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# Tachyon mass, c-function and Counting localized degrees of freedom.

## 1 Introduction and Summary

Recently there has been some interests on tachyon condensation in closed string theories . Closed string tachyons indicate the decay of the spacetime itself and full dynamical understanding is still lacking. To simplify the problem and to utilize the experience from the open string case  Adams, Polchinski, and Silverstein (APS)  studied the cases where the tachyons are localized at the tip of the orbifolds. They argued that the tachyon condensation causes the orbifolds to decay and the tip of the orbifolds smooth out. They supported this conjecture by D-brane probes in sub-stringy regime and by general relativity analysis beyond string scale. According to the analysis of APS, the tachyon condensation induces cascade of phase transitions until all the tachyons disappear and supersymmetry restored. So each step of cascade involve a RG flow along which IR is less tachyonic, less singular, and more supersymmetric than UV.

Having acquired the general tendency of localized tachyon condensation from the analysis of APS, it is most desired to have a $`c`$-function  which decreases along the possible RG-flows and summarize the possible decay modes. In this context, Dabholkar and Vafa (DV) , utilizing the worldsheet $`N=2`$ supersymmetry, have proposed a closed string tachyon action describing the real time tachyon dynamics, where generalized c-function  was adopted as the tachyon potential. In the same context, Harvey, Kutasov, Martinec and Moore (HKMM)  suggested another criteria based on counting the asymptotic density of states(ADOS), which suggested that not all examples of APS is consistent with their analysis. In Ref., we proposed a c-function of RG flow that is analogous but different from that suggested in . The proposal in  allows all of the process of APS, while that in  does not. Since different proposals, which do not agree fully, are suggested, it is an urgent matter to resolve this issue.

In this paper, we discuss this issue by counting the degrees of freedom (DOF) from slightly different point of view. First we will show that, for the problem at hand, the cosmological constant(CC) is a good measure of degree of freedom even in the presence of the spacetime fermions. We will then show that while the cosmological constant and the asymptotic density of states (ADOS) yield the same central charge for the total DOF, they give different results for the localized DOF. After showing that the latter(ADOS) yields the bulk degree of freedom smaller than the localized degree of freedom, which is counter intuitive, we will suggest that we have to use the former(CC).

We conclude that what measure the localized degree of freedom is the minimal twisted tachyon mass, which turns out to be equal to a c-function’s value at conformal points. The result does not depend on whether we use total partition function or its bosonic part.

The minimal tachyon mass can be shown to be equal to the deficit angle of the orbifold geometry. It is also equal to the tachyon potential suggested by Dabholkar and Vafa . The proposal that the absolute value of minimal tachyon mass as the c-function of the RG flow means that the theory becomes less tachyonic along the phase transition. It is certainly a generalized $`c`$-theorem, proof of which, however, is not an issue here.

Although we mainly discuss the localized degree of freedom, the bulk degree of freedom also encodes some information of the orbifold geometry, because local geometry around the tip completely fix the global geometry for the orbifolds. It turns out that considering the delocalized degree of freedom leads us g-function; $`g_{cl}`$ for type 0 as given in  and $`g_{cl}^{II}`$ as given in . So emerging picture is following: localized DOF gives a c-function that is given by minimal twisted tachyon mass, while the delocalized DOF leads us to g-theorems.

Our analysis seems to support the picture that the cosmological constant itself, although divergent due to the tachyons, can play the role of the tachyon potential in closed string theories. This is in a close analogy with the open string phenomena where world-sheet (sphere) partition function is the spacetime action. In the presence of the worldsheet supersymmetry, there is no potential coming from the sphere amplitude for the closed string tachyon , therefore the 1-loop result should be the leading order tachyon potential. This picture predicts that IR is more supersymmetric, less tachyonic and less singular than UV, which is precisely what the analysis of Adams, Polchinski and Silverstein suggests. We end the paper by possible future problems.

## 2 Cosmological constant v.s Asymptotic density of states

We first consider cosmological constant, namely, the string vacuum amplitude on torus,

$$Z=_F\frac{d^2\tau }{\tau _2^2}Z(\tau ),$$
(2.1)
where $`F`$ represent a fundamental domains of torus moduli, $`|\tau |>1,|\tau _1|<\frac{1}{2},\tau =\tau _1+i\tau _2`$. Notice that our fundamental domain does not contain the $`\tau _20`$ region. $`Z(\tau )`$ is the torus partition function.

On the other hand, the general partition function can be written as follows:

$$Z(\tau )=\mathrm{Tr}\mathrm{exp}(\tau _2\pi \alpha ^{}M^2+2\pi i\tau _1(L_0\overline{L}_0)),$$
(2.2)
where $`M^2`$ is the mass operator. Therefore in the presence of tachyons, the dominant divergent part comes from the $`\tau _2\mathrm{}`$ region. In type 0 case, the bulk tachyon ( tachyon in untwisted sector) gives the dominant contribution. In type II theory, it is projected out so the dominant contribution comes from the lightest twisted tachyon. Although the integral diverges, we are interested in the degree of divergence, $`c_{eff}`$, which precisely is the information of degree of freedom. To do this, we can simply approximate the integral by the value of $`Z(\tau _2)`$ at $`\tau _2=\mathrm{},\tau _1=0`$ multiplied by the area of fundamental domain, $`_Fd^2\tau /\tau _2^2=\frac{\pi }{3}`$. One can do slightly better by averaging over $`\tau _1`$;

$$_F\frac{d^2\tau }{\tau _2^2}Z(\tau )=\frac{\pi }{3}\underset{\tau _2\mathrm{}}{lim}_{\frac{1}{2}}^{\frac{1}{2}}𝑑\tau _1Z(\tau ).$$
(2.3)
This is nothing but a version of the theorem  by Kutasov and Seiberg in the presence of tachyon. For practical calculation, we can simply set $`\tau _1=0`$ with the level matching condition properly imposed. See Eq.(2.2). So, if there are tachyons, the cosmological constant can be simply related to the low temperature limit111$`\tau _2`$ is the inverse temperature $`\beta `$ of the partition function;

$$Z=\underset{\tau _2\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{\pi }{3}Z(\tau _2=\mathrm{})=\underset{\tau _2\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{exp}(\pi \alpha ^{}|M_{min}^2|\tau _2).$$
(2.4)
Here, $`M_{min}^2`$ is minimal mass of the twisted tachyons and we neglected power of $`\tau _2^3`$ as well as constant factors in front of the exponential divergence.

In a general conformal field theory, the partition function in the low temperature limit gives the central charge by

$$Z(\tau _2\mathrm{},\tau _1=0)gq^{c_{eff}/12},$$
(2.5)
where $`q=\mathrm{exp}(2\pi \tau _2)`$, $`g`$ is a co-efficient of the leading term and

$$c_{\mathrm{eff}}:=c24\mathrm{\Delta }_{min}$$
(2.6)
with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{min}=\mathrm{min}\frac{1}{2}(\mathrm{\Delta }+\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }})`$. From Eqs.(2.2) and (2.5), the lightest tachyon mass naturally gives an effective central charge

$$c_{eff}=6|\mathrm{min}\alpha ^{}M^2|.$$
(2.7)
Therefore the precise definition of the quantity we are interested in can be given as

$$c_{eff}:=\frac{6}{\pi }\underset{\tau _2\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{\tau _2}\mathrm{log}Z(\tau ).$$
(2.8)
Since $`c_{eff}`$ is the measure of degree of freedom, so is the cosmological constant. On the other hand, there is well known measure of degrees of freedom which is a high energy density of states. It comes from the high temperature behaviour of the partition function;

$$Z(\tau _20)\stackrel{~}{q}^{c_{eff}/12},$$
(2.9)
where $`\stackrel{~}{q}=\mathrm{exp}(2\pi /\tau _2)`$. When we deal with modular invariant (total) partition functions, two $`c_{eff}`$’s appearing in Eq.(2.5) and Eq.(2.9) are the same, of course. However, for the localized degree of freedom states, two are different as we will show shortly.

In our case, $`Z(\tau )`$ is the partition function of the CFT representing lightcone string theory in 10 dimension. If the bulk tachyon is present, Eq.(2.7) correctly identifies the transverse dimension $`8`$ out of central charge; $`c=c_{eff}=6\times |2|=8\times 3/2`$ from the tachyon spectrum. 222If we consider the conformal field theory on the orbifold $`𝐂^1/𝐙_N`$ rather than the full string partition function in 10 dimension, its partition function is above $`Z_(\tau )`$ without $`|\eta |^{18}q^{9/12}`$. So the central charge 3 could have been simply read off from the bulk tachyon. But there is no meaning of ”mass spectrum”, so is the word ”tachyon”. This is partly our motive to deal with sting partition function rather than the relevant orbifold CFT itself.

So far, we have seen that, in the presence of tachyons, the cosmological constant or the low temperature limit of the partition function can a good measure of degree of freedom. However, if there are spacetime fermions, it is more subtle. For example, in the supersymmetric theory, the GSO projected partition function $`Z=Z_BZ_F`$ is identically zero. Then when it correctly count the degree of freedom? Looking at the eq. (2.5) the answer is obvious: As far as the dominant piece, $`q^{c_{eff}/12}`$, is not cancelled, it is a good measure of degrees of freedom.

## 3 Counting localized degree of freedom

Now we discuss on the splitting the degree of freedoms into localized and delocalized ones. In ref. , it is suggested that localized degree of freedom is coming from the partition function of the twisted fields, and the delocalized (or bulk) degree of freedom is coming from the untwisted part;

$$Z(\tau )=Z_{un}+Z_{tw}.$$
(3.1)
Since the twisted field is fixed at the tip of the orbifolds, this is very reasonable suggestion. They proceeded to count the localized degree of freedom by looking at the ADOS coming from the high temperature behaviour of the twisted partition function, $`Z_{tw}(\tau _20)`$.

