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# 1 INTRODUCTION

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Interest in a speculative model in which the number of space dimension decreases continuously as the Universe expands has increased during the past few years \[1-5\].

A model Universe with variable space dimension proposed in  seems to be singularity free, having two turning points for the space dimension. The way of generalizing the standard cosmological model to the variable space dimension used in  is questioned, and another way of writing the field equations is proposed . It has been pointed out that the model discussed in  has no upper bound for the space dimension.

Authors of Ref. studied critically previous works in , and derived new Lagrangians and field equations. They also discussed the model Universe with variable space dimension from the view point of quantum cosmology, and obtained a general wave function. In the limit of constant space dimension, the wave function of the model approaches the tunneling Vilenkin wave function or the modified Linde wave function .

Ref.  considers chaotic inflation in the context of a model with time-varying spatial dimension. The dimensionality of the space is defined by constructing the space out of “cells” with characteristic dimension $`\delta `$ crumpled in such a way as to exhibit an effective dimension $`D`$. The authors generalized chaotic inflation with the potential $`m^2\varphi ^2/2`$ from the three-space to the constant $`D`$-space, and then to the variable $`D`$-space. They also generalized the slow-roll approximation. After doing some necessary treatments, step by step, they obtained dynamical equations of the inflaton field, the scale factor and the variable space dimension.

In Ref. , an upper limit for the space dimension at the Planck length has been obtained. Based on the radius of the Universe at the onset of inflation to be larger than the Planck length $`l_P`$, and than the minimum size of the Universe $`\delta `$, the space dimension at the Planck length must be smaller than or equal to $`4`$. This result corresponds to the value of the universal constant of the model $`C`$ to be larger than or equal to $`1678.8`$.

In this article, we emphasize on a currently active area of research from the point of view of quantum field theory. In such a research, length scales of order the current horizon size could very easily have started out during inflation smaller than the Planck length. The trans-Planckian problem of inflationary cosmology with variable space dimension is interesting and worthy of study. We will address this problem in .

Using the effective time variation of $`G`$, one can conclude an upper limit, to be equal to $`4`$, for the space dimension at the Planck epoch. This result corresponds to a lower limit on the value of the universal constant, $`C`$, of the model, see Ref. .

A short review of the cosmological model with variable space dimension is given in Sec.2. Using the previous work in , we obtain in Sec.3.1 the dynamical solutions of the inflaton field, the variable space dimension, and the scale factor. We also calculate in Sec.3.2 how long the inflationary epoch lasts, and show that the characteristic of the variability of the space dimension causes the inflationary epoch in the variable space dimension to last longer than the inflatinary epoch in the constant space dimension. Sec.4 contains our conclusions. We will use a natural unit system in which $`c=\mathrm{}=1`$ and $`l_P=M_P^1=\sqrt{G}=1.6160\times 10^{33}\mathrm{cm}`$.

## 2 REVIEW OF MODEL UNIVERSE WITH VARIABLE SPACE DIMENSION

In , there are some clarifications about the idea of variable space dimension, and some motivations for choosing a model Universe with variable space dimension. There are also some reasonably raised questions: what causes the number of spatial dimension to decrease as the Universe expands? Is there any physical process causes or necessitates such a decrease? And how does this “disappearance” of spatial dimensions take place? Is it that gravity gradually stops “feeling” some dimensions or that the size of some of the dimensions shrinks to zero? The reader can find the answers of these questions in detail in Refs. . It is worth mentioning that for generalization of Friedmann equations from three-space to variable space dimension, we cannot define a metric approach. Rather, we use a Lagrangian approach. There is a constraint in this model which can be written as

$$\left(\frac{a}{\delta }\right)^D=\left(\frac{a_0}{\delta }\right)^{D_0}=e^C,$$
(1)
or

$$\frac{1}{D}=\frac{1}{C}\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{a}{a_0}\right)+\frac{1}{D_0}.$$
(2)
Here $`a`$ is the scale factor of Friedmann Universe, $`D`$ the variable space dimension, $`\delta `$ the characteristic minimum length of the model, $`C`$ the universal constant of the model. The zero subscript in any quantity, e.g. in $`a_0`$ and $`D_0`$, denotes its present value. In our formulation, we consider the comoving length of the Hubble radius to be equal to one. So the scale factor means the physical length in cosmology which is the Hubble radius. Note that in Eqs. (1) and (2), the space dimension is a function of cosmic time $`t`$. Time derivative of Eq. (1) leads to

$$\dot{D}=\frac{D^2\dot{a}}{Ca}.$$
(3)
It is easily seen that the case of constant space dimension corresponds to the limit of $`C+\mathrm{}`$. Substituting the Ricci scalar for a $`D`$-manifold with constant space dimension, and constant curvature $`k=1,0,+1`$

$$R=\frac{D}{N^2}\left\{\frac{2\ddot{a}}{a}+(D1)\left[\left(\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\right)^2+\frac{N^2k}{a^2}\right]\frac{2\dot{a}\dot{N}}{aN}\right\},$$
(4)
in the Einstein- Hilbert action for pure gravity

$$S_G=\frac{1}{2\kappa }d^{(1+D)}x\sqrt{g}R,$$
(5)
and using Hawking-Ellis action of a perfect fluid, for the model Universe with variable space dimension, the following Lagrangians have been obtained

$`_I`$ $`:=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{V_D}{2\kappa N}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^DD(D1)\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{N^2k}{a^2}}\right]`$ (6)
$``$ $`\rho NV_D\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^D,`$
and

