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# Localization of electromagnetic waves in a two dimensional random medium

Corresponding author: \]Department of Physics, National Central University, Taiwan

## Abstract

Motivated by previous investigations on the radiative effects of the electric dipoles embedded in structured cavities, localization of electromagnetic waves in two dimensions is studied ab initio for a system consisting of many randomly distributed two dimensional dipoles. A set of self-consistent equations, incorporating all orders of multiple scattering of the electromagnetic waves, is derived from first principles and then solved numerically for the total electromagnetic field. The results show that spatially localized electromagnetic waves are possible in such a simple but realistic disordered system. When localization occurs, a coherent behavior appears and is revealed as a unique property differentiating localization from either the residual absorption or the attenuation effects.

preprint: 0201

When propagating through a medium consisting of many scatterers, waves will be scattered by each scatterer. The scattered waves will be again scattered by other scatterers. Such a process will be repeated to establish an infinite recursive pattern of multiple scattering. As a result, the wave propagation may be significantly alteredIshimaru . It is now well-known that the multiple scattering of waves is responsible for many fascinating phenomena, ranging from phenomena of macroscopic scales such as twinkling lights in the evening sky, modulation of ambient noise in the oceans, and electromagnetic scintillation of turbulence in the atmosphere, to phenomena of microscopic or mesoscopic scales including random lasersrl  and electronic resistivity in disordered solidser . It has also been proposed that under certain conditions, the multiple scattering can lead to the unusual phenomenon of wave localization, a concept originally introduced to describe disorder induced metal-insulator transitions in electronic systemsAnderson .

Over the past two decades, localization of classical waves has been under intensive investigations, leading to a very large body of literature(e. g. HW ; John ; Kirk1 ; He ; Condat ; Sor ; Genack ; McCall ; McCall2 ; Ad ; Marian ; Sigalas ; AAA ; Sheng ; Wiersma ; weak ; AAC ). Such a localization phenomenon has been characterized by two levels. One is the weak localization associated with the enhanced backscattering. That is, waves which propagate in the two opposite directions along a loop will obtain the same phase and interfere constructively at the emission site, thus enhancing the backscattering. The second is the strong localization, without confusion often just termed as localization, in which a significant inhibition of transmission appears and the energy is mostly confined spatially in the vicinity of the emission site.

While the weak localization, regarded as a precursor to the strong localization, has been well studied both theoretically (e. g. the monographer ; Sheng ) and experimentally (e. g. weak ), observation of strong localization of classical waves for higher than one dimension remains a subject of debateWiersma ; AAC ; debate , primarily because a suitable system is hard to find and the observation is often obscured by such effects as the residual absorptiondebate  and scattering attenuationYe3 .

In this paper, we wish to present a simple but realistic system to study the phenomenon of strong localization in two dimensions. The system we consider stems from the previous research on enhancement and inhibition of electromagnetic radiation in structured media. For example, KuhnKuhn  used the model to describe the effect of a metallic mirror on the radiation from a nearby excited molecule, whereas Chance et al.Chance  used to explain the experimental data of Drexhage. Later, Erdogan et al.Erdogan  and Wang et al.ccw  employed the model to analyze the effects of the cylindrically periodic structure on the radiation of an enclosed two-dimensional (2D) dipole. Inspired by the work of Erdogan et al.Erdogan , we attempt to construct a system consisting of many 2D dipoles. The propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves in such a system is formulated rigorously in terms of a set of coupled equations, and then is solved numerically. We show that a strong localization of EM waves is possible in this system. In line with the work on acoustic localizationYe2 , a phase diagram method is used to describe localization of EM waves. Since the system considered here results from the practical application of light emission in structures, an experimental verification may be readily realized.

Following Erdogan et al.Erdogan , we consider 2D dipoles as an ensemble of harmonically bound charge elements. In this way, each 2D dipole is regarded as a single dipole line, characterized by the charge and dipole moment per unit length. Assume that $`N`$ parallel dipole lines, aligned along the $`z`$-axis, are embedded in a uniform dielectric medium and randomly located at $`\stackrel{}{r}_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},N)`$. The averaged distance between dipoles is $`d`$. A stimulating dipole line source is located at $`\stackrel{}{r}_s`$, transmitting a continuous wave of angular frequency $`\omega `$. By the geometrical symmetry of the system, we only need to consider the $`z`$ component of the electrical waves.

Upon stimulation, each dipole will radiate EM waves. The radiated waves will then repeatedly interact with the dipoles, forming a process of multiple scattering. The equation of motion for the $`i`$-th dipole is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d^2}{dt^2}}p_i+\omega _{0,i}^2p_i`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{q_i^2}{m_i}}E_z(\stackrel{}{r}_i)b_{0,i}{\displaystyle \frac{d}{dt}}p_i,`$ (1)
$`\text{for}i=1,2,\mathrm{},N.`$
where $`\omega _{0,i}`$ is the resonance (natural) frequency, $`p_i`$, $`q_i`$ and $`m_i`$ the dipole moment, charge and effective mass per unit length of the $`i`$-th dipole respectively. $`E_z(\stackrel{}{r}_i)`$ is the total electrical field acting on dipole $`p_i`$, which includes the radiated field from other dipoles and also the directly field from the source. The factor $`b_{0,i}`$ denotes the damping and is determined by energy conservation. Without dissipation, $`b_{0,i}`$ can be determined from the balance between the radiative and vibrational energies, and is given asErdogan

$$b_{0,i}=\frac{q_i^2\omega _{0,i}}{4ϵm_ic^2},$$
(2)
with $`ϵ`$ being the constant permittivity and $`c`$ the speed of light in the medium separately.

Equation (1) is similar to Eq. (1) in Erdogan . The difference lies in the driving field on the right hand side of the equation. In Erdogan , $`E_z`$ is the reflected field at the dipole due to the presence of reflecting surrounding structures, while in the present case the field is from the stimulating source and the radiation from all other dipoles.

The transmitted electrical field from the continuous line source is determined by the Maxwell equationsErdogan

$$\left(^2\frac{^2}{c^2t^2}\right)G_0(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_s)=4\mu _0\omega ^2p_0\pi \delta (\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_s)e^{i\omega t},$$
(3)
where $`\omega `$ is the radiation frequency, and $`p_0`$ is the source strength and is set to be unit. The solution of Eq. (3) is clearly

$$G_0(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r_s})=(\mu _0\omega ^2p_0)i\pi H_0^{(1)}(k|\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_s|)e^{i\omega t},$$
(4)
with $`k=\omega /c`$, and $`H_0^{(1)}`$ being the zero-th order Hankel function of the first kind.

Similarly, the radiated field from the $`i`$-th dipole is given by

$$\left(^2\frac{^2}{c^2t^2}\right)G_i(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_i)=\mu _0\frac{d^2}{dt^2}p_i\delta ^{(2)}(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_i).$$
(5)
The field arriving at the $`i`$-th dipole is composed of the direct field from the source and the radiation from all other dipoles, and thus is given as

$$E_z(\stackrel{}{r}_i)=G_0(\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_s)+\underset{j=1,ji}{\overset{N}{}}G_j(\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_j).$$
(6)
Substituting Eqs. (4), (5), and (6) into Eq. (1), and writing $`p_i=p_ie^{i\omega t}`$, we arrive at

$`(\omega ^2+\omega _{0,i}^2i\omega b_{0,i})p_i=`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{q_i^2}{m_i}}\left[G_0(\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_s)+{\displaystyle \underset{j=1,ji}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mu _0\omega ^2}{4\pi }}iH_0^{(1)}(k|\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_j|)p_i\right].`$ (7)
This set of linear equations can be solved numerically for $`p_i`$. After $`p_i`$ are obtained, the total field at any space point can be readily calculated from

$$E_z(\stackrel{}{r})=G_0(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_s)+\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}G_j(\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r}_j).$$
(8)
In the standard approach to wave localization, waves are said to be localized when the square modulus of the field $`|E(\stackrel{}{r})|^2`$, representing the wave energy, is spatially localized after the trivial cylindrically spreading effect is eliminated. Obviously, this is equivalent to say that the further away is the dipole from the source, the smaller its oscillation amplitude, expected to follow an exponentially decreasing pattern.