### 3.1 type 0: with bulk tachyon

If we look at the high temperature limit, we get the result of HKMM ;

$$Z_{tw}(\tau _20)g_{cl}\stackrel{~}{q}^1,$$
(3.2)
where $`1`$ comes from the bulk tachyon spectrum $`\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2=1`$. It gives us $`c=12`$ suggesting that it is measuring bulk degrees of freedom, while we want to measure localized ones when we use $`Z_{tw}`$. Notice that while $`Z_{tw}(\tau _2)`$ does not contain any bulk tachyon spectrum, the bulk tachyon spectrum is introduced by the modular transformation. Now, if we look at the delocalized degree of freedom, its high temperature limit gives

$$Z_{un}(\tau _20)\stackrel{~}{q}^{\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M_{min}^2},$$
(3.3)
where $`\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M_{min}^2`$ is the minimal mass of the twisted sector. Since

$$\left|\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M_{min}^2\right|=1\frac{1}{N}<1,$$
(3.4)
for $`C^1/Z_N`$ model, the localized degree of freedom is bigger than the bulk degree of freedom (DOF), which is counter-intuitive. Bulk and local DOF are interchanged. The reason of bulk-local interchange is obviously due to the modular transformation. So, when we use modular non-invarinat object as a indicator of physical quantity, we need care.

On the other hand, if we use the cosmological constant, there is no modular transformation involved and we get intuitive results;

$$Z_{tw}(\tau _2\mathrm{})q^{\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M_{min}^2},$$
(3.5)
and

$$Z_{un}(\tau _2\mathrm{})g_{cl}q^1.$$
(3.6)
Using the cosmological constant as the measure of degree of freedom is also consistent with following intuitive picture: the bulk tachyon counts the bulk degree of freedom while the twisted tachyon counts the localized degree of freedom. So, the quantity measuring the localized quantity is the minimal tachyon mass. We will evaluate it explicitly in later section.

### 3.2 type II: no bulk tachyon

Now we apply this result to type II case, where bulk tachyon is projected out by chiral GSO and the dominant contribution comes from the lightest tachyon. As we have shown before, we can use the total partition function, since the dominant contribution is coming from twisted sector and that term is not cancelled out. Furthermore we get the same value of $`c_{eff}`$ whether we use the full GSO projected partition function or just its bosonic part. The reason is very simple: when we conceptually write the total partition function as the difference of bosonic and fermionic contributions,

$$Z^{II}=Z_B^{II}Z_F^{II},$$
(3.7)
neither $`Z_B^{II}`$ nor $`Z_F^{II}`$ should contain the bulk tachyon; it is simply not in the spectrum of the theory. Therefore both quantities $`Z_{tw}^{II}`$, $`Z_{B,tw}^{II}`$ give the same localized degree of freedom given by

$$c_{eff}=6|\alpha ^{}M_{min}^2|,$$
(3.8)
which we will evaluate shortly.

Now we meet interesting question for type II: Since there is no bulk tachyon, calculating the delocalized degree of freedom

$$Z_{un}(\tau _2\mathrm{})g_{cl}^{II}q^0$$
(3.9)
shows that there is no bulk degree of freedom ($`c_{eff}=0`$). At first looking this looks puzzling. However, it is not so surprising by taking the analogy of the minimal models, where we get $`c<1`$ minimal models by taking out the degrees of freedom from the Hilbert space of the $`c=1`$ models. Along this line of thinking, spacetime supersymmetric theory is the case where all the degree of freedom is eliminated from 2 dimensional point of view. From this point of view, even in the supersymmetric case, where $`Z=0`$, $`Z`$ still correctly counts the central charge of the relevant 2d CFT. This is also consistent with the c-theorem in the non-compact space: the derivative of the central charge must be zero, hence the bulk degree of freedom should not change along the RG-flow, as pointed out by HKMM . It is 0 in type II and 12 in type 0. These values do not change under the local tachyon condensation process. Therefore the transition between the type 0 and type II is impossible from this point of view.

## 4 Minimal twisted tachyon mass as a c-function

In the previous sections, we argued that the c-function for the RG-flow in localized tachyon condensation is the minimal tachyon mass. We now explicitly evaluate the tachyon masses of string theory on $`𝐑^{7,1}\times 𝐂^1/𝐙_N`$.

### 4.1 Type II orbifolds

Our starting point is the following 1-loop string vacuum amplitude of type II orbifold model:

$$Z^{II}=_F\frac{(d\tau )^2}{4\tau _2}(4\pi ^2\alpha ^{}\tau _2)^4Z^{II}(\tau ),$$
(4.1)
where

$`Z^{II}(\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{l,m=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}Z_{l,m}(\tau )`$ (4.2)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{l,m=0}{\overset{N1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{|\theta _3(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _3(\tau )^3\theta _2(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _2(\tau )^3\theta _4(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _4(\tau )^3|^2}{4N|\eta (\tau )|^{18}|\theta _1(\nu _{lm}|\tau )|^2}},`$
where $`\nu _{l,m}^i=\frac{k_i}{N}(lm\tau )`$. The dominant contribution comes from the tachyons in the $`\tau _2\mathrm{}`$ limit. $`Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau )`$, $`Z_{un}^{II}(\tau )`$ are defined by

$$Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau )=\underset{m=1}{\overset{N1}{}}\underset{l=0}{\overset{N1}{}}Z_{l,m}(\tau ),Z_{un}^{II}(\tau )=\underset{l=0}{\overset{N1}{}}Z_{l,0}(\tau ).$$
(4.3)
The low temperature limit of the partition function $`Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau )`$ can be easily evaluated to be

$$Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau _2\mathrm{})=\underset{m=1}{\overset{N1}{}}q^{\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2}\mathrm{exp}\left(\tau _2|\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\pi \alpha ^{}M^2|\right),$$
(4.4)
where

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\alpha ^{}M^2`$ $`=`$ $`\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{km}{N}}\right\},\mathrm{if}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{km}{N}}\right]2𝐙,`$
$`=`$ $`\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{km}{N}}\right\}1,\mathrm{if}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{km}{N}}\right]2𝐙+1,`$
where we used the notation $`\{x\}`$ for the fractional part of $`x`$ and $`[x]`$ for the integer part of $`x`$

The minimal mass of the twisted tachyon can be easily seen to be

$$|\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\alpha ^{}M^2|=2\left(1\frac{1}{N}\right).$$
(4.6)
Notice that it is independent of $`k`$ as long as $`N,k`$ are co-prime to each other. It is easy to prove above statement using the basic lemma of the number theory. From eq.(2.7) we get $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}=12\left(1\frac{1}{N}\right).`$ Notice that this value is proportional to the deficit angle, $`\delta =2\pi (11/N)`$ of the orbifold geometry.

In a recent paper , Dabholkar and Vafa (DV) suggested that the tachyon potential should be given by the maximum value of the axial vector charge $`Q_5=F_L+F_R`$, i.e. $`V(t,\overline{t})=\mathrm{max}|Q^5|`$. For $`𝐂/𝐙_N`$ case, one has $`Q^5=11/N`$. It is also well known that with N=2 worldsheet supersymmetry, $`Q^5`$ plays the role of the effective central charge, $`c_{eff}=12\times \mathrm{max}|Q^5|.`$ Therefore, we can identify the potential as the minimal tachyon mass;

$$V(t,\overline{t})=\frac{1}{2}|\mathrm{min}\alpha ^{}M^2|.$$
(4.7)
Quite some time ago, Cecotti and Vafa, proposed that $`Q^5`$ is the generalized c-function for d=2, N=2 SCFT. They called this as algebraic c-function and partially proved the theorem near critical points. What DV did is to adopt this c-function as the tachyon potential. So, we now can say that the minimal tachyon mass is the c-function of the RG-flow. From now on we use the tachyon potential and c-function as the same words.

In $`𝐂^2/𝐙_N`$ model, the tachyon spectrum again can be calculated by taking the $`\tau _2\mathrm{}`$ limit of the partition function:

$$Z^{II}(\tau )=\underset{l,m=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\frac{|\theta _3(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _3(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _3(\tau )^2\theta _2(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _2(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _2(\tau )^2\theta _4(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _4(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _4(\tau )^2|^2}{4N|\eta (\tau )|^{12}|\theta _1(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _1(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )|^2}.$$
(4.8)
The low temperature limit of $`Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau )`$ is

$$Z_{tw}^{II}(\tau _2\mathrm{})=\underset{m=1}{\overset{N1}{}}\mathrm{exp}(\pi \tau _2\alpha ^{}M^2),$$
(4.9)
where,

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\alpha ^{}M^2`$ $`=`$ $`\left|\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{k_1m}{N}}\right\}\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{k_2m}{N}}\right\}\right|,\mathrm{if}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{k_1m}{N}}\right]+\left[{\displaystyle \frac{k_2m}{N}}\right]2𝐙,`$ (4.10)
$`=`$ $`\left|\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{k_1m}{N}}\right\}+\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{k_2m}{N}}\right\}1\right|,\mathrm{if}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{k_1m}{N}}\right]+\left[{\displaystyle \frac{k_2m}{N}}\right]2𝐙+1,`$
here again $`\{x\}`$ is the fractional part and $`[x]`$ is the integer part of $`x`$. Notice that the identification of the minimal mass as the tachyon potential

$$V(N,k_1,k_2)=\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2(N,k_2,m),$$
(4.11)
still holds and it agrees with that of DV for $`C^2/Z_N`$ also. Notice that the minimal mass vanishes along the supersymmetric line $`k_1=k_2`$. The minimal mass of the twisted tachyon is not simple in terms of rational function of $`k_1,k_2`$ and $`N`$. For $`k_2=2p+1,k_1=1`$, however, we find

$`V(N,1,k_2)`$ $`=`$ $`(11/k_2)(1r/N),ifNr\mathrm{mod}k_2,r=1,2,\mathrm{},p`$ (4.12)
$`=`$ $`(11/k_2)(1r(1+1/p)/N),ifNr\mathrm{mod}k_2,`$
For $`k_1=2`$, some of the $`V(N,2,k_2)`$ can be shown to be

$`V(N,2,4p)`$ $`=`$ $`1(2p+1)/N,ifN1\mathrm{mod}4p,`$
$`V(N,2,4p+2)`$ $`=`$ $`(1k_1/k_2)(11/N),ifN1\mathrm{mod}4p+2.`$ (4.13)
Other cases where both $`k_1,k_2`$ are bigger than 2, are more complicated. Using these formula, it is easy to show that all of the process studied in APS are allowed by the potential. In figure 1, we give a contour plot of the potential in $`k_1,k_2`$ plane. The darker the color, the lower the potential.

