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# Pions in isospin asymmetric nuclei

## Abstract

Using a pair of the lightest mirror nuclei, 3He and 3H, we study the effect of the medium modification of pion fields on the flavor non-singlet structure function. The change of the pion fields leads to an enhancement of the flavor asymmetry of the antiquark distributions in a nucleus.
Keywords: Non-singlet structure function, Flavor asymmetry, Pions, Gottfried sum, Mirror nuclei

preprint:  ADP-01-06/T441

The partonic distribution functions of the nucleon, in particular the flavor dependence of the antiquark distributions, are of considerable interest . Within the framework of perturbative QCD (pQCD) the light quark sea is expected to be flavor symmetric. However, the experimental data  contradict this idea, revealing an excess of $`\overline{d}`$ over $`\overline{u}`$ in the free proton. This inconsistency indicates that non-perturbative effects should be responsible for the flavor asymmetry in the light sea quark distributions. For example, some flavor asymmetry was anticipated before the measurements on the basis of the chiral structure of the nucleon .

The physical proton has a relatively large $`\pi ^+`$-neutron Fock component which naturally leads to a surplus of $`\overline{d}`$ . It is known that this Fock component offers the main contribution to the $`\overline{d}`$ excess and that the contributions of the other mesons and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ isobars have opposite signs and tend to cancel each other . An alternative explanation for an excess of $`\overline{d}`$ over $`\overline{u}`$ involved the Pauli exclusion principle, given that there are two valence $`u`$ quarks in the proton and one valence $`d`$ . Perturbative estimates failed to support this , with the first non-perturbative explanation of the origin of such an effect in terms of the vacuum structure of the proton given by Signal and Thomas . Estimates of this effect within chiral quark models have also been given in Refs. . It may well be that the experimentally observed excess involves contributions from both of these effects .

One way to learn more about the non-perturbative structure of the nucleon is to study the non-singlet difference between the proton (p) and neutron (n) structure functions, for nucleons bound in a pair of mirror nuclei . In this case any discrepancy between theoretical predictions and observed data will indicate a modification of the non-perturbative mechanism giving rise to the flavor asymmetry in the free proton, in the nuclear medium. In particular, such a discrepancy would be a sensitive probe to study pions in nuclei. In this paper we examine the effect of changes in the pion cloud on the non-singlet combination of nuclear structure functions, using the lightest pair of mirror nuclei, 3He and 3H.

How is the pion field modified in a nucleus ? To study it we concentrate here on only Fock states consisting of a “bare” nucleon and pion, and ignore nuclear binding, Fermi motion and shadowing/antishadowing effects for the moment. Under these assumptions, the structure functions of the proton and neutron in the nucleus $`A`$ are given by

$`F_2^{p/A}`$ $`=`$ $`z_{p/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+f_{\pi ^0p/p/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+f_{\pi ^0p/p/A}F_2^{\pi ^0}+f_{\pi ^+n/p/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+f_{\pi ^+n/p/A}F_2^{\pi ^+},`$ (1)
$`F_2^{n/A}`$ $`=`$ $`z_{n/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+f_{\pi ^0n/n/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+f_{\pi ^0n/n/A}F_2^{\pi ^0}+f_{\pi ^{}p/n/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+f_{\pi ^{}p/n/A}F_2^\pi ^{},`$ (2)
where $`\stackrel{~}{F}_2^{p(n)}`$ is the structure function of a ’bare’ proton (neutron). The probability to find the ’bare’ proton (neutron) in the physical proton (neutron) in $`A`$ is denoted by the normalization constant, $`z_{p(n)/A}`$. The shorthand notation, $`f_{MB/N/A}F_2^K`$, stands for the convolution of the (light-cone) momentum distribution of the pion $`M`$ ($`=\pi ^{},\pi ^0,\pi ^+`$) per $`N`$ ($`=p,n`$), $`f_{MB/N/A}(y)`$ ($`B=p,n`$), and the structure function of $`K`$, $`F_2^K(x)`$ ($`K=B,M`$:

$`f_{MB/N/A}F_2^B(x)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^{1x}}𝑑yf_{MB/N/A}(y)F_2^B\left({\displaystyle \frac{x}{1y}}\right),`$ (3)
$`f_{MB/N/A}F_2^M(x)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _x^1}𝑑yf_{MB/N/A}(y)F_2^M\left({\displaystyle \frac{x}{y}}\right).`$ (4)
The nuclear structure function is then simply given by $`F_2^A(x)=ZF_2^{p/A}(x)+NF_2^{n/A}(x)`$, where $`Z`$ and $`N`$ are the numbers of protons and neutrons, respectively.

We consider a pair of mirror nuclei: $`A=Z+N(Z>N)`$ (proton rich) and $`A^{}=Z^{}+N^{}(N^{}>Z^{})`$ (neutron rich). In a nucleus we can expect a significant difference in the positive and negative pion light-cone momentum distributions. Recently, Korpa and Dieperink have calculated the pion fields in asymmetric nuclear matter , with a result which is consistent with the Drell-Yan experiment of Alde et al. . Their result suggests that the difference in the distributions basically comes from two factors. One is the Pauli blocking of the nucleon in the final state; in the proton rich nucleus $`A`$ which we consider here, the emission of $`\pi ^{}`$ (from a neutron, creating a proton in the final state) is more suppressed than $`\pi ^+`$ emission. The other effect is the dressing of the pion propagator in matter , where the particle-hole self-energy dominates. Korpa and Dieperink find that the delta-hole contribution is minor and that the neutral pion field is not much altered in the nuclear medium . In summary, their analysis suggests that in the proton rich nucleus $`A`$ the $`\pi ^+(\pi ^{})`$ field is enhanced (reduced) as compared with that in the free nucleon, while the $`\pi ^0`$ field is not changed a great deal.

In a nucleus the Coulomb interaction may affect the shape of the pion momentum distribution and, of course, one cannot use isospin symmetry:

$$f_{\pi ^+n/p/A}f_{\pi ^{}p/n/A^{}}\text{and}f_{\pi ^{}p/n/A}f_{\pi ^+n/p/A^{}}.$$
(5)
However, for the reasons discussed above, we suppose that the $`\pi ^0`$ distribution is not changed much in matter:

$$f_{\pi ^0p/p/A}=f_{\pi ^0n/n/A}=f_{\pi ^0p/p/A^{}}=f_{\pi ^0n/n/A^{}}f_{\pi ^0N}.$$
(6)
Here $`f_{\pi ^0N}`$ is the $`\pi ^0`$ distribution in the free nucleon, which is given by the Sullivan process

$$f_{\pi ^0N}(y)=\frac{g^2}{16\pi ^2y(1y)^2}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑k_t^2\frac{F_{\pi N}^2(s)}{(M_N^2s)^2}(k_t^2+y^2M_N^2),$$
(7)
with $`g(=13)`$ the $`\pi N`$ coupling constant, $`k_t^2`$ the transverse momentum squared of the pion and

$$s=\frac{m_\pi ^2+k_t^2}{y}+\frac{M_N^2+k_t^2}{1y}.$$
(8)
The free nucleon mass is denoted $`M_N`$ (0.94 GeV) and $`m_\pi `$ (0.138 GeV) is the pion mass. The form factor, $`F_{\pi N}(s)`$, is given by

$$F_{\pi N}(s)=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{M_N^2s}{2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}\right],$$
(9)
with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ the cut off parameter.

We divide the pion distribution into two pieces:

$`f_{\pi ^+n/p/A(A^{})}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`f_{\pi ^+n/p}(y)+\delta f_{\pi ^+/A(A^{})}(y),`$ (10)
$`f_{\pi ^{}p/n/A(A^{})}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`f_{\pi ^{}p/n}(y)+\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A(A^{})}(y),`$ (11)
where $`f_{\pi ^+n/p(\pi ^{}p/n)}`$ is the momentum distribution of $`\pi ^+(\pi ^{})`$ in the free proton (neutron). The nuclear many-body effects on the pion field in $`A(A^{})`$ are expressed by $`\delta f_{M/A(A^{})}`$.

The normalization constants in Eqs.(1) and (2) can be related to those for the free nucleon. For example, using Eqs.(6) and (10) we find

$$z_{p/A}=1f_{\pi ^0N}f_{\pi ^+n/p}\delta f_{\pi ^+/A}z_N\delta f_{\pi ^+/A},$$
(12)
where $`z_N`$ ($`=1f_{\pi ^0N}f_{\pi ^+n/p}`$) is the normalization constant for the free nucleon. Finally then the nucleon structure functions in those nuclei become:

$`F_2^{p/A}`$ $`=`$ $`F_2^p\delta f_{\pi ^+/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+\delta f_{\pi ^+/A}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+F_2^{\pi ^+}],`$ (13)
$`F_2^{n/A}`$ $`=`$ $`F_2^n\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+F_2^\pi ^{}],`$ (14)
$`F_2^{p/A^{}}`$ $`=`$ $`F_2^p\delta f_{\pi ^+/A^{}}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+\delta f_{\pi ^+/A^{}}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+F_2^{\pi ^+}],`$ (15)
$`F_2^{n/A^{}}`$ $`=`$ $`F_2^n\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A^{}}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A^{}}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+F_2^\pi ^{}],`$ (16)
where $`F_2^{p(n)}`$ is the free proton (neutron) structure function.

