can be invariantly characterized as space-like or ‘magnetic’, light-like or ‘null’ and time-like or ‘electric’ . In the first two cases, we have $`pp0`$ for real momenta, and we can only access the singularity at $`pp=0`$, i.e. the so-called UV/IR singularities of .

On the other hand, in the ‘electric’ case we can access the full branch cuts along $`pp0`$ with real momenta in the physical region, i.e. these singularities resemble particle-production cuts that are characteristic of time-NCFT. However, the examples studied in  show that the singularities at $`pp<0`$ do not satisfy the standard cutting rules, i.e. they do not have the standard interpretation in terms of production of $`\varphi `$-field quanta.

Unitarity thresholds in Feynman diagrams are associated to particles in a number of internal lines going on-shell. If a Schwinger parameter $`t_a`$ is introduced for each propagator:

$$\frac{i}{p^2m^2+i0}=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑t_ae^{it_a(p^2m^2+i0)},$$

normal thresholds of one-loop diagrams correspond to exactly two of the Schwinger integrals being dominated by the region $`t_a\mathrm{}`$. Alternatively, we can replace the set of $`t_a`$ parameters by Feynman parameters $`x_a`$, plus a global Schwinger parameter $`t`$, defined by $`t=x_at_a`$, with $`x_a[0,1]`$ and $`_ax_a=1`$. Then $`t=_at_a`$ and any cutting of the diagram produces a singularity associated to the limit $`t\mathrm{}`$. Therefore, the parametric representation of (7) with respect to the $`(t,x_a)`$ variables is useful in disentangling the new ‘noncommutative singularities’ from the usual ones associated with unitarity cuts.

Taking advantage of the analysis in ref.  we compactify one spatial direction on a circle of length $`L=2\pi R`$, which we assume to be commutative. We expect this to produce an effective mass in the nonplanar channel, reminiscent of massess of closed-string winding modes. This will also allow us to make more precise the interpretation of $`\stackrel{~}{p}^2=pp`$ as an invariant mass-squared.

The effect of the compactification at the level of the previous diagram is simply to discretize the momenta in that direction $`q_R=n/R`$, leading to a measure

$$\frac{1}{L}\underset{n𝐙}{}\frac{d^{d1}q}{(2\pi )^{d1}}.$$
(8)
A convenient way of writing this measure uses the identity $`_n\delta (xn)=_{\mathrm{}}e^{2\pi i\mathrm{}x}`$ to rewrite the diagram as

$$i𝒜=\frac{(i\lambda )^N}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}\underset{\mathrm{}𝐙}{}\frac{d^dq}{(2\pi )^d}e^{iq\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}}}\underset{a=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{i}{(q+Q_a)^2m^2+i0},$$
(9)
where $`\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}}`$ is a shifted momentum given by

$$(\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}})^\mu =p_\nu \theta ^{\nu \mu }+L\mathrm{}\delta _R^\mu .$$

A more technical motivation for introducing the compactification is apparent in (9). Namely if we concentrate on the $`\mathrm{}0`$ sectors, the finite size of the circle $`L`$ acts as an ultraviolet cutoff for the diagram. This is very convenient, since we would like to disentangle the occurrence of singularities related to particle production, from those at $`pp=0`$, inherent to the UV/IR effects of the theory. By selecting the $`\mathrm{}0`$ sectors we can effectively do so.

We can now introduce Feynman and Schwinger parameters as above:

$$i𝒜=\frac{(i\lambda )^N}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}\underset{\mathrm{}𝐙}{}[dx]\frac{d^dq}{(2\pi )^d}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tt^{N1}e^{iq\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}}+it_ax_a[(q+Q_a)^2m^2+i0]}.$$
(10)
Next, we evaluate the gaussian integral over $`q`$ and perform a modular transformation of the Schwinger parameter $`s=1/4t`$ to obtain:

$$i𝒜=\frac{(i\lambda /4)^N}{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}\frac{𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}}{(i\pi )^{d/2}}\underset{\mathrm{}}{}[dx]e^{i{\scriptscriptstyle x_aQ_a\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}}}}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑ss^{N1+\frac{d}{2}}e^{\frac{i}{4s}(M_x^2i0)}e^{is(\stackrel{~}{p}^2L^2\mathrm{}^2)},$$
(11)
where we have used $`(\stackrel{~}{p}_{\mathrm{}})^2=\stackrel{~}{p}^2L^2\mathrm{}^2`$, with $`(L\mathrm{})^2`$ playing the expected role of an effective ‘winding mass’, with dimension length-squared. This expression may also be obtained directly from (7) using the integral representation of the Bessel function.

The singularity structure of this expression is non-standard. As stressed before, normal one-loop thresholds must be associated with on-shell intermediate quanta of the $`\varphi `$ field. However, these contributions come from the region of integration of large proper times $`t\mathrm{}`$ or, equivalently, short dual proper times $`s0`$. On the other hand, the integral (11) shows singularity structure in the opposite limit: $`s\mathrm{}`$, which is the ultraviolet domain in terms of the original $`\varphi `$-field quanta.

The analytic structure of the amplitudes can be inferred from the representation (11). For ordinary theories, one defines the amplitude by analytic continuation from the euclidean region for all momentum invariants (c.f. ). In this domain $`M_x^2>0`$ and the proper-time integral admits a Wick rotation $`sis`$ that makes it convergent at $`s=0`$. The same Wick rotation renders the integral convergent in the ultraviolet, $`s\mathrm{}`$, provided a convenient cutoff is in place (in our case, $`\mathrm{}0`$). The only novelty in the noncommutative case is the requirement of excluding the real branch cut $`\stackrel{~}{p}^2(L\mathrm{})^2`$ from the ordinary euclidean domain, in order to keep the integral convergent in the $`s\mathrm{}`$ limit.

This argument shows that any singularity at $`\stackrel{~}{p}^2=pp>0`$ is of ‘ordinary type’, since it is in fact due to the $`s0`$ limit. Thus, ‘noncommutative singularities’ appear as real branch cuts for $`pp(L\mathrm{})^2`$. Notice that the Wick rotation of the proper-time parameter $`s`$ is equivalent the regularization of the the large-$`s`$ oscillatory phase by adding a small positive imaginary part to the winding mass, i.e. $`(L\mathrm{})^2(L\mathrm{})^2+i0`$. Then the behaviour in the vicinity of the branch points is given by a series of terms of the form:

$$\left(pp+(L\mathrm{})^2+i0\right)^{k+N\frac{d}{2}}\left[\mathrm{log}(pp+(L\mathrm{})^2+i0)\right],$$
(12)
where the integer $`k`$ comes from the Taylor expansion of the phase containing $`M_x^2`$, and the logarithm is present whenever the number $`k+Nd/2`$ is a positive integer or zero. In this formula, all branch cuts are conventionally drawn along the negative real axis.