The proposal that the minimal twisted tachyon mass as the c-function of the RG flow means the theory becomes less tachyonic along the phase transition. It is certainly a generalized $`c`$-theorem: $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ decreases along the RG-flow, which still need more rigorous proof. Since the $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ represent the most dominant term of the cosmological constant, decrease in tachyon mass is equivalent to the decrease in the cosmological constant. Therefore all these argument seems to support the speculation that in the absence of the tachyon potential coming from sphere amplitude, torus partition function is the dominant contribution to the effective potential for the tachyon of closed superstring theory.

### 4.2 Type 0

We now work out the c-function for the type 0 orbifolds by calculating minimal mass of localized tachyons. First for $`C^1/Z_N`$ model, the partition function is

$$Z^0(\tau )=\underset{l,m=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\frac{|\theta _3(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _3(\tau )^3|^2+|\theta _2(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _2(\tau )^3|^2+|\theta _4(\nu _{lm}|\tau )\theta _4(\tau )^3|^2}{2N|\eta (\tau )|^{18}|\theta _1(\nu _{lm}|\tau )|^2},$$
(4.14)
with $`k=odd`$ and $`(N,k)`$ co-prime. The low temperature limit of the twisted partition function $`Z_{tw}^0(\tau )`$ can be easily evaluated to be

$$Z_{tw}^0(\tau _2\mathrm{})=\underset{m=1}{\overset{N1}{}}q^{\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2}$$
(4.15)
where

$$\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2=\mathrm{min}(\left\{\frac{km}{N}\right\},\left\{\frac{km}{N}\right\}1).$$
(4.16)
So the localized degrees of freedom is counted by the dominant twisted tachyon term $`q^{\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\alpha ^{}M^2}`$, from which we identify the c-function for localized tachyon for type 0;

$$V(N,k)=\left|\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2(N,k,m)\right|=\mathrm{max}_{m=1}^{N1}\mathrm{max}(\left\{\frac{km}{N}\right\},1\left\{\frac{km}{N}\right\}).$$
(4.17)
This looks slightly different from type II result. But in fact it gives identical result;

$$V(N,k)=1\frac{1}{N}.$$
(4.18)
Notice that $`g_{cl}q^1`$, which is coming from the bulk tachyon, is not present in $`Z_{tw}`$ in the low temperature limit. It is contained in $`Z_{un}`$, counting the delocalized degrees of freedom. So, we expect that $`g_{cl}`$ can encode the information for the process of the localized tachyon condensation, due to the equivalence of the of the local and global geometry of the orbifold as mentioned before. This is discussed in separate publication .

Now we turn to type 0, $`C^2/Z_N`$ case. The partition function is given by

$$Z^0(\tau )=\underset{l,m=0}{\overset{N1}{}}\frac{|\theta _3(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _3(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _3(\tau )^2|^2+|\theta _2(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _2(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _2(\tau )^2|^2+|\theta _4(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _4(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )\theta _4(\tau )^2|^2}{2N|\eta (\tau )|^{12}|\theta _1(\nu _{l,m}^1|\tau )\theta _1(\nu _{l,m}^2|\tau )|^2}.$$
(4.19)
with $`k_1+k_2`$ odd, $`\mathrm{gcd}(k_1,k_2,N)=1`$.

The low temperature limit of the partition function $`Z_{tw}^0(\tau )`$ is

$$Z_{tw}^0(\tau _2\mathrm{})=\underset{m=1}{\overset{N1}{}}q^{\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2}$$
(4.20)
where

$$\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2=\mathrm{min}(\left|\left\{\frac{k_1m}{N}\right\}\left\{\frac{k_2m}{N}\right\}\right|,\left|\left\{\frac{k_1m}{N}\right\}+\left\{\frac{k_2m}{N}\right\}1\right|).$$
(4.21)
Again the c-function is given by

$$V(N,k_1,k_2)=\left|\mathrm{min}_{m=1}^{N1}\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{}M^2(N,k_1,k_2,m)\right|.$$
(4.22)
Instead of evaluating this in terms of rational functions, we give a result of numerical analysis summarized in the contour plot in figure 2.

## 5 Summary and Discussion

In this paper, we use cosmological constant to count the localized degree of freedom, and got following very intuitive results: The bulk tachyon mass counts the bulk degree of freedom while the lowest twisted tachyon mass counts the localized degree of freedom. One can even refine the statement by saying that in each twisted sector, the lowest tachyon mass in each sector counts the degree of freedom in that sector. We also evaluated the lowest tachyon mass in the type 0 and type II orbifold models. We evaluated these minimal masses for $`C^1/Z_N`$, $`C^2/Z_N`$ both for type 0 and type II.

Our results suggest that the cosmological constant (1-loop string amplitude) can play the role of tachyon potential. According to it, the RG flow along the direction of more SUSY, less tachyonic, less singular, which is precisely what APS analysis has shown. This is a close analogue of open string result, where effective action in 10 dimension is partition function at sphere. As shown by Tseytlin  there is no tachyon potential coming from sphere. So naturally torus amplitude can play the leading tachyon potential. In this approach it is necessary to related the localized nature of the tachyon potential and the divergence of the potential.

Finally, we discuss future problems. Obviously, the most demanding problem is actually to prove the generalized c-theorem: tachyon becomes less tachyonic along the RG-flow along the line of original Zamolochikov’s for the localized degree of freedom. It should be clarified explicitly why the $`c_{eff}`$ for the localized degree of freedom can be changed while the central charge for the bulk degree of freedom can not. In this paper, we mainly discussed the localized degree of freedom and got a c-function given by the minimal tachyon mass. However, the bulk degrees of freedom also encodes some information on the precess of localized condensation since local geometry around the fixed points completely fixes the global geometry for the orbifolds. In fact, by considering the delocalized degree of freedom, we arrive at the quantity $`g_{cl}`$ for type 0 appeared in  and $`g_{cl}^{II}`$ discussed in  as a c-function. Then the detailed relation between these different criteria ( c-functions v.s g-functions) are desired. We will come back to this issue in future publication.

Acknowledgements
The author wish to thank David Kutasov for critical comments on his previous work, to Shiraz Minwalla and Soonkeon Nam for communications on c-theorem, and to Joe Polchinski for his interests and helpful remarks on the issue. This work is supported by KOSEF 1999-2-112-003-5.


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# The 𝑊 center in self-implanted silicon is the self-interstitial cluster I3

## Abstract

We identify the $`W`$ center in self-implanted crystalline Si with the three-membered self-interstitial cluster I3 on the basis of first-principles density-functional-theory calculations matching all the known experimental signatures of the center (emission energy, extrinsic energy levels, activation energy and dissociation energy, local vibrational structure, and symmetry).

Self-implanted Si is relevant to the pre-amorphization processes used at various stages of device fabrication, and as a model environment for the study of anomalous interstitial-driven impurity diffusion. A prominent defect in self-implanted Si is the so-called $`W`$ center, which has been known and studied intensely for a long time , but not firmly identified so far, although generally accepted to originate from the clustering of excess interstitial Si atoms . By means of first-principles density-functional calculations, we provide a conclusive identification of the $`W`$ center with the I3 three-membered self-interstitial cluster. Remarkably for a difficult enterprise such as the identification of defects in crystals, our results match all the experimental signatures available for this center, and confirm the relevance of ab initio calculations for the physics of defects and impurities in crystals.

Recent experimental studies , performed with a variety of combined techniques, including variable-dose implant, rapid thermal annealing (RTA), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and photoluminescence (PL), have firmly identified several experimental signatures of the $`W`$ defect. By carefully cross-referencing a number of $`n`$-type samples with different implant and RTA histories, Libertino et al.  identified a low-dose implant regime in which the extended {311} defects – a common product of self-interstitial aggregation – do not form: small, nearly point-like entities are active instead. They suggested that the $`W`$ photoluminescence line, a typical emission at 1.018 eV in self-implanted Si, is indeed the main signature of these centers. A second signature identified as strongly correlated with this emission, is a pair of extrinsic levels determined by DLTS at about 0.35 and 0.6 eV above the valence edge. The third signature brought forth by the analysis of the pertaining DLTS signals under thermal treatment is the activation energy of around 2.3 eV needed to cause the essentially concurrent disappearance of these two levels upon RTA. In addition, the appearance of the $`W`$ band is itself thermally activated, with a characteristic energy of about 0.85 eV  – the fourth signature of $`W`$. A fifth group of signatures stems from the vibronic structure of which the $`W`$ emission is the zero-phonon line; this structure has been known for some time  to include main peaks at 17 meV and 40 meV, and a local vibrational mode at 70 meV . The symmetry of the center identified via the stress response of the vibronic structure is at least C3v. Finally, several indirect hints led many authors (see e.g.  for a summary) to postulate the most likely size of the cluster responsible for these signatures to be $`n`$=3, with a high-symmetry compact structure, as opposed to the non-compact I4 and asymmetric I2 clusters found in recent calculations .