Now we study the lightest mirror nuclei: $`A=^3`$He and $`A^{}=^3`$H. In 3He, the $`\pi ^+`$ meson is generated from the proton and the final state is given by 3He $`=2p+np+2n+\pi ^+`$, where $`\pi ^+`$ feels a repulsive force from the Coulomb interaction with the single $`p`$. (We neglect two pion emissions in the final states, such as $`2p+n3n+2\pi ^+`$, for which the probability is expected to be very small.) On the other hand, the $`\pi ^{}`$ meson is produced by the neutron, and the final state is $`3p+\pi ^{}`$, where the $`\pi ^{}`$ feels a strong attractive force due to the $`3p\pi ^{}`$ interaction. Thus, we expect that the Coulomb force between $`3p`$ and $`\pi ^{}`$ is about three times stronger than that between $`p`$ and $`\pi ^+`$ in the former case. In 3H, the $`\pi ^{}`$ feels an attractive force in the final state $`2p+n+\pi ^{}`$, and the Coulomb force is twice as large as that for the $`\pi ^+`$ in 3He. On the other hand, the $`\pi ^+`$ in 3H does not feel any Coulomb force because the final state consists of $`3n+\pi ^+`$.

In order to evaluate Eqs.(13)-(16), we need to estimate the distributions, $`\delta f_{M/A}(y)`$, in 3He and 3H, individually. The Coulomb force may change the shape of the pion momentum distribution. As discussed above, since it acts on $`\pi ^{}`$ as an attractive force in the nucleus, the wave function of the pion in coordinate space shrinks. This means that the pion gets a (relatively) higher momentum and the shape of the distribution in momentum space should shift toward larger $`y`$. For the $`\pi ^+`$ the distribution should be modified the opposite way, because it feels a repulsive force. To calculate these effects quantitatively requires very complicated many-body calculations, including Coulomb forces. This is extremely difficult and in order to make a first estimate of the effects one might expect the following simple scaling assumption to be reasonable. That is, the change in the pion distributions are assumed to be given by

$`\delta f_{\pi ^+/A}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha _{\pi ^+/A}(1+\beta _{\pi ^+/A})f_{\pi ^0N}((1+\beta _{\pi ^+/A})y)2\alpha _{\pi ^+/A}f_{\pi ^+/A}^{}(y),`$ (17)
$`\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A}(1\beta _{\pi ^{}/A})f_{\pi ^0N}((1\beta _{\pi ^{}/A})y)2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A}f_{\pi ^{}/A}^{}(y),`$ (18)
$`\delta f_{\pi ^+/A^{}}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha _{\pi ^+/A^{}}f_{\pi ^0N}(y),`$ (19)
$`\delta f_{\pi ^{}/A^{}}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}(1\beta _{\pi ^{}/A^{}})f_{\pi ^0N}((1\beta _{\pi ^{}/A^{}})y)2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}f_{\pi ^{}/A^{}}^{}(y),`$ (20)
where $`\alpha _{M/A(A^{})}`$ represents a change caused by the strong interaction in a nucleus (for example, Pauli blocking, correlations of random phase approximation (RPA), etc ) and $`\beta _{M/A(A^{})}(>0)`$ describes a shift of the distribution because of the Coulomb force. Note that the $`\pi ^+`$ in 3H does not feel any Coulomb force. As pointed out above, we expect that $`\beta _{\pi ^+/A}:\beta _{\pi ^{}/A}:\beta _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}=1:3:2`$ from the point of view of the strength of the Coulomb force acting on the pion. We therefore choose $`3\beta _{\pi ^+/A}=\beta _{\pi ^{}/A}=\frac{3}{2}\beta _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}=\beta >0`$ ($`\beta `$ is assumed to be small). The new function, $`f_{M/A(A^{})}^{}`$, is normalized as

$$_0^1𝑑yf_{M/A(A^{})}^{}(y)=f_{\pi ^0N},$$
(21)
where we ignored a tiny quantity stemming from $`_{1\beta _{M/A(A^{})}}^1𝑑yf_{\pi ^0N}(y)`$.

Next, we suppose that the average number of pions per nucleon in a nucleus is equal to that in the free nucleon – experimental indications are that the pion field is not much enhanced in a nucleus . The requirement of pion number conservation reduces the number of parameters “$`\alpha `$” in Eqs.(17)-(20). We find that in 3He, $`2\alpha _{\pi ^+/A}+\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A}=0`$, while in 3H, $`\alpha _{\pi ^+/A^{}}+2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}=0`$. Thus, we set $`2\alpha _{\pi ^+/A}=\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A}=\alpha _A>0`$ (the $`\pi ^{}`$ field is suppressed in 3He) and $`2\alpha _{\pi ^{}/A^{}}=\alpha _{\pi ^+/A^{}}=\alpha _A^{}>0`$ (the $`\pi ^+`$ field is suppressed in 3H). Furthermore, since $`\alpha _{A(A^{})}`$ describes the change of the pion field because of the strong interaction, we can set $`\alpha _A=\alpha _A^{}=\alpha `$ (isospin is a good symmetry in this case). This leaves just two parameters, $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$.

We should note here that even if $`\alpha =0`$ the Coulomb effect would modify the proton and neutron structure functions in the nucleus. Such a case could be described by replacing the pion distribution in the free nucleon structure function, $`f_{MB/N}`$, in Eqs.(13)-(16) with $`f_{M/A(A^{})}^{}`$. However, we expect that by itself the Coulomb effect on the structure function should be quite small (see below Eq.(32) and Fig. 2). We therefore neglect the Coulomb effect on $`F_2^{p(n)}`$ in $`F_2^{p(n)/A(A^{})}`$. Equations (13)-(16) then give

$`\delta F_2^{p/^3He}`$ $``$ $`F_2^{p/^3He}F_2^p=\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+\alpha f_{\pi ^+/^3He}^{}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+F_2^{\pi ^+}],`$ (22)
$`\delta F_2^{n/^3He}`$ $``$ $`F_2^{n/^3He}F_2^n=2\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n2\alpha f_{\pi ^{}/^3He}^{}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+F_2^\pi ^{}],`$ (23)
$`\delta F_2^{p/^3H}`$ $``$ $`F_2^{p/^3H}F_2^p=2\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p2\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+F_2^{\pi ^+}],`$ (24)
$`\delta F_2^{n/^3H}`$ $``$ $`F_2^{n/^3H}F_2^n=\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n+\alpha f_{\pi ^{}/^3H}^{}[\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+F_2^\pi ^{}],`$ (25)
where,

$`f_{\pi ^+/^3He}^{}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\beta \right)f_{\pi ^0N}\left(\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\beta \right)y\right),`$ (26)
$`f_{\pi ^{}/^3He}^{}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`(1\beta )f_{\pi ^0N}((1\beta )y),`$ (27)
$`f_{\pi ^{}/^3H}^{}(y)`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\beta \right)f_{\pi ^0N}\left(\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\beta \right)y\right).`$ (28)
In Fig. 1 the pion distributions provided by the scaling assumption are presented taking $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$ GeV (see also below Eq.(38)). As an example, we choose $`\beta =0.1`$, which means that, for instance, the wave function of the $`\pi ^{}`$ in 3He shrinks by about $`10\%`$ in coordinate space because of the Coulomb force. The negative pion distribution carries somewhat higher momentum, while the positive one shifts toward lower $`y`$, compared with $`f_{\pi ^0N}`$. Taking the non-singlet combination of the structure functions of 3He ($`F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}He}`$) and 3H ($`F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}H}`$) we find

$`F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}He}F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}H}`$ $`=`$ $`(F_2^pF_2^n)4\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}\delta \stackrel{~}{F}_2^N`$ (29)
$``$ $`2\alpha [f_{\pi ^{}/^3H}^{}+f_{\pi ^{}/^3He}^{}]\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p+2\alpha [f_{\pi ^+/^3He}^{}+f_{\pi ^0N}]\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n`$ (30)
$``$ $`2\alpha [f_{\pi ^{}/^3H}^{}F_2^\pi ^{}+f_{\pi ^{}/^3He}^{}F_2^\pi ^{}f_{\pi ^+/^3He}^{}F_2^{\pi ^+}f_{\pi ^0N}F_2^{\pi ^+}],`$ (31)
where

$$\delta \stackrel{~}{F}_2^N(x)=\stackrel{~}{F}_2^p(x)\stackrel{~}{F}_2^n(x)=\frac{1}{3}x[\stackrel{~}{u}_v(x)\stackrel{~}{d}_v(x)],$$
(32)
with $`\stackrel{~}{u}_v(\stackrel{~}{d}_v)`$ the valence $`u(d)`$ distribution in the bare proton.

Figure 2 illustrates the nuclear and Coulomb effects on the non-singlet structure function of the $`A=3`$ system, which is given by $`\delta F_2^{A=3}=(F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}He}F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}H})(F_2^pF_2^n)`$. For the numerical calculations we have chosen (at $`Q^2=`$ 4 GeV2

$`x\stackrel{~}{u}_v(x)=0.65452\times x^{0.38}(1x)^{2.49}(1+10.5x),`$ (33)
$`x\stackrel{~}{d}_v(x)=0.028660\times x^{0.07}(1x)^{4.63}(1+150x),`$ (34)
and $`F_2^{\pi ^+}(x)=F_2^\pi ^{}(x)=0.98863\times x^{0.61}(1x)^{1.02}`$ . Clearly the effect of the Coulomb distortion is quite small in the region $`x>10^4`$, even if we choose $`\beta =0.2`$. (We have checked that the Coulomb effect on $`\delta F_2^{N/A(A^{})}`$ individually is also small.)