What is the physical interpretation of these branch cuts? Guided by the example of the normal-ordering diagram in the introduction, together with the dipole picture, we would expect to find a series of pole singularities corresponding to the exchange of an infinite tower of ‘winding’ $`\chi _{\mathrm{}}`$ particles of ‘mass’ $`|L\mathrm{}|`$. These states would naturally descend from closed-string winding modes in the low-energy limit.

The general expressions just derived imply that this picture is too naive. Namely, the leading $`s\mathrm{}`$ singularity is a pole at $`pp=(L\mathrm{})^2`$ only for very special diagrams with $`N=\frac{d2}{2}`$. In general, it is a softer branch-point singularity, which would suggest a multi-particle threshold, rather than the single-particle exchange implied by the dipole picture.

One possible interpretation of the cut uses a trick developed in , based on the simple observation that a branch cut can be viewed as a higher-dimensional pole, i.e. the negative half-integer powers of $`s`$ in (11) may be traded by a gaussian integral over $`d_{}=2N+2d`$ ‘transverse’ momenta $`𝐳_{}`$. In this way, we can approximate the amplitude in the vicinity of the $`s\mathrm{}`$ singularities as:

$$𝒜𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}\underset{\mathrm{}𝐙}{}\frac{d^d_{}𝐳_{}}{(2\pi )^d_{}}\frac{f(p,𝐳_{},\mathrm{})}{pp+(L\mathrm{})^2+𝐳_{}^2+i0},$$
(13)
for an appropriate ‘coupling’ function $`f(p,𝐳_{},\mathrm{})`$ that should be related to the couplings of $`\chi `$ particles to the in and out states in the nonplanar channel. This function has a complicated momentum dependence, which makes this interpretation rather cumbersome. In addition, the number of extra ‘transverse’ dimensions $`d_{}=2N+2d`$ is completely ad hoc and depending on the particular diagram we consider, unlike the true number of transverse dimensions to a D-brane.

It is perhaps more appropriate to interpret the structure of the singularity in terms of a continuous spectrum of $`\chi `$ particles, so that the amplitude is approximated by

$$𝒜𝒲_{\mathrm{NC}}\underset{\mathrm{}𝐙}{}𝑑\mu ^2\frac{\rho (p,\mathrm{},\mu ^2)}{pp+(L\mathrm{})^2+\mu ^2+i0},$$
(14)
for an appropriate ‘spectral density’ $`\rho (p,\mathrm{},\mu ^2)`$ that should be roughly proportional to the product $`out,p,\mathrm{}|\chi (\mu ^2)\chi (\mu ^2)|in,p,\mathrm{}`$, and will have a complicated structure due to the breakdown of Lorentz invariance. Its explicit form can be worked out in particular examples from the general expression (7).

However, even if the spectral density $`\rho (\mu ^2)`$ had the right properties to be consistent with unitarity, the required on-shell condition of the $`\chi `$ particles, $`pp+(L\mathrm{})^2+\mu ^2=0`$, would be inconsistent with a positive-energy asymptotic Fock space. Solving it in the simplified situation of two orthogonal ‘electric and magnetic’ noncommutative planes:

$$\omega _\theta (p)=\sqrt{𝐩_e^2\frac{1}{\theta _e^2}\left(\theta _m^2𝐩_m^2+(L\mathrm{})^2+\mu ^2\right)}.$$
(15)
We see that, in general, the $`\chi `$ particles have tachyonic excitations for nonvanishing ‘electric’ noncommutativity $`\theta _e0`$. The massless dispersion relation of the single $`\chi `$ particle in the example of the Introduction generalizes to a continuum of tachyons. In addition, as soon as $`\theta _m0`$, the energy squared at fixed ‘mass’ is unbounded from below.

In our view, this is the ultimate reason for the breakdown of unitarity in time-NCFT. Namely, the new singularities really represent production of tachyonic states, even if the cutting rules could eventually be satisfied in a formal sense.

### Connection with String Theory

The upshot of the discussion in the previous section is that, although the interpretation of the extra singularities, present for $`\theta _e0`$, in terms of new ‘closed-string’ particles is very suggestive and even precise in some simple examples, the general structure is rather involved. In addition, it is found that unitarity is not preserved even if the cutting rules are formally restored, because the added part of the asymptotic Hilbert space contains tachyonic states.

Given the intuitive ‘dipole’ picture and the occurrence of ‘winding-like masses’ for the effective $`\chi `$ particles in compact space, it would be desirable to establish a link between these ad hoc degrees of freedom and true closed strings in a model that would arise from a low-energy limit of string theory. The main challenge for such a discussion would be obtaining the required continuous spectrum of the $`\chi `$ particles for each value of the ‘winding number’ $`\mathrm{}`$, as well as the explanation of the sick dispersion relation (15).

Recall that NCFT amplitudes, when written in terms of Feynman parameters $`x_a`$ and Schwinger parameter $`t`$, descend directly from the string counterparts in the Seiberg–Witten (SW) limit. For example, nonplanar annulus amplitudes are integrals over the annulus modular parameter $`\tau `$, defined so that the length of the annulus is $`2\pi \tau `$, and Koba–Nielsen parameters $`\nu _a[0,2\pi \tau )`$. It was shown in a series of papers  that the string amplitude descends in the SW limit to the parametric representation (10) of the set of low-energy diagrams associated to the given string diagram. In this process, Koba–Nielsen moduli map to Feynman parameters according to $`\nu _a=2\pi \tau x_a`$ and the annulus modular parameter maps to the Schwinger parameter via $`t=2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau `$.