In the following, we give evidence that the I3 Si tri-interstitial is to be identified with the $`W`$ center, as its properties explain all the mentioned experimental signatures. Our conclusion is based on a series of ab initio calculations on self-interstitial clusters in $`c`$-Si (full details are reported elsewhere), performed at the first-principles level within density-functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) , and the ultrasoft pseudopotential-plane wave repeated-supercell approach using the Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package code . We report data obtained with 32- and 64-atom supercells (the results are in fact quite insensitive to cell size), multiprojector ultrasoft pseudopotentials  (with two $`s`$, two $`p`$, and one $`d`$ projectors, rc=1.31 Å), a plane wave cutoff of 151 eV, and a 444 k-space summation mesh (this yields 32 k-points in the Brillouin zone for $`C_1`$, i.e. no, imposed symmetry; in occasional test we used 666 and 888 meshes, with 108 and 256 k-points respectively). Atomic geometries are relaxed until all force components are below 0.01 eV/Å. The theoretical lattice constant $`a_{\mathrm{Si}}`$=5.461 Å is used throughout. The formation energies and extrinsic levels are obtained in the usual way (see e.g. Refs.  and ), including multipole corrections for charged states .

We obtained the equilibrium structure of the I3 cluster by relaxation of a supercell containing an I2 di-interstitial cluster  and a single interstitial I1 in the adjacent tetrahedral site, both in the neutral state. The interstitial binds spontaneously to I2, producing the I3 structure depicted in Fig. 1. This structure agrees well with recent tight-binding  and ab initio results, although not with others  (incidentally, the properties of the $`n`$=3 cluster studied in  do not correlate well with those of the $`W`$ center). The interatomic distances between the four atoms (dark grey in Fig. 1) involved in the local structure of I3 are essentially identical, 2.488$`\pm `$0.002 Å or 1.054 times the calculated Si-Si bond length of 2.365 Å. All bonds are oriented along (110)-equivalent directions, hence the four atoms form a perfect tetrahedron with edges aligned with the cubic (110) axes, and whose centerpoint is at a lattice site. The local symmetry of the cluster is therefore Td. This agrees with the response of the zero-phonon $`W`$ line to applied stress and its dependence on the electric field direction. The symmetry of the cluster, we point out, is obtained spontaneously in the simulated assembly of I2 and tetrahedral I1 without imposing any initial symmetry.

Studying the energies of different charge states of the defect, we determined the extrinsic levels. I3 possesses two extrinsic thermal charging levels in the gap, namely $`ϵ`$(++/+)=0.35 eV + Ev and $`ϵ`$(+/0)=0.8 eV + Ev, with Ev the valence band top. These values are close to the experimental values of 0.35 eV and 0.6 eV. Since the samples of interest here are $`n`$-type, these levels are filled and DLTS-detectable. Since a supersaturation of Si interstitials in $`c`$-Si produces moderate $`n`$-type conditions , this conclusion will hold even in as-implanted intrinsic samples. The DLTS signatures of the $`W`$ center are thus reproduced by the I3 cluster.

To interpret the thermal evolution of these levels, we assume that their disappearance under thermal treatment is due to the evaporation of the cluster into single interstitials. For the $`n`$-type Fermi level of relevance here, we find that all the interstitial complexes I1, I2, and I3 are in their neutral state. We then estimate the cost of splitting I3 into well-separated neutral I2 and (neutral dumbbell) I1 by direct comparison of calculated total energies : this cost is 2.38 eV, matching very closely the deactivation energies, 2.28 eV and 2.36 eV (estimated experimental error $``$ 15%), of the observed DLTS peaks, confirming our previous attribution of those peaks to the I3 extrinsic levels.

After splitting an I3 into an I2 and an I1, one may still have electrically active levels present, since both the latter centers have extrinsic levels  in the 0.25-0.35 eV and 0.6-0.8 eV range. The observation of those levels is however preempted by two facts: a) I2 splits into two I1’s with an energy cost of 1.5 eV, hence the thermal treatment dissolving the I3’s also gets rid of any I2’s; b) an I3-cracking thermal process should presumably cause the remaining I1’s (also electrically active ) to evaporate off the sample, both because they are quite rapidly diffusing  neutral dumbbells, and because they have no effective capture centers, such as vacancies, available in sufficient concentration.

Of course the main signature of the center at issue is the $`W`$ emission itself. The relevant emission energy is 1.02 eV; since the material is $`n`$-type, the transition is probably bound-to-free. Since the gap of Si is about 1.1 eV at the relevant temperature, the involved level lays $``$80 meV below the conduction edge. This does not imply, however, a delocalized state as in shallow impurities, the very existence of a sharp zero-phonon line in an indirect gap material indicating a localized character. We find the 0/– level of I3 at 1.10 eV above the valence (k-points convergence was checked to better than $`\pm `$10 meV up to the (888) mesh; no change was observed between 32-, 64- and 265-atom cells). This is clearly a very good candidate for the initial state of the emission: its energy is quite close to the observed transition and, since emission is involved, the Franck-Condon principle dictates that the emission energy coincides with the charging level in this case. In addition, this state is empty in thermal equilibrium, and can thus receive the photoexcited electrons thermalizing down from the upper conduction states. We find that the state is orbitally non-degenerate, in agreement with the analysis of the phonon replicas and with the absence of pseudo–Jahn-Teller distortions . To give a proper estimate of the position of the state with respect to the conduction band, we calculated the fundamental gap of Si using the expression, exact in the $`N\mathrm{}`$ limit ,

$$E_{\mathrm{gap}}=E_{\mathrm{tot}}(N+1)2E_{\mathrm{tot}}(N)+E_{\mathrm{tot}}(N1),$$
(1)
using an undefected 64-atom supercell with N, N+1, and N–1 electrons. The gap energy thus obtained is 1.13 eV, which gives a 30 meV binding energy. The satifactory agreement with experiment further confirms our identification .

We now consider the activation barrier for the creation of the center, which was quantified in 0.85 eV in Refs. . The simplest interpretation is that the diffusive motion of the interstitials must be activated to achieve clustering. It is natural to presume that at least two processes are to be activated to form I3: the diffusion of I1’s towards each other to form I2, and the diffusion of I1 towards I2 to form I3. We estimated (see also ) a minimum energy barrier for the dumbbell-to-dumbbell diffusion of 0.2 eV via a tetrahedral site and 0.18 eV via an hexagonal site. This is much lower that the experimental activation energy. We then hypothesized that I1 be subject to a local repulsion by its companion center (another I1 or the I2), effectively increasing its diffusion barrier. To check this idea we compare the energy of a dumbbell self-interstitial and a tetrahedral I1 in the same cell in adjacent sites – i.e. the last saddle-point configuration before I2 formation  – with the sum of the energies of an isolated dumbbell I1 plus an isolated tetrahedral I1. The difference is an estimate of the local repulsion (if any) between single interstitials. We then calculate the same difference for I2 and tetrahedral I1 in the same cell, and isolated I2 plus isolated tetrahedral I1. Again, the difference is an estimate of the local repulsion (if any) between I1 and I2. In both cases we obtain an effective repulsion, of 0.64 eV in the first case, and 0.53 eV in the second case (errors due to finite-size relaxation effects are at least one order of magnitude smaller ). Therefore, an effective repulsion acts locally between the precursors of I3 (I1’s and I2) The largest of these two repulsion energies, added to the normal diffusion barrier, provides an estimate of the maximum effective barrier. The result is 0.84 eV, in close agreement with the experimental estimate of 0.85 eV. Thus, an effective local repulsion between the component centers of the I3 cluster explains quantitatively the activation-energy signature of the $`W`$-band center.

We now analyze the vibrational modes of the center. The zero-phonon $`W`$ line splits under (110)- and (111)-oriented, but not under (100)-oriented stresses . This is quite compatible with the symmetry and orientation of the I3 complex, a tetrahedron with (111)-oriented axes and (110)-oriented bonds. The analysis of the phonon replicas of Ref. suggests a dominance of couplings to the Si bulk phonon continuum. The main features in the replica spectrum are broad structures associated with vibrational energies of 17 meV and 40 meV. Further, sharper but much weaker lines exist in the optical-mode energy region. An additional peak at 70 meV below the zero-phonon line appears to involve  a local vibrational mode (the highest vibrational energy in Si bulk is $`\mathrm{}\omega _{\mathrm{TO}}^{\mathrm{Si}}(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$=64 meV).

To identify possible local modes, we estimated the vibrational frequency of selected normal modes of the cluster via the frozen-phonon method  in which a given displacement pattern is frozen into the lattice, and the force/displacement ratio for the atoms involved yields the mode’s harmonic force constant. The calculated Si LO-TO mode energy at $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of 62.4 meV, –2.5% from experiment sets a reliability reference. The internal vibrational modes of the cluster, i.e. those involving the four atoms of the cluster, are found to have energies in the range 35–45 meV. The modes considered include most of the typical modes of a tetrahedron (breathing, twist, pinch, etc.) schematized e.g. in Fig. 2.5 of Ref. . A detailed discussion will be presented elsewhere. The relatively low frequencies of the internal modes are unsurprising if we consider the weaker bonding within the cluster compared to the bulk: this is apparent from the (110)-plane slice of the charge density  through one of the internal cluster bonds of neutral I3 in Fig. 2. The “translational” mode of I3, in which the whole cluster moves with respect to the crystal, and which would have zero frequency for the cluster in free space, has a low energy of 19 meV. This is expected since the cluster is also quite weakly bound to the surrounding bulk (Fig. 2).

Their highest frequency being less than 45 meV, none of the internal vibrations can explain the 70-meV local mode . Remarkably, indeed, it turns out that the local mode is not a proper cluster mode: after some search we identified it with the vibration of each of the four cluster-adjacent atoms (light grey in Fig. 1) in the (111) planes parallel to the corresponding triangular face of the tetrahedral cluster. The mode energy of 71.4 meV matches well the observed 70 meV shift of the local-mode replica. Its isotropic character (four equivalent atoms are involved, near each cluster face), and its strong expected dependence on (110)- and (111)-oriented strains also agree with the observed properties of the local-mode replica . The mode clearly derives from a TO wave impinging on the I3 cluster from a (111) direction – pictorially, a “breaker-on-the-shoal” effect.