To this end, it is instructive to point out that an alternative two dimensional dipole model was deviced previously by Rusek and OrlowskiMarian . The authors derived a set of linear algebraic equations, which is similar in form to the above Eq. (7). However, there are some fundamental differences between the two models. In Marian , the interaction between dipoles and the external field is derived by the energy conservation, while in the present case the coupling is determined without ambiguity by the Newton’s second law. The former leads to an undetermined phase factor. According to, e. g. Refs. Erdogan ; ccw , the energy conservation can only give the radiation factor in Eq. (2). We would also like to point out that the set of couple equations in Eq. (7) is similar in spirit to the tight-binding model used to study the electronic localizationAnderson ; Zallen .

There are several ways to introduce randomness to Eq. (7). For example, the disorder may be introduced by randomly varying such properties of individual dipoles as the charge, the mass or the two combined. This is the most common way that the disorder is introduced into the tight-binding model for electronic wavesZallen . In the present study, the disorder is brought in by the random distribution of the dipoles.

Before moving to solve Eq. (7) for the phenomenon of localization of EM waves, we discuss a general property of wave localization. The energy flow of EM waves is $`\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{E}\times \stackrel{}{H}`$. By invoking the Maxwell equations to relate the electrical and magnetic fields, we can derive that the time averaged energy flow is

$$<\stackrel{}{J}>_t\frac{1}{T}_0^T𝑑t\stackrel{}{J}|\stackrel{}{E}|^2\theta ,$$
(9)
where the electrical field is written as $`\stackrel{}{E}=\stackrel{}{e}_E|\stackrel{}{E}|e^{i\theta }`$, with $`\stackrel{}{e}_E`$ denoting the direction, $`|\stackrel{}{E}|`$ and $`\theta `$ being the amplitude and the phase respectively. It is clear from Eq. (9) that when $`\theta `$ is constant, at least by spatial domains, while $`|\stackrel{}{E}|0`$, the flow would come to a stop and the energy will be localized or stored in the space. In the localized state, a source can no longer radiate energies. Alternatively, we can write the oscillation of the dipoles as $`p_i=|p_i|e^{i\theta _i}`$. By studying the square modulus of $`p_i`$ in the form of $`|\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_s||p_i|^2`$, and its phase $`\theta _i`$, we can also investigate the localization of EM waves. Note here that the factor $`|\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_s|`$ is to eliminate the cylindrical spreading effect in 2D as can be seen from the expansion of the Hankel function $`|H_0^{(1)}(x)|^2\frac{1}{x}`$. That the phase $`\theta `$ is constant implies that a coherence behavior appears in the system. In other words, the localized state is a phase-coherent state. This picture of localization also holds for acoustic and electronic waves. It is a unique feature of wave localization.

For simplicity yet without losing generality, assume that all the dipoles are identical and they are randomly distributed within a square area. The source is located at the center (set to be the origin) of this area. For convenience, we make Eq. (7) non-dimensional by scaling the frequency by the resonance frequency of a single dipole $`\omega _0`$. This will lead to two independent non-dimensional parameters $`b=\frac{q^2\mu _0}{4m}`$ and $`b_0^{}=\frac{\omega }{\omega _0}\left(\frac{b_0}{\omega _0}\right)`$. Both parameters may be adjusted in the experiment. For example, the factor $`b_0`$ can be modified by coating layered structures around the dipolesErdogan . Then Eq. (7) becomes simply

$`(f^2+1ib_0^{})p_i=`$
$`ibf^2\left[p_0H_0^{(1)}(k|\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_s|)+{\displaystyle \underset{j=1,ji}{\overset{N}{}}}p_iH_0^{(1)}(k|\stackrel{}{r}_i\stackrel{}{r}_j|)\right]`$ $`)`$ (10)
with $`f=\frac{\omega }{\omega _0}`$. Eq. (10) can be solved numerically for $`p_i`$ and then the total field is obtained through Eqs. (3), (5) and (8). In the calculation, we scale all lengths by the averaged distance between dipoles $`d`$. In this way, the frequency $`\omega `$ always enters as $`kd`$ and the natural frequency $`\omega _0`$ as $`k_0d`$. We find that all the results shown below are only dependent on parameters $`b`$, $`b_0/\omega _0`$, and the ratio $`\omega /\omega _0`$ or equivalently $`k/k_0=(kd)/(k_0d)`$. Such a simple scaling property may facilitate designing experiments.

We have first computed the transmitted intensity averaged over the random distribution of the dipoles as a function of non-dimensional frequency $`kd`$. The results indicate that the natural frequency of the dipoles is altered by the multiple scattering of EM waves, and is shifted towards the lower frequency end. We also find that the transmission is significantly suppressed in a range of frequencies slightly above the natural frequency of a single dipole, suggesting the strong localization in this range of frequencies. This helps us to search for the frequencies where the strong localization is most prominent. We show an example below.

By setting $`b=b_0/\omega _0=10^3`$ and $`k_0d=1`$, we find a strong localization of EM waves at, for instance, $`\omega /\omega _0=1.008`$. In this case, the natural frequency of the dipoles is shifted to around 0.9$`\omega _0`$. A typical picture of wave localization is shown in the bottom part of Fig. 1 for an arbitrary random distribution of 400 dipoles. To describe the phase behavior of the system, we assign a unit phase vector, $`\stackrel{}{u}_i=\mathrm{cos}\theta _i\stackrel{}{e}_x+\mathrm{sin}\theta _i\stackrel{}{e}_y`$ to the oscillation phase $`\theta _i`$ of the dipoles. Here $`\stackrel{}{e}_x`$ and $`\stackrel{}{e}_y`$ are unit vectors in the $`x`$ and $`y`$ directions respectively. These phase vectors are represented by a phase diagram in the $`xy`$ plane with the phase vector $`\stackrel{}{u}_i`$ being located at the dipole to which the phase $`\theta _i`$ is associated. The phase behavior of the system is depicted by the top portion of Fig. 1.

Here it is clearly shown that the field energy is strongly localized near the transmitting source, and, as expected, the energy decreases almost exponentially along the radial direction. Meanwhile, the system reveals an in-phase phenomenon: nearly all the phase vectors of the dipoles point to the same direction, exactly opposite to the phase vector of the source, i. e. the dipoles tend to oscillate out of phase with the source. It is easy to see that such a coherent behavior effectively prevents waves from propagation. The picture represented by Fig. 1 fully complies with the general description of wave localization stated above. The energy localization in Fig. 1 is also in qualitative agreement with that observed in the microwave localizatonMcCall ; McCall2  and the acoustic localization in water with air-cylindersYe2 .

We note from Fig. 1 that near the sample boundary, the phase vectors start to point to different directions. This is because the numerical simulation is carried out for a finite sample size. For a finite system, the energy can leak out at the boundary, resulting in disappearance of the phase coherenceWang . When enlarging the sample size by adding more dipoles while keeping the averaged distance between dipoles fixed, we observe that the area showing the perfect phase coherence will increase accordingly. Another factor affecting the phase coherence behavior, and subsequently the wave localization, is the damping factor. When the absorption is added, the in-phase behavior will be degraded, and the waves will become delocalized gradually, in agreement with the previous simulation on acoustic localization in bubbly waterWang . Though degrading, we find that the localization can sustain a substantial variation in the damping factor, making the system a good candidate for observing the localization phenomenon.