Under a modular transformation, we can write the string amplitude in the closed-string channel as an overlap of the closed string propagator between D-brane boundary states.

$$\underset{\mathrm{\Psi }}{}B|\mathrm{\Psi }\mathrm{\Psi }\left|\frac{g_s^2}{\sqrt{\mathrm{det}(g)}}\frac{i}{\frac{\alpha ^{}}{2}\left(g^{AB}p_Ap_BM_\mathrm{\Psi }^2\right)}\right|\mathrm{\Psi }\mathrm{\Psi }|B^{},$$
(16)
where $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ runs over all closed-string oscillator states, plus the momentum variables $`𝐩_{}`$ transverse to the D-brane, and the winding quantum numbers $`\mathrm{}`$ contributing to $`M_\mathrm{\Psi }`$:

$$M_\mathrm{\Psi }^2=\left(\frac{L\mathrm{}}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}\right)^2+\frac{N_{\mathrm{osc}}}{\alpha ^{}}.$$

In (16), the dependence of the boundary states on Koba–Nielsen moduli has been obviated. The factor of $`g_s^2`$ comes from the two boundaries of the cylinder and the determinant factor comes from the canonical normalization of closed-string states propagating in a ten-dimensional bulk with metric $`g_{AB}`$. We choose this metric to be unity in the space transverse to the D-brane. On the other hand, both $`g_s`$ and the world-volume components of the closed-string metric are determined by formulas in :

$$g^{\mu \nu }=\eta ^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{(2\pi \alpha ^{})^2}\theta ^{\mu \alpha }\eta _{\alpha \beta }\theta ^{\beta \nu },\frac{g_s^2}{\sqrt{\mathrm{det}(g)}}=G_s^2,$$
(17)
where $`G_s`$ is the effective string coupling, which in turn determines the NCFT coupling in the SW limit.

In a proper-time representation, we write

$$\frac{i}{\frac{\alpha ^{}}{2}\left(g^{AB}p_Ap_BM_\mathrm{\Psi }^2\right)}=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\tau _2e^{i\tau _2\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Psi }},$$

where the modular parameter of the cylinder is related to that of the annulus by $`\tau _2=\pi /\tau `$. On the other hand, the dual proper time for the $`\chi `$ particles is $`s=1/4t=\tau _2/8\pi ^2\alpha ^{}`$. Therefore, the SW limit, involving $`\alpha ^{}0`$ at fixed $`s`$, takes $`\tau _20`$, which is not the region where the amplitude can be approximated by a few low-lying closed-string states. Rather, in this scaling the whole tower of closed-string oscillator states contributes coherently. Using the equation (17), the proper-time kernel can be written as:

$$\tau _2\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Psi }=s\left[pp(L\mathrm{})^2+(2\pi \alpha ^{})^2p^2(2\pi \alpha ^{})^2\left(𝐩_{}^2+\frac{N_{\mathrm{osc}}}{\alpha ^{}}\right)\right],$$
(18)
which is precisely the expression found in the proper-time integral (11): $`s(\stackrel{~}{p}^2(L\mathrm{})^2)=s(pp+(L\mathrm{})^2)`$, when we send $`\alpha ^{}0`$ at fixed $`p`$ and $`\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$. The effective gap induced by oscillator states of closed string on the spectrum of the $`\chi `$ particles is of order

$$\frac{\mathrm{Oscillator}\mathrm{gap}}{|pp|}\frac{\alpha ^{}}{|pp|}0,$$

so that, in the SW limit, the closed-string oscillator spectrum becomes effectively continuous on the scale of the $`\chi `$ particles. It follows that we cannot simply set $`\alpha ^{}=0`$ in (18) because an infinite set of modes, labelled by $`N_{\mathrm{osc}}`$ and the transverse momentum to the D-brane, contribute on the length scale relevant to the $`\chi `$ particles. This is the interpretation of the integral over the continuous ‘mass parameter’

$$\mu ^2(2\pi \alpha ^{})^2\left(𝐩_{}^2+\frac{N_{\mathrm{osc}}}{\alpha ^{}}\right)$$

in equation (14). In a proper treatment one would write a sum rule for the effective coupling of the $`\chi `$ particles, as in , involving a trace over all the closed-string spectrum, and using the detailed string amplitude and the known low-energy reduction to the expression (11). This trace generates the extra powers of $`s`$ and the detailed structure found in (11) that define the properties of the $`\chi `$ particles, including the effective transverse dimension $`d_{}=2N+2d`$, which is not directly related to the true number of transverse dimensions of the D-brane.

According to this picture, the $`\chi `$ fields are effective formal devices that represent the coherent coupling of an infinite number of closed-string states. The fact that they still resemble ordinary fields in some respects is a nontrivial property of NCFT, having a degenerate version of the string-theory’s channel duality.

This construction also explains the tachyonic character of the $`\chi `$ particles for $`\theta _e0`$. From the formula (17) for the closed-string metric, we see that $`g^{\mu \nu }`$ only degenerates at the NCOS boundary $`|\theta _e|=2\pi \alpha ^{}`$, , which is the only point where we can argue for the full decoupling of closed strings. For $`|\theta _e|>2\pi \alpha ^{}`$, including in particular the SW limit defining the time-NCFT, the role of space and time in the timelike noncommutative plane is exchanged . This is exactly what is required to match the ‘empirical’ dispersion relations (15) introduced above for the $`\chi `$ particles.

Therefore, we conclude that the SW limit of strings with timelike noncommutativity does not decouple closed-string states, even in the low-energy limit, since they show up as production of tachyonic states in nonplanar amplitudes. This closes the circle of arguments in favour of the inconsistency of these theories. In this sense, our arguments bridge the gap between the criteria of  and the purely field-theoretical one of .

## Tests of Locality and Causality at the Quantum Level

In ordinary local quantum field theory, various technical concepts such as analiticity, microscopic causality and unitarity are roughly interchangable, due to some underlying ‘physical’ requirements, such as Lorentz invariance and locality. NCFT violates these two physical conditions in a peculiar way, keeping still a controlable (and interesting) structure. Thus, NCFT is a nice laboratory to disentangle the relationships between the technical criteria cited above.

In particular, the breakdown of analiticity is to be expected generically in the case of noncommutative time, since the Moyal phases in amplitudes are not analytic functions of the energy in the upper half plane. This is related to the observed violations of classical causality criteria in , and also renders invalid most derivations of dispersion relations by means of Cauchy’s theorem (except for the two-point function, since the global Moyal phase is trivial in this case). Thus, we observe a close parallel between the violations of analiticity and those of unitarity.