The nuclear Gottfried integral, $`I_G^{A,A^{}}(z)`$, is defined by

$$I_G^{A,A^{}}(z)=\frac{1}{Y}_z^A\frac{dx}{x}[F_2^A(x)F_2^A^{}(x)]=I_G^N(z)+\delta I_G^{A,A^{}}(z),$$
(35)
with $`Y(=ZN)`$ the number of excess protons in $`A`$ and $`I_G^N(z)`$ the Gottfried integral for the free nucleon. The nuclear effect is described by the second term on the r.h.s of Eq.(35)

$$\delta I_G^{A,A^{}}(z)=_z^A\frac{dx}{x}\delta F_2^{A,A^{}}(x),$$
(36)
where $`\delta F_2^{A,A^{}}=\frac{1}{Y}(F_2^AF_2^A^{})(F_2^pF_2^n)`$. In the case of the $`A=3`$ system $`\delta F_2^{A,A^{}}`$ is given by $`\delta F_2^{A=3}`$. As we have already discussed in Ref. , the Gottfried integral is generally divergent when the effect of charge symmetry breaking is included, even for the free proton and neutron .

If we set $`\beta =0`$, $`\delta F_2^{A=3}`$ reads

$$\delta F_2^{A=3}=4\alpha [f_{\pi ^0N}+f_{\pi ^0N}]\delta \stackrel{~}{F}_2^N.$$
(37)
Since the effects of the nuclear binding and shadowing are ignored in the calculation for the time being, the change in the Gottfried integral is convergent and it is given by

$$\delta I_G^{{}_{}{}^{3}He,^3H}(0)=\frac{8}{3}\alpha f_{\pi ^0N}.$$
(38)
With the cut-off-mass $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$ GeV in $`f_{\pi ^0N}`$, we find $`f_{\pi ^0N}=0.083`$. The Gottfried integral for the free nucleon is then estimated to be $`I_G^N(0)=\frac{1}{3}(14f_{\pi ^0N})=0.223`$, which is consistent with the measured value ($`0.235\pm 0.026`$. We can see that the modification of the pion field enhances the flavor asymmetry in a pair of mirror nuclei and hence it reduces the Gottfried integral. If $`\alpha =0.05(0.1)[0.2]`$ (and $`\beta =0`$), $`\delta I_G^{{}_{}{}^{3}He,^3H}(0)=0.0111(0.0221)[0.0443]`$, corresponding to a reduction of the Gottfried sum by about $`5(9)[20]\%`$ from the free value.

Next we consider the nuclear binding and shadowing effects. (For recent reviews see Ref. .) In Ref.  we studied shadowing and anti-shadowing corrections to the flavor non-singlet structure function using the Gribov-Glauber multiple scattering formalism. We found that the non-singlet structure function is enhanced at small $`x`$ by nuclear shadowing, increasing the nuclear Gottfried integral ($`z`$ is chosen to be $`10^4`$ in Eq.(35)) by between $`15`$ and $`41\%`$. The enhancement of the non-singlet structure function is caused by the difference between the density distributions of 3He and 3H.

In the shadowing region the structure functions of 3He and 3H are given by

$`F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}He}`$ $`=`$ $`2F_2^p+F_2^n(2.5f_{{}_{}{}^{3}He}g_{{}_{}{}^{3}He})F_2^p0.5f_{{}_{}{}^{3}He}F_2^n,`$ (39)
$`F_2^{{}_{}{}^{3}H}`$ $`=`$ $`F_2^p+2F_2^n(2.5f_{{}_{}{}^{3}H}g_{{}_{}{}^{3}H})F_2^n0.5f_{{}_{}{}^{3}H}F_2^p,`$ (40)
where $`f_{{}_{}{}^{3}He(^3H)}`$ and $`g_{{}_{}{}^{3}He(^3H)}`$, respectively, describe the single and double rescattering processes in 3He (3H), which depend on the nuclear density distribution. It is also necessary to include anti-shadowing in order to produce the structure function around $`x0.1`$ (using the baryon number and momentum sum rules). Detailed discussions can be found in Ref. .

Replacing the structure functions of the free proton and neutron in Eqs.(39) and (40) by $`F_2^{N/A(A^{})}`$ (given by Eqs.(13)-(16)), we can calculate the non-singlet structure function of 3He and 3H, including both the modification of the pion fields and nuclear shadowing. (This means that the effect of the pion cloud modifies the nucleon sea quarks only.) Note that this simple replacement is an approximation made in order to see the effect of the change of the pion fields. To treat this problem rigorously it would be necessary to construct a model where pions are handled consistently and contribute to both shadowing and anti-shadowing , which goes beyond the scope of the present work.

In the calculation of nuclear shadowing, the ground-state wave functions of 3He and 3H are assumed to be given by gaussian functions in coordinate space , $`|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2\mathrm{exp}[\stackrel{}{r}^{\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}}/(2b)]`$, where the parameter $`b`$ determines the correct matter radius of the nucleus. We take $`b=40.59(30.06)`$ GeV-2, which produces the matter radius of 1.769 (1.524) fm for 3He (3H). In Ref.  the effective cross section, $`\sigma _{eff}`$, was used to describe the interaction between the hadronic components in the virtual photon and the nuclear target. Here we take two models for $`\sigma _{eff}`$: the first (case 1) from Frankfurt and Strikman , and the second (case 2) the two-phase model of Ref. . At large $`x(>0.2)`$ we used the structure functions of 3He and 3H, obtained as a solution of the Faddeev equations for three body system . Since the contribution of the nuclear binding and Fermi motion effects to the non-singlet combinations of the structure functions of 3He and 3H is small, we make an approximation that the binding and Fermi motion effect of Refs.  and the pion cloud effect, discussed in the present work, are not correlated and, hence, contribute additively to $`\delta F_2^{A=3}`$.

We present our main results in Figs. 3 and 4 (the calculations were performed at $`Q^2=4`$ GeV2). To treat parton densities in the free proton and neutron realistically we used the CTEQ5L parametrization . Since we know that the Coulomb effect is small in the region $`x>10^4`$, we set $`\beta =0`$ and show only the dependence of the flavor non-singlet structure function on $`\alpha `$.

As expected, the change of the pion fields leads to a considerable suppression of the non-singlet structure function in a nucleus. However, at very small $`x`$ (typically $`10^310^4`$) the reduction is not large compared with the enhancement caused by shadowing. (In the figures we present our results only for the range $`x[10^2,0.8]`$ in order to see the difference among the curves clearly. Note that the non-singlet structure function (divided by $`x`$) is of order $`200300`$ at $`x=10^4`$.) When the shadowing is turned off the difference of the proton and neutron structure functions gives the main contribution to the non-singlet structure function of the nucleus. In this case the change of the pion fields gives a sizable contribution at very small $`x`$ (e.g., about $`20\%`$ at $`x=10^3`$). On the contrary, when the shadowing is switched on the main contribution to the non-singlet structure function at small $`x`$ is given by a term proportional to $`(F_2^p+F_2^n)\times (f_{{}_{}{}^{3}He}f_{{}_{}{}^{3}H})`$, which is much larger than the effect of the change of the pion fields – the pion effect is at most $`5\%`$ at $`x=10^3`$.

We can estimate the nuclear Gottfried integral, $`I_G^{{}_{}{}^{3}He,^3H}(10^4)`$, defined by Eq.(35). If $`\alpha `$ is set to be $`0`$ (no change in the pion fields) we find $`I_G^{{}_{}{}^{3}He,^3H}(10^4)=0.2953(0.3395)`$ for case 1 (2) – note that the CTEQ5L fit gives $`I_G^N(10^4)=0.2403`$. When $`\alpha =0.1(0.2)`$ we obtain $`I_G^{{}_{}{}^{3}He,^3H}(10^4)=0.2699(0.2444)`$ for case 1, while it is $`0.3142(0.2829)`$ for case 2. Therefore, we expect that the change of the pion fields in the $`A=3`$ system might lead to a reduction of the Gottfried integral by about $`10\%`$, compared with the value for the case where $`\alpha =0`$.

We here give some comments:
(1) Using the scaling assumption the pion distributions are shifted in the present calculation. The momentum fraction carried by pions is thus different from that in the free nucleon. For example, if $`0<\beta 1`$, we find $`yf_{\pi ^{}/^3He}^{}(y)(1+\beta )yf_{\pi ^0N}(y)`$. Thus, in 3He (3H) the ratio of the momentum fraction carried by pions to that in the case where $`\beta =0`$ increases by about $`\beta /9`$ ($`4\beta /9`$). The change of the pion momentum fraction would lead to changes of the momentum fractions carried by the nucleons and other mesons. In such a case one would have to construct a model where the momentum fractions are balanced. Note however, that when we set $`\beta =0`$ there is no change of the pion momentum fraction in a nucleus by virtue of the scaling assumption and pion number conservation.

(2) We have treated the change of the pion fields in the nuclear medium semi-quantitatively. In principle, such a modification should be attributed to various correlation phenomena in a nucleus like Pauli blocking, exchange currents, short-range correlations etc. Melnitchouk and Thomas  have reanalysed the nuclear shadowing effect on the deuteron structure function, including meson exchange currents, to extract the neutron structure function, and studied the Gottfried sum rule for the free nucleon. It should be possible to do such calculations for the three body system in the future. For a pair of mirror nuclei larger than the three body system, it would become important to consider Fock states including multi-pions, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ isobars, other mesons and so on. That is also a very intriguing problem.