To find the localization length in Fig. 1, we plot the total energy in all directions as a function of the distance from the source. The results are presented by Fig. 2. Here, the numerical data are shown by the black squares, and the result fitted from the least squares method is shown by the solid line. It shows that after removing the spreading factor, the data can be fitted by $`e^{r/\xi }`$. From the slop of the solid line, the localization length $`\xi `$ is estimated as around $`2.02d`$, which is in the vicinity of the localization length $`1.6d`$ estimated experimentally for microwave localization in 2D dielectric latticesMcCall2 .

In summary, we have presented a model system to study the localization of EM waves in 2D random media. The results show that spatially localized EM waves can be realized in this simple but realistic disordered system. When localization occurs, a coherent behavior appears as a unique feature separating the localization from other effects such as the residual absorption or extinction effects. Such a coherence phenomenon for waves in random media could also be relevant to the random laser actionrl .

This work is supported by the Bai Yu Lan Fund of Shanghai and the NSF of China (20074007, 90103034).


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# Phase diagram of the ferroelectric-relaxor (1-x)PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3-xPbTiO3

## I Introduction

Solid solutions of the relaxor-ferroelectrics (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-x PbTiO3 and (1-x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-x PbTiO3, known as PMN-xPT and PZN-xPT, respectively, are under active consideration for a new generation of electromechanical devices. When properly oriented, they have piezoelectric coefficients which are the highest yet reported, with electromechanical deformations one order-of-magnitude larger than those of conventional high piezoelectric PbZrO3-PbTiO3 (PZT) ceramics Par1 ; Vie1 . The exceptional electromechanical properties of these lead oxide-based solid solutions have long been known to be related to the nearly vertical phase boundary between the rhombohedral and the tetragonal phases, the so-called morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), which is a common feature of the PbMeO3-PbTiO3 systems Jaf1 ; Kuw1 ; Shr1 .

However, the origin of this unusual behavior remained unknown until recently, when a monoclinic phase was observed around the MPB of PZT, in between the rhombohedral and tetragonal phases Noh1 ; Noh2 . The monoclinic phase in PZT, with space group Cm, has the unique axis $`b_m`$ along the  direction, and a unit cell that is doubled with respect to the primitive cubic one and rotated $`45^o`$ about the c-axis with respect to it. We designate this monoclinic phase as MA-type, following the notation of Vanderbilt and Cohen, who in a recent theoretical study derived for the first time a region of stability for ferroelectric monoclinic perovskites by an extension of the classic Devonshire-Landau expansion of the free energy to eighth-order Van1 . Diffraction experiments with an electric field applied in-situ Guo1  together with first-principles calculations Bel1  on PZT ceramics have demonstrated a direct link between the MA phase and the high electromechanical deformations in PZT due to rotation of the polarization between the  and  directions. This fact explains some other studies in which an enhancement of the piezoelectric properties of -oriented rhombohedral PZT was reportedDu1 ; Dam1

First-principles calculationsFu1  have also shown that the anomalously high strain values observed in rhombohedral PZN-xPT crystals under a -electric field Par1 can be attributed to polarization rotation from the rhombohedral  to the tetragonal  polar axis. Diffraction experiments with an electric field applied in-situ Noh4 ; Ohw1  have permitted the direct observation of such polarization rotation paths, and have shown that for rhombohedral PZN-8PT, which has a composition very close to the MPB, a different monoclinic phase (MC in the notation of ref. Van1 ) is induced when an electric field is applied along the  direction. The MC phase has the Pm space group, with the unique axis $`b_m`$ oriented along the pseudo-cubic  direction. With increasing electric field, the MC phase becomes less distorted and approaches tetragonal symmetry but when the field is decreased to zero, an orthorhombic (O) phase is reached, similar to that of BaTiO3, which can be viewed as an MC phase with $`a_m=c_m`$ Noh4 . The appearance of this irreversibly-induced O phase in PZN-8PT suggested that an orthorhombic phase would probably exist close by in this region of the phase diagram. Shortly afterwards, x-ray powder diffraction experiments Cox1 ; Lao1  did in fact reveal the existence of such an O phase in a narrow composition region (8%$`<`$ x $`<`$11%) between the rhombohedral (R) and tetragonal (T) phases in the PZN-xPT phase diagram. The O phase can be regarded as being very close in energy to the MC phase for the following two reasons; first, a very small elecric field is enough to induce the O-MC transformation Noh4  and, second, one of the four PZN-9%PT samples studied by Uesu et al. Ues1  showed MC symmetry rather than O.

The MPB phases of the piezoelectric system PMN-xPTShr1 ; Nob1  have not been extensively studied until the last two years, during which a series of papers on this material have appeared. PMN-33%PT single crystals poled along the  direction appear to be orthorhombic Vie2 , while X-ray diffraction experiments have shown that a PMN-35%PT crystal poled along the  directions has MA-type monoclinic symmetry, similar to that of PZTYe1 . This latter work also reports that unpoled PMN-35%PT single crystals are purely rhombohedral, in contrastr to previous optical microscopy studies of crystals of the same nominal composition which reported that they display a complicated pattern of rhombohedral and tetragonal domains Ye2 . Very recently, fascinating domain patterns, arising from different monoclinic phases with different polarization directions, have been observed by Xu et al. in a PMN-33%PT crystal Xu1 . In addition, both neutron Kia1  and x-ray Sin1  powder diffraction measurements have revealed the existence of a monoclinic phase of MC-type, in PMN-35%PT at low temperatures, and in PMN-34%PT at room temperature, respectively. All these results indicate that the behaviour of PMN-xPT around the MPB is very complicated and requires more systematic studies to be properly understood.

In the present work we report a high-resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction study on PMN-xPT ceramic samples of several compositions as a function of temperature around the MPB. An intermediate monoclinic phase of MC type has been observed in agreement with previous reports Kia1 ; Sin1 . However, in contrast to these latter results, it has been found that the monoclinic phase does not exist as a single phase in any of the samples studied. The present study has allowed us to determine the region of stability of the intermediate phase and to construct a new phase diagram for PMN-xPT.

## II Experimental

Samples of (1-x)PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3-xPbTiO3 with x=0.30, 0.31, 0.33, 0.35, 0.37 and 0.39 (hereafter designated xPT, with x in %) were synthesized using the two-step columbite precursor technique Swa1 . The starting reagents were oxide powders with purities better than 99.9%. In the first step, a mixture of MgO and Nb2O5 containing a 15.5 wt% excess of MgO over the 1:1 stoichiometric proportions was thoroughly ground in ethanol and cold-pressed. The excess amount of MgO was added in order to compensate for subsequent weight losses at high temperatures as determined from a previous DTA/TG analysis. The pellet was dried at $`80^o`$ C and calcined at $`1100^o`$C for 12h to form pure MgNb2O6 of columbite structure. In the second step, this precursor powder was mixed with PbO and TiO2 in the appropriate proportions and a 2 wt% excess of PbO added to compensate for the evaporation losses during the calcining and sintering processes. Each composition was thoroughly ground and calcined at $`900^o`$C for 4h to form the perovskite phase. The calcined powders were reground with the addition of a few drops of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and cold-pressed into pellets about 3 mm thick and 15 mm in diameter, which were first heated to $`650^o`$C in an open Pt crucible for 1h to drive off the PVA, and then sintered at $`1200^o`$C for 4h in an alumina crucible to form highly densified ceramics. The light yellow surfaces of the ceramic pellets were polished with fine diamond paste and ultrasonically cleaned. X-ray diffraction patterns obtained on a laboratory diffractometer with Cu K$`\alpha `$ confirmed the formation of perovskite-type phases with no evidence of any impurities.