On the other hand, the standard criterion of microcausality (local observables commute outside the relative light-cone) is more intuitive than the ‘technical’ criterion based on analiticity, but it is clearly tied to the underlying Lorentz invariance of the theory. In fact, it loses much of its significance in situations where the light-cone itself has no dynamical meaning. Thus, we expect the microcausality criterion to break down ‘trivially’ already for purely spatial noncommutativity. Still, since free propagation is Lorentz invariant in NCFT, the breakdown occurs necessarily as a result of the interactions and, in view of the UV/IR effects, it is an interesting question to determine the size of the ‘causality violation’ in perturbation theory222For other related discussions in different contexts see ..

A related interesting question is the following. One can turn on spatial and/or time noncommutativity while still preserving a certain Lorentz ‘little group’. For example, in four dimensions, the frame $`x^\mu `$ satisfying $`[x^0,x^1]=i\theta _e,[x^2,x^3]=i\theta _m`$ preserves a subgroup $`SO(1,1)\times SO(2)`$ of the four-dimensional Lorentz group. Thus, boosts along the $`x^1`$ axis are still a symmetry even for $`\theta _e0`$, and we can define a ‘two-dimensional’ light-cone by the equation $`x_e^2(x^0)^2(x^1)^2=0`$. In this situation, the microcausality criterion with respect to the four-dimensional light-cone $`x^2=x_e^2x_m^2=0`$ has no particular meaning. However, the same criterion referred to the two-dimensional light-cone $`x_e^2=0`$ is still meaningful.

To analyze the issue we would like to compute the perturbative corrections to the commutator function

$$C(x)=0|[\varphi (x),\varphi (0)]|0.$$
(19)
In fact, it is technically more convenient to consider the related function given by the difference of retarded and advanced commutators

$$\overline{C}(x)C(x)_RC(x)_A=\mathrm{sign}(x^0)C(x),$$
(20)
which in turn is related to the imaginary part of the Feynman propagator in position space:

$$\overline{C}(x)=G_F(x)G_F(x)^{}=2i\mathrm{Im}G_F(x).$$
(21)
We can then define microscopic causality by the requirement that $`\mathrm{Im}G_F(x)`$ be supported ‘inside’ the light cone, i.e. $`\mathrm{Im}G_F(x)\theta (x^2)`$. This is certainly satisfied at the level of free fields, since the bare propagator is $`\theta `$-independent. The obvious advantage of this definition for our purposes is that it extends naturally to the $`\theta _e0`$ case, where a Hamiltonian construction of the commutator from its definition (19) is absent. In this case, we only have the Feynman rules as an operational definition of the theory, and one can readily compute perturbative corrections to $`\mathrm{Im}G_F(x)`$.

The dressed propagator takes the form

$$G_F(x)=\frac{d^4p}{(2\pi )^4}e^{ipx}\frac{i}{p^2m^2\mathrm{\Sigma }+i0},$$
(22)
where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(p_e^2,p_m^2)`$ is the 1PI self-energy, a function of the two $`SO(1,1)\times SO(2)`$ invariants of the problem:

$$p_e^2=p_0^2p_1^2,p_m^2=p_2^2+p_3^2.$$
(23)
In terms of these quantities we have

$$p^2=p_e^2p_m^2,pp=\theta _e^2p_e^2+\theta _m^2p_m^2.$$
(24)
In (22), the definition of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is such that $`m^2`$ gives the ‘physical’ mass after renormalization by the planar diagrams. Thus, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ includes the finite part of planar diagrams and the contribution from nonplanar diagrams, which breaks Lorentz invariance.

On general grounds, we expect the analytic structure of the self-energy to present the normal thresholds for $`p^2>0`$, and the ‘noncommutative thresholds’ for $`pp<0`$. Namely, poles at real positive values of $`p^2`$ if the theory develops bound states, the usual multi-particle cuts for $`p^24m^2`$, and the noncommutative cuts for $`pp<0`$ in the case $`\theta _e0`$.

In what follows, we will assume that these singularities in the real axis exhaust all the singularities of the self-energy function in the physical sheet as a function of $`p_e^2`$. This assumption is motivated by various considerations. The planar contribution to the self-energy is exactly equal to that in the commutative theory, the overall Moyal phase being trivial due to momentum conservation. In addition, the nonplanar contributions have a better high-energy behaviour than the planar ones, and all examples considered show the nonplanar singularities accumulating in the real $`pp0`$ line. Finally, the intuition from string theory points in the same direction, since $`\stackrel{~}{p}^2=pp`$ is nothing but the ‘Mandelstam variable’ in the closed-string channel.

In performing the Fourier transform to compute $`G_F(x)`$ it is convenient to use the corresponding ‘polar coordinates’ with respect to the $`SO(2)`$ and $`SO(1,1)`$ groups. Thus, for the ‘magnetic’ $`(x^2,x^3)=x_m`$ plane we change variables from $`p_m=(p_2,p_3)`$ to the invariant $`p_m^2`$ and $`SO(2)`$ angle, and we can write:

$$\frac{d^2p_m}{(2\pi )^2}e^{ip_mx_m}f(p_m^2)=\frac{1}{4\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tJ_0\left(\sqrt{tx_m^2}\right)f(t),$$
(25)
for a general function of the magnetic invariant $`f(p_m^2)`$. In this expression, $`J_0`$ stands for the zeroth-order Bessel function.

On the other hand, the polar decomposition in the ‘electric’ plane parametrizes the momenta $`p_e=(p_0,p_1)`$ in terms of the invariant $`p_e^2`$ and the $`SO(1,1)`$ rapidity. In this case the contributions to the integral from the different signs of $`p_e^2`$ must be considered separately. The complete expression also depends on the sign of $`x_e^2`$. Thus, for $`x_e^2>0`$ one finds:

$$\theta (x_e^2)\frac{d^2p_e}{(2\pi )^2}e^{ip_ex_e}f(p_e^2)=\frac{\theta (x_e^2)}{4\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑s\left[\frac{2}{\pi }f(s)K_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)f(s)N_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)\right],$$
(26)
where $`N_0`$ denotes the zeroth-order Neumann function and $`K_0`$ is the zeroth-order McDonald function. We may simplify this expression under the assumption that the otherwise arbitrary function $`f(s)`$ admits a ‘Wick rotation’ $`\sqrt{s}i\sqrt{s}`$ in the evaluation of the integral. Under this analytic continuation, the Bessel function transforms

$$K_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)K_0\left(i\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)=\frac{\pi }{2}\left[N_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)iJ_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)\right],$$

