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# Instantaneous frequency and amplitude identification using wavelets: Application to glass structure

## I Introduction

Although the first example of a wavelet basis dates back to 1910 Haar (1910), it was not until the early 1980’s, with the work of Goupillaud, Morlet and Grossmann Goupillaud et al. (1984) in seismic geophysics, that the wavelet transform (WT) became a popular tool for the analysis of signals with non-periodic characteristics, termed *non-stationary* signals van den Berg (1999).

The WT allows a signal to be examined in both the time- and frequency-domains simultaneously. The WT as a time-frequency method has replaced the conventional Fourier transform (FT) in many practical applications. The WT has been successfully applied in many areas of physics van den Berg (1999) including astrophysics, seismic geophysics, turbulence and quantum mechanics, as well as many other fields including image processing, biological signal analysis, genomic DNA analysis, speech recognition, computer graphics and multifractal analysis.

The term WT is conventionally used to refer to a broad selection of transformation methods and algorithms. In all cases, the essence of a WT is to expand the input function in terms of oscillations which are localized in both time and frequency.

Different applications of the WT have different requirements. Image compression, for example, often uses the discrete WT (DWT) to transform data to a new, orthogonal basis set where the data are hopefully presented in a more redundant form Prasad and Iyengar (1997). Other applications, particularly signal analysis Silverman and Vassilicos (2000), use the CWT, sacrificing orthogonality for extra precision in the identification of features in a signal.

The principal aim of this paper is to present the WT in a form well suited to the analysis of one-dimensional signals whose frequency components have rapidly varying frequency and amplitude modulations. In order to achieve this aim, we introduce a new ‘tunable’, complex wavelet. This wavelet is based upon the well-known Morlet wavelet Goupillaud et al. (1984) but is better suited to high-resolution analysis. The features of the WT using the proposed wavelet are understood through an asymptotic stationary-phase approximation to the integral expression of the WT specialized to the new wavelet. We demonstrate the properties of the WT using two example functions, a mathematical function and the other a realistic physical model function.

We are interested in exploiting the complex WT in the analysis of structural correlation functions which describe the atomic structure of disordered materials. As these correlation functions have different spatial regimes, they may be classed as non-stationary signals. Despite the overwhelming success of the WT in other fields, we are aware of only one other paper on this application of the WT. In that application, Ding et al. Ding et al. (1998) studied an experimentally observed correlation function of vitreous silica using the Mexican Hat wavelet. We improve upon this single, prior application in three significant ways, namely the use of the complex WT, a ‘tunable’ wavelet and the method of interpreting the resulting transforms.

We then analyze the reduced radial distribution function (RRDF) of a structural model of a one-component glass with pronounced icosahedral local order Dzugutov (1993). The resulting WT clearly shows the existence of different frequency components in the RRDF and their exponential decay. These features were not clearly detectable by earlier methods (c.f. Ref. Ding et al., 1998).

In Sec. II we review the mathematical framework of the wavelet transform and discuss some mother wavelet functions before modifying an existing wavelet for our purposes. In Sec. III.1 we consider the WT of a general oscillatory signal using the new wavelet. The results are then used to interpret the wavelet transforms of a variable-frequency example function in Sec. III.2 and of the RRDF in Sec. III.3. Concluding remarks can be found in Sec. IV.

## II Formulation

The underlying WT used in this paper can be completely described as a one-dimensional complex, continuous WT using wavelets of constant shape Daubechies (1992). We begin by examining the formulation of this WT in terms of an integral transform, before examining the choice of mother wavelet function.

For simplicity we use time-frequency terminology, considering the signal to be an input function of time, $`f(t)`$. The CWT is an integral transformation which expands an input function $`f(t)`$ in terms of a complete set of basis functions $`\xi (t;a,b)`$. These basis functions are all the same shape as they are defined in terms of dilation by $`a`$ and translation by $`b`$ of a mother wavelet function $`\psi (t)`$:

$$\xi (t;a,b)=|a|^1\psi \left(\frac{tb}{a}\right),$$
(1)
with $`a,b`$ and $`a0`$.

The CWT $`F(a,b)`$ is defined as the inner product:

$$F(a,b)=\xi |f|a|^1_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}\psi ^{}\left(\frac{tb}{a}\right)f(t)𝑑t.$$
(2)
The original formulation of the CWT Goupillaud et al. (1984) used a prefactor $`|a|^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ to give a normalization to unity, $`\xi |\xi =1`$). We choose an alternative prefactor $`|a|^1`$ (giving $`\xi |\xi =|a|^1`$) after Delprat et al. Delprat et al. (1991). As we shall see, this formulation of the CWT allows for simple frequency identification by examining the maxima in the modulus of the CWT with respect to the scale $`a`$.

In order to understand the CWT, it is useful to relate it to the FT. The FT has a non-localized, plane-wave basis set and, therefore, has a single transform parameter - the frequency $`\omega `$. In contrast, the basis set of the CWT contains localized oscillations characterised by two transform parameters - the scale (or dilation) $`a`$ and the translation (or position) $`b`$. It is this critical difference which makes the CWT preferable for the analysis of non-stationary signals.

We are free to choose a functional form for $`\psi (t)`$, subject to some constraints. Some of these constraints are forced upon us whereas others arise from the practical usefulness of the resulting transform.

In order to recover a function from its wavelet transform via the *resolution of the identity* Daubechies (1992), $`\psi (t)`$ must satisfy an *admissibility condition*. Although we do not make direct use of the resolution of the identity in this paper, we require that our choice of $`\psi (t)`$ satisfies this condition to ensure that all information about the signal is retained by the transform. The admissibility condition is essentially that the FT, $`\widehat{\psi }(\omega )=e^{i\omega t}|\psi `$, satisfies the relation $`\widehat{\psi }(0)=0`$, equivalent to requiring that the mother wavelet and, hence, the basis wavelets, have a mean of zero.

Beyond simply satisfying the admissibility condition, it is practically useful to create mother wavelet functions which mimic features of interest in the signal. In the case of time-frequency analysis, mother wavelet functions are chosen which represent localized sinusoidal oscillations. The resulting wavelet transforms can then be used to extract instantaneous measures of frequency and amplitude. The uncertainty principle dictates that the product $`\mathrm{\Delta }t\mathrm{\Delta }\omega `$ of the time and frequency uncertainties of such wavelets has a lower bound. It is no surprise, therefore, that this class of mother wavelet functions are typically based upon Gaussians. However, it is still possible to trade temporal precision for frequency precision by altering the number of oscillations in the envelope of the mother wavelet.

The simplest such wavelet is the “Mexican Hat” wavelet which mimics a single oscillation and is commonly used in signal analysis. The functional form of this wavelet is the second derivative of a Gaussian. This wavelet offers good localisation in the time domain whilst retaining admissibility. However, this wavelet has two major drawbacks for general signal analysis: (i) useful information can only be extracted from the WT at discrete intervals where the wavelets are in phase with the signal, and (ii) the time-frequency resolution is fixed.

The former drawback has been overcome by the invention of complex wavelets which mimic localized plane waves. The WT can be computed separately for the real and imaginary parts, yielding a complex scalar field, $`F(a,b)`$, where the modulus and argument of $`F`$ represent the amplitude and phase of the signal, respectively.

The latter drawback has been overcome by the invention of tunable wavelets which include an additional parameter to the mother wavelet function controlling the number of oscillations in the envelope.

Goupillaud, Morlet and Grossman overcame these problems simultaneously with the invention of a modulated Gaussian wavelet, now known as the “Morlet” wavelet Goupillaud et al. (1984). This wavelet has a parameter, $`\sigma `$, which controls the number of oscillations in the envelope, allowing time and frequency uncertainties to be traded. Thus the Morlet wavelet can be expressed as:

$`\psi _\text{M}(t;\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`\pi ^{\frac{1}{4}}c_\text{M}(\sigma )e^{\frac{1}{2}t^2}\left(e^{i\sigma t}\kappa (\sigma )\right),`$ (3)
where $`c_\text{M}(\sigma )=(12e^{\frac{1}{4}\sigma ^2}\kappa (\sigma )+\kappa ^2(\sigma ))^{1/2}`$ and the parameter $`\kappa (\sigma )`$ allows the admissibility condition to be satisfied.

The FT of this wavelet is:

$`\widehat{\psi }_\text{M}(\omega ;\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`\pi ^{\frac{1}{4}}c_\text{M}(\sigma )\left(e^{\frac{1}{2}\left(\omega \sigma \right)^2}\kappa (\sigma )e^{\frac{1}{2}\omega ^2}\right).`$ (4)
From Eq. (4) it is clear that the admissibility condition $`\widehat{\psi }_\text{M}(0;\sigma )=0`$ implies that $`\kappa (\sigma )=e^{\frac{1}{2}\sigma ^2}.`$

Many previous applications of the Morlet wavelet have been concerned with signals containing slowly varying frequency and amplitude components for which large values of $`\sigma `$ ($`5`$) are applicable and $`\kappa (\sigma )`$ ($`10^6`$) is negligible Goupillaud et al. (1984).

However, we are interested in applying this type of analysis to signals which contain rapidly varying frequencies and amplitudes. In this case, the ability to use small values of $`\sigma `$ becomes important as we wish to maximize the temporal resolution by minimizing $`\sigma `$ whilst still being able to separate the various frequency components in the signal and, consequently, $`\kappa (\sigma )`$ is no longer negligible.

Although the Morlet wavelet is admissible at small $`\sigma `$, the temporal localization is unsatisfactory (see Fig. 1); namely, $`|\psi _\text{M}|^2`$ undergoes a transition from mono-modality to bimodality (a single ridge at large $`\sigma `$ splits into two symmetric ridges for small $`\sigma `$). The wavelet transform of a signal performed using a wavelet which has a bimodal envelope results in the signal being localized about two different positions (see Fig. 2). This produces unwanted artefacts in the resulting instantaneous frequency and amplitude measurements (shown later in Figs. 10 and 11).