$`_{II}`$ $`:=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{V_D}{2\kappa N}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^D`$ (7)
$`\times `$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\dot{D}\dot{a}}{a}}+{\displaystyle \frac{2D\dot{a}\dot{D}}{a}}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}+D(D1)\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{N^2k}{a^2}}\right]\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\kappa N}}{\displaystyle \frac{D\dot{D}\dot{a}}{a}}{\displaystyle \frac{dV_D}{dD}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^D\rho V_DN\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^D,`$
where $`\kappa =8\pi M_P^2`$, $`N`$ the lapse function, $`\rho `$ the energy density, and $`V_D`$ the volume of the space-like sections

$`V_D`$ $`=`$ $`\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{2\pi ^{(D+1)/2}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }[(D+1)/2]},\hfill & \text{if }k=+1\text{,}\hfill \\ \frac{\pi ^{(D/2)}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D/2+1)}\chi _{c}^{}{}_{}{}^{D},\hfill & \text{if }k=0\text{,}\hfill \\ \frac{2\pi ^{(D/2)}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D/2)}f(\chi _c),\hfill & \text{if }k=1\text{.}\hfill \end{array}`$ (8)
Here $`\chi _c`$ is a cut-off, and $`f(\chi _c)`$ is a function thereof, see Ref. . In Eq.(4), Ricci scalar has been given for an arbitrary constant space dimension. To get the action of the model, one can substitute Eq.(4) in Eq.(5), and consider the space dimension as a function of cosmic time. Depending on the way of integration in Einstein-Hilbert action, Lagrangian $`_I`$ and $`_{II}`$ can be obtained. In the limit of constant space dimensions, or $`D=D_0`$ and $`C+\mathrm{}`$, $`_I`$ and $`_{II}`$ approach to Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian which is

$`_{I,II}^0`$ $`:=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{V_{D_0}}{2\kappa _0N}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^{D_0}D_0(D_01)\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{N^2k}{a^2}}\right]`$ (9)
$``$ $`\rho NV_{D_0}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}\right)^{D_0}.`$
So, Lagrangian $`_I`$ and $`_{II}`$ cannot abandon Einstein’s gravity. We have introduced $`\kappa _0`$ for the value of the gravitational coupling constant in the case of the constant space dimension, $`D=D_0`$ . It is worth mentioning that the model presented here is consistent in the limit of a flat spacetime. This is very important when considering the overall viability of the model. In the limit $`k=0`$, the Lagrangian $`_{I,II}^0`$ leads to the flat FRW cosmology. Varying the Lagrangian $`_I`$ with respect to $`N`$ and $`a`$, we find the following equations of motion in the gauge $`N=1`$, respectively

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{2\kappa \rho }{D(D1)}},`$ (10)
$`(D1)\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{a}}{a}}+\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}\right]\left({\displaystyle \frac{D^2}{2C}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\mathrm{ln}V_D}{dD}}1{\displaystyle \frac{D(2D1)}{2C(D1)}}+{\displaystyle \frac{D^2}{2D_0}}\right)\right\}`$
$`+\kappa p\left({\displaystyle \frac{d\mathrm{ln}V_D}{dD}}{\displaystyle \frac{D}{C}}{\displaystyle \frac{D}{C}}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{a}{a_0}}+1\right)=0.`$ (11)
The continuity equation of the model Universe with variable space dimension can be obtained by (10) and (2)

$$\frac{d}{dt}\left[\rho \left(\frac{a}{a_0}\right)^DV_D\right]+p\frac{d}{dt}\left[\left(\frac{a}{a_0}\right)^DV_D\right]=0.$$
(12)
In the limit of constant space dimension, Eqs.(10), (2) and (12) approach the corresponding equations in the constant $`D_0`$-space . A complete discussion of the field equations of $`_{II}`$ has been given in . Using (1), (3) and (10), one can get the evolution equation of the space dimension:

$$\dot{D}^2=\frac{D^4}{C^2}\left[\frac{2\kappa \rho }{D(D1)}k\delta ^2e^{2C/D}\right].$$
(13)
To study chaotic inflation with the potential $`m^2\varphi ^2/2`$ in the framework of the model Universe with variable space dimension, the crucial equations are obtained by substituting

$`\rho {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(\dot{\varphi }^2+m^2\varphi ^2\right),`$ (14)
$`p{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(\dot{\varphi }^2m^2\varphi ^2\right),`$ (15)
in Eqs.(10), (12) and (13). So, using the slow-roll approximations which are

$$\dot{\varphi }^2m^2\varphi ^2,\ddot{\varphi }DH\dot{\varphi },\dot{H}H^2,$$
(16)
we are led to

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{a}}{a}}\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi m^2\varphi ^2}{D(D1)M_P^2}},`$ (17)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{D^2\dot{a}\dot{\varphi }}{a}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{D_0}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{C}}\left\{\mathrm{ln}\chi _c+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\pi {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\psi \left({\displaystyle \frac{D}{2}}+1\right)\right\}\right]m^2\varphi ,`$ (18)
$`\dot{D}^2{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi D^3m^2\varphi ^2}{C^2(D1)M_P^2}}.`$ (19)
Note that in (16), $`D`$ is a function of time, and $`H\dot{a}/a`$ . One can rewrite Eq. (18) by neglecting the term of the order $`𝒪(C^1)`$. So, we have

$$\frac{D^2\dot{a}\dot{\varphi }}{aD_0}m^2\varphi .$$
(20)
Using Eqs. (3), (17) and (20), it is easily shown that

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi }{M_P}}\right)^2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{CD_0}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle _{D_i}^D}{\displaystyle \frac{dx(x1)}{x^3}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\right)^2`$ (21)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{CD_0}{4\pi }}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{D}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2D}}1\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{D_i}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2D_i}}1\right)\right]+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\right)^2,`$
where subscript $`i`$, for example in $`D_i`$ and $`\varphi _i`$, denotes its value at the onset of inflation, when $`t=t_i`$ .