In summary, we have estimated the effect of the medium modification of the pion fields on the flavor non-singlet structure function of the lightest mirror nuclei. We have found that the change of the pion fields produces a considerable suppression of the non-singlet structure function, and that the Gottfried integral is correspondingly reduced. In general, charge symmetry is broken and the Gottfried integral is divergent . However, the $`x`$-dependence of the flavor non-singlet structure function of a pair of mirror nuclei would provide significant information on phenomena involving non-pQCD dynamics (such as the pion cloud) in the nuclear medium. Experiments on deep-inelastic scattering off various mirror nuclei should be possible in the future . If we could vary the atomic number $`A`$ and the difference between the proton and neutron numbers $`Y`$ independently in measuring the nuclear structure functions, it would stimulate a great deal of work which should lead to new information on the dynamics of nuclear systems.

We would like to thank F. Bissey for providing us with the results for the structure functions of 3He and 3H in the large Bjorken $`x`$ region. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and Adelaide University.


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# Light-shift-induced quantum gates for ions in thermal motion

## Abstract

An effective interaction between trapped ions in thermal motion can be generated by illuminating them simultaneously with a single laser resonant with the ionic carrier frequency. The ac Stark-shift induces simultaneous ‘virtual’ two-phonon transitions via several motional modes. Within a certain laser intensity range these transitions can interfere constructively, resulting in a relatively fast, heating-resistant two-qubit logic gate.

Over the past few years, the implementation of a practical quantum information processor has become a major goal for experimentalists across a wide range of disciplines . Among the many candidate scenarios for attaining this goal, one of the most promising and well-known is the system of laser-cooled trapped ions, first suggested by Cirac and Zoller (CZ) . Several key features of their seminal proposal have already been experimentally demonstrated . Meanwhile, the inherent difficulty of these experiments has stimulated the development of an array of alternative gate schemes  making increasingly ingenious use of the ion trap’s physics.

Here we combine the best features of two of these proposals with an extra twist, constructing a two-qubit gate mechanism which is at once (i) robust against environmental heating, (ii) relatively fast, and (iii) requires relatively few experimental resources, namely a single pulse by a single laser and no ground-state-cooling. Our first ingredient is the idea, due to Sørensen and Mølmer , of coupling different ions using Raman-like two-phonon exchanges via a “data bus” motional mode. Since the mode is only excited ‘virtually’, this allows the realisation of gates that are relatively insensitive to the ionic vibrational state, and can be implemented even in the presence of moderate motional heating . This method’s largest drawback  is the very low switching rate of the gates, which are substantially slower than those obtained with CZ’s method. This is undesireable, since it increases the quantum register’s vulnerability to other sources of decoherence such as technical noise in the experimental apparatus. The problem has been tackled to an extent in ref. , where an elegant means of considerably increasing the gate speed is provided. However, this solution requires heavily entangling the internal and motional variables during the gate operation, making it more sensitive to heating.

Our second ingredient is a method we have recently proposed for obtaining relatively fast gates between ground-state-cooled ions . The method relies on the ac Stark-shift (light-shift) induced by driving an ion with a resonant laser. Normally, this driving merely leads to Rabi flopping between the ionic states, realising a one-qubit gate. However, when the induced level-splitting is equivalent to exactly one motional energy quantum, the influence of off-resonant motion-affecting transitions can gradually build up, leading to the exchange of excitations between the ion’s internal and vibrational states. This can then be used to derive a fast CZ-like two-qubit gate between any two ions in a linear chain. As with CZ’s method, however, this scheme requires ground-state cooling and is highly sensitive to motional heating.

In what follows we show a way of combining these ideas and their resulting benefits. Specifically, we propose to use the light-shift effect to drive ‘virtual’ two-phonon transitions via several motional modes simultaneously. Each mode functions as a parallel “data bus”, with an overall gate resulting from the interference of various ‘bus’ paths. The gates have speeds intermediate between those in refs.  and , but remain insensitive to heating at all times. Moreover, only a single laser beam is needed, instead of the bichromatic illumination used in . As in , the same beam can also be used to drive single-qubit gates.

Let us begin with an intuitive description of our essential idea (Fig. 1). Consider a chain of $`N`$ ions, two of which are simultaneously and equally illuminated by a laser resonant with the carrier frequency. At first sight, this simply causes these ions’ internal states to flop periodically at the Rabi frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Equivalently, each ion suffers a level-splitting of its (semiclassical) dressed states $`|\pm =1/\sqrt{2}\left(|g\pm |e\right)`$ by $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The presence of the trap, however, opens the possibility of transitions between these dressed levels, via the absorption and emission of phonons . Which transitions are energetically allowed depends on the magnitude of the level-splitting. For example, when $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is exactly equal to the frequency $`\nu _p`$ of one of the ions’ collective motional modes, then the manifolds $`\left\{\right||n_p+1,|+|n_p,|+|n_p,|++|n_p1\}`$ are degenerate and one expects transitions altering the phonon number in that mode. This is interesting, but inadequate for obtaining a motion-independent ion-ion gate. If, however, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is slightly detuned  from this value, then transitions involving changes in $`n_p`$ become off-resonant and are suppressed. One is left only with oscillations between $`|+|n_p`$ and $`|+|n_p`$, which can be interpreted as occurring via the Raman-like absorption and emission of ‘virtual’ phonons.

Now, just as in ref. , each of these virtual transitions can occur via two different paths: one ‘via’ level $`|++|n_p1`$, with amplitude proportional to $`n_p`$ and positive detuning $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p`$, and one ‘via’ level $`||n_p+1`$, with amplitude proportional to $`n_p+1`$ and negative detuning $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p`$. The overall transition amplitude will thus be the difference of these terms; remarkably, the $`n_p`$-dependence should cancel out, and we can expect motion-state-independent transitions between the internal states $`|+`$ and $`|+`$! Of course, the ion system contains in fact several motional modes, each of which will lead to a separate resonance in the Rabi frequency. However, if $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is sufficiently detuned from all these resonances, the argument above holds simultaneously for all modes. In other words, the overall transition amplitude between $`|+`$ and $`|+`$ should result from the interference of multiple Raman-like paths, two for each separate mode. Thus, the totality of modes are used together as a ‘collective data bus’ connecting the two ions.

To see that all this is really the case, consider the Hamiltonian of this system. Within the Lamb-Dicke limit

$$\eta _p\sqrt{(\overline{n}_p+1)}1$$
(1)
(where $`\eta _p`$ is the Lamb-Dicke (LD) parameter of the $`p^{th}`$ collective mode of the ions and $`\overline{n}_p`$ is the average number of phonons in that mode), this can be written as

$`H{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{2}{}}}e^{i\varphi _j}\sigma _{j+}[1+{\displaystyle \underset{p=1}{\overset{N}{}}}i\eta _{jp}[a_p^{}e^{i\nu _pt}+h.c.]]+h.c.`$ (2)
Here $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the effective Rabi frequency of the laser-ion interaction (assumed to be equal for both ions), $`\varphi _j`$ is the laser’s phase at the position of the $`j^{th}`$ ion, $`\nu _p`$ is the frequency of the $`p^{th}`$ collective mode ($`p=1`$ for the centre-of-mass (CM) mode, $`p=2`$ for the ‘breathing’ mode, etc.) and $`\eta _{jp}`$ is an ‘effective’ LD parameter incorporating the relative displacement of the $`j^{th}`$ ion in the $`p^{th}`$ mode . We have also set $`\mathrm{}=1`$. In what follows we will assume, with no loss of generality, $`\varphi _1=\varphi _2=0`$ .

Following now a reasoning analogous to that of ref. , we find that resonance conditions arise for particular values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. This can be most easily seen by transforming into a dressed-state picture defined by the operator

$$V\left(t\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i\mathrm{\Omega }t\sigma _{1z}}{2}\right)R_1\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i\mathrm{\Omega }t\sigma _{2z}}{2}\right)R_2$$
(3)
where $`R_j=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{\mathrm{1\hspace{0.17em}1}}{\mathrm{1\hspace{0.17em}1}}\right)_j`$ and in our convention $`|e=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{1}{0}\right)`$ . The Hamiltonian becomes then

$$H^{}=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2}\underset{p=1}{\overset{N}{}}iJ_{p+}^{}\left[e^{i\mathrm{\Delta }_pt}a_p+e^{i\gamma _pt}a_p^{}\right]+h.c.,$$
(4)
where we define $`J_{p\pm }^{}_{j=1}^2\eta _{jp}\sigma _{j\pm }^{}`$ ; $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p\mathrm{\Omega }\nu _p`$, $`\gamma _p\mathrm{\Omega }+\nu _p`$ and primes indicate operators defined in the dressed-state picture. One can see that, when $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p=0`$, the dynamics is dominated by terms of the form $`\sigma _{j+}^{}a_p`$, which induce resonant collective excitations of the ions accompanied by the exchange of motional quanta.

In what follows we are interested in the complementary regime far from these resonance conditions. Specifically, let us consider the limit where the detunings $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p`$ of the Rabi frequency are large with respect to the resulting secular frequency of the time evolution, i.e.