Therefore we remedy this drawback by modifying the Morlet wavelet to produce a new wavelet, $`\psi (t;\sigma )`$, such that $`|\psi |^2`$ has a single, global maximum for all $`\sigma `$. For the new wavelet we choose to replace the single, normalization constant $`c_\text{M}(\sigma )`$ in the Morlet wavelet with two new parameters $`p(\sigma )`$ and $`q(\sigma )`$ determined by two conditions: (i) total normalization of the wavelet to unity, and (ii) equal contributions to the normalization from the real and imaginary parts. The new wavelet has the following functional form:

$`\psi (t;\sigma )`$ $`=\pi ^{\frac{1}{4}}e^{\frac{1}{2}t^2}`$ $`[p(\sigma )(\mathrm{cos}(\sigma t)\kappa (\sigma ))`$ (5)
$`+iq(\sigma )\mathrm{sin}(\sigma t)],`$
where $`p(\sigma )`$ and $`q(\sigma )`$ are given by:

$`p(\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1e^{\sigma ^2}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}},`$ (6a)
$`q(\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1+3e^{\sigma ^2}4e^{\frac{3}{4}\sigma ^2}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}.`$ (6b)
The Fourier transform of this wavelet is:

$`\widehat{\psi }(\omega ;\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}e^{\frac{1}{2}\left(\sigma +\omega \right)^2}\left(e^{\sigma \omega }1\right)`$ (7)
$`\times \left[\left(e^{\sigma \omega }1\right)p(\sigma )+\left(e^{\sigma \omega }+1\right)q(\sigma )\right].`$
It is worthwhile noting that the real part of this new wavelet recovers the functional form of the Mexican Hat wavelet in the limit $`\sigma 0`$:

$$\text{Re}\left[\psi (t;0)\right]=\sqrt{\frac{2}{3}}\pi ^{\frac{1}{4}}e^{\frac{1}{2}t^2}(t^21).$$

Thus the new wavelet allows a complete transition from very high temporal localization, $`\sigma 0`$ (the Mexican Hat wavelet), to maximum frequency localization, $`\sigma \mathrm{}`$ (plane wave). Even in the limit of minimal $`\sigma `$, $`|\psi |^2`$ remains mono-modal (see Figs. 3 and 4). Thus we have improved upon the temporal localisation of the Morlet wavelet.

We have also checked that, using the new wavelet, the original signal can be recovered by the resolution of the identity operator.

## III Analysis

### III.1 Instantaneous Frequency and Amplitude

In this section we demonstrate how the new wavelet may be used to extract instantaneous frequencies and amplitudes from a signal via the CWT. The following analysis is based upon the stationary-phase approach of Delprat et al. Delprat et al. (1991) but is specialized to the new wavelet.

The wavelet transform $`F(a,b)`$ at a given scale $`a`$ and translation $`b`$ is given by the integral (Eq. 2) of a rapidly oscillating integrand. This integral may be rewritten in the form:

$`F(a,b)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}e^{i\mathrm{\Phi }(t;a,b)+\mathrm{ln}A(t;a,b)}𝑑t,`$ (8)
where:

$`A(t;a,b)`$ $`=`$ $`A_f(t)A_\xi (t;a,b)`$ (9a)
$`\mathrm{\Phi }(t;a,b)`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi _f(t)\varphi _\xi (t;a,b)`$ (9b)
with $`f(t)=\text{Re}[A_f(t)e^{i\varphi _f(t)}]`$ and $`\xi (t;a,b)=A_\xi (t;a,b)e^{i\varphi _\xi (t;a,b)}`$.

In order to take the integral in the stationary-phase approximation, we first approximate $`A_\xi `$ by a Gaussian. From Eq. 1 we have $`A_\xi ^2(t;a,b)=a^2A_\psi ^2((tb)/a)`$, where $`A_\psi ^2`$ is taken to be a normalized Gaussian whose variance $`\sigma _\psi (\sigma )`$ is equal to the variance of $`|\psi |^2`$, giving:

$$A_\xi ^2(t;a,b)|a|^2\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }\sigma _\psi }\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{1}{2\sigma _\psi ^2}\left(\frac{tb}{a}\right)^2\right],$$
(10)
where the variance $`\sigma _\psi (\sigma )`$ can be found analytically:

$`\sigma _\psi ^2(\sigma )=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\sqrt{\pi }[q^2((2\sigma ^21)e^{\sigma ^2}+1)`$
$`+p^2((32\sigma ^2)e^{\sigma ^2}2e^{\frac{3}{4}\sigma ^2}(2\sigma ^2))].`$
The approximate envelope, $`A_\psi ^2`$, tends to the true envelope, $`|\psi |^2`$ (see Fig. 5).

We assume (without loss of generality Delprat et al. (1991)) that there is a single point of stationary phase for the integrand in Eq. (8) at $`t=t_s(a,b)`$. Under the conventional asymptotic approximation:

$$\left|\frac{\varphi _f}{t}\right|\left|\frac{1}{A}\frac{A_f}{t}\right|,$$
(12)
we expand $`\mathrm{\Phi }(t)`$ around the stationary point $`t_s`$ assuming $`\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)0`$ and substitute the approximate expression for $`A_\xi `$ from Eq. (10) into the integral, which can then be taken. This gives an approximate expression for the squared modulus of the CWT using the new wavelet:

$`\left|F(a,b)\right|^2`$ $``$ $`\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{2}}}\sigma _\psi A_f^2(t_s)\left(1+4a^4\sigma _\psi ^4\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)^2\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ (13)
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{a^2\sigma _\psi ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)^2(t_sb)^2}{1+4a^4\sigma _\psi ^4\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)^2}}\right].`$
Further, assuming the frequency of the mother wavelet to be constant ($`\varphi _\psi ^{\prime \prime }(t)=0`$) and the frequency variation of the signal to be slow in the region of interest (i.e. $`|\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)|a^2\sigma _\psi ^21`$) then:

$$\left|F(a,b)\right|^2\sqrt{\frac{\pi }{2}}\sigma _\psi A_f^2(t_s)e^{a^2\sigma _\psi ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^{\prime \prime }(t_s)^2(t_sb)^2}.$$
(14)
For a monochromatic signal (i.e. a signal which contains only a single frequency at any given position), there is a scale $`a_r(b)`$ at any given $`b`$ which corresponds to a basis wavelet centred at $`b`$ whose frequency $`\varphi _\xi ^{}(b;a_r(b),b)`$ is equal to the local frequency of $`f(t)`$. The scale $`a_r(b)`$ of this wavelet identifies the instantaneous frequency of the signal and may be found as the solution of the equation $`\mathrm{\Phi }^{}(b;a_r(b),b)=0`$. From the definition of the points of stationary phase ($`\mathrm{\Phi }^{}(t_s(a,b);a,b)=0`$), this corresponds to $`t_s(a_r(b),b)=b`$, an alternative equation which can be used to find $`a_r(b)`$. With the choice of normalization used in Eq. (1), it is clear that these points maximize the expression for the squared modulus of the CWT with respect to $`a`$ as obtained by the stationary-phase approximation, Eq. (14).

As the CWT is a linear operation, superimposed frequency components are manifested as different scales $`a_r^{(i)}(b)`$ which locally maximize $`|F|`$ (assuming sufficiently large $`\sigma `$ to resolve the peaks). The curves formed by the points $`a_r^{(i)}(b),b`$ are known as the “ridges” of the transform Delprat et al. (1991). The trajectory of each ridge can be used to extract the amplitude and frequency modulations of the corresponding signal components.

An approximate expression for the instantaneous amplitude, $`A_f(t)`$, of a signal component can be obtained by rewriting the stationary-phase approximation to the squared modulus of the WT (Eq. 14) on the ridge, $`|F(a_r^{(i)}(b),b)|^2\sqrt{\pi /2}\sigma _\psi A_f^{(i)}(b)^2`$, in terms of $`A_f(t)`$:

$$A_f^{(i)}(t)\left(\frac{1}{2}\pi \sigma _\psi ^2\right)^{\frac{1}{4}}\left|F(a_r^{(i)}(t),t)\right|.$$
(15)
There are two different well-known approximations to the instantaneous frequency $`\varphi _f^{}(t)/2\pi `$. As each has relative merits, we consider both.

The simplest approximation to the instantaneous frequency is the rate of change of the phase of the CWT with respect to $`b`$, evaluated at $`a_r(b),b`$:

$$\nu _f^{(i)}(t)\frac{1}{2\pi }\left|\left[\frac{}{b}\text{Arg}[F(a_r^{(i)}(b),b)]\right]_{b=t}\right|.$$
(16)
The derivation for this expression using the new wavelet is identical to that of the Morlet wavelet given by Delprat et al. Delprat et al. (1991).

The other approximation to the instantaneous frequency uses the equality of the frequency of the signal and of the wavelet on a ridge to create an expression for the frequency of the signal as a function of the scale $`a_r(b)`$ on the ridge and the frequency of the mother wavelet, $`\omega _\psi (\sigma )`$:

$$\nu _f^{(i)}(t)\frac{\omega _\psi }{2\pi }\left|a_r^{(i)}(t)\right|^1.$$
(17)
Conventionally, $`\omega _\psi `$ is taken to be the underlying modulating frequency, $`\sigma `$, of the mother wavelet function. However, this is a poor approximation at small $`\sigma `$. Therefore, the obvious definition of $`\omega _\psi `$ is the modal average (position of the highest peak) in the Fourier power spectrum $`|\widehat{\psi }|^2`$. Unfortunately, this expression for $`\omega _\psi `$ cannot be found analytically. However, even at small $`\sigma `$, the spectrum $`|\widehat{\psi }|^2`$ is nearly symmetric about the main peak (see Fig. 6). Therefore, the mean average is always a good approximation to the modal average (see Fig. 7) and, unlike the mode, the mean can be found analytically:

$`\omega _\psi (\sigma )`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{\pi }\sigma p(\sigma )q(\sigma )\left(1e^{\frac{3}{4}\sigma ^2}\right).`$ (18)
Using this expression for $`\omega _\psi `$ in conjunction with the relationship between scale and frequency in Eq. (17), a CWT may be plotted as a function $`|F(\omega _\psi /2\pi \nu ,t)|`$ of time and frequency.