Synchroton x-ray powder diffraction measurements were performed at beamline X7A at the Brookhaven National Synchrotron Light Source on several different occasions. In each case a double-crystal channel-cut Si (111) monochromator was used in combination with a Ge (220) analyzer and a scintillation detector. The wavelength was set to $``$ 0.7 Å and calibrated with a Si reference standard. With this configuration, the angular resolution is better than 0.01o. In most cases the data were collected directly from the ceramic pellets in Bragg-Brentano geometry by carrying out step-scans at 0.005 or 0.01o intervals over selected angular regions while the sample was rocked over a few degrees to improve powder averaging. This type of scan provides good counting rates but can result in incorrect intensity ratios if significant preferred orientation is present in the pellets. However, the peak positions and hence the derived unit cell parameters are not affected by this problem. Temperature dependence measurements, between 20 and 500K, were performed with the samples loaded in a closed-cycle cryostat. A further set of measurements was made at room temperature on capillary samples which were rotated at about 1 Hz during data collection. Such data are free from preferred-orientation effects, but suffer from the disadvantage that the counting rates are quite slow. For this purpose, a small piece of each pellet was carefully crushed and sieved, and the resulting 325-400 mesh fraction (about 38-44 $`\mu m`$) loaded into a thin glass-walled capillary of nominal diameter 0.2 mm Cox1 . In most cases scans were carried out over narrow angular regions centered about the six pseudocubic reflections (100), (110), (111), (200), (220) and (222), from which it is possible to determine unambiguously the crystal symmetry within the limits of the instrumental resolution, together with the corresponding lattice parameters and any zero offset if present. For the data analysis, the individual reflection profiles were fitted to a pseudo-Voigt function appropriately corrected for asymmetry Fin1  with intensity, peak position, peak-width (FWHM) and mixing parameter as variables. When appropriate, the peak widths and mixing parameters were constrained to be the same for all the peaks in a clump. Additional peaks were added based on the difference patterns, the relative intensities and the goodness-of-fit residuals. Compared to the standard Rietveld technique of profile-matching, in which the full diffraction pattern is fitted without a structural model, the advantage of this procedure is that it does not require any assumptions about the phases to be included, how the FWHM and mixing parameters vary as a function of 2$`\theta `$, and how to allow for anisotropic broadening, when neighboring peaks have significantly different widths. We have found that this is a fairly common effect in PbO-based perovskite systems, and is likely to occur when one or more of the lattice parameters is more sensitive to compositional fluctuations than the others. If overlooked, anisotropic broadening can be mistakenly interpreted as a lower-symmetry structure in a profile-matching analysis.

Some information about the microstructure and compositional fluctuations in the samples can be obtained from Williamson-Hall plots Wil1  of the peak widths, which can be used to provide estimates of the mean coherence length, L, and fluctuations in the d-spacings, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$d/d. The observed values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$d/d in the cubic phase are consistent with long-range compositional fluctuations in the samples of typically $`\pm `$1% (FWHM), based on the lattice parameters reported by Noblanc et al.Nob1  for compositions in the range 25-40PT.

## III Temperature dependence

The temperature evolution of the lattice parameters for 30PT and 39PT is shown in Fig 1. These two compositions are located to the left and right sides, respectively, of the MPB in the PMN-xPT phase diagram, and the Curie temperatures, TC, are shown as vertical dotted lines. The determination of TC, which is usually made from dielectric measurements, is difficult in this case due to the broadness of the dielectric constant peak. In this paper the TC values have been adapted from those of Noblanc et al. Nob1  as the average of the two temperatures, Tm (maximum) and Td (depoling), obtained from dielectric measurements on poled samples, which produce better-defined dielectric anomalies. Below their respective TC’s of about 400 K and 450 K, 39PT is tetragonal down to 20K, while 30PT is first tetragonal becoming rhombohedral at about 350K Nob1 , and remaining so down to 20 K.

The diffraction profiles around the pseudo-cubic (111), (200) and (220) diffraction peaks from 30PT and 39PT at 300K are shown in Fig. 2a and Fig. 2d, respectively, in which the least-squares fits to the data points are shown as solid lines and the peak positions by vertical arrows. In each case, the observed diffraction peaks show no evidence of phase coexistence; however, an analysis of the peak broadening reveals that the two compositions behave quite differently. Fig. 3 shows the respective Williamson-Hall plots Wil1 , which have slopes of 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$d/d and intercepts of $`\lambda `$$`/L`$, where $`L`$ is the coherence length. While the 39PT composition shows isotropic broadening with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`d/d=9.5\times 10^4`$ and a coherence length $`L=`$ 0.5 $`\mu `$m, the 30PT composition shows highly anisotropic broadening and much smaller $`L`$ values, of about 0.2 $`\mu `$m, as shown in Fig. 3 (top). In the 30PT composition, the broadening is very small for the (hhh) peaks, with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`d/d=2.6\times 10^4`$, and most pronounced for the (h00) peaks, with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`d/d`$ an order-of-magnitude larger. This situation is very similar to that observed in the rhombohedral phase of PZT, in which a large degree of intrinsic disorder Gla1  is known to exist due to the existence of local displacements of monoclinic type even though the long-range structure is rhombohedral Cor1 .

Intermediate compositions gave considerably more complicated diffraction patterns, as can be seen in Figs. 2b and 2c for the 31PT and 33PT samples at 300K. From a detailed analysis of the peak positions and intensities of the fitted profiles, it was possible to identify a monoclinic phase of MC-type in the 31PT, 33PT, 35PT and 37PT compositions, similar to that reported by Kiat et al.Kia1  and Singh et al Sin1 . For example, in the case of 31PT it can be seen in Fig. 2b that the profiles of the pseudo-cubic (200) and (220) reflections are distinctly different from those of 30PT shown in Fig. 2a. Various possibilities were considered to explain the observed peak positions and intensities of 31PT; in particular the lower-symmetry phases previously found in this and related systems, i.e. orthorhombic O, monoclinic MA and monoclinic MC. Among these, both O and MC are found to account quite well for most of the observed features, while MA can be ruled out altogether. However, there are several discrepancies in the intensity ratios which can only be accounted for by the presence of a minority rhombohedral phase, with an estimated volume fraction of about 30%.

As mentioned earlier, O and MC are closely related and very difficult to distinguish from each other, since the O phase simply represents the limiting case of the MC phase when $`a_m`$=$`c_m`$. In a diffraction pattern, the difference between the two is most obvious for the pseudo-cubic (200) reflection, which would split into three peaks with roughly equal intensities for $`M_C`$, but only two peaks with a 2:1 intensity ratio for O. In the case of 31PT, it is not immediately apparent whether the broad lower-angle peak is composed of one or two peaks; however, we were able to obtain a significantly better fit with two peaks, which together with the rest of the monoclinic reflections, enabled the lattice parameters of the MC phase to be determined with reasonable accuracy. The corresponding peak positions are indicated by solid vertical arrows in Fig. 2b.

The monoclinic lattice parameters of 31PT are plotted as a function of temperature in Fig. 4. At 20K, $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$ are fairly well-differentiated, but they approach each other with increasing temperature and can no longer be resolved at 350K, as indicated by the error bars in Fig. 4. At the same time $`b_m`$ increases and the monoclinic angle $`\beta `$, approaches $`90^o`$. Between 350 K and 375 K, the monoclinic phase transforms to a tetragonal one, with lattice parameters $`a_t`$ and $`c_t`$. It is noteworthy that the variation between $`b_m`$ and $`a_t`$ is continuous at the phase transition, in striking similarity to the behavior observed for the orthorhombic phase in PZN-xPT Cox1 ; Lao1 . Finally, between 400K and 425K, the sample transforms into the cubic phase, consistent with the PMN-xPT phase diagram in ref. Nob1 .