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_p\eta _{jp}\mathrm{\Omega }=\eta _{jp}\left(\nu _p+\mathrm{\Delta }_p\right).$$
(5)
In this case, standard time-averaging arguments (see e.g. the Appendix in ) can be used to obtain a time-independent effective Hamiltonian, given by

$$H_{eff}^{}\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{4}\underset{p=1}{\overset{N}{}}\left[\frac{[J_p^{}a_p^{},J_{p+}^{}a_p]}{\mathrm{\Delta }_p}+\frac{[J_p^{}a_p,J_{p+}^{}a_p^{}]}{\gamma _p}\right]$$
(6)
Evaluating the commutators, we get after some algebra $`[J_p^{}a_p^{},J_{p+}^{}a_p]=B_p^{}A_p^{}+k_1`$; $`[J_p^{}a_p,J_{p+}^{}a_p^{}]=B_p^{}+A_p^{}+k_2`$, where

$`A_p^{}`$ $`=`$ $`\eta _{1p}\eta _{2p}\left[|e^{}g^{}g^{}e^{}|+|g^{}e^{}e^{}g^{}|\right]`$ (8)
$`B_p^{}`$ $`=`$ $`(n_p+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}})[(\eta _{1p}^2+\eta _{2p}^2)\left[\right|g^{}g^{}g^{}g^{}||e^{}e^{}e^{}e^{}\left|\right]`$ (9)
$`+`$ $`(\eta _{1p}^2\eta _{2p}^2)\left[\right|g^{}e^{}g^{}e^{}||e^{}g^{}e^{}g^{}\left|\right]]`$ (10)
and where $`k_1,k_2`$ are constants that may be disregarded by a suitable redefinition of the zero of energy. Thus

$`H_{eff}^{}`$ $``$ $`\omega \left[|e^{}g^{}g^{}e^{}|+|g^{}e^{}e^{}g^{}|\right]+{\displaystyle \underset{p=1}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^3B_p}{2(\mathrm{\Omega }^2\nu _p^2)}}`$ (11)
where

$$\omega =\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{2}\underset{p=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{\eta _{1p}\eta _{2p}\nu _p}{\mathrm{\Omega }^2\nu _p^2}.$$
(12)
Of course, this Hamiltonian holds only in the dressed picture defined in Eq.(3). In the ‘standard’ picture (i.e., the one corresponding to Eq. (2)), the time evolution operator is $`U(t)V^{}(t)\mathrm{exp}(itH_{eff}^{})V(0)`$.

In order to analyse this result, let us first consider the case $`N=2`$, where $`\eta _{11}=\eta _{21}=\sqrt[4]{3}\eta _{12}=\sqrt[4]{3}\eta _{22}`$ . The second term in Eq. (10) then vanishes, and $`H_{eff}^{}`$ splits into one term coupling internal states $`|g^{}e^{}`$ and $`|e^{}g^{}`$, and another affecting only $`|g^{}g^{}`$ and $`|e^{}e^{}`$. Translating back into the “standard” picture, and including also the motional variables, the first term leads to transitions between each pair of states $`|+n_1n_2,|+n_1n_2`$, as expected from Fig. 1 (note that all time-dependent phases originating in $`V\left(t\right)`$ cancel out). Furthermore, as was also previously suggested, the frequency $`\omega `$ of the transitions is independent of the phonon numbers $`\left\{n_p\right\}`$. Finally, it is clear from Eqs. (11),(12) that this coupling results from the interference of contributions from both modes. The interference is constructive (both terms contribute positively to $`\omega `$, leading to faster oscillations) when $`\nu _1\mathrm{\Omega }\nu _2=\sqrt{3}\nu _1`$. Note also that in general the further $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is to $`\nu _q`$, the smaller is the amplitude in $`\omega `$ of the transition path via the corresponding mode. This effect might be useful to screen out ‘bad’ modes with relatively high decoherence rates, such as the centre-of-mass mode in multi-ion traps .

Meanwhile, states $`|++n_1n_2`$ and $`|n_1n_2`$ acquire time-dependent phases, originating both from $`V\left(t\right)`$ and from $`H_{eff}^{}`$. The latter do depend on the phonon numbers and can lead to unwanted correlations between internal and motional variables, and thus to decoherence of the internal state. These results are analogous to those obtained in ref.  for the case where each ion is separately illuminated by a different laser, one slightly detuned from the first red sideband frequency and the other from the first blue one. As in that case, here it turns out that the motion-state-dependent component of the evolution can be cancelled by altering the Hamiltonian in the course of the gate operation itself (see below).

As a result, maximally entangled states of the two ions can be produced after a time $`\tau _1=|\pi /4\omega |`$. To see this, note that the evolution operator $`U(\tau _1)`$ is essentially a ‘$`\sqrt{SWAP}`$’ gate with respect to the $`|\pm `$ basis: it turns the disentangled states $`|+,|+`$ into the maximally entangled (or ‘Bell’) states $`|\beta _\pm \left(\right|+\pm i|+)/\sqrt{2}`$, while leaving $`|++`$ and $`|`$ unaffected (up to motion-state-independent phases $`\varphi _\pm (\tau _1)`$ due to $`V^{}(t)`$). We stress again that this evolution occurs regardless of the initial motional state, and even regardless of whether it might be changing (due to heating effects) during the gate operation itself. Note further that, after a pulse of duration $`2\tau _1`$, $`|\pm i|\pm `$, $`|\pm \pm \mathrm{exp}(\pm i\mathrm{\Omega }\tau _1)|\pm \pm `$, and so all four standard basis states $`|g(e)g(e)`$ become maximally entangled. In other words, a gate locally equivalent to a CNOT is realised. Our method therefore allows the implementation of universal quantum logic on the ion chain, even in the presence of heating. The speed with which this is accomplished can be seen in Fig. 2, where we use Eq. (12) to plot $`\tau _1`$ as a function of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, $`\eta _{11}`$. The thin solid lines indicate the validity limits imposed by choosing a factor of 10 in Eq. (5). We can conclude that the method should allow $`\tau _1`$ to be as low as a few hundred trap periods, a performance intermediate between that in  and that of the enhanced but heating-sensitive method in . A significant difference with regard to these proposals is that our method should work in a different parameter range, including a comparatively high Rabi frequency and a comparatively small LD parameter. This may give it a substantial speed advantage in situations where $`\eta _{11}`$ is forcibly small, such as a tight trap containing many ions.

The trick which cancels the motion-state-dependent part of the evolution is to use a ‘photon-echo’-like procedure , whereby midway along the time evolution one inverts the sign of the motion-dependent term in the Hamiltonian (in our case $`B_p`$ in Eq.(11)). As a result, phases acquired in the first half of the evolution are cancelled out exactly during the second one. In the present setup, this idea can be implemented in an experimentally simple way, by suddenly shifting the laser phase by $`\pi `$ (using, for instance, an electro-optic modulator). To see this, let us return to eq.(2). Shifting $`\varphi _j\varphi _j+\pi `$ is equivalent to changing the sign of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, which corresponds to exchanging the signs of the light-shifts suffered by $`|+`$ and $`|`$). A development analogous to eqs. (3)-(12) results then in an effective Hamiltonian identical to $`H_{eff}^{}`$ but with $`|e^{}`$ and $`|g^{}`$ everywhere interchanged. It can be easily seen that this leaves the motion-independent term $`A_p`$ intact, while changing the sign of $`B_p`$ as required. In fact, following again ref. , in order to suppress motional heating it is desireable to perform the sign inversion several times during the course of the system’s evolution (specifically, at frequency $`F=M/\tau ,`$where $`\tau `$ is the total time during which the laser is applied and $`M1`$ is an integer). If $`F\omega ,\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the typical heating rate, then the effects of the motion-dependent terms are cancelled before heating can affect them .

This robustness is illustrated in Fig. 3, where we plot time evolution curves simulated using the full trap Hamiltonian (i.e., including all orders of the LD parameter) and allowing also for heating in the form of quantum jumps, described by jump operators $`\sqrt{\mathrm{\Gamma }_p\overline{n}_p}a`$ and $`\sqrt{\mathrm{\Gamma }_p(\overline{n}_p+1)}a^{}`$ . (The heating rate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ for the CM mode is assumed to be an order of magnitude greater than $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_2`$ ). The curves are averages obtained over $`25`$ Monte Carlo runs, each containing an average of $`18.4`$ jumps. In the bottom curve, the ions’ internal state is initially $`|\psi _0=|+`$, and we plot its squared overlap over time with the Bell state $`|\beta _{}`$. A fidelity of $`98\%`$ is achieved at the time $`\nu _1\tau _1`$ 515 expected from Fig. 2. In the top curve, $`|\psi _0=\left(\right|+++|)/\sqrt{2}`$, and we plot the squared overlap with $`V^{}(t)V(0)|\psi _0`$, the expected evolution in the absence of the motion-state-dependent term in Eq. (11). The small deviation from 1 shows that this term has been effectively suppressed by the switching of the laser phase.

At first sight, it may appear that ever greater suppression of the motion-dependent evolution can be achieved by increasing the switching rate $`F`$. One must be careful, however, not to invalidate the approximations leading to Eq. (11). For instance, $`F`$ must be limited by the Rabi frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, in order to allow the rotating-wave-type averaging implicit in the derivation of Eq. (6) to hold within each interval between phase inversions. In fact, our numerical simulations indicate that this averaging only occurs fully for particular ”resonant” values of $`F`$. For most other choices, the time evolution of the system gradually becomes degraded. Determining analytically these ‘good’ values is an open question; in practice, one would likely “tune” $`F`$ until an appropriate value was found.