As for the prominent 17 meV and 40 meV replica structures, they can be interpreted as suggested  as the interaction signature of I3 with the bulk phonon continuum, with some contribution, we add, of the internal modes of the cluster. The phonon dispersion and density of states of Si  suggest that the modes involved in the 5-meV–wide structure at about 17 meV are mainly the zone-border modes at the K and X points (e.g. the $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_3`$ TA mode at K, e.g., has the correct 18 meV energy). The “translation” mode of the cluster mentioned earlier, with its energy of 19 meV, is also expected to be involved in this replica. For the 40-meV feature, the phonon density-of-states weight comes mainly from the LA modes along the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ line, topping with the 46-meV $`L_2`$ mode at L. As mentioned, the 35–45 meV internal modes of the clusters t are also most likely to be involved in the 40-meV replica, superposed on the bulk continuum, and contributing to its substantial (10 meV) linewidth. With these attributions of vibrational signatures, in particular of the local mode, we conclude our identification of the I3 cluster with the $`W`$ center.

In summary, ab initio calculations of emission, activation, and dissociation energy, extrinsic levels, and vibrational modes explain all the known experimental features associated with the $`W`$ band in self-implanted Si (PL emission, DLTS signatures of electronic levels, RTA behavior, phonon replicas in the PL spectra) as being due to the tri-interstitial cluster I3. The W center remains thus unambiguously identified with the I3 self-interstitial cluster.

We acknowledge partial support from the Italian Ministry of Research within the PRIN 2000 project “Non-equilibrium dopant diffusion in Si”, and from the Parallel Supercomputing Initiative of INFM.


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# Stochastic Processes and the Dirac Equation with External Fields

The equation describing the stochastic motion of a classical particle in 1+1-dimensional space-time is connected to the Dirac equation with external gauge fields. The effects of assigning different turning probabilities to the forward and the backward moving particles in time are discussed.

For many decades, the relations between stochastic processes and quantum mechanics have attracted much attention. The Schr$`\ddot{o}`$dinger’s equation for a nonrelativistic electron and the heat equation are related as the Feynman path integral and the Wiener integral are connected by an analytic continuation. This correspondence was extended to the relativistic case by studying the telegrapher’s equation which produced the Dirac equation when analytically continued . A decade ago, McKeon and Ord further extended the study by introducing the probability of moving backward in time and deriving the Dirac equation in 1+1-dimensional space-time without analytical continuation .

In this paper, we will extend these considerations by introducing external gauge fields and giving different ‘turning’ probabilities to forward and backward moving particles in time. In these models, particles are supposed to suffer random, Poisson-distributed reversals in the moving direction. Notations and procedures similar to those used in Ref. 8 are adopted. Let $`F_+(F_{})`$ and $`B_+(B_{})`$ be the probabilities for moving to the positive(negative) $`x`$-direction for forward-moving particles and backward-moving particles, respectively, in the $`t`$-direction. The probability for reversal in time interval $`\mathrm{}t`$ is $`a_R^F(a_L^F)\mathrm{}t`$ for turning right(left) with respect to the direction of motion for the forward moving particles, and $`a_R^B(a_L^B)\mathrm{}t`$ for the backward moving particles(See Fig. 1). In this paper, we assume that $`a_{R,L}^{F,B}`$ can be analytically continued to the imaginary part. This requires a non-trivial interpretation against the positiveness of the probability.

When there is an external field, it is reasonable to assume that the forward and the backward moving particles have different turning probabilities, i.e., $`a_{R,L}^Fa_{R,L}^B`$. From Fig. 1, it is easy to derive the master equation describing the evolution of the probability $`F_\pm `$ on the $`xt`$ plane:

$`F_\pm (x,t)`$ $`=`$ $`(1a_L^F\mathrm{}ta_R^F\mathrm{}t)`$ (1)
$`F_\pm `$ $`(x\mathrm{}x,t\mathrm{}t)`$ (2)
$`+`$ $`a_{L,R}^BB_\pm \mathrm{}t(x\mathrm{}x,t+\mathrm{}t)`$ (3)
$`+`$ $`a_{R,L}^FF_{}\mathrm{}t(x\pm \mathrm{}x,t\mathrm{}t).`$ (4)
Then, the ‘causality condition’ used in Ref. 8 that $`F_\pm (x,t)=B_{}(x\pm \mathrm{}x,t+\mathrm{}t)`$ gives similar equation for $`B_\pm `$:

$`B_\pm (x`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{}x,t+\mathrm{}t)=F_{}(x,t)`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`(1a_L^F\mathrm{}ta_R^F\mathrm{}t)B_\pm (x,t)`$ (6)
$`+`$ $`a_{R,L}^B\mathrm{}tF_\pm (x,t)+a_{L,R}^F\mathrm{}tB_{}(x,t).`$ (7)
Expanding Eq.(4) and Eq.(7) to first order in $`\mathrm{}x`$ and $`\mathrm{}t`$ leads to two differential equations:

$`\pm v{\displaystyle \frac{F_\pm }{x}}+{\displaystyle \frac{F_\pm }{t}}`$ $`=`$ $`a_{L,R}^FF_\pm +a_{L,R}^BB_\pm `$ (8)
$``$ $`a_{R,L}^FF_\pm +a_{R,L}^FF_\pm `$ (9)
and

$`\pm v{\displaystyle \frac{B_{}}{x}}+{\displaystyle \frac{B_{}}{t}}`$ $`=`$ $`a_{L,R}^FB_{}+a_{L,R}^BF_{}`$ (10)
$``$ $`a_{R,L}^FB_{}+a_{R,L}^FB_\pm ,`$ (11)
where $`vdx/dt`$. Subtracting Eq. (11) from Eq. (9) yields

$`v{\displaystyle \frac{(F_\pm B_{})}{x}}`$ $`\pm `$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{(F_\pm B_{})}{t}}=`$ (12)
$``$ $`(a_{L,R}^F+a_{R,L}^F)(F_\pm B_{})`$ (13)
$`\pm `$ $`(a_{R,L}^Fa_{L,R}^B)(F_{}B_\pm ).`$ (14)
Now, we will show that this equation can be related to the 1+1-dimensional Dirac equation with external fields.

First, let us consider the case where the external fields are gauge fields. The Dirac equation for electrons with $`U(1)`$ gauge fields is

$$\left(i\gamma ^\mu (\mathrm{}_\mu ieA_\mu )mc^2\right)\psi =0.$$
(15)
As is well known, by a gauge transformation $`A_1A_1+_1\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ with a function $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ satisfying $`_\mu ^\mu \mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ in the Lorentz gauge $`^\mu A_\mu =0`$, $`A_1`$ can be always chosen as zero. Then, in $`1+1`$ dimensions, the Dirac equation can be written as

$$i\mathrm{}_t\psi +ic\mathrm{}\sigma _z_x\psi =eA_0\psi +mc^2\sigma _y\psi ,$$
(16)
where $`\gamma ^0=\sigma _y,\gamma ^1=i\sigma _x`$, and $`\sigma _x`$ and $`\sigma _y`$ are the Pauli matrices. Substituting a two-dimensional spinor $`\psi ^T(\psi _+,\psi _{})`$ into Eq. (16) gives

$$c_x\psi _\pm \pm _t\psi _\pm =\pm \frac{ieA_0}{\mathrm{}}\psi _\pm \frac{mc^2}{\mathrm{}}\psi _{}.$$
(17)
Then, using the identities

$`v`$ $`=`$ $`c,`$ (18)
$`F_\pm B_{}`$ $`=`$ $`\psi _\pm ,`$ (19)
$`(a_R^Fa_L^B)`$ $`=`$ $`(a_L^Fa_R^B)=mc^2/\mathrm{},`$ (20)
$$(a_L^F+a_R^F)=ieA_0/\mathrm{},$$
(21)
one easily finds that Eq. (14) can be reduced to Eq. (17), the 1+1-dimensional Dirac equation with external gauge fields. Note that from Eq. (20), $`a_R^F+a_L^F`$ should be equal to $`a_R^B+a_L^B`$ to guarantee a unique mass $`m`$ for the particle. Obviously, this relation is automatically satisfied when $`a_{R,L}^F=a_{R,L}^Ba_{R,L}`$ as in Ref. 8, where $`\psi _\pm `$ was defined as $`exp\{(a_L+a_R)t\}(F_\pm B_{})`$ rather than $`(F_\pm B_{})`$ itself. Since the gauge fields contribute to the phase of the matter fields as $`exp\{ie𝑑x^\mu A_\mu /\mathrm{}\}`$, it seems to be reasonable to take $`a_L+a_R`$ to be proportional to $`A_0`$. Furthermore, when $`a_{R,L}^F=a_{R,L}^Ba_{R,L}`$, one can obtain $`a_R`$ and $`a_L`$ explicitly from Eq. (20) and Eq. (21), $`i.e.`$,

$`a_R`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{ieA_0mc^2}{2\mathrm{}}},`$ (22)
$`a_L`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{ieA_0+mc^2}{2\mathrm{}}}.`$ (23)
If the gauge fields are space-time dependent, the $`a_{R,L}^{F,B}`$ are not constants, but functions of $`x,t`$. However, including this space-time dependency of $`a_{R,L}^{F,B}`$ in Eq. (20) and Eq. (7), for example, by replacing $`a_R^F`$ by $`a_R^F(x+\mathrm{}x,t\mathrm{}t)`$, does not change the results because it gives the second-order terms when expanded in $`\mathrm{}x`$ and $`\mathrm{}t`$. As one can see in Eq.(23), the $`a_{R,L}^{F,B}`$ are complex numbers when the external fields are gauge fields. This means that we need an analytic continuation, which was already noted in Ref. 8. This is unavoidable because the terms $`\mathrm{}_\mu ieA_\mu `$ in the Dirac equation always give a factor of $`i`$ for $`A_\mu `$ in comparison with $`_\mu `$.

In summary, the relation between the stochastic motion and the Dirac equation with external gauge fields in 1+1-dimensional space-time is studied. We also investigated the effects of assigning different turning probabilities to the particles moving forward and backward in time.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work was supported by BK21.