At 300K and 20K, the minority rhombohedral phase has the lattice parameters listed in Tables I and II. The corresponding peak positions at 300K are indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 2b. The volume fraction of the rhombohedral phase remains constant at roughly 30% up to 350 K.

The same regions of the powder diffractogram are plotted in Fig. 2c for the 33PT composition at 300K. As in the case of 31PT, identification of the fitted peaks was based upon consideration of the R, T, MA, MC and O phases, both alone and in various combinations. Once again, the MC phase was found to account satisfactorily for most of the peaks. Compared to the MC phase of 31PT (Fig. 2b) there is a larger splitting of the three peaks in the pseudo-cubic (200) profile, corresponding to a monoclinic distortion with a greater difference between $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$, and hence more distinct from the limiting orthorhombic phase. However, as before, there were several discrepancies in the intensity ratios and clear evidence of a low-angle shoulder on the (h00) profiles which could only be explained by the presence of a minority phase, but in this case tetragonal instead of rhombohedral, with a volume fraction of about 25%. The calculated peak positions for the MC and T phases are indicated in Fig. 2c by solid and dashed arrows respectively.

The temperature evolution of the monoclinic lattice parameters is plotted in Fig. 5, and is very similar to that of 31PT except for the larger difference between the $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$ lattice parameters. Between 300-325K, the monoclinic phase transforms into a tetragonal one, which then transforms to the cubic phase between 400-425K, in agreement with the previously reported PMN-xPT phase diagramNob1 . The volume fraction of the minority T phase is also found to be constant at about 25% over the entire temperature range in which it coexists with the MC phase. The $`a_t`$ lattice parameters at 300K and 20K are not shown in Fig. 5, but are very similar to $`b_m`$ at 300K and 20K, as inferred from the overlap of the tetragonal (200) and monoclinic (020) peaks on the high-angle side of the (200) pseudo-cubic reflection (see Fig. 2c), and thus follow a continuous trend with $`a_t`$ in the purely tetragonal phase at higher temperatures. $`c_t`$ follows a similar continuous trend at low temperatures with $`c_t`$ at higher temperatures. The tetragonal lattice parameters for 33PT at 300K and 20K are listed in Tables I and II, respectively.

The behavior observed in 35PT is more complicated. The diffraction profiles around the pseudo-cubic (200), (220) and (222) reflections are plotted in Fig. 6 for the three different symmetry regions observed as a function of temperature: the cubic phase at 450K, the tetragonal phase at 400K, and the low temperature region at 20K. The strikingly broad features observed at low temperatures are in sharp contrast to the narrow and well-resolved peaks observed in the tetragonal and cubic phases. The high-angle peak in the (200) profile, which corresponds to the smallest lattice parameter, $`b_m`$, shifts towards higher angles and remains relatively sharp. In contrast, the intensity in the lower-angle region becomes very broad and the fitting procedure becomes accordingly more difficult. However, it is quite clear that this broadening cannot be explained simply by the existence of a second tetragonal phase. Fortunately, the (hh0) and (hhh) reflections do not show such pronounced broadening and can be fitted satisfactorily. The inset to Fig. 6b shows the experimental data points around the pseudocubic (220) reflection at 20K together with the solid line representing a six-peak fit which is in excellent agreement with the observed profile. Most of the peak positions are consistent with the coexistence of $`M_C`$ and T phases, and the corresponding lattice parameters at 300K and 20 K are listed in Tables I and II, respectively. However, there remain some significant discrepancies in the intensity ratios and also one unexplained peak in the (hh0) profiles. It turns out that these features can be accounted for very well by the presence of about 30% of a third orthorhombic (O) phase with $`b_m`$ and $`\beta `$ equal to those of MC phase, and with $`a_m`$=$`c_m`$ equal to the mean value of the $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$ values for $`M_C`$ (see table II). At 300K, the O and MC lattice parameters cannot be resolved.

The 37PT composition was found to be a two-phase mixture of MC and T at low temperatures, in the approximate ratio 55:45 at both 20 K and 200K, and predominantly tetragonal at room temperature. The evolution of the lattice parameters is plotted in Fig. 7 showing for clarity only those phases with a volume fraction in excess of 40%. The volume fraction of the T phase increases from about 45% at 200K, to 80% at 300K, and is essentially 100% at 325K. Thus, as in the case of 35PT, there is a temperature interval in which the relative fractions of MC and T phases are found to vary, which has been indicated as a shaded region in Fig. 7. The lattice parameters for the T phase at 300K and for the T and MC phases at 20K, are also shown in Tables I and II, respectively. Because of peak overlap, the lattice parameters of the minority monoclinic phase at 300K could not be determined. The vertical dotted line denotes the temperature of the T-C phase transition obtained, as in previously noted, from the mean values of the two temperatures reported in ref. Nob1 .

## IV Composition dependence

Figs. 8 and 9 show the evolution of the monoclinic phase between the rhombohedral and tetragonal regions as a function of composition at 300K and 20K, respectively. As in previous figures, only the values of the majority phases have been plotted for clarity, except for 37PT at 20K, where the volume fractions of the two phases are roughly the same. The lattice parameters reported in ref. Sin1  for PMN-34%PT are also plotted in Fig. 8, and are seen to be in good agreement with the present data. The region of stability of the MC phase lies approximately between 31PT and 35PT at 300K, as reported by Singh et alSin1 , and it is found to extend slightly further at 20K, to 37PT. The trends in the lattice parameters show similar features at both temperatures: $`c_m`$ increases and $`b_m`$ decreases with increasing Ti content, while $`a_m`$ and ($`\beta `$-$`90^o`$) remain approximately constant at 300K, and decrease only slightly at 20K. Although there are relatively large errors in the determination of the lattice parameters, we can nevertheless conclude that the transition between the rhombohedral and monoclinic states is rather abrupt, as expected on symmetry grounds Lan1 . More unexpectedly, the transition between the monoclinic and tetragonal phases also seems to be fairly abrupt, implying that there is no continuous rotation of the polarization all the way to the tetragonal state with increasing Ti content.

Based on the above analysis, we have constructed a new phase diagram for PMN-xPT in the vicinity of the MPB, as shown in Fig. 10, in which the stability region of the MC phase has been shaded. The solid line indicating the transition to the cubic phase has been adapted from ref. Nob1  as the average of the two temperatures, Tm (maximum) and Td (depoling), proposed by Noblanc et al. Nob1 , as previously mentioned. These transition temperatures were found to be in better agreement with our data (solid symbols) than those reported in ref. Shr1 . To take into account the observed phase coexistence, a dotted vertical line and horizontal dotted arrows have been included in the phase diagram, to indicate the rhombohedral ( x$``$ 32%) or tetragonal ( x$``$ 32%) symmetry of the secondary phase.

## V Discussion

It is interesting to note that the x-ray profiles shown in Fig. 2c for 33PT are clearly similar to those in Fig. 1 of ref. Sin1  for 34PT . In particular, there appears to be definite evidence of a low-angle shoulder in the pseudo-cubic (200) profile, and a high-angle shoulder in the (220) profile, both of which would imply the presence of a minority tetragonal phase in the latter sample.

Recent work by Topolov Top1  shows that stress fields may play a very important role at the MPB. It therefore seems plausible that local internal strain due to lattice mismatching between coexisting phases is the cause for the observed broadening of the pseudo-cubic (h00) profile in the MC phase. This type of strain would produce a distribution of $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$ lattice parameters that could explain the striking profiles seen for the 35PT sample at 20K and could include the limiting case of an orthorhombic phase for which $`a_m`$=$`c_m`$. The fact that such a distribution is less evident in the other profiles (see Fig. 6b-c) is because the corresponding peak splittings are defined mainly by the monoclinic angle and the average values of $`a_m`$ and $`c_m`$ for (hh0), and exclusively by those values for (hhh). It is also apparent that the existence of long-range compositional fluctuations about $`\pm 1\%`$, indicated by Williamson-Hall plots for the cubic phases, as earlier described, can only partially explain the observed distribution of monoclinic lattice parameters.