In multi-ion chains with $`N>2`$ our conclusions still hold, but high-frequency phase shifts become a necessity even in the absence of external heating. To see this, consider first that the LD parameters $`\eta _{jp}`$ will generally differ from ion to ion , and so $`[A_p,B_p]0`$. In this case, inverting the sign of $`B_p`$ at a low frequency (e.g., comparable to $`\omega `$) is not sufficient to undo its effect on states $`|+`$ and $`|+`$. However, if the frequency is much larger than $`\omega `$ then this cancellation does occur, since for very short timescales the effect of the commutator above becomes negligible . As a result, once again $`B_p`$ can be neglected, and the Hamiltonian reduces effectively to the first term in Eq. (11). A further generalisation to the case where $`m>2`$ ions are illuminated together is also possible, as is the counter-intuitive possibility of coupling different pairs of ions simultaneously (cf the concluding remark in ). The latter case is achievable by illuminating each pair with a separate beam of sufficiently different intensity. In this case, following again the argument in Eqs. (3)-(12) shows that the Hamiltonian effectively decouples into a sum of terms like in Eq. (11), one for each pair. Thus, adding a further mind-boggling twist to the situation in , every single vibrational mode can be used collectively and simultaneously for different tasks, despite only ever being ‘virtually’ excited!

We thank A. Sørensen, A. Steane and P. Knight for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by the Brazilian agency Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the European Science Foundation’s QIT programme, and the EQUIP project of the European Union.


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# Spatial analysis of solar type III events associated with narrow band spikes at metric wavelengths

## 1 Introduction

Millisecond narrow band radio spikes are structures in the radio spectrum of the Sun forming a distinct class of flare emission. The term ’narrow band, millisecond spikes’ refers to short (few tens of ms) and narrow band (few percent of the center frequency) peaks in the radio spectrogram. They can be observed in the range of 0.3 to 8 GHz and occur mainly during the impulsive phase of a solar flare. Since the spike emission is often associated with enhanced hard X-ray emission (Benz & Kane benzkane1986 (1986); Güdel et al. guedeletal1991 (1991); Aschwanden & Güdel aschwandenguedel1992 (1992)) it is suspected that spikes are closely related to the actual process of energy release in solar flares.
The short duration and the narrow bandwidth suggest a small source size and therefore a high brightness temperature (up to $`10^{15}`$ K). Only a coherent mechanism can account for the emission but none of the proposed mechanisms is generally accepted. Proposed emission mechanisms are the electron cyclotron maser (e.g. Holman, Eichler & Kundu holmanetal1980 (1980), Melrose & Dulk melrosedulk1982 (1982), Aschwanden aschwanden1990 (1990), Robinson robinson1991 (1991)) and upper hybrid or z-mode instabilities combined with wave-wave coupling (e.g. Zheleznyakov & Zaitsev zheleznyakovzaitsev1975 (1975), Vlahos et al. vlahosetal1983 (1983), Tajima et al. tajimaetal1990 (1990) and Güdel & Wentzel guedelwentzel1993 (1993)).
A subclass of spikes originally found at metric wavelengths correlates with type III bursts (Benz et al. benzetal1982 (1982)). They occur in clusters usually at frequencies slightly higher than the start frequency of the type III burst and are located in a dynamic spectrogram at the intersection of the extrapolated type III and the spike frequency. Although they may be slightly shifted in time (in a positive or negative direction) they significantly correlate with the extrapolated type III burst (Benz et al. benzetal1996 (1996)). Since the spike location in the spectrogram is close to the extrapolated type III burst it is a reasonable assumption that spike and type III radiations are emitted at the same characteristic frequency.
This type of radio emission has been called ’metric spikes’ in the literature (e.g. Güdel & Zlobec guedelzlobec1991 (1991)) and it is still unclear whether the spikes in the metric and the decimetric range belong to the same class of events.
Previously published spatially resolved observations of metric spike events (Krucker et al. kruckeretal1995 (1995); Krucker et al. kruckeretal1997 (1997)) found the spike sources at high altitudes and suggest a model of energy release taking place in or close to the spike sources. Escaping beams of electrons cause the type III emission. Thus a scenario is conceivable in which the spikes may be a direct signature of the accelerator.
Using two-dimensional, spatially resolved data from the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH), it is possible to reconstruct the spatial configuration of the event and the relative position of the spike source with respect to the type III trajectory. The main purpose of this work is to test whether the geometry of the events supports the picture mentioned above.

## 2 Instruments

### 2.1 The Phoenix-2 spectrometer

Since 1998 the Phoenix-2 spectrometer operated by the ETH Zurich has been continuously recording radio data from sunrise to sunset. The intensity and polarization are digitally measured by the frequency-agile receiver in the range from 0.1-4.0 GHz at a time resolution of 500 $`\mu `$s for single channel measurements. The receiver consists of 4000 channels at 1, 3 or 10 MHz bandwidth, from which a reduced number can be freely selected. A full description of the instrument can be found in Messmer et al. (messmeretal1999 (1999)).
The data used herein were recorded at a bandwidth of 1 MHz and a time resolution of 100 ms in the frequency range from 220 to 550 MHz, chosen in collaboration with the Nançay Radioheliograph.

### 2.2 The Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH)

In July 1996 the Meudon Observatory began daily observations with the improved 2D imaging radioheliograph in Nançay (France). The instrument is described by Kerdraon & Delouis (kerdraondelouis1996 (1996)). Five frequencies in the range from 150-450 MHz can be observed simultaneously at a maximum number of 200 images per second. The antennas are organized in two perpendicular arrays and digitally correlated on 576 channels resulting in measurements of Stokes I and V. The observing bandwidth is 700 kHz.
Data were taken with a frequency configuration of 164.0, 236.6, 327.0, 410.5, 432.0 MHz at a mean time resolution of 125 ms.
For older data the NRH provides one-dimensional scans of the corona at five frequencies, with both its east-west and north-south branches (The Radioheliograph Group heliogroup1993 (1993)). The integration time was 1 s. The NRH then observed at 164, 236.6, 327, 408 and 435 MHz.

## 3 Observation and method

Data from observations of Phoenix-2 were used to identify type III events associated with metric spike emission. The choice of events was restricted by the observing frequencies of Nançay. At least one frequency was required to locate the spike emission, and the type III emission was required to be visible at least in two frequencies. The following four events were found in the recent data:
99/09/27: In the time range from 09:53.8 to 09:57.2 UT a type III burst group occurred and was accompanied by a cluster of metric spikes in the frequency range 300 to 370 MHz.
00/05/29: Type III burst group in the range from 220 - 420 MHz and metric spike emission from 390 to 430 MHz in the time range from 12:25.00 to 12:29.80 UT.
00/06/21: Metric spikes in the frequency range from 340 MHz to 450 MHz, accompanied by a type III burst group from 220 MHz to 450 MHz. The event time is 10:12.4-10:12.5 UT.
00/06/22: Type III burst group in the range from 220 MHz to 510 MHz, whereas the metric spikes are located between 400-420 MHz at the beginning of the event and between 430-500 MHz later on. The whole event lasts from 13:41.5 to 13:44.5 UT.

In addition, three separate events on 92/08/18, already published in Krucker et al. (kruckeretal1997 (1997)) using only VLA observations at 333 MHz have been investigated using data from the previous heliograph in Nançay. The events show metric spikes in the frequency range from 310 MHz to 360 MHz and type III activity from around 300 MHz down to below 40 MHz. The time ranges for the events are 13:43:50 to 13:44:10 UT, 14:01:47 to 14:02:00 UT and 14:14:35 to 14:14:40 UT, respectively.

### 3.1 Phoenix-2 observations

The dynamic spectrum from 220 MHz to 530 MHz of the analyzed part of the 00/06/22 event is shown in Fig. 1 (top). In the first half of the the event (13:41:40 to about 13:42:08 UT) the metric spike emission is mainly located in the range from 370 MHz to 470 MHz. At lower frequencies the drifting structures of type III emission can be seen. In the second half, the spike emission is shifted to higher frequencies (430 MHz to 510 MHz).
In the middle panel of Fig. 1 a selected light curve at 432.0 MHz observed by the Phoenix-2 spectrometer is displayed. The data were recorded with a sampling period of 100 ms and an integration time of 0.5 ms. According to Güdel & Benz (guedelbenz1990 (1990)) the expected mean time duration of a single spike event at 432.0 MHz is $`0.062\pm 0.004`$ s. Therefore the single spike events are not resolved in time. Following Messmer & Benz (messmerbenz1999 (1999)), the minimum bandwidth of spikes is given by $`0.4\%`$ of the center frequency yielding a value of 1.73 MHz at 432.0 MHz. Although this value is close to the spectral resolution of 1 MHz of Phoenix-2, the spikes are resolved in frequency and can be well identified.
No polarization information is available from Phoenix-2 data for this event nor for the 00/06/21 and the 00/05/29 events since the spectrometer was run with a linear feed during this time.
The description of the observation mode of the old Phoenix spectrometer for the 92/08/18 event can be found in Krucker et al. (kruckeretal1997 (1997)).