and the complete integral simplifies, since the $`N_0`$ functions cancel out. The final reduction formula is

$$\theta (x_e^2)\frac{d^2p_e}{(2\pi )^2}e^{ip_ex_e}f(p_e^2)=\frac{\theta (x_e^2)}{4\pi i}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑sf(s)J_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right).$$
(27)
Entirely analogous manipulations give a similar reduction formula for $`x_e^2<0`$. In this case, the elimination of the Neumann functions requires the opposite Wick rotation $`\sqrt{s}i\sqrt{s}`$, so that $`f(s)f(s)`$. The result is

$$\theta (x_e^2)\frac{d^2p_e}{(2\pi )^2}e^{ip_ex_e}f(p_e^2)=\frac{\theta (x_e^2)}{4\pi i}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑sf(s)J_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right).$$
(28)
With these preliminaries, we are ready to write down a general formula for the modified commutator function, using the general expression for the dressed propagator in momentum space.

The explicit assumptions that we need for the analytic structure of the self-energy can be summarized by demanding that

$$\frac{1}{ztm^2\mathrm{\Sigma }(z,t)}$$
(29)
has only singularities in the real axis, as a function of the complex variable $`z`$. These singularities include the usual poles and cuts for $`p^2>0`$, $`pp>0`$, as well as the ‘noncommutative singularities at $`pp0`$. In particular, these conditions can be explicitly checked for all the one-loop examples considered in the literature.

There is a component respecting $`SO(1,1)`$ microcausality given by:

$$\overline{C}(x)_{x_e^2>0}=\frac{i}{8\pi ^2}\theta (x_e^2)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tJ_0\left(\sqrt{tx_m^2}\right)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑s\mathrm{Im}\frac{J_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)}{stm^2\mathrm{\Sigma }(s,t)+i0}.$$
(30)
In addition, the component that violates the $`SO(1,1)`$ microcausality is given by

$$\overline{C}(x)_{x_e^2<0}=\frac{i}{8\pi ^2}\theta (x_e^2)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tJ_0\left(\sqrt{tx_m^2}\right)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑s\mathrm{Im}\frac{J_0\left(\sqrt{sx_e^2}\right)}{s+t+m^2+\mathrm{\Sigma }(s,t)i0}.$$
(31)
From these general expressions we see that, as expected, four-dimensional microcausality is violated as a result of the breakdown of Lorentz invariance. There is no particular structure depending on $`x^2=x_e^2x_m^2`$. On the other hand, there is room for violations of the $`SO(1,1)`$ microcausality criterion coming from the term proportional to $`\theta (x_e^2)`$.

In general, a non-vanishing imaginary part of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(s,t)`$ in the previous expression implies a violation of two-dimensional microcausality. Since $`pp=\theta _e^2p_e^2+\theta _m^2p_m^2`$ in terms of two-dimensional momenta (23), this corresponds, after the analytic continuation that leads to (31), to having a contribution to the imaginary part coming from the cut starting at $`p_e^2=\theta _m^2t/\theta _e^2`$ and extending along the negative real axis. In (31), $`s=p_e^2`$.

Another source of $`SO(1,1)`$-causality violations is the possibility of having zeroes in the denominator of the integrand in (31) on the real axis: $`s+t+m^2+\mathrm{\Sigma }(s,t)=0`$. Viewed as a two-dimensional dispersion relation this corresponds to the presence of tachyon poles.

The general structure can be understood by recalling that, under our analyticity assumptions, the function in (29) admits a dispersion relation of the form

$$\frac{1}{p_e^2p_m^2\mathrm{\Sigma }+i0}=_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑u\frac{\sigma (u,p_m^2)}{p_e^2u+i0},$$
(32)
where the ‘spectral function’

$$\sigma (u,p_m^2)=(\mathrm{pole}\mathrm{terms})\frac{1}{\pi }\frac{\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma }(u,p_m^2)}{(up_m^2\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma })^2+(\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma })^2}$$
(33)
splits naturally in two pieces, $`\sigma _\pm (\mu ^2)=\sigma (\pm \mu ^2)`$, respectively associated to the normal and ‘noncommutative’ thresholds.

Incidentally, we notice that $`\sigma _+(\mu ^2)`$ has the interpretation of a honest spectral function in a Källen–Lehmann representation, with positivity ensured by the unitarity relation $`\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma }0`$ at the ‘normal thresholds’. However, a glance at the explicit examples below shows that $`\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ has no definite sign for the ‘noncommutative thresholds’, so that the spectral interpretation of $`\sigma _{}(\mu ^2)`$ is problematic333 This particular case of (14) makes it explicit that the spectral interpretation of the function $`\rho (p,\mathrm{},\mu ^2)`$ appearing in that equation will necessarily involve indefinite norm in the asymptotic Hilbert space of the $`\chi `$ particles..

Taking the appropriate Fourier transforms we can give a two-dimensional ‘spectral representation’ of the commutator function $`\overline{C}(x)=\overline{C}_+(x)+\overline{C}_{}(x)`$, where:

$$\overline{C}_\pm (x)=_{\mu _\pm ^2}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\mu ^2g_\pm (x_m,\mu ^2)𝒞_e(x_e)_{\pm \mu ^2},$$
(34)
with

$$g_\pm (x_m,\mu ^2)=\frac{d^2p_m}{(2\pi )^2}e^{ip_mx_m}\sigma _\pm (p_m^2,\mu ^2)$$

and $`𝒞_e(x_e)_{\pm \mu ^2}`$ denoting the two-dimensional free commutator functions with mass squared $`\pm \mu ^2`$:

$$𝒞_e(x_e)_{\pm \mu ^2}=\pm \frac{\theta (\pm x_e^2)}{2i}J_0\left(\sqrt{\pm \mu ^2x_e^2}\right).$$
(35)
Thus, we see that violations of two-dimensional microcausality are associated to the contribution of the ‘spectral function’ $`\sigma _{}`$ in the tachyonic branch, i.e. the noncommutative thresholds for emission of $`\chi `$ particles.

This shows that our $`SO(1,1)`$-invariant causality criterion is equivalent to unitarity. In particular, NCFTs with space-like noncommutativity are ‘causal’ by the two-dimensional criterion.