Delprat et al. Delprat et al. (1991) proposed that the phase-based instantaneous frequency, Eq. (16), is more accurate than the modulus-based measurement, Eq. (17), and suggested an iterative algorithm for extracting signal components. Carmona et al. have since shown that the modulus-based measurement is extremely resiliant to noise Carmona et al. (1997) and have suggested numerous methods for extracting signal components using this approach Carmona et al. (1999).

Thus the instantaneous frequencies and amplitudes of components in a signal may be found from the CWT at the points where $`|F(a,b)|`$ is locally maximized with respect to $`a`$. These maxima can be identified numerically from a set of samples of $`F(a,b)`$ generated by discrete approximation to the integral expression for the CWT, Eq. (2). Once found, the maxima may be interpreted using the approximate analytic results given above.

### III.2 Example Function

The method described in the previous section is most easily clarified by the following examples. First, we choose to apply the method to the simple, variable-frequency function (see Fig. 8):

$$f(t)=\mathrm{sin}\left(t^2\right).$$
(19)
The FT $`\widehat{f}(\omega )=\frac{1}{2}\left(\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{1}{4}\omega ^2\right)\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{1}{4}\omega ^2\right)\right)`$ conveys little useful information about the original function.

However, the modulus of the WT does convey useful information, particularly when plotted as a function of frequency instead of scale (see Fig. 9) as this highlights the linearly changing local frequency of $`f(t)`$ (given by $`\nu _f=|/t\varphi _f|/2\pi `$) as a function of $`t`$.

The CWT of $`f(t)`$ contains a single, ‘V’ shaped ridge at $`a_r(b)`$. This ridge reflects both the frequency modulation of $`f(t)`$ (see Fig. 10) and the amplitude modulation (see Fig. 11). In all cases, the results show fluctuations linked with the phase $`\varphi _f`$ of the signal. However, compared to the Morlet wavelet, the new wavelet produces much smaller fluctuations in all results.

### III.3 Reduced Radial Distribution Function

We now apply the method described in Sec. 3.1 to a function of practical interest. We choose to study the RRDF $`d(r)`$ of a model glass structure.

The RRDF analyzed in this paper is taken from a structural model of the icosahedral (IC) glass Dzugutov (1993) created in a classical molecular-dynamics simulation Simdyankin et al. (2000). We calculate the transform as detailed in Sec. 2 and perform the analysis as discussed in Sec. 3 in order to study the components of $`d(r)`$. The function $`d(r)`$ is considered to be zero outside the range $`0<r<L/2`$, where $`L/225`$ is half the side of the cubic simulation super-cell which contains $`108,000`$ atoms.

The RRDF, $`d(r)`$, is defined in terms of the atomic density $`\rho (r)`$ as:

$$d(r)=4\pi r\left(\rho (r)\rho _0\right),$$
(20)
where $`\rho _0`$ is the average atomic density Elliott (1990). This is shown in Fig. 12a for the IC glass. Reduced Lennard-Jones units (r.u.) are used for length with the mean nearest-neighbour separation being $`1.15\pm 0.05`$r.u.. The damped extended-range density fluctuations are clearly visible, extending beyond $`10`$r.u. (see the inset in Fig. 12a).

From the Fourier power spectrum of $`d(r)`$ (shown in Fig. 12b), it is clear that $`d(r)`$ contains many components with different frequencies. The highest peak in $`|\widehat{d}|^2`$ occurs at the frequency $`\nu _d=1.08\pm 0.01`$. This peak has non-zero width implying that the real-space fluctuation in $`d(r)`$ corresponding to this peak has a spatially varying amplitude but we cannot deduce a functional form from this alone.

Plotting the modulus $`|F_d(a,b)|`$ of the CWT using different envelope widths, shown as a function of $`r`$ and $`\nu `$ ($`2\pi k`$) in Fig. 13, allows $`d(r)`$ to be examined in the time-frequency plane. Using small $`\sigma `$ results in high spatial resolution but poor frequency resolution and the ridges are smeared together (see Fig. 13a). Larger values of $`\sigma `$ separate the ridges at the cost of decreasing the spatial resolution (see Fig. 13b). Unlike the example function from the previous section, $`d(r)`$ contains several components with different frequencies which, particularly when using large $`\sigma `$, manifest themselves as separate ridges in the WT. In this paper we consider only the prominent ridge at $`\nu \nu _d`$ but the same analysis can be applied to the ridges seen at other frequencies.

The ridge along $`\nu \nu _d`$ shows that the prominent frequency component identified from the Fourier power spectrum of $`d(r)`$ is particularly strong around $`r=0`$ but decays away with greater $`r`$. This trajectory of the ridge can then be used to extract the instantaneous frequencies and amplitudes of this component in $`d(r)`$.

The instantaneous frequency found using $`\sigma =3`$ (see Fig. 14) remains constant over a large range of $`r`$. As expected, the scale at which this ridge occurs in the CWT of $`d(r)`$ corresponds to the position of the prominent peak in the Fourier power spectrum of $`d(r)`$.

The amplitudes of components in an RRDF are expected to tend to zero in the limit $`r\mathrm{}`$ for a disordered material due to the absence of long-range order. The instantaneous amplitude $`A_d(r)`$ of the dominant ridge extracted from the CWT using the new wavelet, Eq. (5), is shown plotted on a logarithmic scale in Fig. 15. The amplitude is clearly seen to decay exponentially in the region $`2<r<18`$. The reason for the exponential form of this decay (also observed by Ding et al. Ding et al. (1998) for silica glass) is not yet known.

The method used by Ding et al. Ding et al. (1998) could not reproduce the frequency modulation of the damped density fluctuations in $`d(r)`$ and their observed amplitude modulation contained only six points which were noted to decay approximately exponentially. In comparison, our method reproduces true, instantaneous frequencies (analogous to frequencies obtained by Fourier analysis), showing the frequency modulation of individual density fluctuations in $`d(r)`$, and the amplitude modulations of these variable-frequency components, as a continuum of points. This gives much more compelling evidence for the exponential decay first observed by Ding et al. Ding et al. (1998). In addition, we can detect a significant deviation from the exponential decay of $`A_d(r)`$ at large $`r`$ (see Fig. 15). This may either be due to statistical noise from the finite nature of the simulation or due to the use of periodic boundary conditions in the model producing effective long-range order. The precise reason needs further investigation.

## IV Conclusions

We have identified the complex, continuous wavelet transform using wavelets of constant shape Daubechies (1992) as a method well suited to the time-frequency analysis of one-dimensional functions. For our target application, namely the analysis of functions with components which have rapidly varying frequency and amplitude modulations, we have illustrated an important shortcoming of the existing Morlet wavelet Goupillaud et al. (1984), explained the origin of this shortcoming and proposed a new wavelet which overcomes the problem. In addition, we have specialized an existing method Delprat et al. (1991) for extracting instantaneous frequency and amplitude measurements from signals to the new wavelet.

Two example functions have been analysed using the new wavelet and new method of analysis. The first, a simple variable-frequency function, illustrates the significant improvement of the new wavelet over the Morlet wavelet and gives numerical evidence that our method of analysis is accurate. The second is a real-world example of a direct-space atomic correlation function of a glass which highlights the advantages of the method over the conventional Fourier transform and greatly improves upon the single, previous wavelet analysis of such a function by Ding et al. Ding et al. (1998).

We have successfully used the WT to analyze the reduced radial distribution function (RRDF) of a model glass and can immediately identify previously undetected features. The dominant component in the RRDF (the damped extended-range density fluctuations) has a period which rapidly settles to a constant value. Other components with different frequencies are present in the RRDF. These oscillations all have approximately exponentially decaying real-space amplitudes.


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# Quantum Interference Effects in Electronic Transport through Nanotube Contacts

## Abstract

Quantum interference has dramatic effects on electronic transport through nanotube contacts. In optimal configuration the intertube conductance can approach that of a perfect nanotube ($`4e^2/h`$). The maximum conductance increases rapidly with the contact length up to 10 nm, beyond which it exhibits long wavelength oscillations. This is attributed to the resonant cavity-like interference phenomena in the contact region. For two concentric nanotubes symmetry breaking can reduce the maximum intertube conductance from $`4e^2/h`$ to $`2e^2/h`$. The phenomena discussed here can serve as a foundation for building nanotube electronic circuits and high speed nanoscale electromechanical devices.