As shown in , for different values of $`C`$, corresponding to the space dimension at the Planck length $`D_P=4,10,25`$ and $`+\mathrm{}`$, we calculated the e-folding number $`𝒩69,98,116`$ and $`132`$, respectively. Using the number of e-foldings, we have also obtained the size of the Universe at the onset of inflation, $`a_i`$, see Table 1.

In a standard picture of chaotic inflation, the inflationary period naturally lasts for many more than $`60`$ or so e-folds, and the Universe is deriven exponentially toward flatness, so that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ is expected to be unity to high accuracy .

As discussed in , constraints on the dimensionality of the space are derived from requiring that the radius of the space at the onset of inflation, $`a_i`$, be larger than the Planck length, and than the minimum size of the model, which is $`\delta `$. Particularly, for $`D_P=25`$ and $`+\mathrm{}`$, we have $`a_i<\delta <l_P`$, and for $`D_P=10`$, $`\delta <a_i<l_P`$. For $`D_P=4`$, we have $`\delta <l_P<a_i`$, see Table 1. The value of the space dimension at the end of inflationary epoch, $`D_f`$, and the value of the inflaton field at the onset and end of inflation, $`\varphi _i`$ and $`\varphi _f`$ are given in Table 2. It should be noticed that the values of Table 2 are given for $`D_P=3,4,10`$ and not for $`D_P=25`$ or so. Since for $`D_P25`$ we have $`a_i<\delta <l_P`$, we rule out $`D_P25`$ .

We should here emphasize on a currently active area of research from the point of view of quantum field theory. In such a research, length scales of order the current horizon size could very easily have started out during inflation smaller than the Planck length, with no inconsistency from the standpoint of classical physics \[10-22\]. Based on the issue of the trans-Planckian problem some arguments in the paper  no longer apply, particularly the constraints from requiring the initial radius of curvature to be larger than the Planck length $`l_P`$. More clearly, for $`D_P=10`$ the value of $`a_i<l_P`$, and in , we ruled out $`D_P=10`$. This result of Ref.  could not be correct because for $`D_P=10`$ we should study in the trans-Planckian physics. This point will be further discussed in .

We should here emphasize on the meaning of the scale factor in the model. This is necessary because the analysis depends on an interpretation scale factor of the Universe as an effective radius of the space, so that in $`D`$ dimension, the volume of the Universe is given by $`a^D`$, resulting in a constraint on the radius compared to a fundamental length $`\delta `$ of the form Eq.(1). Constraints on the dimensionality of the space are derived from requiring that the radius of the space at the onset of inflation, $`a_i`$, be larger than the Planck length. This is a reasonable procedure in a non-flat ($`k=\pm 1`$), since the scale factor defines a radius of curvature for such spacetimes, and thus has a straightforward interpretation as a physical length. This however becomes problematic in flat ($`k=0`$) cosmology, since the radius of curvature of the space becomes infinite, and the scale factor is arbitrary. The proper or physical length are obtained from the comoving length by multiplication of the scale factor

$$\mathrm{}_{physical}=a(t)\mathrm{}_{comoving}.$$
(22)
While the comoving length does not change with time, the proper length changes with time because of $`a(t)`$. We take the scale factor having the dimension of length, and the comoving length is a dimensionless quantity. The comoving length is measured by a set of constant rulers, while the proper length is measured by a set of expanding or contracting rulers. The flat model is unbounded with infinite volume, and with infinite radius. For the flat model the scale factor does not represent any physical radius as in the closed case, or an imaginary radius as in the open case, but merely represents how the physical distance between comoving points scales as the space expands or contracts. Based on Friedmann Universe, for the falt Universe with radiation dominated

$$a(t)=a_0\left(\frac{t}{t_0}\right)^{1/2},$$
(23)
and with dust dominated

$$a(t)=a_0\left(\frac{t}{t_0}\right)^{2/3}.$$
(24)
So the physical length to the particle or causal horizon $`d_H(t)`$, at time $`t`$ is simply obtained by

$`d_H(t)=a(t){\displaystyle _0^t}{\displaystyle \frac{dt^{}}{a(t^{})}}=\{\begin{array}{cc}2t,\hfill & \text{radiation dominated,}\hfill \\ 3t,\hfill & \text{dust dominated.}\hfill \end{array}`$ (25)
In this paper, we take the comoving length of the particle horizon to be equal to one

$$\mathrm{}_{comoving}=_0^t\frac{dt^{}}{a(t^{})}=1.$$
(26)
This means that $`d_H(t)=a(t)`$. In this case, the scale factor of the flat Universe is the physical length, the horizon.

## 3 DYNAMICS OF THE MODEL

Let us now study the dynamical behavior of the inflationary cosmology with variable space dimension. In Sec. 3.1, we obtain approximately the dynamical solution of $`\varphi (t)`$, $`a(t)`$, and $`D(t)`$. In Sec. 3.2, we then study how long the inflatinary epoch lasts. We show that the inflationary epoch of the model with variable space dimension is longer than that of the constant space dimension.