### Some Examples

It is instructive to check the previous general statements with some simple examples. We consider the one-loop normal-ordering correction in massless $`\varphi _{}^4`$ theory, with renormalization conditions so that the ‘physical’ mass vanishes after planar renormalization. Then, the nonplanar graph is given by

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }(p_e^2,p_m^2)=i\frac{\lambda }{6}\frac{d^4k}{(2\pi )^4}\frac{e^{ik\stackrel{~}{p}}}{k^2+i0}=\frac{\lambda }{24\pi ^2}\frac{1}{pp+i0}=\frac{\lambda }{24\pi ^2}\frac{1}{\theta _e^2p_e^2+\theta _m^2p_m^2+i0}.$$
(36)
There are no finite contributions to $`\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma }(\pm s,t)`$, and the only source for $`\overline{C}(x)`$ comes from the pole terms. In the case of purely spatial noncommutativity one finds

$$\overline{C}(x)_{\theta _e=0}=\frac{1}{8\pi i}\theta (x_e^2)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tJ_0\left(\sqrt{tx_m^2}\right)J_0\left(\sqrt{x_e^2}\sqrt{t+g^2/t}\right),$$
(37)
where $`g^2\lambda /24\pi ^2\theta _m^2`$.

It is interesting to notice the $`tg^2/t`$ ‘duality’ in the argument of the second Bessel function; a rather transparent manifestation of the UV/IR effects. One can also check, using identities of Bessel functions, that $`\overline{C}(x)\delta (x^2)`$ for $`g=0`$, i.e. the modified commutator at $`g^2=0`$ is supported on the four-dimensional light-cone. This corresponds either to the free-field case, $`\lambda =0`$, or to the case of infinite noncommutativity, $`\theta _m=\mathrm{}`$.

As expected, the violations of microscopic causality for purely spatial noncommutativity are tied to the breaking of Lorentz invariance. Thus, $`\overline{C}(x)`$ is non-zero outside the four-dimensional light-cone $`x^2=x_e^2x_m^20`$. On the other hand, the two-dimensional microcausality is not violated, since $`\overline{C}(x)`$ vanishes for $`x_e^2<0`$. It is also interesting to notice that $`\overline{C}(x_m,x_e^2=0)=0`$ for any value of $`x_m^2`$.

An asymptotic expansion of (37) for large $`x_m^2`$ at constant ratio $`a=x_e^2/x_m^2<1`$ may be obtained by a saddle-point approximation:

$$\overline{C}(x)_{\theta _e=0}\frac{1}{a}\frac{g^{\frac{1}{4}}}{|x_m|^{\frac{3}{2}}}\frac{1}{a}\frac{\lambda ^{\frac{1}{8}}}{\theta _m^{\frac{1}{4}}|x_m|^{\frac{3}{2}}},$$

modulated by an oscillatory phase of frequency $`\sqrt{2gax_m^2}`$. We see that the non-locality is of long range, presumably as a consequece of the UV/IR mixing.

In the case $`\theta _e0`$, the special choice $`\theta _e=\theta _m0`$ is convenient to simplify the analysis, while maintaining all the qualitative features intact. The contributions to $`\overline{C}(x)`$ are again of pole type. However, now there is also a term proportional to $`\theta (x_e^2)`$:

$$\overline{C}(x)=\frac{1}{8\pi i}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tJ_0\left(\sqrt{tx_m^2}\right)\left[\theta (x_e^2)\frac{t+m_t^2}{2m_t^2}J_0\left(m_t\sqrt{x_e^2}\right)+\theta (x_e^2)\frac{tm_t^2}{2m_t^2}J_0\left(m_t\sqrt{x_e^2}\right)\right]$$
(38)
where $`m_t^2\sqrt{t^2+g^2}`$, and $`g`$ is still given as above.

If we interpret the pole in two-dimensional terms, the term proportional to $`\theta (x_e^2)`$ comes from a ‘tachyonic’ excitation. One can calculate exactly the integral for $`x_m^2=0`$ in terms of Bessel and Thomson functions. The piece that violates $`SO(1,1)`$ causality yields

$$\theta (x_e^2)\overline{C}(x)_{\theta _e=\theta _m}=\frac{i}{8\pi }g\left[\frac{J_1(\xi \sqrt{2})}{\xi \sqrt{2}}\mathrm{kei}_1(\xi )\mathrm{bei}_1(\xi )+\mathrm{ber}_1(\xi )\mathrm{ker}_1(\xi )\right],$$
(39)
where $`\xi \sqrt{gx_e^2/2}`$. The leading asymptotic behaviour for $`x_m^2=0`$ and large $`\sqrt{x_e^2}`$ is

$$\overline{C}(x)_{\theta _e=\theta _m}\sqrt{\frac{g}{x_e^2}}\frac{\lambda ^{\frac{1}{4}}}{\sqrt{\theta _ex_e^2}},$$

modulated by an oscillating phase of frequency $`\sqrt{gx_e^2}`$, so that the violation of two-dimensional microcausality is also of long range in this case.

Another instructive case is that of two-dimensional massive scalars. Here, Lorentz invariance is never broken, but time is always noncommutative. The general formula for the commutator function is derived along similar lines and one obtains

$$\overline{C}(x)=\frac{i}{2\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑s\left[\mathrm{Im}\frac{\theta (x^2)J_0\left(\sqrt{sx^2}\right)}{sm^2\mathrm{\Sigma }(s)+i0}+\mathrm{Im}\frac{\theta (x^2)J_0\left(\sqrt{sx^2}\right)}{s+m^2+\mathrm{\Sigma }(s)i0}\right].$$
(40)
Taking for the self-energy the nonplanar normal-ordering graph one finds

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }(s)=\frac{\lambda }{12\pi }K_0\left(m\theta \sqrt{s+i0}\right).$$
(41)
In fact, in this case one may evaluate the commutator in a power series in $`\lambda `$, since the corresponding integrals are convergent. The leading correction outside the light-cone is given by the function

$$\overline{C}(x)_{x^2<0}=\frac{i\lambda }{24\pi }\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{\sqrt{x^2}}{2m}I_1(m\sqrt{x^2})K_0(m^2\theta )\theta I_0(m\sqrt{x^2})K_1(m^2\theta ),& \text{if }\sqrt{x^2}<m\theta \hfill \\ & \\ \theta K_0(m\sqrt{x^2})I_1(m^2\theta )\frac{\sqrt{x^2}}{2m}K_1(m\sqrt{x^2})I_0(m^2\theta ),& \text{if }\sqrt{x^2}>m\theta \hfill \end{array}$$
(42)
This function increases away from the light cone to reach a maximum around $`\sqrt{x^2}m\theta `$. Then it decreases with exponential asymptotics $`\mathrm{exp}(m\sqrt{x^2})`$ controlled just by the mass of the field. Therefore, we have the expected behaviour, with breakdown of microcausality in spite of the preservation of Lorentz invariance. In this case however the light-cone fuzziness at $`𝒪(\lambda )`$ is of short range, with a width of order $`m\theta `$.