Furthermore, in the context of the three-phase coexistence observed in 35PT at low temperatures, it is interesting to note that a degenerate point at which these three phases, T, O and MC coexist has been predicted by Vanderbilt and Cohen Van1  in an eighth-order expansion of the free energy. Although this degeneracy is actually an artifact of the model, and could be removed by considering higher-order terms in the Devonshire expansion, it is reasonable to suppose that these three phases are extremely close in energy and can in fact coexist in real systems due to internal strain, thermal fluctuations, etc. The phase diagram reported in ref. Van1,  may explain why the MPB of the PMN-xPT system (around the T-MC-O ”degenerate” point) is considerably more complicated than that of PZT Noh2  (around the T-MA-R tricritical point) or that of PZN-xPTLao1  (around the R-O-T tricritical point). Burton et al. Bur1  have reported a slightly lower disorder energy in PMN than in PZN. Moreover, this disorder can be expected to increase at the MPB of the PMN-xPT system due to the larger Ti content, and could also contribute to the exceptional anharmonicity of the free-energy surfaces Van1 , a feature believed to be related to the nature of the Pb-O bond in these lead oxide solid solutions Kia2 .

There is the question of whether the observed phase coexistence, R+MC, T+$`M_C`$, or even T+$`M_C`$+O is an intrinsic feature of the PMN-xPT system. The previously-noted degree of compositional fluctuation might by itself explain the coexistence of MC and R phases in 31PT, but not the coexistence of $`M_C`$ and T over a much wider range. According to the eighth-order Devonshire expansion of the free energy Van1 , a phase transition between R and MC cannot occur directly and is only possible via an O phase ref . In this work, we have observed that 31PT is very close to orthorhombic, and it seems entirely plausible that compositions might be found between 30PT and 31PT which are truly orthorhombic, in which case the transition between R and MC will indeed occur via the O phase.

Furthermore, according to the eighth-order theoryVan1 , the $`M_C`$-T phase transition should be second-order, and no phase coexistence region should be observed. However, the O-T phase transition is first-order, and therefore the presence of an O phase could explain the wide region of MC+T phase coexistence observed. In fact, the existence of a minority third O phase, similar to that found in 35PT cannot be neccesarily ruled out in 31PT, 33PT and 37PT, although in these cases we are unable to resolve it from the monoclinic phase. On the other hand, it is also possible that the continuous character of the MC-T transition may be changed by considering higher-orders in the free energy expansion Van1 , since the Landau conditions for second-order transitions that are fulfilled in this case are necessary but not sufficient Lan1 . This would be more in accordance with the fairly abrupt changes in the lattice parameters, in special the order parameter $`\beta `$$`90^o`$, observed at the transition as a function of composition, and the MC-T phase coexistence could be naturally explained.

To conclude, a new phase diagram for PMN-xPT has been proposed which delimits the the composition range of the MC phase near the MPB. The existence of a secondary phase, either tetragonal or rhombohedral, has been found in all cases (31%$``$ x$``$ 37%). Moreover, the presence of a third minority orthorhombic phase, observed for 35PT, cannot be ruled out in the other monoclinic compositions, and could explain the observed phase coexistence of MC and T. This complex landscape of phase mixtures, which is in agreement with the observations of Xu et al. for 33PT single crystals Xu1 , cannot be explained simply by long-range compositional fluctuations in the sample and is believed to be an intrinsic feature of the PMN-xPT system. The evolution of the monoclinic lattice parameters as a function of composition shows that the MC phase evolves from the O limit and approaches the T limit, indicating that the polarization rotates in the monoclinic (010) plane. However, the rotation appears to be discontinuous at both limits. The present results show that the MPB of the MPB system is characterized by multi-phase components and complex phase behavior. We hope that our observations will stimulate further experimental and theoretical work needed to clarify more precisely the nature of the MPB and its relationship to the electromechanical properties.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank A. Bokov and M. Dong for their help in sample preparation and B. Burton for useful discussions. Financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 and U.S. Office of Naval Research Grant No. N00014-99-1-0738 is also gratefully acknowledged.


text:
# A Characterization of Similarity Maps Between Euclidean Spaces Related to the Beckman–Quarles Theorem

## Introduction

In the theory of metric spaces or, more generally, distance sets and distance spaces (cf. ), distance equality preserving transformations, that is, those that preserve equations of the form $`d(x,y)=d(z,w)`$, are far more general than transformations which preserve all distances accurately (isometries) or up to a multiplicative constant (similarity maps). Using monoid homomorphisms, it shall be shown here that in case of Euclidean spaces of dimension at least two, both classes of maps are in fact the same when continuity is required in addition.

Throughout, $`G_n`$ will denote the group of motions (=self-isometries) of Euclidean $`n`$-space $`^n`$, equipped with the topology of pointwise convergence. Double square brackets $`[[`$$`]]`$ are used to enclose proof details.

## A simple fact about distance functions

Although I will apply it only for the case of Euclidean metric, the following lemma states a simple correspondence between distance equality preserving maps and monoid homomorphisms in presence of a very general kind of distance function. Formally, a distance function is here just a map $`d:X^2M`$ into some set $`M`$, and a transformation $`h:(X,d)^n`$ is distance equality preserving if and only if the implication $`d(x,y)=d(z,w)|h(x)h(y)|=|h(z)h(w)|`$ holds for all $`x,y,z,wX`$.

###### Lemma 1

Let $`(X,,1)`$ be a monoid, $`n0`$, and $`d`$ a left translation-invariant distance function on $`X`$, that is, with $`d(zx,zy)=d(x,y)`$. If $`h:(X,d)^n`$ is a distance equality preserving map, there is a monoid homomorphism $`f:(X,,1)G_n`$ such that $`h(x)=f(x)\left(h(1)\right)`$ for all $`xX`$.

If, moreover, $`h[X]`$ is not contained in any affine hyperplane of $`^n`$, this $`f`$ is unique.

Proof. Let us first consider the “non-degenerate” case where $`h[X]`$ is not contained in a hyperplane. Then there are $`n+1`$ points $`x_0,\mathrm{},x_nX`$ such that the set $`\{h(x_i):in+1\}`$ is not contained in any hyperplane. For each $`xX`$, there is a unique motion $`f_x`$ of $`^n`$ with $`f_xh(x_i)=h(xx_i)`$ for all $`i`$ $`[[`$Since $`d`$ is left translation invariant and $`h`$ is distance equality preserving, $`|h(xx_i)h(xx_j)|=|h(x_i)h(x_j)|`$, hence also $`\{h(xx_i)|in+1\}`$ is not contained in a hyperplane. Thus, for all $`a^n`$, there is a unique $`b^n`$ such that $`|bh(xx_i)|=|ah(x_i)|`$ for all $`i`$. Put $`f_x(a):=b`$. In particular, $`f_x(h(x_i))=h(xx_i)`$ for all $`i`$. Since for all $`a,a^{}^n`$, the distance $`|aa^{}|`$ is a function of the two $`(n+1)`$-tuples of distances $`\left(|ah(x_i)|\right)_i`$ and $`\left(|a^{}h(x_i)|\right)_i`$, $`f_x`$ is a motion$`]]`$. Now $`h(xy)=f_x(h(y))`$ for all $`xX`$ $`[[`$$`f_x(h(y))`$ is the unique $`bY`$ with $`|bh(xx_i)|=|h(y)h(x_i)|`$ for all $`i`$, and $`h(xy)`$ is such a $`b`$$`]]`$, in particular $`h(x)=f_x(h(1))`$, and the map $`f:xf_x`$ is a monoid homomorphism $`[[`$$`f_xf_y`$ is a motion with $`f_xf_y(h(x_i))=f_x(h(yx_i))=h(xyx_i)`$ for all $`i`$, hence it equals $`f_{xy}`$$`]]`$.