### 3.2 Nançay observations

The bottom panel in Fig. 1 shows the light curve at 432.0 MHz of the same event observed by NRH. The data were recorded with an integration time of 125 ms at a sampling rate of 125 ms. Since the integration time of NRH is longer than of Phoenix-2, the noise level of the dataset is lower.
The software used to analyze the 2D NRH data offers a source tracking routine that allows the user to determine location and size of a radio source in the 2D image of the Sun. The relevant source was identified from Phoenix-2 observations by simultaneously determining the flux in the NRH data and comparing it to the full sun observation of Phoenix-2 (cf. Fig. 1 middle and bottom). The size of the source is determined by fitting an ellipse with minimal perimeter at half height of the peak flux.
The error of the source centroid consists of two parts: A discretization error and a statistical error. The first one stems from the NRH data being gridded. The centroid position determined by the NRH software lies on a grid and the distance between two grid points is $`0.016R_{}`$. Hence, there is a minimal error which is given by half the diagonal of a pixel $`0.011R_{}`$.
The statistical uncertainty of the centroid position is given by the observed radius, $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, of the source times the noise to flux ratio. This ratio is constant according to the radiometer equation, and the resulting error $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ can be written as

$`\mathrm{\Delta }={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma _{\mathrm{max}}}{F_{\mathrm{max}}}}\mathrm{\Phi }={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma }{F_{\mathrm{bg}}}}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ (1)
where the index $`max`$ refers to the peak values, $`\sigma `$ is the noise level at the background and $`\mathrm{F}_{\mathrm{bg}}`$ is the background flux. The noise can be determined from the background level at the source position before or after the event. In most cases, the statistical error was smaller than the discretization error, thus the latter one was used. Otherwise Eq. 1 yields the error bar.
In the case of the 92/08/18 event, the integration time in the NRH data is so long that the accuracy of the centroid determination is given by the pixel size. This has been verified in the following way: 1D scans were made at 164 and 327 MHz during five observing runs on Cyg A between 6 and 31 August 1992 and analyzed in the same way as the solar data. At 164 and 327 MHz, Cyg A appears as a simple source when observed with both the east-west and north-south array. The measured centroid positions contain a random part and a slowly varying offset, which was evaluated by a polynomial fit. The analysis yields a statistical uncertainty of $`1`$ pixel (error bar) for both frequency channels and a systematic offset of one pixel in the interval of hour angles corresponding to the solar observations on 92/08/18.

### 3.3 Association of spikes and type III bursts

The identification of a single type III burst was mainly made by visual identification in the spectrogram. Only the stronger type III bursts of a group have been chosen for the analysis in order to ensure that they can be continuously traced back to the start frequency. In case of doubt the correlation function of two light curves at the relevant frequencies was computed and the burst was identified by correlation peaks. In case of more than one correlation peak, consistency with the drift rate between other frequencies was the criterion. However, it is still possible that two type III bursts with only a slight difference in drift rate crossover in the spectrogram and the associated sources do not belong to the same burst. As described in Sect. 4 the sources at each frequency of the analyzed events are very stable. Either each of the bursts in the group has a crossover with another type III on the “wrong” field line, which is not very probable, or the crossing type III burst occurs on the same field line and the source location is de facto not distinguishable from the source of the original burst.
By extrapolating the type III burst to the spike frequency, the associated spikes were identified. However, since the spikes can be slightly shifted in time with respect to the extrapolated type III burst (Benz et al. benzetal1996 (1996)), a time window of about $`\pm 0.2`$ s has to be used in order to take all possible associated spikes into account. The positions of all spikes inside the time window were included in the analysis.
Simultaneous emissions at two frequencies have been admitted if two of the observed frequencies lie in the spike range.

## 4 Results

The results for the four recent events (99/09/27, 00/05/29, 00/06/21, 00/06/22) are presented in chronological order whereas the 92/08/18 events will be analyzed separately. In order to display three dimensional situations in two dimensions, height projections on the solar equatorial plane and the meridian plane which we define by the earth and the solar poles have been chosen for representation in Figs. 34 and 6 (see Fig. 2). The upper right panel of each plot depicts the actual observations of Nançay as described in 3 whereas the upper left and the lower right panel result from the 3–dimensional reconstruction described in Sect. 4.3. The symbols representing the observing frequencies are chosen as follows: $``$ = 432.0 MHz, $`+`$ = 410.5 MHz, $`\times `$ = 327.0 MHz, $`\mathrm{}`$ = 236.6 MHz and $`\mathrm{}`$ = 164.0 MHz.
The lines connecting the source centroids display how the sources are related to each other in the spectrogram. For reasons of visualization the observed source centroid positions in the 92/08/18 events have been interpolated by 3–dimensional splines to smooth curves.
The sources do not vary significantly in the course of the event for all analyzed events. Hence, for every event, one single representative burst out of the group has been plotted, although the analysis contains many more identified type III bursts.

### 4.1 Observation

References to Figs. 34 and 6 in this section always refer to the upper right panel displaying the square shown in the overview (lower left panel).

99/09/27: Five type III bursts were identified at 164.0 MHz during this event. Two of the NRH frequencies (164.0 MHz, 236.6 MHz) lie in the range of the type III bursts and one (327.0 MHz) in the spike range. The event occurred on the first quadrant of the solar disc. The source positions at each frequency vary only within the error bars, indicating a stable magnetic configuration during the event. Therefore it can be assumed that the bursts occurred practically on the same magnetic field lines. One representative burst of this group is depicted in Fig. 3 (upper left plot).

00/05/29: Three type III bursts were identified at 164.0 MHz in this group occurring between 12:28:46 and 12:28:49 UT. All five observing frequencies of NRH could be used for this event. Three frequencies (164.0 MHz, 236.6 MHz, 327.0 MHz) lie in the range of the type III emission and two (410.5 MHz, 432.0 MHz) in the spike range. The spatial variation of the sources among the different bursts is within the error bars and therefore the three bursts are assumed to have occurred approximately on the same magnetic field line. The upper right plot in Fig. 3 displays one representative burst out of this group.

00/06/21: Between 10:12:28 and 10:12:44 UT six type III bursts were identified. Again all five frequencies of NRH could be used for the analysis. Three frequencies (164.0 MHz, 236.6 MHz, 327.0 MHz) lie in the range of the type III emission and two (410.5 MHz, 432.0 MHz) in the spike range. The event occurred close to the solar limb in the first quadrant. The sources at 164.0, 236.6, 327.0 and 410.5 MHz are stable within the error bars. The source at 432.0 MHz exhibits a larger spatial variation than observed in all other events. The type III source at 327.0 MHz is the most difficult one in the whole dataset to fit with a field line connecting the sources at all frequencies. The lower left plot in Fig. 3 displays one representative burst.

00/06/22: Three bursts out of this group have been analyzed. 236.6 MHz and 327.0 MHz lie in the type III frequency range and 410.5 MHz and 432.0 MHz lie in the spike range. The spatial variation of the sources is negligible, and as in the other events the extrapolated type III trajectory intersects the observed spike source.

#### 4.1.1 92/08/18 event

Three events of type III bursts with associated metric spikes were identified on 92/08/18 starting at 13:44 UT, 14:02 UT and 14:14 UT, respectively.

13:44 UT: During the first event, three type III bursts were identified at 164.0 MHz. Two more NRH frequencies could be used for the analysis: 236.6 MHz in the type III range and 327.0 MHz in the spike range.
The scattering of the source centroid positions during the event lies within the error bars for each frequency. One representative burst is displayed in Fig. 4.

14:02 UT: This event is of special interest since it exhibits simultaneous sources at 164.0 MHz at different locations. Only one type III burst could be clearly identified in the spectrogram. At 164.0 MHz two sources were found: a stronger one more to the East and a weaker one more to the West. At 236.6 MHz only one source position could be clearly identified. This position is consistent with only one of the positions at 164.0 MHz. Due to the possible close positions of the sources and the time resolution of 1 s, a weaker second source at 236.6 MHz would be difficult to detect.
At 327.0 MHz, in the spike range, one source was found. Hence, in Fig. 4 on the right, both 164.0 MHz sources have been plotted whereas only one source at 236.6 MHz is displayed. The more probable trajectory in this configuration is depicted. Nevertheless, since the disconnected 164.0 MHz source is the stronger one and is without doubt part of the event, the situation is interpreted as two type III bursts propagating on different field lines, giving evidence of electrons being injected into different coronal structures from one single spike source.

14:14 UT: The light curve at 164.0 MHz for this type III group is depicted in Fig. 5. Four bursts have been identified and labeled I-IV. Special attention has been given to this event for the following reason: Bursts I and IV occurred at a location significantly different from the position of bursts II and III. By analyzing the situation at 236.6 MHz, two sources were found with less, but still significant, spatial separation than at 164.0 MHz. At 327.0 MHz, a frequency lying in the spike range, the positions of the associated spike sources coincide.
Although the geometry is quite similar to the event at 14:02 UT, it exhibits a different situation since the bursts are consecutive and not simultaneous. Therefore, the identification and association of the sources was easier, and at every frequency the single bursts could be well identified.

The superposition of the radio centroid positions on the Yohkoh-SXT image (Fig. 6) suggests that the two electron beam trajectories inferred from the radio data correspond to magnetic field lines with different connectivities. The eastward oriented trajectory projects above loops that connect the trailing part of the active region (NOAA 7260) in the West with the leading part of an active region in the eastern hemisphere (NOAA 7264). The compact northward oriented trajectory is consistent with electron beams being guided by large-scale magnetic structures bending westward, possibly toward the leading part of AR 7260. The trailing part of AR 7260 had a complex magnetic polarity ($`\delta `$ spot) which produced several flares in August 1992 (cf. Leka et al. lekaetal1996 (1996)) and is thus a plausible site for electron acceleration.

### 4.2 Polarization

With the exception of the limb event on 00/06/22, significant circular polarization was detected in all cases. The degree of polarization was moderate ($``$ 10%) for the type III emission, and much stronger (up to 90-100%) for the spikes. The sense of the polarization was the same for spikes and type III bursts, consistent with the results found by Benz et al. (benzetal1996 (1996)) and references therein.