Carbon nanotubes have electronic and mechanic properties Saito et al. (1998) that make them excellent candidates for nanoscale electronic circuits. Simple devices such as diodes Hu et al. (1999), single electron transistors Tans et al. (1997); Bockrath et al. (1997), field effect transistors Tans et al. (1998); Martel et al. (1998) and elementary electronic circuits Bachtold et al. (2001) have been built. Understanding the electronic transport through nanotube contacts will be essential for more complex nanotube circuits. Several nanotube/metal contacts Frank et al. (1998); Bachtold et al. (1998); Anantram et al. (2000); Paulson et al. (2000) and intra-nanotube junctions Chico et al. (1996); Menon and Srivastava (1997); Tamura and Tsukada (1997); Nardelli (1999); Treboux (1999); Papadopoulos et al. (2000); Satishkumar et al. (2000); Ferreira et al. (2000) have been studied theoretically and experimentally. The possibility of using nanotube/nanotube contacts for electronic devices has been suggested Rueckes et al. (2000); Buldum and Lu (2001); Fuhrer et al. (2000); Tombler et al. (2000); Postma et al. (2000). In this paper we examine the electronic transport between two nanotubes, in parallel and in concentric geometries. The variation of conductance with the tube chirality and the contact length is investigated. Characteristic rapid oscillations in conductance, related to the nanotube atomic structure and the Fermi wavelength of the conduction band, are foundBuldum and Lu (2001). In general the inter-tube conductance is small when two tubes have different chirality. However, for armchair/armchair or zigzag/zigzag the contact conductance is significant and can approach $`4e^2/h`$ (the conductance of a perfect nanotube) when the contact length is of the order of 10 nm. Further increase in contact length reveals long wavelength oscillations. This is attributed to the quantum interference of the wavefunction in the contact region, which creates resonant cavity-like states. Such oscillations were found in a recent STM experiment Liang et al. (2001). For two concentric nanotubes it is found that the maximum intertube conductance is either $`4e^2/h`$ or $`2e^2/h`$ depending on the symmetry of the nanotubes.

The electronic structure of the nanotubes is modeled by a simple $`\pi `$-orbital tight binding hamiltonianSaito et al. (1998), taking into account the nanotube curvature. The quantum conductance is calculated using the Landauer-Büttiker formula, with a recursive Green-functions technique Nardelli (1999); Buldum and Lu (2001). This approach has been shown to provide good agreement with experimentally measured electronic structure and transport properties Ouyang et al. (2002); Liang et al. (2001); Nardelli (1999); Buldum and Lu (2001). Electron-electron interactions play an important role in electronic transport through carbon nanotubes Bockrath et al. (1999), however they have little effect on conductance when the contacts with the leads are highly transparent Kong et al. (2001). In our model the leads are perfect nanotubes to insure good contact with the structure being investigated, therefore electron-electron interactions are not included in the present calculations.

For the case of two nanotubes in parallel contact not , the distance between nanotubes is fixed to 3.1Å from molecular dynamics simulations. The conductance is not sensitive to small changes in the intertube distance around this value.

Various combinations of metallic nanotubes with different tube size and chirality were investigated. The size of nanotubes is found to have no substantial effect on the conductance, however it depends sensitively on chirality. Shown in Fig. 1 are typical examples of intertube conductance as a function of energy. The best conductance is achieved for armchair/armchair or zigzag/zigzag configurations. For armchair/armchair contacts the conductance can approach that of a perfect nanotube, $`4e^2/h`$ (Fig. 1 (a)). In contrast, it is an order of magnitude smaller when the two tubes have different chirality(Fig. 1 (c)). This is due to the fact that only zigzag/zigzag and armchair/armchair contacts allow optimal configurations in which delocalized states are present across the contact (see also Fig 3 (a)). As a function of energy, the conductance exhibits a series of minima. Examination of electronic structure revealed that these minima correspond to peaks in the density of states (DOS) of the contact region. This suggests that resonant backscattering due to the quasi bound states formed in the contact area is responsible for the conductance dips (see also Fig. 2, 3). Similar effects have been found for nanotubes with defects Treboux et al. (1999); Choi et al. (2000); Kong et al. (2001).

When examining the dependence of conductance on the contact length we found two types of characteristic oscillations \[Fig. 2\]. At atomic length scale rapid oscillation of conductance with the contact length is related to the unit cell length ($`a_0=2.46`$Å for armchair nanotube and $`a_0=4.26`$Å for zigzag nanotube) and is due to the resonant backscattering on the quasibound states Choi et al. (2000) (notice the same correlation between minima in conductance and maxima in DOS as in the case of energy dependence). In armchair/armchair contacts additional modulation related to the Fermi wavelength is also present Meunier et al. (1999); Rubio et al. (1999); Venema et al. (1999).

As one continuously increases the contact length, the rapid oscillation in conductance persists. The envelope of the oscillation shows smooth variation with the contact length (Fig. 2 (c)). Initially the maximum conductance increases rapidly with the contact length. The maximum value approaches $`4e^2/h`$ (value for a perfect tube) for contact lengths of the order of 10nm. This is surprising considering that the number of quasibound states also increases with the contact length. The explanation is that the quasibound states are formed mainly for certain local arrangements of the atoms in the contact area for which the minima in conductance remain indeed very low at any contact length. For other arrangements delocalized states are formed which facilitate the conduction. In such cases the DOS has values close to those of the perfect tube (see also Fig. 3 (a),(b)). Further increase of the contact length shows unexpected long wavelength oscillation in conductance (Fig. 2 (c)). Resonant cavity-like interference is responsible for this interesting feature. To understand this phenomenon better in Fig. 3 we show 2D contour plots of the local density of states (LDOS) as a function of energy and position along the contact for fixed contact lengths. When the conductance is in the vicinity of a global maximum (marked 2 in Fig. 2 (c)) the LDOS is small and smooth along the contact (Fig. 3 (a),(b)) for most energies. In contrast, when the conductance is in the vicinity of a global minimum (marked 3 in Fig. 2 (c)), one can observe a clear interference pattern across the contact area (Fig. 3 (c)), due to the formation of a resonant cavity in such a configuration. Such resonance is very similar to that observed in a recent experiment Lemay et al. (2001).

In a semiinfinite tube resonant backscattering of the electrons takes place due to the finite end. The incoming wave and the reflected wave interfere producing a set of maxima and minima in the LDOS along the tube. When two nanotubes are in parallel contact, if the interference maxima in the two tubes overlap for a certain energy and contact length, the contact exhibits a resonant cavity-like behavior. A standing wave pattern in the LDOS along the contact can be observed in this case (Fig. 3 (c)) and the conductance has a global minimum (area 3 in Fig. 2 (c), Fig. 3(d)). When the interference maxima in one tube overlap with the minima in the other tube the LDOS in the two tubes are out of phase and the resonant cavity-like behavior is destroyed (Fig. 3 (a), (b)). The electrons can be easily transmitted through the contact, thus high conductance values (area 2 in Fig. 2 (c), Fig. 3(b)).

As a function of the contact length the long wavelength oscillation of the conductance depends on the energy: the further the energy is from 0 the smaller is the oscillation wavelength. In a crude approximation we can treat this phenomenon as a beat-like interference between the incoming wave ($`k_1`$) and the reflected one ($`k_2`$) when they are in different bands, resulting in a modulation of wavelength $`\lambda _i=\frac{2\pi }{k_1k_2}`$. The dispersion relation for the two conduction bands of an armchair nanotube can be written as $`\mathrm{\Delta }E=\pm V_0(12\mathrm{cos}\frac{ka}{2})`$ Saito et al. (1998). The wave vectors of the electrons located in these bands will be $`k_{1,2}=\frac{2}{a}(\frac{\pi }{3}\pm \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }E}{V_0\sqrt{3}})`$ near Fermi energy, therefore $`\lambda _i=\frac{2\pi }{k_1k_2}=\frac{3\pi V_0d}{2\mathrm{\Delta }E}`$. Thus the wavelength of the long range oscillation should be inverse proportional to the energy. This can be clearly seen in Fig. 3(c) where as one moves away from $`E=0`$ the number of maxima increases with the energy across a given contact. Such long range oscillations in LDOS have been observed previously in low dimension electron gas systems Yokoyama et al. (1998); Li et al. (1998). Recent experiments on nanotubes also suggest the existence of such long wave oscillations Liang et al. (2001); Lemay et al. (2001); Kong et al. (2001).

The possibility of using multiwall carbon nanotubes as electric circuits components has been suggested since their discovery Dresselhaus et al. (1993); Saito et al. (1993). Recent experiments show that building devices out of multiwall nanotubes is now possible Cumings and Zettl (2000), revealing new potential applications Zheng and Jiang (2002). We considered a contact built from a multiwall nanotube, consisting of two semiinfinite concentric tubes, such that the inner tube can telescope. The dependence of the intertube conductance on the size and the chirality of the tubes was examined. The best conductance is once again achieved by armchair/armchair and zigzag/zigzag contacts; the other combinations show a conductance at least an order of magnitude smaller. Both atomic scale and long wavelength oscillations are also present. For a given contact length the conductance maxima show a steeper initial increase with the contact length due to the larger contact area of the concentric geometry compared to the parallel case (Fig. 4). The conductance of the contact depends on the intertube distance. The maximum conductance is obtained when the intertube distance $`d_i`$ is around 3.4Å, the observed interwall distance in multiwall nanotubesEbbesen and Ajayan (1992).

Because in the concentric geometry the symmetry axes of the two nanotubes are aligned the angular momentum is a good quantum number. This means that an electron starting in one of the tubes must scatter to a state with the same symmetry in the other nanotube Chico et al. (1996) (this is not the case when the two nanotubes are in parallel contact, as they do not share a common axis and therefore angular momentum is not a good quantum number). Considering the case of $`(n_1,n_1)/(n_2,n_2)`$ nanotube contacts, the two nanotubes have a $`C_{n_1}`$ and $`C_{n_2}`$ symmetry respectively. Correspondingly the $`\pi `$ bands have the angular quantum number 0 in both tubes Chico et al. (1996), while the $`\pi ^{}`$ bands have $`n_1`$ and $`n_2`$ respectively Choi et al. (1999). As a consequence, the conduction channel due to the $`\pi `$ band remains always open while the the conduction channel due to the $`\pi ^{}`$ band is open only if the two nanotubes have compatible rotational symmetry. As an illustration, we show in Fig. 4 the conductance for (5,5)/(10,10) (dotted line) and (6,6)/(11,11) (full line) contacts. In the case of (5,5)/(10,10) contact the $`\pi `$ bands have compatible rotational symmetries and the conduction can reach $`4e^2/h`$. For (6,6)/(11,11) contact the rotational symmetries are incompatible hence the maximum value reached by the conductance is $`2e^2/h`$. This may explain the observation of only one conductance channel in some multiwall nanotubes experiments Frank et al. (1998).