FIGURES
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram showing the stochastic motion of particles in the $`xt`$ plane and the definitions of the probabilities. The center dot denotes the point $`(x,t)`$.


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# FIRST RESULTS FROM A XMM-NEWTON SURVEY OF A DISTANCE-LIMITED (D<22 Mpc) SAMPLE OF SEYFERT GALAXIES: I- THE AGNS

## 1 Framework

Important emphasis in research on Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) in recent years has been in the area of unified models (e.g. Antonucci 1993). These models try to explain the observed differences between broad (Seyfert 1’s-like) and narrow (Seyfert 2’s-like) optical emission-line AGNs by invoking obscuration (from an optically and geometrically thick torus) and viewing angle effects rather than intrinsic physical differences. A privileged energy band for such studies is the hard (E$`>`$ 2 keV) X-ray band, where continuum photons are less affected by absorption and where imprinted features (e.g. the photoelectric absorption cut-off, the fluorescent FeK line) allow to probe the physics of the AGNs’ nuclear regions, and their surroundings.

While there is increasing consensus on the validity of these models, at least for those that unify nearby “classical” Seyferts, questions remain on the “typical” Seyfert galaxy X-ray spectrum. This is particularly true for lower-luminosity objects and for the detailed relationship between their X-ray versus optical appearance and classification. In particular, several open questions remain, such as whether the X-ray spectra of all nearby Seyferts are consistent with unified models and whether the X-ray spectra of low-luminosity Seyferts are consistent with that of higher luminosity ones. Also, precise knowledge of the distribution of column densities and the geometry of the putative molecular torus, of the origin of FeK emission lines, and of the shape of the X-ray luminosity function of local Seyfert galaxies once extended to its fainter end, is still lacking.

Answers to the above questions are also crucial to put tighter constraints on synthesis models of the XRB and to understand the evolution of “Seyfert-like” AGNs with cosmic time (e.g. Comastri et al. 1995, Gilli et al. 2000). These models usually assume the validity of unified models and suggest that a combination of unabsorbed (Seyfert 1-type) and absorbed (Seyfert 2-type) AGNs may account for most of the X-ray background (XRB). But in fact, major uncertainties remain in the assumed $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ distributions, luminosity functions of both types of objects and their evolution with cosmic time.

The definition of the spectral properties of a complete and, bona fide, unbiased sample of nearby Seyfert galaxies is, thus, desired to address both the issues of unified models of AGNs and synthesis models of the XRB.

## 2 Previous and Current Studies

Hard X-ray samples of nearby Seyfert galaxies available to date (e.g. from GINGA, ASCA and BeppoSAX; Smith & Done 1996, Turner et al. 1998, Bassani et al. 199) have been essentially biased towards the most X-ray luminous, and less absorbed AGNs111But see the pioneering works by Maiolino et al. (1998) and Risaliti, Maiolino & Salvati (1999), and references therein.. Moreover, the poor spatial resolution of the pre-Chandra and pre-XMM-Newton telescopes left unresolved issues such as a proper estimate of stellar/starburst processes and/or X-ray binaries contributions to the total X-ray emission of low-luminosity (L2-10keV $`<`$ 1040erg/s) Seyfert galaxies. Significant improvements have been obtained by Ho et al. (2001) using the ACIS CCDs on board Chandra, who can address for the first time the X-ray properties of LLAGNs (with 2-10 keV luminosities ranging from less than 1038 to 1041 erg/s) in nearby Seyferts, LINERs and LINERs/HII transition nuclei. These authors detected a compact, pointlike nuclear source in $``$62% of their initial sample of 24 (out of 41) nearby galaxies. However, the brief “snapshots” exposures used in the Chandra survey will make it difficult to obtain detailed spectral information at energies greater than 2 keV.

Given the above arguments, we have initiated an XMM-Newton X-ray survey of all known northern Seyfert galaxies with D$`<`$22 Mpc using the Revised-Ames Catalog of Bright Galaxies (Sandage & Tamman 1981) spectroscopically classified by Ho, Filippenko & Sargent (1997) according the classical definition of Seyfert galaxies (Veilleux & Osterbrock, 1987). The final sample contains 28 galaxies (see Table 1) and is the deepest and most complete local sample of Seyfert galaxies. The goal of this survey is to obtain a better, and unbiased, understanding of their “typical” X-ray spectrum. This high-throughput (especially for energies $`>`$2 keV) XMM-Newton survey is complementary to the arcsecond-resolution Chandra survey performed by L. Ho, E.D. Feigelson, and collaborators.

## 3 The XMM-Newton Sample

Our team has been awarded $``$ 250 ks of EPIC guarantee time, and exposures of 5, 10, 15 and 20 ks (with a typical value of 10 ks) were requested in order to obtain at least $``$ 1000 source counts222Expected count-rates were obtained from the observed 2-10 keV fluxes from Polletta et al. (1996) and Serlemitsos et al. (1997) and, when not available, from the L2-10keV-L$`_{\mathrm{H}_\alpha }`$ correlation of Serlemitsos et al. (1997)..

To date, observations have been performed for about half of the galaxies, and data are available for 6 of them. Here we report on the preliminary results obtained for this subsample. The data were processed and screened with the Science Analysis Software (SAS; version 5.2) using standard procedures. The latest known calibration files and response matrices released by the EPIC team have been used. Data from MOS1/2 and PN were combined in the spectral analysis.

## 4 Preliminary Results

Two of the earliest observations (NGC5033 and NGC3941) suffer from contamination by soft-proton flares which increase significantly the background (see Fig. 1, left panel) and, thereby, complicate/limit the scientific results. Nevertheless, examination of the images in Fig. 1 and 2 clearly illustrate the capabilites of this survey. Despite the short exposures, we are able to detect and distinguish the nuclei from the off-nuclear sources in the galaxies. The high throughput also allows us to perform a detailed spectral analysis of most sources. Three examples of such spectra are shown in Fig. 3. In these spectra, MOS1/2 and PN data were fitted simultaneously and with simple models (a single absorbed power-law for NGC5033 and NGC4565, and an absorbed plus scattered power-law for NGC4138) to illustrate the statistics available, as well as to highlight the FeK features in the residuals for NGC5033 and NGC4138.

Preliminary spectral fits of the nuclear sources are summarized in Table 2. A discussion of the results in terms of “sample properties” is clearly premature here and will be presented in a forthcoming paper once other observations will be available. Nevertheless, these early results highlight the importance of this XMM-Newton survey. They confirm in fact that we shall be able to measure for the first time with good precision the absorption column densities, the spectral shapes, the soft (0.5-2 keV) and hard (2-10 keV) fluxes/luminosities, and also the FeK line parameters (at least for the brightest targets) for a significant number of Seyferts with luminosities down to $``$1039erg/s. We can also stress here some source-by-source interesting results that came out from this early analysis: i) the detection of an FeK line in NGC5033 and NGC4138 with EW$``$100-200 eV; ii) the detection of an absorbed component in NGC4138 and, possibly, in NGC3486; iii) the evidence of extended soft X-ray emission in NGC4138 and NGC4565, and iv) the presence of luminous off-nuclear sources in 4 out of 6 galaxies333See the companion paper by Foschini et al. (these proceedings) which illustrates well the capabilities of this survey to the study of ultraluminous X-ray sources in nearby galaxies..

Last but not least, data from this survey will also be used to extend the spectroscopic survey of serendipitous sources initiated by Piconcelli et al. (these proceedings). In total, we expect that $`>`$ 20 serendipitous sources should be detected with EPIC in hard (2-10 keV) X-rays and give enough photons for a proper spectral analysis (see Piconcelli et al. for more details).

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to Matteo Guainazzi and Silvano Molendi for helpful discussions on data reduction procedures. We gratefully acknowledge partial support funding from the Italian Space Agency (ASI). This work is based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA). This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


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# Numerical stability of a new conformal-traceless 3+1 formulation of the Einstein equation

## I Introduction

So far, every 3D effort to perform 3+1 numerical simulations of space-times containing black-hole singularities, or compact objects such as neutron stars, has encountered the frustration of producing short-lived evolutions. The impediment is due to the presence of sever instabilities. There is a common agreement among researchers that the origin of these instabilities is not purely numerical. Inconsistent boundary conditions far away from the holes or neutron stars, unsuitable choices of gauge or coordinate conditions, inappropriate algorithms to excise the black hole singularity, etc. are all contributing factors. Since approximately the mid 90’s, the numerical relativity community has been accumulating evidence supporting the view that a crucial aspect determining the life-time of simulations is the form of the Einstein equation that is implemented in the numerical codes.

When viewed as an initial value problem, the Einstein equation can be cast in what is commonly known as a 3+1 form; that is, the Einstein equation becomes a set of constraint and evolution equations that govern the history of the geometry of space-like hypersurfaces, geometrodynamics. There are many ways of writing the Einstein equation in a 3+1 form. During the early years of numerical relativity, the most popular form was that introduced by Arnowitt, Deser and Misner (ADM) ADM . It is safe to say that all of the attempts to obtain long-term stable and convergent, 3D simulations of black holes using codes based on the ADM formulation have failed. These efforts have produced short lived evolutions lasting $`<200M`$, with $`M`$ the mass of the black hole. Unfortunately, the reasons behind this failure are still not known. Nonetheless, because of all of these failed attempts, the numerical community has practically abandoned the ADM system.

One alternative to ADM has been formulations of the Einstein equation that are explicitly hyperbolic hyper\_rev . These formulations have been introduced in part to facilitate handling both the outer boundary of the computational domain and the excision boundary in the vicinity of the black hole singularity. Hyperbolic formulations certainly have the advantage that, by knowing the characteristics of each of the evolved fields, one is able to apply the correct boundary conditions to those fields that require them. Hyperbolic formulations also enjoy the advantage of the mathematical machinery to prove existence, uniqueness and well-posedness. Unfortunately, hyperbolic formulations have so far been able to produce evolutions of single black holes lasting $`600M\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1300}M`$ KST .