On the other hand, let $`g:xg_x`$ be another homomorphism with $`h(x)=g_x(h(1))`$ for all $`x`$. Then $`g_x(h(x_i))=g_xg_{x_i}(h(1))=g_{xx_i}(h(1))=h(xx_i)`$ for all $`x`$ and $`i`$, hence $`g_x=f_x`$ for all $`x`$, that is, $`g=f`$.

For the degenerate case, let $`h^{}:=i^1h`$, where $`i`$ is an isometry between some $`^k`$ (with $`k<n`$) and the affine hull of $`h[X]`$. Then $`h^{}:(X,d)^k`$ is distance equality preserving and “non-degenerate”, hence there is a corresponding monoid homomorphism $`f^{}:(X,,1)G_k`$. Moreover, there is an embedding $`g:G_kG_n`$ such that $`g(m)i=im`$ for all motions $`m`$ of $`^k`$. Then $`f:=gf^{}`$ is a homomorphism such that

$$f(x)\left(h(1)\right)=\left(g(f_x^{})i\right)\left(h^{}(1)\right)=(if_x^{})\left(h^{}(1)\right)=ih^{}(x)=h(x).$$

$`\mathrm{}`$

Moreover, it is easily verified that in case of $`X=^m`$, either none or both of $`h`$ and $`f`$ are continuous.

## The case of a one-dimensional domain

It is well known that each continuous representation of the (additive) group $``$ by motions of $`^n`$ is of the following form. Let $`k`$ be a motion of $`^n`$ and $`s`$ a non-negative integer with $`2sn`$. For each $`i\{1,\mathrm{},s\}`$, let $`E_i`$ be the plane spanned by the standard unit vectors $`e_{2i1}`$ and $`e_{2i}`$, and $`\alpha _i>0`$. Moreover, let the vector $`b^n`$ be orthogonal to all $`E_i`$. Then the map $`f:xf_x`$ defined by

$$A_i:=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{cos}\left(x\alpha _i\right)& \hfill \mathrm{sin}\left(x\alpha _i\right)\\ \hfill \mathrm{sin}\left(x\alpha _i\right)& \hfill \mathrm{cos}\left(x\alpha _i\right)\end{array}\right)\text{ and }k\left(f_x(a)\right):=xb+\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\overline{)A_1}& & & \\ & \mathrm{}& & \\ & & \overline{)A_s}& \\ & & & \overline{)1_{n2s}}\end{array}\right)k(a)$$

is a continuous group homomorphism from $``$ into $`G_n`$, where $`1_{n2s}`$ is a unit matrix of $`n2s`$ dimensions. Each $`f_x`$ is a composition of rotations in the planes $`k^1[E_i]`$ with centre $`k^1(0)`$ and angles $`x\alpha _i`$, and of a translation perpendicular to all those planes.

Obviously, the continuous distance equality preserving maps from $`^1`$ to $`^n`$ are exactly the “generalized helices” $`h(x)=f_x(a)`$ with $`f`$ of the form just described and arbitrary $`a^n`$.

## The case of a higher-dimensional domain

We will now see that between Euclidean spaces of higher dimension than one, the continuous distance equality preserving maps are already similarity maps.

###### Lemma 2

For a function $`C:[0,\mathrm{})[0,\mathrm{})`$ of the form

$$C(r)=(r\lambda )^2+\underset{k=1}{\overset{s}{}}\left(\lambda _k\sqrt{22\mathrm{cos}(r\kappa _k)}\right)^2$$

with $`0<\kappa _1<\mathrm{}<\kappa _s`$ and $`\lambda _k>0`$, all coefficients $`\kappa _k,\lambda _k`$ are uniquely determined.

Proof. For $`n>0`$, the $`(4n+1)`$-st derivative of $`C`$ fulfils

$$\frac{C^{(4n+1)}(r)}{2\kappa _s^{4n+1}}=\lambda _s^2\mathrm{sin}(r\kappa _s)+\underset{k=1}{\overset{s1}{}}\lambda _k^2\left(\frac{\kappa _k}{\kappa _s}\right)^{4n+1}\mathrm{sin}(r\kappa _k)\lambda _s\mathrm{sin}(r\kappa _s)$$

for $`n\mathrm{}`$. Therefore, $`\kappa _s`$ is the smallest $`\mu >0`$ with $`C^{(4n+1)}(r)=O(\mu ^{4n+1})`$ for almost all $`r`$, and $`\lambda _s^2=sup_rlimC^{(4n+1)}(r)/2\kappa _s^{4n+1}`$. Subtracting the $`s`$-term, one can now inductively determine all $`\kappa _k`$ and $`\lambda _k`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Theorem 1

The continuous distance equality preserving maps from $`^m`$ to $`^n`$ with $`m>1`$ are exactly the similarity maps.

Proof. Since a map $`h:^m^n`$ ($`m>1`$) is a similarity if and only if $`h|_E`$ is one for all affine planes $`E^m`$, we may assume that $`m=2`$. Let $`h:^2^n`$ be continuous and distance equality preserving with $`h(0,0)=z`$. From Lemma 1 we know that $`h`$ is of the form

$$h(x,y)=f_{(x,y)}(z)=\phi _x\left(\psi _y(z)\right)=\psi _y\left(\phi _x(z)\right),$$

where $`\phi :x\phi _x`$ and $`\psi :y\psi _y`$ are continuous group homomorphisms from $`^2`$ into $`G_n`$. The motions $`\phi _x`$ and $`\psi _y`$ are of the form

$$\phi _x(v)=a_x+A_xv\text{and}\psi _y(v)=b_y+B_yv,$$

where $`A_x`$ and $`B_y`$ are orthogonal matrices with $`A_xB_y=B_yA_x`$ $`[[`$since $`a_x+A_xb_y+A_xB_yv=\phi _x\left(\psi _y(v)\right)=\psi _y\left(\phi _x(v)\right)=b_y+B_ya_x+B_yA_xv`$ for all $`v^n`$ implies $`a_x+A_xb_y=b_y+B_ya_x`$, hence $`A_xB_yv=B_yA_xv`$ for all $`v`$, that is, $`A_xB_y=B_yA_x`$$`]]`$.