### 3.1 Dynamical solutions

Let us now obtain the evolution equations of $`\varphi (t)`$, $`a(t)`$ and $`D(t)`$. Solving Eq. (21), one can get $`D`$ in terms of $`\varphi `$. This relation is given by

$$D(\varphi )=\frac{1+\sqrt{1\frac{2}{D_i}\left(1\frac{1}{2D_i}\right)\frac{8\pi }{CD_0}\left[\left(\varphi _i/M_P\right)^2\left(\varphi /M_P\right)^2\right]}}{\frac{2}{D_i}\left(1\frac{1}{2D_i}\right)+\frac{8\pi }{CD_0}\left[\left(\varphi _i/M_P\right)^2\left(\varphi /M_P\right)^2\right]}.$$
(27)
It is worth mentioning that Eq.(27) approaches $`D=D_i`$ in the limit of constant space dimension or $`C+\mathrm{}`$. Using Eqs.(17) and (20), the classical equation of motion for $`\varphi (t)`$ is given by

$$\frac{\dot{\varphi }(t)}{M_P}=\frac{mD_0}{2D}\sqrt{\frac{D1}{2\pi D}}.$$
(28)
This just tells us that the inflaton field is like a ball rolling down a hill, $`\dot{\varphi }<0`$. Substituting Eq. (27) in (28), we are led to the non-linear differential equation $`\dot{\varphi }f(\varphi )`$. We approximate this differential equation by expanding $`f(\varphi )`$ in inverse powers of $`C`$. We are therefore led to

$$\frac{\dot{\varphi }(t)}{M_P}=\alpha +\frac{\beta }{C}\left[\left(\frac{\varphi }{M_P}\right)^2\left(\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\right)^2\right]+𝒪\left(\frac{1}{C^2}\right)+\mathrm{},$$
(29)
where

$`\alpha `$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{mD_0}{2D_i}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{D_i1}{2\pi D_i}}},`$ (30)
$`\beta `$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m(2D_i3)}{(D_i1)}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\pi D_i}{2(D_i1)}}}.`$ (31)
The above differential equation is the first order Riccati equation . It can be easily shown that the solution of (29) is given by

$$\frac{\varphi (t)}{M_P}=\sqrt{\frac{\gamma C}{\beta }}\mathrm{tanh}\left[\sqrt{\frac{\beta \gamma }{C}}(tt_i)+\mathrm{arctanh}\left(\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\sqrt{\frac{\beta }{C\gamma }}\right)\right]+\mathrm{}$$
(32)
where

$$\gamma \alpha +\frac{\beta }{C}\left(\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\right)^2.$$
(33)
Using expression of Eq.(32) in terms of the inverse powers of $`C`$, one can obtain

$$\frac{\varphi (t)}{M_P}=\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}+\alpha (tt_i)+\frac{\alpha \beta }{C}(tt_i)^2\left[\frac{\alpha (tt_i)}{3}+\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\right]+𝒪\left(\frac{1}{C^2}\right)+\mathrm{}$$
(34)
In the limit of constant $`D`$-space dimension, i.e. $`C+\mathrm{}`$, we have

$$\frac{\varphi (t)}{M_P}=\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\frac{mD_0}{2D_i}\sqrt{\frac{D_i1}{2\pi D_i}}(tt_i).$$
(35)
In this limit, we have $`D=D_i=D_0`$, and Eq.(35) can be rewritten

$$\frac{\varphi (t)}{M_P}=\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\frac{m}{2}\sqrt{\frac{D1}{2\pi D}}(tt_i).$$
(36)
Also, the dynamical solution of the scale factor in the constant $`D`$-space is given by

$$a(t)=a_i\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{4\pi }{M_P^2(D1)}[\varphi _i^2\varphi ^2(t)]\right).$$
(37)
In the variable space dimension, to obtain the dynamical solution of the scale factor, we rewrite Eq.(17)

$$\frac{\dot{a}}{a}=\frac{2m\varphi }{M_P}\sqrt{\frac{2\pi }{D(D1)}}.$$
(38)
We suggest that the solution of Eq.(38) is analogous to that of in the constant $`D`$-space. This means that we have an exponential behavior for the scale factor

$$a(t)=a_i\mathrm{exp}\left([\varphi _i^2\varphi ^2(t)]\right),$$
(39)
where $``$ is a function of $`D,D_i`$, and $`D_0`$. To obtain $``$, we differentiate Eq.(39), and use Eqs.(28) and (38). Therefore, one can get

$$=\frac{8\pi D}{D_0M_P^2\left[\left(2\frac{1}{D_i}\right)D1\right]}.$$
(40)
So, the solution of the scale factor in the chaotic inflation with variable space dimension is given by

$$a(t)=a_i\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{8\pi D[\varphi _i^2\varphi ^2(t)]}{D_0M_P^2\left[\left(2\frac{1}{D_i}\right)D1\right]}\right).$$
(41)
During the inflationary epoch with constant space dimension, $`D`$ is equal to $`D_i`$, and Eq.(41) approaches

$$a(t)=a_i\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{4\pi D_i}{M_P^2D_0(D_i1)}[\varphi _i^2\varphi ^2(t)]\right).$$
(42)
More carefully, in the limit of constant $`D`$-space, we have $`D=D_i=D_0`$, and Eq. (42) gives Eq. (37).