Another formulation of the Einstein equation that has been relatively successful is the one re-introduced by Baumgarte and Shapiro BS  and originally developed by Shibata and Nakamura SN . This formulation, commonly known as the BSSN system, belongs to the class of conformal traceless formulations (see next section for a detailed derivation). There are several ingredients that go into the derivation of these equations. Besides the use of conformal transformations and a traceless decomposition of the extrinsic curvature, perhaps the most important aspect is the introduction of a connection. With this connection, the formulation contains some hyperbolic flavor. Studies have shown, however, that 3D, single black hole evolutions are still limited to life-times $`500M`$ miguel .

Because of the relative success of the hyperbolic and BSSN systems over the ADM formulation, there seems to be a certain degree of consensus that a successful formulation should have some hyperbolic flavor. The formulation we introduce in this paper retains this property. The innovative aspect of this system enters in shifting the focus from the principal part of the evolutions equations, i.e. those terms containing differentiation, to non-linear algebraic terms. Our work is motivated by a recent numerical study of evolutions of single black holes in spherical symmetry Kelly  using the ADM system. In Ref. Kelly , long-term stable and convergent evolutions were achieved by “adjusting” the ADM system. The adjusting consisted of eliminating or switching the sign of non-linear terms involving the extrinsic curvature. The stability that was obtained was remarkable. Unfortunately, an extension to 3D is not possible because the adjustment took advantage of the spherical symmetry in the problem. As we will show, it is possible to achieve a similar elimination or switching of sign of non-linear terms. Instead of working with the ADM system, one needs to consider a modified form of the BSSN formulation. We will present 3D numerical simulations of single, non-rotating black holes in which we demonstrate a remarkable improvement in the stability and duration of the evolutions when compared with those based on BSSN.

## II New Conformal Traceless Equations

In order to gain a better understanding of the elements present in the conformal traceless system here considered, we will review the derivation of the BSSN formulation. The traditional derivation of the BSSN system starts with the ADM formulation. The ADM primary variables are the spatial metric, $`g_{ij}`$, and extrinsic curvature, $`K_{ij}`$, of the space-like hypersurfaces. The equations that govern the dynamics of $`g_{ij}`$ and $`K_{ij}`$ are

$`_og_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha K_{ij}`$ (1)
$`_oK_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`_i_j\alpha +\alpha R_{ij}`$ (2)
$`+`$ $`\alpha (KK_{ij}2K_{ik}K_j^k),`$
where $`_o_t_\beta `$ and $`K=g_{ij}K^{ij}.`$ Although we concentrate our attention on the vacuum case, the inclusion of matter sources is straightforward. Above, $`_i`$ and $`R_{ij}`$ denote covariant differentiation and Ricci tensor associated with $`g_{ij}`$, respectively. The lapse function, $`\alpha `$, and shift vector, $`\beta ^i`$, encapsulate the diffeomorphism freedom of General Relativity and are thus freely specifiable. In terms of the ADM variables, the Einstein constraints read

$`R+K^2K_{ij}K^{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (3)
$`_jK^{ij}^iK`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (4)
As customary in numerical relativity, evolutions are performed without ensuring that the evolved data continue to satisfy the constraints. Eqs. (3) and (4) are only used to monitor the accuracy and stability of the simulations.

The first step in obtaining the BSSN formulation is to abandon $`g_{ij}`$ and $`K_{ij}`$ as primary variables and work instead with $`\mathrm{\Phi },\widehat{g}_{ij},K`$ and $`\widehat{A}_{ij}`$. The relationships between these and the ADM variables are

$`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}\mathrm{ln}g^{1/2}`$ (5)
$`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{4\mathrm{\Phi }}g_{ij}`$ (6)
$`\widehat{A}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{4\mathrm{\Phi }}A_{ij},`$ (7)
where $`A_{ij}=K_{ij}g_{ij}K/3`$. The first point to notice is that (5) and (6) imply that the conformal metric $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ has unit determinant. Enforcing this condition in numerical evolutions has an important impact on the stability of the simulations. Unless noted, indices will be raised and lowered with the conformal metric $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$. Given (5)-(7), it is not difficult to show that the ADM system (1)-(2) of evolution equations take the form

$`_o\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}\alpha K`$ (8)
$`_o\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`2\alpha \widehat{A}_{ij}`$ (9)
$`_oK`$ $`=`$ $`_i^i\alpha +\alpha (\widehat{A}_{ij}\widehat{A}^{ij}+K^2/3)`$ (10)
$`_o\widehat{A}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{4\mathrm{\Phi }}\left(_i_j\alpha +\alpha R_{ij}\right)^{TF}`$ (11)
$`+`$ $`\alpha (K\widehat{A}_{ij}2\widehat{A}_{il}\widehat{A}_j^l).`$
Before continuing, there are several points to be made about the derivation and structure of these equations. First, in deriving Eq. (10), the Hamiltonian constraint (3) was used to eliminate the Ricci scalar. In Eq. (11), the superscript $`TF`$ denotes the trace-free part of the tensor between brackets, e.g. $`T_{ij}^{TF}T_{ij}g_{ij}g^{kl}T_{kl}/3`$ for any tensor $`T_{ij}`$. When calculating $`R_{ij}^{TF}`$, the trace $`R`$ is again eliminated using the Hamiltonian constraint (3). To simplify notation, we did not explicitly transform the terms involving covariant derivatives of the lapse or the Ricci tensor, $`R_{ij}`$. These terms should be understood as being given respectively by:

$`_i_j\alpha `$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{}_i\widehat{}_j\alpha 4\widehat{}_{(i}\mathrm{\Phi }\widehat{}_{j)}\alpha `$ (12)
$`+`$ $`2\widehat{g}_{ij}\widehat{}^l\mathrm{\Phi }\widehat{}_l\alpha `$
$`R_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{R}_{ij}2\widehat{}_i\widehat{}_j\mathrm{\Phi }2\widehat{g}_{ij}\widehat{}^l\widehat{}_l\mathrm{\Phi }`$ (13)
$`+`$ $`4\widehat{}_i\mathrm{\Phi }\widehat{}_j\mathrm{\Phi }4\widehat{g}_{ij}\widehat{}^l\mathrm{\Phi }\widehat{}_l\mathrm{\Phi },`$
where $`\widehat{R}_{ij}`$ is the Ricci tensor computed from $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$. One should also keep in mind that $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ and $`\widehat{A}_{ij}`$ are tensor densities of weight $`2/3`$, so their Lie derivatives are

$$_\beta \widehat{A}_{ij}=\beta ^k_k\widehat{A}_{ij}+\widehat{A}_{ik}_j\beta ^k+\widehat{A}_{kj}_i\beta ^k\frac{2}{3}\widehat{A}_{ij}_k\beta ^k$$
(14)
and a similar expression for $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$. The function $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is not a true scalar, see Eq. (5). Its Lie derivative is given by

$$_\beta \mathrm{\Phi }=\beta ^k_k\mathrm{\Phi }+\frac{1}{6}\mathrm{\Phi }_k\beta ^k.$$
(15)
Next is perhaps the key ingredient of the BSSN system. One introduces a conformal connection

$$\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i\widehat{g}^{jk}\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{jk}^i=_j\widehat{g}^{ij},$$
(16)
where the $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{jk}^i`$ are the connection coefficients associated with $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$. The last equality holds because of the condition $`\widehat{g}=1`$. The motivation for introducing these connections is to substitute in the Ricci tensor $`\widehat{R}_{ij}`$ all the derivatives of $`\widehat{g}^{jk}\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{jk}^i`$ in favor of derivatives of $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$. In doing so, the Ricci tensor yields a system of evolution equations BS ; SN  with “hyperbolic flavor.”

Expanding the number of primary variables in the system to include the conformal connections implies the need of an additional evolution equation. From definition (16), one can show that the evolution equation for $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$ is given by

$`_o\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{g}^{jk}_{jk}\beta ^i+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\widehat{g}^{ij}_{jk}\beta ^k2\widehat{A}^{ij}_j\alpha `$ (17)
$`+`$ $`2\alpha \widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{jk}^i\widehat{A}^{jk}+12\alpha \widehat{A}^{ij}_j\mathrm{\Phi }{\displaystyle \frac{4}{3}}\alpha \widehat{}^iK.`$
In deriving this equation, the momentum constraint (4) was used to eliminate derivatives of $`\widehat{A}^{ij}`$. A final point to be made, $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$ is a vector density of weight 2/3, so

$$_\beta \widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i=\beta ^k_k\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^k_k\beta ^i+\frac{2}{3}\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i_k\beta ^k.$$
(18)
In general terms, the BSSN system involves: conformal transformations, a trace-free decomposition of the extrinsic curvature, the introduction of a conformal connection and the use of constraints to eliminate the Ricci scalar and derivatives of the trace-free extrinsic curvature.