For completeness, we quote here the result of the same calculation for the light-like case , with $`\theta ^{02}=\theta ^{12}\theta `$, so that $`pp=\theta ^2(p_0p_1)^2=\theta ^2p_{}^2`$. Defining $`\alpha g^2/(x^+)^2`$ and $`\beta x^2/12`$, we find the exact result

$$\overline{C}(x)_{\mathrm{lightlike}}=\frac{i}{8\pi ^2}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑u\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{x^2u}{4}+\frac{\alpha }{u^3}\right)=\frac{8^{1/3}\sqrt{g^2x^2}}{24|x^+|}G_{04}^{30}[\alpha ^2\beta ^3;\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{6},\frac{1}{6};\frac{1}{2}],$$
(43)
where the second expression in terms of the Meijer G-function assumes $`x^2<0`$. Outside the four-dimensional light-cone, for large negative values of $`x^2`$, this function decays exponetially as $`\mathrm{exp}\left((\sqrt{x^2}/\mathrm{})^{3/2}\right)`$, with a characteristic length $`\mathrm{}=(\theta x^+/\sqrt{\lambda })^{1/3}`$. Notice, however, that the light-like configuration leaves no remnant of the four-dimensional light-cone. Therefore, this violation of four-dimensional microcausality is expected because of the breakdown of Lorentz invariance. It is interesting to note that the detailed form of the causality violation at fixed $`x^+`$ is of short range, i.e. exponentially supressed.

## Conclusions

In this note we reexamine various issues of unitarity and causality in perturbative NCFT with time/space noncommutativity. We discuss general one-loop diagrams and we establish the locus of their ‘noncommutative singularities’ to be $`pp0`$. ‘Noncommutative singularities’ refers to those singularities that have no simple interpretation in terms of standard cutting rules. The first examples of these singularities were found in .

More generally, if the theory is compactified on a circle of commutative length $`L`$, there are infinite sectors, labelled by an integer ‘winding number $`\mathrm{}`$’, with noncommutative singularities for $`pp(L\mathrm{})^2`$. These results are robust in the sense that they follow from analytic properties of parametric representations and do not rely on combined analytic continuations in momenta and the noncommutativity matrix $`\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$, as in .

We can interpret these singularities in terms of new asymptotic states, the $`\chi `$ particles, analogous to closed strings. One considers an asymptotic Hilbert space of the form $`_{\mathrm{}}=_\varphi _\chi `$, where $`_\varphi `$ is the free Fock space of the $`\varphi `$-field quanta and $`_\chi `$ is the Fock space of $`\chi `$ particles. Then, a formal restoration of the cutting rules requires the $`\chi `$ particles to have a continuous spectrum and, in general, a tachyonic dispersion relation. Morever, a closer look at explicit examples for the two-point function reveals that $`_\chi `$ necessarily has indefinite norm.

Therefore, time-NCFT is perturbatively inconsistent because unphysical excitations, i.e. ‘ghostly tachyons’, are produced in scattering. This is similar to the breakdown of string perturbation theory beyond the NCOS barrier . In models with a string regularization, we specifically show that the $`\chi `$ particles descend from closed strings in the low-energy limit. This provides a microscopic understanding of the peculiar properties of the $`\chi `$ particles, namely the continuous spectrum, the ‘winding masses’ and the tachyonic dispersion relation. It also unifies the field-theoretical and stringy no-go arguments against time-NCFT.

We have also carried out a quantitative study of some causality criteria. Since NCFTs are theories of extendend ‘dipoles’, local microcausality defined in terms of commutators of local observables, such as $`[\varphi (x),\varphi (x^{})]`$, loses much of its meaning, i.e. the ‘light-cone’ has no significance due to the breaking of Lorentz invariance. However, if $`\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$ is block-diagonal with a two-dimensional eigenspace including time, there is an unbroken subgroup of the Lorentz group including $`SO(1,1)`$ boosts, and a weaker notion of microcausality can be defined with respect to the corresponding two-dimensional light-cone, independently of whether the time coordinate is commutative or noncommutative.

We compute quantum corrections to the commutator of scalar fields and find that $`SO(1,1)`$ microcausality is broken if and only if unitarity is broken. This result lends support to the intuitive idea that space-time nonlocal theories must be interpreted as S-matrix theories. Thus ‘causality’ criteria must be referred to consistency conditions of the S-matrix.

### Acknowlegdments

L.A-G. would like to thank the hospitality of the Physics Department of the Humboldt University at Berlin, where part of this work was done, and in particular Dr. Dieter Lüst. The work of R.Z. is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.


text:
# An insulating grid spacer for large-area MICROMEGAS chambers

Abstract

We present an original design for large area gaseous detectors based on the MICROMEGAS technology. This technology incorporates an insulating grid, sandwiched between the micro-mesh and the anode-pad plane, which provides an uniform 200 $`\mu `$m amplification gap. The uniformity of the amplification gap thickness has been verified. The gain performances of the detector are presented and compared to the values obtained with detectors using cylindrical micro spacers. The new design presents several technical and financial advantages.