Let us now calculate the dynamical behavior of the space dimension. Substituting Eq.(32) in Eq.(27), one can obtain

$`D(t)`$ $`=`$ $`(1+\{1{\displaystyle \frac{2}{D_i}}(1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2D_i}}){\displaystyle \frac{8\pi }{CD_0}}[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\right)^2`$ (43)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma C}{\beta }}\mathrm{tanh}^2[\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\beta \gamma }{C}}}(tt_i)+\mathrm{arctanh}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{C\gamma }}}\right)]]\}^{1/2})`$
$`\times `$ $`\{{\displaystyle \frac{2}{D_i}}(1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2D_i}})+{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi }{CD_0}}[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\right)^2`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma C}{\beta }}\mathrm{tanh}^2[\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\beta \gamma }{C}}}(tt_i)+\mathrm{arctanh}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{C\gamma }}}\right)]]\}^1.`$
Expanding Eq.(43) in inverse powers of $`C`$, one can easily obtain

$$D=D_i+\frac{2D_0m(tt_i)}{C}\left(\frac{m(tt_i)D_0}{4D_i}\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\sqrt{\frac{2\pi D_i}{D_i1}}\right)+𝒪\left(\frac{1}{C^2}\right)+\mathrm{}$$
(44)
This equation gives $`D=D_i`$ in the limit $`C+\mathrm{}`$, corresponding to the constant space dimension, $`D=3`$.

### 3.2 How long does the inflationary epoch last?

Let us now obtain how long the inflationary epoch lasts. Using Eqs. (19) and (21), one can write

$$tt_i=\frac{\sqrt{C}}{m}_{D_i}^D\frac{dD}{\sqrt{\frac{D_0D(12D)}{(D1)}+\left[\frac{8\pi }{C}\left(\frac{\varphi _i}{M_P}\right)^2\frac{D_0(12D_i)}{D_i^2}\right]\frac{D^3}{(D1)}}},$$
(45)
where the inflaton mass is $`m1.21\times 10^6M_P`$ . Inflation begins when $`t=t_i`$, and ends when $`t=t_f`$. Integrating from $`D_i`$ to $`D_f`$, and using Table 1 and Table 2, one can easily calculate how long the inflationary epoch lasts. This means

$`t_ft_i`$ $`=`$ $`\{\begin{array}{cc}1.003\times 10^{36}\mathrm{sec},\hfill & \text{if }D_P=4\text{,}\hfill \\ 1.159\times 10^{36}\mathrm{sec},\hfill & \text{if }D_P=10\text{.}\hfill \end{array}`$ (46)
As given in , using Eq. (36) for $`D=3`$ one can obtain $`t_ft_i`$ in the case of constant space dimension

$`t_ft_i`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2\sqrt{2\pi D}(\varphi _i\varphi _f)}{mM_P\sqrt{D1}}}`$ (47)
$``$ $`7.598\times 10^{37}\mathrm{sec}.`$
Comparing these values, one can conclude that the variability of the space dimension causes the time duration of the inflationary epoch to be longer than that of in the constant space dimension. More carefully, when $`D_P=4`$ the value of $`t_ft_i`$ is about 1.320 times when the space dimension is constant

$$\frac{1.003\times 10^{36}}{7.598\times 10^{37}}1.320.$$
(48)
Also, when $`D_P=10`$ the value of $`t_ft_i`$ is about 1.525 times when the space dimension is constant

$$\frac{1.159\times 10^{36}}{7.598\times 10^{37}}1.525.$$
(49)
So, the characteristic of the variability of the space dimension causes the inflationary epoch in the variable space dimension to be longer than the inflationary epoch in the constant space dimension.

As mentioned before, we do not consider $`D_P=25`$ or $`+\mathrm{}`$ in the model, because for these values of $`D_P`$, the radius of th Universe at the onset of inflation is smaller than the minimum length of the model, i.e. $`a_i<\delta `$. For this reason, in Eq.(46) we have not calculted the value of $`t_ft_i`$ for $`D_P=25`$ or so. Contrary to the result of Ref., we do not rule out the case of $`D_P=10`$ for which $`a_i<l_P`$. For this value of $`D_P`$, we should consider the trans-Planckian problem in inflationary cosmology with variable space dimension .

## 4 CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, we study the dynamical behavior of the inflaton field, variable space dimension, and scale factor, in the framework of a model Universe with variable space dimension proposed in . Expanding the dynamical equations in terms of the inverse powers of the universal constant of the model, we calculated the dynamical solutions. Our study is based on the inflationary potential to be equal to $`m^2\varphi ^2/2`$.

We also show that chaotic inflation with variable space dimension lasts longer than chaotic inflation with constant space dimension. More carefully, the characteristic of the variability of the space dimension causes the inflationary epoch of the model to last longer than that of the standard cosmology in $`3`$-space. In cosmology in $`3`$-space, chaotic inflation with the potential $`m^2\varphi ^2/2`$ lasts about $`10^{37}`$ sec, while chaotic inflation with variable space dimension lasts about $`10^{36}`$ sec.

In this paper, we clear the meaning of the scale factor in the flat Universe. Taking the comoving length of the horizon to be equal to one, we consider the scale factor to be equal to the physical length of the horizon.

Our treatments are based on the space dimension at the Planck length to be equal to $`4`$ or $`10`$. As mentioned in , we rule out the cases for which the space dimension at the Planck length to be equal to $`25`$ or so, because in these cases the radius of the Universe at the onset of inflation is smaller than the minimum size of the model.