We are now prepared to derive the new system of evolution equations. Because this system retains the main ingredients of the BSSN formulation, its derivation proceeds along a similar path. However, the starting point is modified. Instead of (5)-(7), we use

$`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}\mathrm{ln}g^{1/2}`$ (19)
$`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{4\mathrm{\Phi }}g_{ij}`$ (20)
$`\widehat{K}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{6n\mathrm{\Phi }}K`$ (21)
$`\widehat{A}_j^i`$ $`=`$ $`e^{6n\mathrm{\Phi }}A_j^i`$ (22)
$`N`$ $`=`$ $`e^{6n\mathrm{\Phi }}\alpha ,`$ (23)
with $`n`$ a parameter to be determined later. Notice the main differences. We allow for the trace of the extrinsic curvature and the lapse function to be conformally transformed. $`\widehat{K}`$ and $`N`$ are densities. Also, we use as primary variable the mixed-index form of the trace-less part of the extrinsic curvature, $`\widehat{A}_j^i`$. If $`n=0`$, one recovers the BSSN scalings. With the above transformations, the evolution equations take the following form

$`_o\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}N\widehat{K}`$ (24)
$`_o\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`2N\widehat{A}_{ij}`$ (25)
$`_o\widehat{K}`$ $`=`$ $`e^{6n\mathrm{\Phi }}_i^i\alpha +N\widehat{A}_j^i\widehat{A}_i^j`$ (26)
$`+`$ $`(13n)N\widehat{K}^2/3`$
$`_o\widehat{A}_j^i`$ $`=`$ $`e^{6n\mathrm{\Phi }}\left(^i_j\alpha +\alpha R_j^i\right)^{TF}`$ (27)
$`+`$ $`(1n)N\widehat{K}\widehat{A}_j^i`$
$`_o\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{g}^{jk}_{jk}\beta ^i+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\widehat{g}^{ij}_{jk}\beta ^k2\widehat{A}^{ij}_jN`$ (28)
$`+`$ $`2N\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{jk}^i\widehat{A}^{jk}{\displaystyle \frac{4}{3}}N\widehat{g}^{ij}_j\widehat{K}`$
$`+`$ $`12(1n)N\widehat{A}^{ij}_j\mathrm{\Phi }.`$
Here again, the terms involving $`\alpha `$ and $`R_{ij}`$ should be understood as being given by (12) and (13), with the index raised with $`g^{ij}`$. In addition, the lapse expression (12) should be modified with the appropriate substitution in terms of the densitized lapse $`N`$.

By fixing the attention to Eq. (27), one can understand the motivation behind the particular form of the conformal scalings and the use of $`\widehat{A}_j^i`$ as a primary variable. If we choose $`n1`$, the term $`N\widehat{K}\widehat{A}_j^i`$ in Eq. (27) could be eliminated or have its sign switched. In the spherically symmetric numerical study in Ref. Kelly , it was demonstrated that this algebraic term was responsible for the instabilities of the ADM-based simulations. In Ref. Kelly , the changes in sign or eliminations of these terms were obtained by substitution of the momentum constraint. This adjustment of the ADM system is not possible in non-spherical symmetry. However, it is clear that the conformal scalings we have introduced accomplish the same effect.

The importance of eliminating $`N\widehat{K}\widehat{A}_j^i`$ can be understood by the following hand-waving argument. Equation (27) has the following structure

$`_t\widehat{A}_j^i`$ $`=`$ $`C\widehat{A}_j^i`$ (29)
$`+`$ $`\widehat{A}\text{Terms}+\text{Terms without}\widehat{A}`$
where

$$Cn_k\beta ^k+(1n)N\widehat{K}.$$
(30)
At the continuum level, for a single, static black hole, the r.h.s. of Eq. (29) should vanish identically. However, because of truncation errors, this will not be the case in numerical evolutions. If this cancellation does not take place, a solution of the form $`\widehat{A}_j^ie^{Ct}`$ is in principle allowed. Thus, $`C>0`$ has the potential of yielding an exponential growth. Almost all the numerical evolutions of single black holes have been performed with space-time foliations such that $`K>0`$. Since the simulations of physical interested are future directed (i.e. $`\alpha >0`$), then $`N\widehat{K}>0`$. As a consequence, the second term in $`C`$ has the “wrong” sign. Because of the conformal scalings we have introduced, values of $`n1`$ correct this sign problem. The first term in $`C`$ gives the impression that it also has the wrong sign. This is not the case. All of the single black hole solutions of interest have shift vectors for which $`_k\beta ^k<0`$. For more generic, multiple black hole situations, it should be possible to construct shift vectors that preserve this property. If not, a large enough value of $`n`$ should be able to yield the appropriate sign of $`C`$. Finally, we point out that this hand-waving argument provides a reasonable explanation of why the simulations in Kconst  with $`K=\text{const}<0`$ were significantly more stable than those with positive $`K`$.

The use of a mixed-index, traceless extrinsic curvature in 3D studies is not new. One of us used this approach in numerical studies of inhomogeneous inflationary space-times KLM . The evolution equations used in KLM  did not include a conformal connection $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$ nor a densitized lapse. The use of densitized variables had a different motivation in KLM . With those densitized variables, the shift terms in the evolution equations could be written in an almost flux-conservative form. However, it was quickly realized that, because during an inflationary epoch the determinant of $`g_{ij}`$ grows exponentially, working with positive weight, densitized variables becomes eventually problematic. Our attempts to obtain stable 3D, single black hole evolutions with a code based on the evolution system in Ref. KLM  have failed. Given the success of the results in the present work, we believe that the failure of the system in KLM  is likely due to the absence of the conformal connection $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$. There are indications that in spherical symmetry, using flux-conservative equations seems to extend the life of the simulations Luis . This view is also supported by recent work using a hyperbolic formulation David  in which the evolution equations are written in a flux-conservative form. Finally, mixed-index extrinsic curvature, not traceless, as a primary variable has been used in 1D evolutions of plane-symmetric cosmologies Centrella  and gravitational waves Bardeen , supporting the view that this form is more advantageous.

## III Stability Experiments

To test the stability of the new system, we concentrate our attention on a single, non-rotating black hole. We use the ingoing-Eddington-Finkelstein form of the black hole solution. The black hole singularity is handled via excision. That is, a region inside the horizon, containing the black hole singularity, is removed from the computational domain. Our excision has a cubical shape. At its boundary, the values of the primary variables $`(\mathrm{\Phi },\widehat{g}_{ij},\widehat{K},\widehat{A}_j^i,\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i)`$ are obtained by third order extrapolation of the corresponding evolved values. At the outer boundary, the evolved data are blended to the analytic solution. Temporal updating is performed via the iterated Crank-Nicholson method. After each time-step, we impose the constraints $`\widehat{g}=1`$ and $`\widehat{A}_i^i=0`$ as follows:

$`\widehat{A}_j^i`$ $``$ $`\widehat{A}_j^i\widehat{g}_j^i\widehat{A}_k^k/3`$ (31)
$`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ $``$ $`\widehat{g}^{1/3}\widehat{g}_{ij}.`$ (32)
Once the new $`\widehat{g}_{ij}`$ is obtained, we use definition (16) to also reset $`\widehat{\mathrm{\Gamma }}^i`$.

We do not write the shift terms in an almost flux-conservative form as done in Ref. KLM . All the discretization of spatial operators is done with centered finite differences. The exception is shift terms of the form $`\beta ^k_k`$. Those terms are approximated using an up-wind discretization described in Ref. Kelly .

Since it is well known that the choice of gauge or coordinate conditions has a fundamental impact on the duration of the evolutions, we decided to test the new system on the most challenging case, namely the gauge condition in which $`N`$ and $`\beta ^i`$ are obtained from the exact analytic solution.

Figure 1 shows the L2 norm of the Hamiltonian constraint and the error in the mass of the black hole from a 3D evolution. The location of the outer boundary of the computational domain was set to $`9M`$ and the grid-spacing to $`0.25M`$. We imposed quadrant symmetry, namely reflection symmetry across the $`x=0`$ and $`y=0`$ planes. This choice was motivated by the work in Ref. miguel , in which long term stability was only achieved in octant symmetry and with live gauge conditions. We performed evolutions with higher resolutions in octant symmetry only for the purpose of testing second order convergence in our code. An identical, quadrant-symmetric, run using the BSSN system crashed at $`75M`$. Short-lived, BSSN evolutions with analytic lapse and shift were also reported in Ref. miguel . As one can see from Fig 1, the new system is able to extend the life-time of the simulation an order of magnitude beyond that of BSSN. To test the effects of the symmetry conditions, we repeated a simulation using bitant or equatorial symmetry. Figure 2 shows the outcome of the simulation. A comparison of the results in Figs. 1 and 2 indicate that the duration and quality of the data still depend on the symmetries imposed.

Although we have managed to extend the duration of the simulation, as seen in Fig. 2, there is a late-onset of an instability. Preliminary experiments indicate that the instability is likely to be connected to the type of outer boundary condition and its placement, as well as the symmetries imposed. Our results are, nonetheless, comparable to evolutions in Ref. KST  based on a parametrized hyperbolic formulation. In that study, evolutions lasting $`600M`$ were obtained for similar computational domain sizes, but without any symmetries applied, using analytic densitized lapse and shift conditions. A direct comparison with the results in KST  is not straightforward due to the numerical technique employed, namely spectral methods.

Finally, we performed evolutions in octant symmetry for $`1<n2`$. We obtained similar stability to that with $`n=1`$. The trend observed in these simulations suggests that for values $`n>2`$ it is very likely to experience a deterioration on the stability of the evolutions. This should not be surprising. Looking at the conformal transformations (21)-(23), one sees that large values of $`n`$ have the effect of increasing the spatial gradients of these primary variables.

## IV Conclusions

This paper introduces a conformal-traceless formulation of the Einstein equation that yields a substantial improvement in the duration of evolutions. This system has various elements in common with the BSSN system. However, it has the following new aspects: (1) modification of the conformal scalings of the extrinsic curvature, (2) use of the mixed-index form of the traceless extrinsic curvature as a primary variable, and (3) densitization of the lapse function. The reason behind these modifications is to eliminate or switch the sign of non-linear terms involving the extrinsic curvature. Our results support the view that these terms are partially responsible for rendering the evolutions unstable. We are currently investigating the degree to which each of the above elements of the formulation here introduced impacts the stability of the simulationsALS . We have demonstrated that our 3D simulations of a single black hole exhibit a remarkable improvement when compared with those using the BSSN formulation. This is especially apparent when one considers we have performed these tests in what may be the most troublesome gauge choice, namely obtained directly from the analytic black hole solution. Furthermore, we did not impose outgoing boundary conditions. These conditions have been shown to improve the duration of simulations in hyperbolic and BSSN systems. We are currently extending our study to investigate whether the stability of this new system is preserved and improved using live gauge conditions and in dynamical situations such as distorted and binary black holes.

## V Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NSF grants PHY-9800973 and PHY-0114375. We want to thank A. Ashtekar for comments and helpful discussions. We also want to thank the rest the MAYA Project development team: D. Fiske, B. Kelly, E. Schnetter and K. Smith.