In conclusion, nanotube/nanotube contacts exhibit a variety of novel interesting phenomena. We found that the best conductance is achieved for armchair/armchair and zigzag/zigzag contacts. The conductance maxima increase with the contact length and can reach the value for a perfect tube. For larger contact lengths a long wavelength oscillatory behavior is found. This is attributed to the resonant cavity-like interference phenomena in the contact region. For two concentric nanotubes symmetry breaking can reduce the maximum intertube conductance from $`4e^2/h`$ to $`2e^2/h`$. The phenomena discussed here can serve as a foundation for building nanotube electronic circuits and high speed nanoscale electromechanical devices.

*

###### Acknowledgements.

This work is supported by the U.S. Army Research Office Grant No. DAAG55-98-1-0298, the Office of Naval Research Grant No. N00014-98-1-0597 and NASA Ames Research Center. We acknowledge computational support from the North Carolina Supercomputer Center.


text:
# Relational Relativity

(February 2002)

## Abstract

According to a simple model of inertia a Machianized theory of special and general relativity named as relational relativity is presented.

Keywords: Inertia, Mach’s Principle, Relativity,

I. Introduction

The famous issues of Newtonian absolute space and time were followed by many constructive critiques of relationalists. The most efficient works of this kind were due to the Ernst Mach, the contemporary physicist and philosopher. Various aspects of Mach’s ideas concerning the motion , from Newton’s bucket to quantum gravity, have been collected in the proceeding of the conference held at Tübingen (July 1993) for this purpose. Also among recent references the reader is refered to the works of Assis and Ghosh .
In his critique of Newtonian mechanics(NM), Mach arrived at the following two conclusions:

* \- Only the relative motion of a body with respect to other bodies is observable, not motion with regard to absolute space.
* \- The inertial motion of a body is influenced by all the masses in the Universe.

To appreciate fully these two physically pleasant ideas we have applied them in a proposed classical model of inertia. In this model we consider the inertia as a real two body interaction. For a system of two particles 1 and 2, in an arbitrary non-rotating reference frame $`S`$, this force is proportional to the difference of their accelerations with respect to $`S`$ and to the inertial charges of each particle as follows:

$$\stackrel{}{F}_{inertia}=\mu c_1c_2(\stackrel{}{a}_1\stackrel{}{a}_2)$$
(1)
Here $`\mu `$ is a coupling constant , $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$ represent the inertial charges of particles 1 and 2 respectively and $`(\stackrel{}{a}_1`$ and $`\stackrel{}{a}_2)`$ are their accelerations with respect to $`S`$. In a system consisting of N particles the total force imposed on the $`i`$th particle is :

$$\stackrel{}{F}_i=\mu c_i\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}c_j(\stackrel{}{a}_i\stackrel{}{a}_j)$$
(2)
where the index $`i`$ referes to the particle $`i`$ and the summation is over all particles. By defenition in the real world the inertial charge and the Newtonian inertial mass of a particle are related as follows:

$$m_i=\mu c_i\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}c_j.$$
(3)
Summation is taken over all particles in the Universe. This means that the inertial mass of a particle (say labelled j) depends on its own feature ($`c_j`$) and a global effect of all particles in the world($`\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}c_j`$) . This may be considered as a simple formulation of Mach’s idea concerning inertia. Since local inhomogenities have no observed effect on the inertial mass then it is accepted that the inertial mass is determined by the global structure of the Universe and this is exactly expressed by Eq.(3). Rewriting Eq.(2) in terms of the inertial masses yields a modified form of the Newton’s second law, i.e.,

$$\stackrel{}{F}_i=m_i\left(\stackrel{}{a}_i\frac{\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}m_j\stackrel{}{a}_j}{\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}m_j}\right)$$
(4)
As it is evident these equations are invariant under a more general transformation than Galilean’s. These transformations may be called generalized Galilean transformations with the form:

$$\{\begin{array}{c}t^{^{}}=t\hfill \\ \stackrel{}{a}^{^{}}=\stackrel{}{a}\stackrel{}{b}\hfill \\ \stackrel{}{u}^{^{}}=\stackrel{}{u}\stackrel{}{b}t\stackrel{}{v}\hfill \\ \stackrel{}{x}^{^{}}=\stackrel{}{x}\frac{1}{2}\stackrel{}{b}t^2t\stackrel{}{v}+\stackrel{}{x}_0\hfill \end{array}$$
(5)
where $`\stackrel{}{b}`$, $`\stackrel{}{v}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{x}_0`$ are constant acceleration ,velocity and position of $`S^{^{}}`$ with respect to $`S`$ at $`t=0`$ respectively.

Eq.(4) satisfies full Machian aspects. The one which is of interest is that the so-called absolute space is just the frame attached to the center of mass of the Universe in which the Newtonian second law, $`\stackrel{}{F}_i=m_i\stackrel{}{a}_i`$ is recovered. The main feature of this model from a Machian point of view is its relational nature, so that the presence of each particle in the Universe and its location relative to the others determine the inertial reference frames. It is seen that Eqs. (2) and (4) also satisfy Newton’s third law automatically. For a two particle system we have $`\stackrel{}{F}_1=\stackrel{}{F}_2`$ and for a system with N particles they make $`\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\stackrel{}{F}_i=0`$.

We may also extend this model to gravity. Equivalence principle here means that the source of inertia and gravitation is the same. Let us define the gravitational force between two particles of inertial charges $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$ as:

$$|\stackrel{}{F}_G|=\frac{\mu ^2c_1c_2}{|\stackrel{}{r}_{12}|^2}$$
(6)
Then we can express gravitational constant $`G`$ in terms of inertial charges $`c_i`$s;

$$G=\left(\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}c_j\right)^2$$
(7)
or

$$G=\frac{\mu }{\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}m_j}$$
(8)
Eqs. (7) and (8) show that $`G`$ as a global effect is resulted from all inertial charges and we may infer that $`\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}c_j`$ is finite. According to the Mach’s ideas the so-called physical constants (including G) should be determined from global features of the Universe. Thus Eqs. (7) and (8) reveal the very feature of a good Machian model.

The Lagrangian function from which Eq.(4) may be extracted is simply obtained by following the canonical procedure of D’Alembert’s principle. Starting from Eq.(4) and restricting ourselves to systems for which the virtual work of the forces of constraint vanishes we obtain

$$\underset{i}{}\left[\stackrel{}{F}_im_i\left(\stackrel{}{a}_i\frac{\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}m_j\stackrel{}{a}_j}{\underset{j=1}{\overset{all}{}}m_j}\right)\right]\delta \stackrel{}{r}_i=0,$$
(9)
which is the new form of D’Alembert principle. Here $`\delta \stackrel{}{r_i}`$s are infinitesimal changes of coordinates as the result of virtual displacement of the system. This leads to the result just like the one in ordinary NM except that the kinetic energy $`T`$ that is equal to $`\underset{i}{}\frac{1}{2}m_iv_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}`$ should be replaced by:

$`T`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m_iv_i^2{\displaystyle \frac{\left[\underset{i}{}m_iv_i\right]^2}{2\underset{i}{}m_i}}`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{j}{}}m_im_j{\displaystyle \frac{(\stackrel{}{v}_i\stackrel{}{v}_j)^2}{\underset{k}{}m_k}}`$
Indeed the difference is the second term in the first row and is just the kinetic energy of the center of mass which is canceld out in this model. This is well justified when is applied in cosmology. Where we are dealing with the whole Universe, motion and kinetic energy of its center of mass have no physical meaning.

The new form of $`T`$ as a function of the magnitude of relative velocities of particles has a scalar invariant manner. Then as an other advantage in this model the Lagrangian and Hamitonian of a system are scalar invariants from point of view of a nonrotating observer.

$$L=\frac{1}{4}\underset{i}{}\underset{j}{}m_im_j\frac{(\stackrel{}{v}_i\stackrel{}{v}_j)^2}{\underset{k}{}m_k}V(r_{ij})$$
(11)
It is noticeable that in a different way to obtain a relational NM Eq.(11) has been proposed by Lynden-Bell.

We may summarize the Machian features of this model as follows:

1. The relational nature of this model is so that by considerng relational distances there is no need to assume absolute space or inertial frame. Indeed the so-called inertial frame is the frame attached to the center of mass of the Universe. Then existance of each particle and its location with respect to others determine the inertial frames.
2. Inertial mass of each particle depends on its own inertial charge and the sum of inertial charges of all particles in the world. It is not a natural constant , and may change whenever the total inertial charge of the world undergoes any change(e.g. in pair production era).
3. Gravitational constant $`G`$ is related to the sum of all inertial charges existing in the Universe and as a global effect each individual paticle shares in its construction. Just like inertial mass , this may be changed whenever the total inertial charge of the world faces with changes.
4. The concept of energy in this model is independent of measuring reference frame and is an invariant scalar quantity.
5. For an empty universe it does predict no structure.

Collection of these features in the above model provides us a suitable guide to continue and achieve a modified theory of relativity, i.e. a theory of relativity without any non-Machian shortcoming, what we may call as relational relativity(RR). As a first step toward RR it is convinient to begin with special relativity (SR).

II. Relational Special Relativity

At the begining it should be noticed that according to the Eqs. (7) and (8) it is possible to assume a world without inertia via vanishing the coupling constant $`\mu `$, but the assumption of a world without gravitation is physically impossible. Then the subject of special relativity because of its ignorance of gravitation is under question and cannot be considered as a global theory from a Machian standpoint. In spite of this we try to present a relational special theory of relativity.