Particle detectors based on the MICROMEGAS technology  consist of a parallel-plate gas-chamber split into two asymmetric stages by an intermediate electrode made out of a micro-mesh. By applying appropriate voltages between the three electrodes, a very high electric field ($`30`$ kV/cm) in the thinnest stage (the “amplification gap”) and a low electric field (3 kV/cm) in the thicker stage (the “drift” or “conversion gap”) can be simultaneously established. When a charged particle traverses the conversion gap, it generates primary electrons which are subsequently multiplied in the amplification gap. The amplified electron cloud is collected on the anode generating a fast electric signal. The associated ion cloud is quickly collected on the micro-mesh, whereas only a small fraction of the ion cloud enters into the conversion region. Based on this technology, we had earlier developed  large area particle detectors. In the current detector, the main modifications with respect our previous developments  are:

* The total area of the anode plane has been enlarged to 400$`\times `$400 mm2, providing an active area of 387$`\times `$ 387 mm2. The anode electrode consists of a 1.0 mm thick printed circuit board. Its inner surface is segmented in rectangular 12$`\times `$12 mm2 gilded copper pads. The inter-pad width is 100 $`\mu `$m and the total number of pads is 1024.
* The electro-formed micro-mesh***BMC Industries, 278 East 7th Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, USA. consists of a 7 $`\mu `$m thick grid of 508$`\times `$508 mm2 made of pure Ni. The 106 $`\mu `$m squared holes grid are outlined by a 20 $`\mu `$m thick border of Ni in steps of 126 $`\mu `$m, i.e. 200 LPI (lines per inch). The optical transparency reaches 70%. The micro-mesh is stretched on the Plexiglas frame whose height defines the 6 mm thick (compared to the 3 mm thick in the earlier design) conversion gap between the micro-mesh and the cathode plane. The amplification gap between the micro-mesh and the anode plane has been doubled to 200 $`\mu `$m.

In this letter, two different designs to keep an uniform amplification gap of 200 $`\mu `$m have been compared:

* Old design. The amplification gap is defined by cylindrical micro-spacers of 200 $`\mu `$m high and 250 $`\mu `$m in diameter, glued on to the anode-pads with a pitch of 2 mm in both directions.
* New design. The micro-spacers are replaced by an insulating grid sandwiched between the micro-mesh and the anode plane (see Fig.1).

The new design presents several decisive technical but also financial advantages when compared to the cylindrical micro-spacer design. Indeed, since the grid is independent of the printed-circuit board, boards and grids can be interchanged in case of malfunction of one of the two elements. Moreover, the printed-circuit board without cylindrical micro-spacers is more robust. This particular feature facilitates the production process, in particular the polishing of the anode-pad surface. In addition, the connectors can be soldered more easily to the back of the board by standard industrial techniques, thus reducing the cost of the detectors. The choice of the grid material is dictated by the insulation properties of the material and by its mechanical properties: It must be resistant to heat and rigid enough to be manipulated. A 200 $`\mu `$m thick FR4 grid of the same size as the printed board (394$`\times `$394 mm2) was chosen. The grid consists of 1024 squared cells of 11.8 mm width and 300 $`\mu `$m pitch (see Fig.2). On the edge of the grid, 28 2.4 mm diameter holes provides wide opening for the gas to flow inside the detector.

The critical parameter in the new design is the uniformity of the amplification-gap across the grid cells. We have therefore measured the amplification-gap thickness at different positions across the grid cell and for various voltages applied to the micro-mesh. For that purpose, we used a magnifying camera whose position in the three spatial directions can be accurately measured. With this technique the thickness can be determined with a 5 $`\mu `$m accuracy. For non-zero voltages the mesh flattens against the grid near its edge of the grid. For usual operating voltages from -440 V to -600 V (establishing electric fields from 22 kV/cm to 30 kV/cm), the average amplification gap thickness is $`(203\pm 5)\mu `$m and the difference in the gap thickness between the edge and the center of a grid hole is less than 10 $`\mu `$m at -440 V and less than 7 $`\mu `$m at -600V (see Fig.3). Such differences do not strongly affect the gain uniformity along the grid cell. In the worse case a gain variation of no more than 40% might occur. This would induce a minor impact on the detection of minimum ionizing particles. At voltages above -700 V (electric field larger than 35 kV/cm) the mesh is deformed by the electric force and the amplification gap thickness reaches a minimum value of (190$`\pm `$5) $`\mu `$m at the center of the cell.

The gain of this newly designed detector has been measured for different gas mixtures and micro-mesh voltages. A relative determination of the gain has been obtained by measuring the electric current induced in the micro-mesh when the detector is irradiated by a 90Sr radioactive source. The source was placed on a 50 $`\mu `$m mylar foil replacing the anode of the detector. We have compared the two designs, cylindrical micro-spacersIn this design, the 90Sr radioactive source was placed on a 8 $`\mu `$m thick micro-mesh Ni foil. and insulating grid. To eliminate most of systematic differences, the measurements have been performed simultaneously, the two detectors being supplied with gas from the same source. To estimate the absolute gain in the amplification gap, we have assumed that the number of electrons collected by the cathode is equal to the number of ions collected by the micro-mesh. The resulting electric current gives a relative measure of the detector gain and the following expression gives an estimation of the gain in the amplification gap:

$$G=\frac{I}{e<N>A}$$
(1)
where $`I`$ is the measured electrical current, $`e`$ the electron charge, $`A`$ the activity of the source expressed in Bq (5.6$`\times 10^5`$ Bq in the present measurement) and $`<N>`$ the average number of primary electrons created in the 6 mm conversion gap. This later number obviously depends on the gas mixture, being $`<N>=27`$ for Ne+CO2(5%), $`<N>=29`$ for Ne+CO2(10%) and $`<N>=56`$ for Ar+CO2(10%). The sensibility of the apparatus to the micro-mesh current was 1nA. The results (see Fig.4) indicate that the two designs behave similarly, although for a given voltage systematically higher gains are reached. with the micro-spacer design: about 10 V more are needed for the grid design to reach the same gain as with the micro-spacers. This could be related with a systematic difference of the amplification gap thickness between both detector designs. As a matter of fact, a variation on the micro-mesh voltage of 10 V represents a gain variation of around 40%. This gain difference between both designs would correspond to a gap-thickness systematic difference of only 10 $`\mu `$m. In addition, the electron source was placed on a mylar foil 50 $`\mu `$m thick for the new design and on a Ni micro-mesh 8 $`\mu `$m thick for the old design.

In summary, we have presented a new design for a gas chamber based on Micromegas technology, where the 200 $`\mu `$m uniform amplification gap is provided by an insulating grid sandwiched by the micro-mesh and the cathode-pad board. The micro-mesh is not strongly deformed for usual operating electric fields. The measured gain in the amplification gap for different gas mixtures and micro-mesh voltages shows results similar to those obtained with cylindrical micro-spacers. The grid design presents several decisive technical as well as financial advantages when compared to the cylindrical micro-spacers design, thus allowing for the industrial production of inexpensive particle detectors.

This work has been supported by the IN2P3/CNRS, France and the “Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire”, France.