Contrary to the result of Refs., we do not rule out the case for which the space dimension at the Planck length to be equal to $`10`$. For this case, the radius of the Universe at the onset of inflation is smaller than the Planck length, and one may consider the inflationary cosmology with the variable space dimension in the trans-Planckian problem, which is a currently active research \[10-22\]. We will address in detail this problem in .

## Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to an anonymous referee for useful comments.


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# Confining Strings at High Temperature

## 1 Introduction

Coloured states are not observable as free particles: at large distances the static potential between a quark and an antiquark grows linearly with the distance. Attempting to explain this quark confinement by means of a non-critical string theory dual to QCD remains an open and very important problem . Indeed finding the theory dual to QCD would imply having perturbative control over both the asymptotically free and the confinement regimes of the theory. Despite many efforts, however, the formulation of a consistent string theory description of confinement in 4D non-Abelian gauge theories remains an open issue. The Nambu–Goto term can be consistently quantized only in $`D=26`$ or $`D1`$ and leads to strings with a crumpled world-sheet, inappropriate to describe the expected smooth strings dual to QCD  . In order to take into account the bending rigidity of flux tubes, and to cure the problems of the fundamental Nambu–Goto action, a term proportional to the extrinsic curvature of the world-sheet was added to it . This term, however, is infrared-irrelevant and the rigid string thus shares the geometrical problems of the Nambu–Goto action .

A new action for confining strings has recently been proposed in . The confining string action is based on an induced string action explicitly derivable for compact QED  and for Abelian-projected SU(2) , and possesses, in its world-sheet formulation, a non-local action with a negative stiffness  that can be expressed as a derivative expansion of a long-range interaction between surface elements. In order for the geometrical properties of these strings to be analytically studied, the expansion must be truncated: since the stiffness is negative, a stable truncation must, at least, include a sixth-order term in the derivatives . This string action has many features that make it a good candidate to describe QCD flux tubes, at least in the large-$`D`$ approximation. In fact this model has an infrared fixed point at zero stiffness , corresponding to a tensionless smooth string whose world-sheet has Hausdorff dimension 2, exactly the desired properties to describe QCD flux tubes. The long-range orientational order in this model is due to an antiferromagnetic interaction between normals to the surface , a mechanism confirmed by numerical simulations . Moreover, it was shown in  that this infared fixed point does not depend on the truncation and is present for all ghost- and tachyon-free truncations, and that the effective theory describing the infrared behaviour is a conformal field theory with central charge $`c=1`$.

There is, however another characteristic that any string model describing confinement in QCD must possess, namely the correct high-temperature behaviour. In fact, as shown in , the deconfining transition in QCD is due to the condensation of Wilson lines, and the partition function of QCD flux tubes can be continued above the deconfining transition; this high-temperature continuation can be evaluated perturbatively. So, any string theory that is equivalent to QCD must reproduce this behaviour. As shown in , contrary to previous string models, the high-temperature behaviour of confining strings reproduces exactly the correct large-$`N`$ QCD result, a necessary condition for any string model of confinement.

In , the correct high-temperature behaviour of the confining string action was derived for a specific truncation. In this paper we will show that this property is largely independent of the specific truncation we choose, but holds true for all ghost- and tachyon-free truncations.

## 2 Definition of the Model

The model proposed in  is

$$S=d^2\xi \sqrt{g}g^{ab}𝒟_ax_\mu \left(ts𝒟^2+\frac{1}{M^2}𝒟^4\right)𝒟_bx_\mu ,$$
(1)
where $`𝒟_a`$ are covariant derivatives with respect to the induced metric $`g_{ab}=_ax_\mu _bx_\mu `$ on the surface $`𝐱(\xi _0,\xi _1)`$. The first term in the bracket provides a bare surface tension $`2t`$, while the second accounts for the rigidity, with a stiffness parameter $`s`$ that can be positive or negative. The third term contains the square of the gradient of the extrinsic curvature matrices, and it suppresses the formation of spikes on the world-sheet. The new mass scale $`M`$ generates, in the large-$`D`$ approximation, string tension proportional to $`M^2`$, which takes control of the fluctuations where the orientational correlation dies off.

We now want to generalize this model to an arbitrary truncation of the long-range interaction in (1). Following  we will consider an action of the form:

$`S|_n`$ $`={\displaystyle d^2\xi \sqrt{g}g^{ab}𝒟_ax_\mu V_n(𝒟^2)𝒟_bx_\mu },`$
$`V_n(𝒟^2)`$ $`=t\mathrm{\Lambda }^2+{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{2n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{c_k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{2k2}}}(𝒟^2)^k,`$ (2)
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ represents the fundamental mass scale in the model, to be identified with the QCD mass scale; $`c_k`$ are positive numbers, which means that a stable truncation must end with an even $`k=2n`$. The model studied in  corresponds to $`n=1`$.

The parameters $`c_k`$ are free: the only condition we impose on them is the absence of both tachyons and ghosts in the theory. This requires that the Fourier transform $`V_n\left(p^2\right)`$ have no zeros on the real $`p^2`$-axis. The polynomial $`V_n\left(p^2\right)`$ thus has $`n`$ pairs of complex-conjugate zeros in the complex $`p^2`$-plane . To simplify the computation we will also set all coefficients with odd $`k`$ to zero, $`c_{2m+1}=0`$ for $`0mn1`$. This, however, is no drastic restriction since, as was shown in , this is their value at the infrared-stable fixed point anyhow.