Although Michelson-Morley experiment rejects the concept of ether but SR still is based on the same assumption of the existence of absolute space and preference of inertial frames as NM. In a relational approach we may remove the need for absolute space in SR. To do this task some preliminary remarks should be mentioned.
In NM the Lagrangian of a free particle is just the kinetic energy and its action is

$$S=𝑑t(\frac{1}{2}m\dot{x}^2).$$
(12)
where $`\dot{x}`$ is the velocity of the particle with mass $`m`$. In SR this is changed to the following form

$$S=m𝑑t(1\dot{x}^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}=m𝑑s$$
(13)
so that in low velocity limit $`(\dot{x}1)`$ the equation of motion returns to the Newtonian form. Other form of this relation in terms of space-time metric is

$$S=m𝑑t\left(g_{\mu \nu }\frac{dx^\mu }{dt}\frac{dx^\nu }{dt}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}.$$
(14)
That is the Lagrangian is as follows

$$L=m(g_{\mu \nu }\dot{x}^\mu \dot{x}^\nu )^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(15)
where $`g_{\mu \nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }`$ i.e., just the Minkowski metric.
According to the definition of canonical momentum we have

$$p_\alpha =\frac{L}{\dot{x}^\alpha }=\frac{m\eta _{\alpha \mu }\dot{x}^\mu }{(\eta _{\mu \nu }\dot{x}^\mu \dot{x}^\nu )^{\frac{1}{2}}}=m\eta _{\alpha \mu }u^\mu $$
(16)
where by definition $`\frac{dx^\mu }{ds}=u^\mu `$.
Then the equation of motion has the form

$$m\dot{u}_\alpha =0.$$
(17)
For a system of N particles with masses $`m_a,a=1,2,..N`$ is made by defining the action as

$$S=\underset{a=1}{\overset{N}{}}m_a(\eta _{\mu \nu }\frac{dx_a^\mu }{dp}\frac{x_a^\nu }{dp})^{\frac{1}{2}}𝑑p$$
(18)
where $`p`$ is an affine parameter and the Lagrangian is:

$$L=\underset{a=1}{\overset{N}{}}m_a(\eta _{\mu \nu }\frac{dx_a^\mu }{dp}\frac{dx_a^\nu }{dp})^{\frac{1}{2}}.$$
(19)
We should add two other primary remarks about geometrical and physical points. With physical point we mean a point mass but a geometrical point need not contain any matter. We should insist in this fact that a distance measurement is only made between two physical points. So in presenting the line element definition instead of measuring the distance of physical points with respect to an arbitrary origin we should define it in terms of the distance between physical points (or physically significant points e.g. center of mass of a system). Certainly this definition has higher Machian(Relational) validity. Now from this point of view let us define the line element $`ds_a^2`$ for a noninteracting N particle system as:

$$ds_a^2=\eta _{\mu \nu }\left(dx_{a}^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }\frac{\underset{b}{}m_bdx_{b}^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }}{\underset{b}{}m_b}\right)\left(dx_{a}^{}{}_{}{}^{\nu }\frac{\underset{b}{}m_bdx_{b}^{}{}_{}{}^{\nu }}{\underset{b}{}m_b}\right)$$
(20)
where index ($`a`$) refers to the particle labeled ($`a`$). Then the related action and Lagrangian are:

$$S=\underset{a}{}m_a[\eta _{\mu \nu }(\frac{dx_a^\mu }{dp}\frac{\underset{b}{}m_b\frac{dx_b^\mu }{dp}}{\underset{b}{}m_b})(\frac{dx_a^\nu }{dp}\frac{\underset{b}{}m_b\frac{dx_b^\nu }{dp}}{\underset{b}{}m_b})]^{\frac{1}{2}}𝑑t$$
(21)
$$L=\underset{a}{}m_a\left[\eta _{\mu \nu }\left(\frac{dx_a^\mu }{dp}\frac{dx_{cm}^\mu }{dp}\right)\left(\frac{dx_a^\nu }{dp}\frac{dx_{cm}^\nu }{dp}\right)\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}.$$
(22)
The canonical momentum of the kth particle is

$`(p_k)_\alpha ={\displaystyle \frac{L}{\frac{dx_k^\alpha }{dp}}}`$ $`=`$ $`\eta _{\alpha \nu }m_k{\displaystyle \frac{(\frac{dx_k^\nu }{dp}\frac{dx_{cm}^\nu }{dp})}{\frac{ds_k}{dp}}}`$ (23)
$`=`$ $`\eta _{\alpha \nu }m_k(u_k^\nu u_{cm}^\nu )`$
$`=`$ $`m_k((u_k)_\alpha (u_{cm})_\alpha ).`$
Since $`\frac{L}{x_k^\alpha }=0`$ and $`\frac{d}{dp}(p_k)_\alpha =m_k\eta _{\alpha \nu }(\frac{du_k^\nu }{dp}\frac{du_{cm}^\nu }{dp})`$ , then the equation of motion of the kth particle is

$$\stackrel{}{\frac{du_k}{dp}}\stackrel{}{\frac{du_{cm}}{dp}}=0$$
(24)
which is just the same as the modified form (4) in the Newtonian limit.

The Lagrangian (22) is written without any coordination with respect to a priori fixed virtual absolute space and these are particles by their own relative locations that determine it. This is free from that non-Machian aspects suffering the standard SR. So we may call the relativistic theory based on this Lagrangian as relational special relativity.

III. Relational General Relativity

It seems the same approach may be followed to obtain the relational GR. But this is not so straightforward. Because to extrapolate this result to GR, i.e. to change the Minkowskian flat space-time ($`\eta _{\mu \nu }`$) into the Riemannian curved space-time ($`g_{\mu \nu }`$), care should be taken of dealing with vector quantities. Summation of the vectors in this case needs parallel transportation of them which in turn requires to define the path of transportation for each of them. To achieve a relational theory of GR it requires choosing another strategy with some different approach as follows.

Initially we remark the center of mass(CM) concept in NM. With the help of this concept in the Eucledian space NM of a single particle can be extrapolated and be applied to a system with N particles. The classical meaning of CM losses its uniqueness when enters in the realm of relativity so that different observers find different points as CM of a given system. The important point worthy to notice about CM is its dual character from a Machian point of view so that despite of its great value as a technical tool to present the relational motion on the other hand as a point in which total mass of the system is located and its motion is to be considered is quite anti-Machian concept. A single point has no motion and no inertia.

Turning back to the NM we may define the center of inertial charge (CI). By definition:

$`X_{CI}^\mu `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\underset{i}{}\underset{j}{}c_ic_j(x_i^\mu +x_j^\mu )}{2(\underset{j}{}c_j)^2}}`$ (25)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\underset{i}{}m_ix_i^\mu }{\underset{i}{}m_i}}=X_{CM}^\mu `$
where $`X_{CM}^\mu `$ and $`X_{CI}^\mu `$ are coordinates of CM and CI respectively. As it is evident the concept of CI has also a mutually relational content between particles.
Now it is easy to show that the result (4) may be obtained with the help of Lagrangian formalism in NM and imposing the following condition on CI;

$$\delta X_{CI}^\mu 0$$
(26)
Because

$$\delta X_{CI}^\mu =\underset{i}{}m_i\delta x_i^\mu =0,$$
(27)
and imposing this by using the method of undetermined Lagrangian multipliers in variations of the action of a system with N noninteractiong particles , yields:

$$\delta I=\underset{n}{}𝑑t[m_n\ddot{x}_n^\mu +fm_n]\delta x_n^\mu 0$$
(28)
where the coefficient $`f`$ is determined as follows:

$$f=\frac{\underset{n}{}m_n\ddot{x}_n^\mu }{\underset{n}{}m_n}$$
(29)
Thus the equation of motion (4) is obtained. Also with consideration of the condition (27) in variation of the action (18)in special relativity the result (22) may be obtained.

To remove the Machian objection to the concept of CM the following condition as a Machian condition may be imposed to the variations of the dynamical variables $`x_\nu ^\mu `$ of the system. Let us first define $`X^\mu `$ as

$$X^\mu \underset{n}{}m_nx_n^\mu .$$
(30)
Of course $`X^\mu `$ is not a vector quantity and depends to the chosen reference frame. Let us denote its variations with$`\delta X^\mu `$:

$$\delta X^\mu \underset{n}{}m_n\delta x_n^\mu $$
(31)
Here$`\delta X^\mu `$ is not vector while $`\delta x_n^\mu `$s are vectors. Similarly $`\delta X_\mu `$ is defined as follows:

$$\delta X_\mu \underset{n}{}m_ng_{\mu \lambda }(x_n)\delta x_n^\lambda $$
(32)
Now as a Machian principle we postulate that allways $`\delta X_\mu `$ vanishes(lower index is chosen only for convenience). This means that variations of dynamical variables $`x_n^\mu `$ are under the following condition:

$$\underset{n}{}m_ng_{\mu \lambda }(x_n)\delta x_n^\lambda =0$$
(33)
Despite of this fact that (33) is not a covariant condition we can make the best use of it to find at least a clue for the geodesic equations in GR.

Matter action for a system consisting of $`N`$ particles with masses $`m_n`$ is given by the following form in GR;

$$I=\underset{n}{}m_n𝑑p\left(g_{\mu \nu }(x_n(p))\frac{dx_n^\mu (p)}{dp}\frac{dx_n^\nu }{dp}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(34)
where $`p`$ is some quantity that simultaneously parametrizes all the space-time trajectories of the various particles.