Therefore, there is a unitary complex matrix $`P`$ such that $`A_x^{}:=P^1A_xP`$ and $`B_y^{}:=P^1B_yP`$ are (complex) diagonal matrices for all $`x,y`$ $`[[`$Choose $`\xi ,\eta `$ so that $`A_\xi `$ and $`B_\eta `$ have a minimal number of real eigenvalues among all $`A_x`$ resp. $`B_y`$. The commuting orthogonal matrices $`A_\xi `$ and $`B_\eta `$ have a common diagonalization $`P^1A_\xi P`$, $`P^1B_\eta P`$ with some unitary $`P`$. Since for all $`x,y`$, the planes of rotation of $`A_x`$ and $`B_y`$ are among those of $`A_\xi `$ and $`B_\eta `$, respectively, every complex eigenvector of $`A_\xi `$ or $`B_\eta `$ is an eigenvector of $`A_x`$ or $`B_y`$, respectively. Hence also $`A_x^{}`$ and $`B_y^{}`$ are diagonal$`]]`$. Now $`xA_x^{}`$ and $`yB_y^{}`$ are continuous homomorphisms into the group of unitary diagonal matrices, hence there are coefficients $`\alpha _j,\beta _j`$ such that

$$A_x^{}=\text{diag}(e^{ix\alpha _1},\mathrm{},e^{ix\alpha _n})\text{ and }B_y^{}=\text{diag}(e^{iy\beta _1},\mathrm{},e^{iy\beta _n}).$$

The map $`c:[0,\mathrm{})[0,\mathrm{})`$, $`|xy||h(x)h(y)|`$ is well-defined since $`h`$ is distance equality preserving, and fulfils

$$c(r)=|h(0,0)h(r\mathrm{cos}\gamma ,r\mathrm{sin}\gamma )|=\left|z\phi _{r\mathrm{cos}\gamma }\left(\psi _{r\mathrm{sin}\gamma }(z)\right)\right|$$

for all $`r0`$ and $`\gamma `$. Note that $`\phi _{r\mathrm{cos}\gamma }\psi _{r\mathrm{sin}\gamma }`$ is a motion whose matrix $`A_{r\mathrm{cos}\gamma }B_{r\mathrm{sin}\gamma }`$ has the complex eigenvalues $`e^{ir((\mathrm{cos}\gamma )\alpha _j+(\mathrm{sin}\gamma )\beta _j)}`$, $`j=1\mathrm{}n`$. Using elementary geometry, we see that

$$c(r)^2=\left(r\lambda (\gamma )\right)^2+\underset{k=1}{\overset{s(\gamma )}{}}\left(\lambda _k(\gamma )\sqrt{22\mathrm{cos}\left(r\kappa _k(\gamma )\right)}\right)^2\text{for all }\gamma ,$$

with $`\lambda _k(\gamma )>0`$ and $`\kappa _k(\gamma )>0`$ for all $`k`$. Indeed, $`r\lambda (\gamma )`$ is the length of the translational part of $`\phi _{r\mathrm{cos}\gamma }\psi _{r\mathrm{sin}\gamma }`$; each $`\lambda _k(\gamma )`$ is a radius of rotation for some rotational part of $`\phi _{r\mathrm{cos}\gamma }\psi _{r\mathrm{sin}\gamma }`$, that is, the distance from $`z`$ to the affine $`(n2)`$-dimensional subspace of $`^n`$ which is fixed under that rotation; and $`r\kappa _k(\gamma )`$ is the corresponding angle of that rotation.

Note that, by definition of the $`\alpha _j,\beta _j`$, each $`\kappa _k(\gamma )`$ is of the form $`|(\mathrm{cos}\gamma )\alpha _j+(\mathrm{sin}\gamma )\beta _j|`$ for some $`j`$. But because of Lemma 2, the set $`K:=\{\kappa _k(\gamma ):k=1\mathrm{}s(\gamma )\}`$ can be determined from $`c`$ and is thus the same for all $`\gamma `$. Assume that $`\kappa K`$. Then for each $`\gamma `$, there is $`j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}`$ with $`|(\mathrm{cos}\gamma )\alpha _j+(\mathrm{sin}\gamma )\beta _j|=\kappa `$. This is only possible if $`\kappa =\alpha _j=\beta _j=0`$ for some $`j`$, in contradiction to $`\kappa >0`$. Hence $`K`$ is empty and $`c`$ is linear, which means that $`h`$ is a homometry.$`\mathrm{}`$

The special case of equal dimensions $`n=m`$ also follows from the Beckman–Quarles Theorem  which says that a map $`f:^n^n`$ ($`n2`$) with $`e(x,y)=1ef(x,y)=1`$ is already an isometry. It is not obvious, however, if one of its proof (see, e. g. ) or variants (cf. ) generalizes to the case of arbitrary different dimensions.


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# Comment on “Solution of the Relativistic Dirac-Morse Problem ”

PACS numbers: 03.65.Pm 03.65.Ge

In a recent letter Alhaidari claims to have formulated and solved the Dirac-Morse problem . He starts with the Hamiltonian for a Dirac particle in an electromagnetic potential and aims to give a unified treatment of three problems: Coulomb, oscillator and Morse differing only in the choice of gauge. If this were possible gauge invariance would imply that the physical content of the theory is not altered by gauge changes. The known results for the energy spectrum for the first two problems as quoted by him contradict this expectation.

In any case if we consider a Hamiltonian that appears in the paper in a slightly different notation

$$H=𝜶(𝐩\widehat{𝐫}W(r))+\beta M+V(r)$$
(1)
where $`\widehat{𝐫}=\frac{𝐫}{r}`$ and separate variables following  then defining $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\left(\begin{array}{c}G_\mathrm{}j(r)\\ F_\mathrm{}j(r)\end{array}\right)`$ we get the radial equation

$$(i\rho _2\frac{d}{dr}+\rho _1\frac{\kappa }{r}\rho _2WE+V)+M\rho _3)\mathrm{\Phi }=0$$
(2)
where $`\rho _i`$ are the Pauli matrices and $`\kappa =\pm (j+\frac{1}{2})`$ for $`\mathrm{}=j\pm \frac{1}{2}`$, which contradicts Alhaidari’s equation (1).

Next, Alhaidari’s Hamiltonian does not even include that of the relativistic oscillator as a special case . The Hamiltonian that satisfies this condition is

$$H=𝜶(𝐩i\beta \widehat{𝐫}W(r))+\beta M+V(r).$$
(3)
The resulting radial equation

$$(i\rho _2\frac{d}{dr}+\rho _1(W+\frac{\kappa }{r})E+V+M\rho _3)\mathrm{\Phi }=0$$
(4)
does correspond to Alhaidari’s equation (1) where the quantum numbers $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`j`$ are omitted. Due to the matrix $`\beta `$ accompanying $`W`$ in the Hamiltonian, Alhaidari’s interpretation of the vector $`(V,\widehat{𝐫}W)`$ as an electromagnetic potential is incorrect.

Next, there is no reason for the functions $`V(r)`$ and $`W(r)`$ which appear in the Hamiltonian to depend on the angular quantum numbers which make their appearance only when we separate variables to solve the Dirac equation. Hence his choice of the constraint (in our notation)

$$W(r)=\frac{1}{S}V(r)\frac{\kappa }{r}$$
(5)
with both $`V`$ and $`W`$ nonzero and $`S`$ a constant cannot be satisfied. Alhaidari could have avoided the mathematical contradiction by taking the Hamiltonian to be

$`H=𝜶(𝐩i\beta \widehat{𝐫}(W(r)+{\displaystyle \frac{K}{r}}))+\beta M+V(r)`$ (6)
where $`K=\gamma ^0(1+𝚺𝐋)`$ is the Dirac operator, which leads to the radial equation

$$(i\rho _2\frac{d}{dr}+W\rho _1E+V+M\rho _3)\mathrm{\Phi }=0$$
(7)
Applying the transformation $`\mathrm{\Phi }=e^{i\rho _2\eta }\widehat{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$ we get

$$[i\rho _2\frac{d}{dr}(EV)+\rho _1(W\mathrm{cos}2\eta M\mathrm{sin}2\eta )+\rho _3(W\mathrm{sin}2\eta +M\mathrm{cos}2\eta )]\widehat{\mathrm{\Phi }}=0$$
(8)
Choosing $`W=\frac{V}{\mathrm{sin}2\eta }`$, we get equations (4-5) of Alhaidari for $`G_\mathrm{}j`$ and $`F_\mathrm{}j`$ leading to energy levels degenerate in $`l,j,m`$ which is physically uninteresting. In the nonrelativistic formulation  the radial equation for the Morse potential does contain the centrifugal barrier contribution for nonzero values of $`\mathrm{}`$.

In conclusion we do not think that the relativistic Morse potential problem has been correctly formulated and solved.