### 4.3 Spatial reconstruction

#### 4.3.1 Coronal density models

Assuming emission either at the fundamental or harmonic of the plasma frequency, the height of the radio source can be determined from a coronal density model $`n_e(h)`$ via

$`\omega \mathrm{a}\omega _p=\left({\displaystyle \frac{4\pi e^2n_e(h)}{m_e}}\right)^{1/2},`$ (2)
where $`h`$ is the height above the solar photosphere, and $`a`$ is about one or two for fundamental or harmonic emission, respectively.
Three different atmospheric models have been used and compared: An exponential atmosphere, the $`10\times `$Baumbach-Allen model (Baumbach baumbach1937 (1937); Allen allen1947 (1947)) and an atmosphere in hydrostatic equilibrium with thermal conductivity (Lang lang1980 (1980)). The latter two are given by

$`n_e^{\mathrm{BA}}(h)`$ $`=`$ $`101.5510^8\left({\displaystyle \frac{h}{R_{\mathrm{}}}}\right)^6\times `$ (3)
$`\times `$ $`\left[1+1.93\left({\displaystyle \frac{h}{R_{\mathrm{}}}}\right)^{10}\right]\mathrm{cm}^3`$
for the Baumbach-Allen model and

$`n_e^{\mathrm{TC}}(h)`$ $`=`$ $`n_0\left({\displaystyle \frac{h}{h_0}}\right)^{2/7}\times `$ (4)
$`\times `$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{7h_0}{5H_n}}\left\{1\left({\displaystyle \frac{h}{h_0}}\right)^{5/7}\right\}\right]`$
for the thermally conducting corona. $`n_0`$ and $`h_0`$ are reference values for density and according height, $`H_n`$ is the scale height, corresponding to the scale height of the exponential density model. The reference values were chosen according to observations of Trottet et al. (trottetetal1982 (1982)) and Suzuki & Dulk (suzukidulk1985 (1985)). Sources at 160 MHz have been found at heights of about 0.5 solar radii above the photoshpere which is reproduced by the model under the assumption of harmonic emission. The resulting density from all three models is depicted in Fig. 8.
Although the solar corona is not expected to have a spherically symmetric density distribution, the models are considered to apply to single magnetic flux tubes which are supposed to be the type III guiding structures in the corona. Being anchored in the parent active regions, the flux tubes can exhibit curvature and significantly deviate from radiality. Nevertheless, the density within an individual flux tube can be assumed to follow a model such as described above.
The 3–dimensional position of the radio sources is assumed to be at the intersection of the line of sight and the sphere defined by the density model (Eq. 2). As all the sources were observed on the disc, there was no ambiguity. Propagation effects and their impact on the source positions are discussed in Sect. 5.
If not mentioned otherwise, the exponential density model and $`a=2`$ has been used in the following. It is still controversial whether structureless type III bursts (i.e. no fundamental–harmonic pairs) are emitted at the fundamental or the harmonic of the plasma frequency. This question shall not be discussed here and we refer the reader to the review of Suzuki & Dulk (suzukidulk1985 (1985)) and references therein.
The results of the 3–dimensional reconstruction are shown in the upper left (side-view) and lower right (top-view) panels of each plot in Figs. 34 and 6. The component towards Earth is the projection of the radio source’s height on the axis perpendicular to the plane of the sky (cf. Fig. 2).
It is the most important result that in all cases analyzed here, the observed locations of the spikes coincide in a smooth and natural way with the expected position of radio emission at the corresponding frequencies from extrapolating the type III trajectory to lower altitudes.

## 5 Discussion

In the following we discuss the findings in the previous section addressing the 3D reconstruction of the bursts, including possible influence of radio wave propagation effects, and the interpretation of spikes being a signature of the accelerator.

### 5.1 Source locations

It is obvious that the reconstructed source locations depend on the chosen coronal density model in terms of absolute heights. The same is the case for the choice of emission at the harmonic rather than at the fundamental of the plasma frequency. However, the relative positions which are of major interest in this work are not altered by changing either the atmospheric models nor the characteristic emission frequency. The trajectories may be stretched and shifted in height but the topology of the burst remains the same.
The difference in polarization degree between type III (moderate) and spikes (strong) may indicate another emission frequency for the spikes than occurs for the type III burst (e.g. fundamental for spikes and harmonic for type III). This would shift the spike source to lower altitudes with respect to the type III burst without changing the burst topology. The analysis of Benz et al. (benzetal1996 (1996)) shows that the spikes correlate with the extrapolated type III burst to higher frequencies (i.e. the spike frequency). In case of significantly different emission frequencies for spikes and type III burst, a systematic time offset would be expected.
A common feature of all analyzed events (Figs. 34 and 6) is a bending in East – West direction of the trajectories towards the line of sight to the observer, independent of the location on the solar disc. In North – South direction the data also exhibit non-radiality, but no general trend of deviation was observed. Besides this result being an indication for curved magnetic field structures, there are propagation effects that could produce an apparent bending of the magnetic field lines:

* Refraction in the corona can shift the apparent source location.
* The radio emission may be scattered in the corona during propagation to the observer and therefore can produce an apparent image of the source at a location different from the true position (Arzner & Magun arznermagun1999 (1999) and references therein).
* Type III emission may be beamed along the trajectory of the electrons, selecting only those type III bursts propagating towards the observer within the beaming cone (Caroubalous et al. caretal1974 (1974); Caroubalous & Steinberg carsteinberg1974 (1974)).

All events have been analyzed by overlaying EIT images, as shown in Fig. 7 for the 92/08/18 event with an SXT image. Comparable indications of magnetic field structures have been found that can explain at least part of the shift of the projected type III positions towards the observer by the guiding magnetic field. E.g., on 00/05/29, the only other event near central meridian, the observed configuration is consistent with sources in an open flux tube that is anchored in the leading part of the active region as seen by EIT and is part of the field lines which project northward onto the disk. Projection effects make association with active regions difficult in the event of 00/06/20. Nevertheless, the radio sources on 00/06/21 have virtually the same north-south coordinate at all frequencies, and the more they are shifted to the east, the lower the frequency. This is expected for an east-westward extending flux tube anchored in the leading part of the underlying active region, and this interpretation is consistent with the EIT image.
We thus believe that the observations lend plausibility to the assumption that the radio source positions are mainly affected by the magnetic field structure and to a lesser extent by propagation effects. This conclusion is also supported by the work of Pick & van den Oord (pickvandenoord1990 (1990)) and references therein.

### 5.2 Spike location and acceleration

To inject electrons on the field line guiding the type III burst, the acceleration region must be located close to or on the field line itself. Fig. 9 displays a sketch depicting possible locations of acceleration with respect to a type III burst (A) and a spike source. A priori, there are three different positions for the acceleration region consistent with the present observations: it lies between the type III burst and the spike source (case I), below the spike source (case III) or coincides with the spike source (case II). Assuming that the spike emission is caused by the same acceleration event, location I can be excluded by analyzing spectral radio observations. For the acceleration region to lie in between the type III and the spike source, the time of the actual acceleration must lie within the time interval defined by the intersection of the extrapolated type III with the spike frequency and the start of the type III emission. A systematic time delay of the spike source with respect to the acceleration event must be observed, caused by the travel distance of the electrons generating the spike emission. According to Benz et al. (benzetal1996 (1996)) the spikes correlate with the intersection of the extrapolated type III and the spike frequency itself and no systematic delay was found. This analysis supports locations II and III as potential region of acceleration and excludes location I in Fig. 9.
The situation of two type III bursts (labeled A and B in Fig. 9) associated with a single spike source, as was found in two of the 92/08/18 events, suggests location II as a possible acceleration region. Position III is only consistent if the field lines meet in position II and continue in parallel to position III.

## 6 Conclusions

In all analyzed events the spike sources are always located at positions coinciding with expected locations from extrapolated type III trajectories to lower altitudes. These observations thus strongly support a model for radio spikes occurring in the course of type III beam propagation or near its origin, consistent with independent spectrogram observations (Benz et al. 1996). They add further evidence for spikes being a signature of the mechanism accelerating electron beams that cause type III bursts. This appears to be the simplest interpretation (cf. Fig. 9).
This property is supported by the results of the 92/08/18 observations, where in two events simultaneous or consecutive type III bursts on different magnetic field lines originated in the same spike source. Energetic electrons appear to be injected into different and diverging coronal structures from one single position. Such a diverging magnetic field geometry is the standard ingredient of reconnection. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that metric spikes may be a signature of particle acceleration.
Earlier imaging investigations on metric spikes associated with type III bursts and their interpretation (Krucker et al. kruckeretal1995 (1995); Krucker et al. kruckeretal1997 (1997)) can now be compared to these additional observations. They proposed a scenario of energy release at high altitude with up- and downward moving energized electrons. The upward moving electrons produce type III bursts while propagating along open field lines and the downward moving part loses its energy to the lower corona, transition region or upper chromosphere. The radio emission of electron beams moving downward from coronal acceleration sites has occasionally been detected (e.g. Klein et al. kleinetal1997 (1997)), but no signature was seen in the observations presented here. High-sensitivity observations are necessary to investigate the processes below the spike source, i.e. above the spike frequency band.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Christian Monstein, Michael Arnold and Peter Messmer (ETH Zurich) for helping to run the Phoenix-2 observations. The evaluation of the Phoenix spectrograms was made using software developed by A. Csillaghy. The work at ETH Zurich is financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant No. 2000-061559.00).
The Nançay Radio Observatory is funded by the French Ministry of Education, the CNRS and the Région Centre.