Variation of the action (34) due to an infinitesimal variation in the dynamical variables $`x^\mu x^\mu (p)+\delta x^\mu (p)`$ is given by:

$`\delta I={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}`$ $`m_n`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝑑p[g_{\mu \nu }(x_n(p))\frac{dx_n^\mu (p)}{dp}\frac{dx_n^\nu (p)}{dp}]^{\frac{1}{2}}}`$ (35)
$`\times \{2g_{\mu \nu }(x_n(p)){\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\mu (p)}{dp}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\delta x_n^\nu (p)}{dp}}`$
$`+\left({\displaystyle \frac{g_{\mu \nu }(x)}{x^\lambda }}\right)_{x=x_n(p)}{\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\mu (p)}{dp}}{\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\nu }{dp}}\delta x_n^\lambda (p)\}`$
It is convenient to change variables of integration (35) from $`p`$ to the $`\tau _n`$ (the proper time of the particle $`n`$) defined by:

$$d\tau _n(g_{\mu \nu }dx_n^\mu dx_n^\nu )^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(36)
So the integral in (35) may be written in a simpler form:

$`\delta I={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}m_n{\displaystyle }d\tau _n\{2g_{\mu \lambda }(x_n){\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\mu }{d\tau _n}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\delta x_n^\lambda }{d\tau _n}}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{g_{\mu \nu }(x_n)}{x_n^\lambda }}{\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\mu }{d\tau _n}}{\displaystyle \frac{dx_n^\nu }{d\tau _n}}\delta x_n^\lambda \}`$ (37)
Finally integration by parts of the first term in (37) with the condition that $`\delta x^\mu (\tau _n)`$ vanishes on the boundaries of integration yields that :

$$\delta I=\underset{n}{}𝑑\tau _ng_{\mu \lambda }(x_n)\left\{m_n(\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{d\tau _n^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_n^\rho }{d\tau _n}\frac{dx_n^\sigma }{d\tau _n})\right\}\delta x_n^\lambda $$
(38)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu `$ are the second type Christoffel symbols. Then according to the principle of stationary action, $`\delta I`$ vanishes for general variations in the dynamical variables $`\delta x_n^\lambda `$ if and only if the dynamical variables obey the geodesic equations:

$$\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{d\tau _n^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_n^\rho }{d\tau _n}\frac{dx_n^\sigma }{d\tau _n}=0$$
(39)
Now we repeat the above standard process with consideration of the Machian condition (33) to achieve the equations of motion. To impose the mentioned condition with the method of undetermined Lagrangian multipliers it is enough only to add the following term to the variations of the action (34)

$$𝑑pf^\mu \underset{n}{}m_ng_{\mu \lambda }(x_n)\delta x_n^\lambda $$
(40)
where $`f^\mu `$s are undetermined coefficients and just as in (34) parameter $`p`$ is an arbitrary quantity which simultaneously parametrizes the space-time trajectories of different particles. Then we have:

$$\delta I=\underset{n}{}𝑑p\left\{m_ng_{\mu \lambda }(x_n)[\frac{p}{\tau _n}(\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{dp^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_n^\rho }{dp}\frac{dx_n^\sigma }{dp})+f^\mu ]\right\}\delta x_n^\lambda =0$$
(41)
With $`f^\mu `$s determined as:

$$f^\mu =\frac{\underset{n}{}m_n\frac{p}{\tau _n}(\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{dp}\frac{dx_n^\sigma }{dp})}{\underset{n}{}m_n}$$
(42)
Because of the mean operation over all particles $`f^\mu `$ is a global quantity.

Therefore by inserting the value of $`f^\mu `$ the Machianized form or the relational form of the geodesic equations of motion are derived as follows:

$$\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{dp^2}\frac{\underset{j}{}m_j\frac{\tau _n}{\tau _j}\frac{d^2x_j^\mu }{dp^2}}{\underset{j}{}m_j}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_n^\rho }{dp}\frac{dx_n^\sigma }{dp}\frac{\underset{j}{}m_j\frac{\tau _n}{\tau _j}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_j^\rho }{dp}\frac{dx_j^\sigma }{dp}}{\underset{j}{}m_j}=0$$
(43)
It reveals that in the weak field limit the equations (43) correspond with the Newtonian one , because the Christoffel symbols vanish and parameters $`\tau _n`$ in this limit are all the same and are equal to $`t`$, then Eq.(43) reduces to the modified Newtonian form Eq.(4).

Now according to the relational result (43) we may propose the covariant form of the geodesic equations as follows:

$$\frac{d^2x_n^\mu }{dp^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\rho \sigma }^\mu \frac{dx_n^\rho }{dp}\frac{dx^\sigma }{dp}\frac{\underset{j}{}m_j\frac{\tau _n}{\tau _j}U_{x_j}^{x_n}(\frac{d^2x_j^\mu }{dp^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{alpha\beta }^\mu \frac{dx_j^\alpha }{dp}\frac{dx_j^\beta }{dp})}{\underset{j}{}m_j}=0$$
(44)
where $`U_{x_j}^{x_n}`$is the parallel transportation operator from the location of the jth particle to the location of the nth one.

IV. Remarks

We are now staying at a standpoint that may return to the famous question that “whether the formalism of general relativity and the Einstein equations are perfectly Machian?” and have a strictly positive answer to it. Checking the Machian(or anti-Machian) aspects of GR we notice that;

1. By now in front of the basic question that why the Einstein field equations have nontrivial solution flat space $`R_{\mu \nu }=0`$ for empty universe we had to resort to the boudary condition reasons. Hereafter, with what we have find about inertia it is seen that the Einstein field equations $`\frac{c^4}{8\pi G}R_{\mu \nu }=(T_{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{2}g_{\mu \nu }T)`$ predict $`0=0`$ (instead of $`R_{\mu \nu }=0`$)for empty universe. For assuming vacuum $`T,T_{\mu \nu }=0`$ makes the RHS of the field equations to be equal zero and on the other side the coupling constant appears on the LHS as $`G^1`$, which in turn according to the relations (7) and (8) depends on the existence of all particles in the universe, $`G\frac{1}{\underset{i}{}m_i}`$, so for the empty universe $`\underset{i}{}m_i=0`$ and thus the field equations yield to $`0=0`$, that is a perfectly Machian result.
2. For a world with a single particle, although the field equations based on the presented model of inertia predict a solution that is independent of inertial charge and merely depending to the coupling constant $`\mu `$. But for its geodesic equation the relations (43) and (44) yield to the result $`0=0`$, that means denying any motion for a single particle , an ideal result from a Machian point of view.

Acknowledgements

A.M.A. would like to thank Prof. J. Barbour for his comments and encouragements.


text:
# Spin Wave Propagation in the Domain State of a Random Field Magnet

## Abstract

Inelastic neutron scattering with high wave-vector resolution has characterized the propagation of transverse spin wave modes near the antiferromagnetic zone center in the metastable domain state of a random field Ising magnet. A well-defined, long wavelength excitation is observed despite the absence of long-range magnetic order. Direct comparisons with the spin wave dispersion in the long-range ordered antiferromagnetic state reveal no measurable effects from the domain structure. This result recalls analogous behavior in thermally disordered anisotropic spin chains but contrasts sharply with that of the phonon modes in relaxor ferroelectrics.

Disorder in a condensed matter system can strongly influence mode propagation through the medium, providing a unique perspective on its microscopic behavior. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of such effects from disorder, we have performed a neutron scattering study of the long wavelength spin waves of the frozen domain state of a random field magnet. Despite the wealth of attention directed at the random field problem birgeneau-review , little attention has been directed toward the spin wave dispersion in these systems. Our study has been motivated in part by experiments on the phonons in several relaxor ferroelectrics including Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 and Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 that have demonstrated interesting anomalies associated with the disorder in these systems gehring-prb ; gehring-preprint ; gehring-prl ; koo . Specifically, at wave vectors near 0.2 Å-1, the dispersion of the transverse optic branch appears to drop precipitously into the acoustic branch. This phenomenon has been identified with a sharply wave-vector dependent overdamping associated with the presence of polar nanoregions in the relaxors gehring-prb . To test the generality of such behavior for systems with disorder, we have performed a search for analogous effects in the spin waves of the domain state of the random field magnet. In marked contrast to the phonons in the relaxors, we observe well-defined long wavelength excitations transverse to the ordering axis, despite the absence of long range order, and find no measurable effect on the spin waves from the domain structure. We identify the persistence of these modes as an apparently generic feature of disordered magnetic systems with anisotropy, as first realized in thermally disordered spin chains villain ; CsNiF3 ; TMMC .

The experiments were performed on a diluted antiferromagnet, MnxZn1-xF2 with $`x=0.5`$, cooled in a magnetic field parallel to the Ising axis. The physics of the diluted Ising antiferromagnet in a uniform field can be mapped directly on to that of a random field Ising magnet aharony , providing a method for experimental realization of the random field system. MnF2 has a tetragonal rutile-type structure with lattice constants $`a=4.87`$ Å and $`c=3.31`$ Å. The spin interaction is primarily Heisenberg-like, and a weak dipolar interaction between the Mn moments accounts for the small Ising anisotropy that aligns the Mn spins along the c axis (i.e., the tetragonal axis). Diluted MnF2 was chosen for this study because, as a weakly Ising antiferromagnet, its small spin gap makes the physics of interest easily accessible. We stress that, while the interesting phonon behavior in relaxors motivates our spin wave study on this system, the diluted antiferromagnet in field should not be considered a precise magnetic analog of disordered ferroelectrics. First, the antiferromagnet does not share the property of a conserved order parameter. In addition, the nature of the polar nanoregions in the relaxors as the source of random fields has recently come into question xu . Never-the-less, in pursuing the general problem of the effects of disorder on the spin waves in a random field magnet, we view diluted MnF2 as the best candidate for experiments.

When cooled from the paramagnetic phase in the field, the diluted antiferromagnet forms a metastable state of frozen domains. Using high resolution neutron scattering, we have characterized this domain structure and the corresponding spin wave dispersion at wavelengths larger than the typical domain size. In addition, by cooling the antiferromagnet in zero field and then applying the field, we have produced a long-range ordered antiferromagnetic state in the system. Comparing the results obtained after cooling in field with the results of identical measurements taken after zero field cooling, we are able to determine directly the influence of the domain structure on the spin waves.

An important criterion for this experiment is the ability to create domains under field cooling that are sufficiently small to resolve the spin wave dispersion at the appropriate wave vectors. Smaller domains are achieved with higher dilution birgeneau ; cowley , larger applied fields cowley , and faster cooling rates. With too high dilution, however, the spin waves (in zero field) eventually become poorly defined uemera . In addition, the presence of a spin-flop transition in MnxZn1-xF2, with a spin-flop field that depends on $`x`$ cowley , limits the maximum field that one can apply while remaining in the random field Ising regime. Previous studies birgeneau ; cowley ; uemera  indicate that $`x=0.5`$ is the optimal compromise among these different concerns. The experiment was performed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research on the SPINS triple-axis spectrometer, with tight collimation (30’-10’-S-10’-20’) to achieve high wave-vector resolution and a final neutron energy fixed at 3.5 meV. A single crystal of Mn0.5Zn0.5F2, approximately 50 grams in size, was oriented with the c-axis (the Ising axis) parallel to the external field and perpendicular to the scattering plane. The crystal was strongly coupled to the bath of a helium flow cryostat, permitting rapid cooling ($`>20`$ K/minute) from the high temperature paramagnetic phase to 4.2 K, well below the Néel temperature in zero field, $`T_N(H=0)=21`$ K.

Figure 1 displays scattering profiles from elastic scans through the antiferromagnetic zone center (1, 0, 0) along the transverse direction $`(1,q_K,0)`$ in an external field of $`H=2.3`$ T. The open circles represent measurements taken after cooling the sample in zero field, so that the random field strength is zero through the Ising transition, and then raising the field (ZFC). The scattering follows a resolution-limited lineshape consistent with long-range antiferromagnetic order. The solid circles show the results from cooling in field (FC) and display a significantly broadened lineshape corresponding to the metastable domain state induced by the random fields. The scattering in the field-cooled measurement also shows a large overall enhancement in intensity, which we associate with the relief of extinction due to the domain structure. We model the short-ranged correlations of this field-cooled domain state with a Lorentzian-squared form,

$$I(𝐪,\omega =0)=\frac{\sigma }{(1+𝐪^2\xi ^2)^2}$$
(1)
where $`𝐪`$ is the wave vector measured with respect to the antiferromagnetic zone center. The solid line in Fig. 1 is the results of a fit with Eq. (1) convolved with the instrumental resolution function. This static neutron cross section is proportional to the Fourier transform of the real-space two spin correlation function. The transform of Eq. (1) corresponds to an exponential decay in the correlations between Ising spins,

$$S_z(r)S_z(0)e^{r/\xi }.$$
(2)
The Lorentzian-squared form for the elastic cross section has been shown in previous studies of field-cooled MnxZn1-xF2 birgeneau ; cowley  and other random field Ising magnets, including CoxZn1-xF2 hagen  and Rb2CoxMg1-xF4 birgeneau83 , to describe accurately the static short-range order in the field-cooled state. In addition, theoretical arguments have indicated that this form should be expected on general grounds lovesey ; joanny ; vilfan ; nattermann . Thus, field-cooled state can be considered a collection of metastable domains whose size distribution produces the real-space correlation function given by Eq. (2). The correlation length extracted from the fit with Eq. (1), $`\xi =137\pm 4`$ Å, sets the characteristic length scale in the a-b plane for the domains. Assuming that the domain structure is isotropic in units of the lattice spacings, as suggested by the crystal structure, the smaller lattice constant along the c-axis leads to a characteristic scale of $`93\pm 3`$ Å in that direction.

To compare the spin wave behaviors in the long-range ordered and domain states, we have measured the scattering intensity as a function of energy transfer, $`\omega `$, at $`q=0`$ through the dispersion, as shown in Fig. 2. Because of the finite experimental resolution, this measurement effectively integrates over the approximate wavevector ranges $`0.004`$Å$`{}_{}{}^{1}<q_H<0.004`$Å-1, $`0.003`$Å$`{}_{}{}^{1}<q_K<0.003`$Å-1 within the scattering plane and $`0.085`$Å$`{}_{}{}^{1}<q_L<0.085`$Å-1 perpendicular to it collimation1 ; collimation2 . Based on the phonon behavior observed in the relaxor ferroelectrics, we expect any change caused by the domain structure to affect the spin waves at wave vectors less than $`q2\pi /\xi =0.046`$ Å-1 along H and K and $`q2\pi /\xi =0.068`$ Å-1 along L. Thus, a redistribution of spectral weight to lower energy, like the dramatic overdamping seen in the relaxors, should be clearly visible in the scattering intensity in Fig. 2. As the figure illustrates, the results for the long-range ordered antiferromagnet and domain state are essentially identical through the dispersion at $`\omega =0.5`$ meV, indicating that the long wavelength spin waves are insensitive to the domain structure. The scattering at smaller energy transfers, shown in the inset to Fig. 2, does display enhanced intensity in the domain state. However, we associate this enhancement with the stronger Bragg scattering observed for the domain state in Fig. 1, extending away from $`\omega =0`$ due to the finite experimental resolution, and not to any change in the spin wave behavior. In particular, any redistribution of spectral weight should be reflected in both enhanced scattering at small $`\omega `$ and reduced scattering at larger $`\omega `$, which is excluded by the results in Fig. 2. This dramatic contrast with the phonons in relaxors lends additional support to recent evidence questioning the accuracy of a random field picture for the relaxors xu .

The solid line in Fig. 2 is the calculated result for the spin wave peak plus background based on the spectrometer resolution function and the previously measured dispersion relation in Mn0.5Zn0.5F2 uemera , assuming the that intrinsic width of the dispersion is zero. The only free parameters entering the calculation are the overall amplitude of the peak and the form of the sloping background, $`A\omega ^2+B`$. The strongly asymmetric lineshape for the calculated result derives from the non-zero slope of the dispersion relation away from the zone center and the relatively coarse wave-vector resolution perpendicular to the scattering plane collimation2 . Any small discrepancies between the calculation and measurements likely result from uncertainties in this contribution to the resolution and in the dispersion relation, implying that the long wavelength spin waves in both field cooled and Néel states are long-lived. Furthermore, direct comparisons of the amplitudes and widths of the measured FC and ZFC peaks indicate that they are the same to within 5%, setting a small upper bound on any possible broadening specific to the field cooled domain state.

This clear insensitivity of the long wavelength spin waves to the static disorder of the FC domain structure raises two interesting issues that merit further study. The first concerns the effect on short wavelength spin waves. A comparison between the spin wave dispersions in the FC and ZFC states at wave vectors close the antiferromagnetic zone edge would address this question. As shown in Ref. uemera , the spin wave dispersion at wave vectors away from the zone center in a diluted Ising antiferromagnet becomes increasingly diffuse due to the geometric disorder of the dilution. While this effect could severely complicate comparisons between FC and ZFC behaviors, it also indicates that short wave length spin waves are strongly affected by disorder. The second issue for further study concerns the temperature dependence of the spin wave dispersion, particularly in the transition region. The interplay of the critical behavior and the disorder-induced slow dynamics in the random field Ising magnet has presented serious challenges to a comprehensive description of the transition birgeneau95 ; hill ; belanger ; ferreira . A characterization of the evolution with temperature of the spin wave dispersion near the zone center on approach to the transition would provide a new perspective on this issue.

The energy gap of approximately 0.52 meV for the excitation in Fig. 2 matches that expected from the Heisenberg exchange field and dipolar anisotropy of Mn0.5Zn0.5F2, approximately 0.27 meV uemera , and the Zeeman energy from the precession around the applied field, 0.25 meV for a 2.3 T field. This excitation, the gapped mode of the Ising state, corresponds to long wavelength oscillations in the spin components transverse to the easy axis. Because of the experimental resolution, the peak in Fig. 2 represents contributions from oscillations over a range of wavelengths, most of which far exceed the correlation length for magnetic order in the domain state. The existence of these modes, despite the disorder, bears a striking similarity to the behavior in thermally disordered spin chains with easy plane anisotropy. As first predicted by Villain villain , well-defined long wavelength transverse modes have been observed in a number of one-dimensional anisotropic spin systems including CsNiF3 CsNiF3  and (CD3)4NMnCl3 TMMC . The measurement of such excitations in the domain state of a three-dimensional random field Ising magnet indicates that these long-lived transverse modes occur more generally than previously realized, irrespective of the nature of the anisotropy, the system’s spatial dimension, or the type of disorder. Indeed, studies of spin glasses appear to support this picture that these modes are generic to anisotropic disordered magnets. While spin waves in canonical Heisenberg spin glasses binder&young  are strongly overdamped, well-defined long wavelength excitations have been observed in Ising spin glasses wong . Theoretical insight into the apparently universal nature of these transverse modes in disordered anisotropic magnets would be invaluable.

We thank Y. Chen for assistance with the data analysis and C. Broholm and P. Gehring for helpful discussions. Financial support by the U. S. Dept. of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 and by ONR under project MURI (N00014-96-1-1173) is acknowledged. Research was supported at JHU by the NSF under CAREER Award No. DMR-0134377, at MIT by the NSF under contract number DMR-0071256, and at Toronto by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The work was also supported by the NSF under Agreement No. DMR-9986442. We acknowledge the support of NIST, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, in providing the neutron facilities used in this work.