We will study this model in the large-$`D`$ approximation. For this purpose  we need to introduce a Lagrange multiplier $`\lambda ^{ab}`$ that forces the induced metric $`_ax_\mu _bx_\mu `$ to be equal to the intrinsic metric $`g_{ab}`$, extending the action (1) to:

$$S|_nS|_n+d^2\xi \sqrt{g}\left[\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\lambda ^{ab}(_ax_\mu _bx_\mu g_{ab})\right].$$
(3)
Note that we define here the Lagrange multiplier $`\lambda ^{ab}`$ as a dimensionless quantity. We parametrize the world-sheet in a Gauss map by $`x_\mu (\xi )=(\xi _0,\xi _1,\varphi ^i(\xi )),i=2,\mathrm{},D2`$. The value of the periodic coordinate $`\xi _0`$ is $`\beta /2\xi _0\beta /2`$, with $`\beta =1/T`$ and $`T`$ the temperature. The value of $`\xi _1`$ is $`R/2\xi _1R/2`$; $`\varphi ^i(\xi )`$ describe the $`D2`$ transverse fluctuations. We look for a saddle-point solution with a diagonal metric $`g_{ab}=\mathrm{diag}(\rho _0,\rho _1)`$, and a Lagrange multiplier of the form $`\lambda ^{ab}=\mathrm{diag}(\lambda _0/\rho _0,\lambda _1/\rho _1)`$. The action then becomes:

$`S|_n`$ $`=S|_{n,0}+S|_{n,1}`$
$`S|_{n,0}`$ $`=A_{\mathrm{ext}}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\sqrt{\rho _0\rho _1}\left[t\left({\displaystyle \frac{\rho _0+\rho _1}{\rho _0\rho _1}}\right)+\lambda _0\left({\displaystyle \frac{1\rho _0}{\rho _0}}\right)+\lambda _1\left({\displaystyle \frac{1\rho _1}{\rho _1}}\right)\right],`$
$`S|_{n,1}`$ $`={\displaystyle d^2\xi \sqrt{g}\left[g^{ab}_a\varphi ^iV_n(𝒟^2)_b\varphi ^i+\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\lambda ^{ab}_a\varphi ^i_b\varphi ^i\right]},`$ (4)
where $`\beta R=A_{\mathrm{ext}}`$ is the extrinsic, projected area in coordinate space, and $`S|_{n,0}`$ is the tree-level contribution. Integrating over the transverse fluctuations in the one-loop term $`S|_{n,1}`$, we obtain, in the limit $`R\mathrm{}`$:

$$S|_{n,1}=\frac{D2}{2}R\sqrt{\rho _1}\underset{l=\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{dp_1}{2\pi }\mathrm{ln}\left[(p_1^2\lambda _1+\omega _l^2\lambda _0)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2+p^2V_n(p^2)\right],$$
(5)
where $`p^2=p_1^2+\omega _l^2`$, and $`\omega _l=\frac{2\pi }{\beta \sqrt{\rho _0}}l`$.

## 3 High-Temperature Behaviour

At high temperatures, satisfying

$$\frac{c_{2n}}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{4n2}}\frac{1}{\beta ^{4n}}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2t+\underset{k=1}{\overset{2n1}{}}\frac{c_k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{2k2}}\frac{1}{\beta ^{2k}},$$
(6)
with $`k`$ even, the highest-order term in the derivatives dominates in the one-loop term $`S|_{n,1}`$ when $`n0`$. Using analytic regularization and analytic continuation of the formula $`_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}n^z=\zeta (z)`$, for the Riemann zeta function, with $`\zeta (1)=1/12`$, we obtain for the $`n0`$ contribution:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}R\sqrt{\rho _1}{\displaystyle \underset{l=\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{dp_1}{2\pi }\mathrm{ln}\frac{c_{2n}}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{4n2}}\left(\omega _l^2+p_1^2\right)^{2n+1}}`$
$`={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _1}{\rho _0}}}(2n+1)4\pi {\displaystyle \frac{R}{\beta }}{\displaystyle \underset{l=1}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{l^2}={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _1}{\rho _0}}}{\displaystyle \frac{(2n+1)\pi }{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{R}{\beta }}.`$ (7)
The calculation of the $`n=0`$ contribution is a little more involved. For $`n=0`$ we can rewrite $`S|_{n,1}`$ as:

$$S|_{n,1}=\frac{D2}{2}R\sqrt{\rho _1}\frac{dp_1}{2\pi }\mathrm{ln}\left(p_1^2\overline{V}_n(p_1^2)\right),$$

with

$$\overline{V}_n(p_1^2)=\left(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2(t+\lambda _1)+\underset{k=1}{\overset{2n}{}}\frac{c_k}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{2k2}}p_1^{2k}\right),$$
(8)
and $`k`$ even. With the simplification we have introduced for the $`c_k`$, namely that all coefficients with odd $`k`$ are zero, and the requirement that the model is ghost- and tachyon-free, all pairs of complex-conjugate zeros of $`\overline{V}_n\left(p_1^2\right)`$ lie on the imaginary axis and we can represent $`\overline{V}_n\left(p_1^2\right)`$ as

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{4n2}}{c_{2n}}\overline{V}_n\left(p_1^2\right)=\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(p_1^4+\alpha _k^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^4\right),$$
(9)
with purely numerical coefficients $`\alpha _k`$. The $`n=0`$ contribution then becomes:

$`S|_{n,1}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}R\sqrt{\rho _1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{dp_1}{2\pi }\mathrm{ln}\left(p_1^4+\alpha _k^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^4\right)}`$ (10)
$`={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}R\sqrt{\rho _1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{dp_1}{2\pi }2\mathrm{R}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{ln}\left(p_1^4+i\alpha _k\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\right)}={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}R\sqrt{\rho _1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\mathrm{\Lambda }\sqrt{2\alpha _k},`$
and we obtain a total action of the form:

$$S_n=S|_{n,0}+\frac{D2}{2}R\sqrt{\rho _1}\left[\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}\mathrm{\Lambda }\sqrt{2\alpha _k}\frac{(2n+1)\pi }{3\sqrt{\rho _0}}\frac{1}{\beta }\right].$$
(11)
Note that the $`p_1`$-independent term in (9) must satisfy:

$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}\alpha _k^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^4=\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^{4n}}{c_{2n}}(t+\lambda _1).$$
(12)
Following , we assume that all $`\alpha _k`$ are equal so that (12) implies:

$$\alpha _k^2=(t+\lambda _1)^{1/n}\alpha ^2,\alpha =\left(\frac{1}{c_{2n}}\right)^{1/2n}$$
(13)
With this assumption we obtain the four large-$`D`$ gap equations:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1\rho _0}{\rho _0}}=0,`$ (14)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\rho _1}}=1{\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\beta \mathrm{\Lambda }}}\sqrt{2\alpha }(\lambda _1+t)^{1/4n1},`$ (15)
$`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(t\lambda _1)+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\rho _1}}(\lambda _1+t)t\lambda _0\right]+{\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{(2n+1)\pi }{6\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}}=0,`$ (16)
$`(t\lambda _1){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\rho _1}}(\lambda _1+t)+{\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\beta \mathrm{\Lambda }}}\left[\sqrt{2\alpha }n\left(\lambda _1+t\right)^{1/4n}{\displaystyle \frac{\pi (2n+1)}{3\beta \mathrm{\Lambda }}}\right]=0.`$ (17)
Inserting (17) and (14) into (11) and using $`\rho _0=1`$ from (14) we obtain a simplified form of the effective action:

$$S^{\mathrm{eff}}=A_{\mathrm{ext}}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2𝒯\sqrt{\frac{1}{\rho _1}},$$
(18)
with $`𝒯=2(\lambda _1+t)`$ representing the physical string tension.

Without loss of generality we now set

$$\sqrt{2\alpha }=\gamma (\lambda _1+t)^{1/4n+1/2}.$$
(19)
Inserting (16) into (17) we then obtain an equation for $`(\lambda _1+t)`$ alone:

$$(\lambda _1+t)\frac{D2}{2}\frac{4n+1}{8\beta \mathrm{\Lambda }}\gamma \left(\lambda _1+t\right)^{1/2}+\frac{D2}{2}\frac{2n+1}{3}\frac{\pi }{2\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}t=0.$$
(20)
This equation has two solutions:

$`(\lambda _1+t)^{1/2}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{4n+1}{16\beta \mathrm{\Lambda }}}\times `$ (21)
$`\times \left[1\pm \sqrt{1{\displaystyle \frac{2n+1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}}\right].`$
When

$$\gamma >\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^{1/2}\frac{8}{(4n+1)}\sqrt{\frac{2(2n+1)\pi }{3}},$$
(22)
the solutions (21) are both real, independently of $`\beta `$. As in , for the solution with the plus sign, $`1/\rho _1`$ is always positive (note that $`n1`$):

$$\frac{1}{\rho _1}=1\frac{4}{(4n+1)\left[1+\sqrt{1\frac{2n+1}{3}\frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}+\frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}\right]}.$$
(23)
The square of the free energy $`F^2(\beta )\frac{S_{\mathrm{Eff}}^2}{R^2}`$ is thus positive, since $`(\lambda _1+t)`$ is real:

$`F^2(\beta )={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\beta ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{(4n+1)}{16}}\right)^4`$
$`[1\sqrt{1{\displaystyle \frac{2n+1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}}]^4\times `$
$`\times `$ $`\left[1{\displaystyle \frac{4}{(4n+1)\left[1+\sqrt{1\frac{2n+1}{3}\frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}+\frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}\right]}}\right].`$ (24)
As for the rigid string , the high-temperature behaviour is the same as in QCD, but the sign is wrong. The crucial difference with respect to the rigid string case is that (24) is real, while the squared free energy for the rigid string is imaginary, signalling an instability in the model . If we now look at the behaviour of $`\rho _1`$ at low temperatures, below the deconfining transition , we see that $`1/\rho _1`$ is positive. The deconfining transition is indeed determined by the vanishing of $`1/\rho _1`$ at $`\beta =\beta _{\mathrm{dec}}`$. In the case of (23), this means that $`1/\rho _1`$ is positive below the Hagedorn transition, touches zero at $`\beta _{\mathrm{dec}}`$ and remains positive above it. Exactly the same will happen also for $`F^2`$, which is positive below $`\beta _{\mathrm{dec}}`$ , touches zero at $`\beta _{\mathrm{dec}}`$ and remains positive above it. This solution thus describes an unphysical “mirror” of the low-temperature behaviour of the confining string, without a real deconfining Hagedorn transition. For this reason we discard it.

We will now concentrate on the solution of (21) with the minus sign. In this case we have

$$\frac{1}{\rho _1}=1\frac{4}{(4n+1)(4n+1)\sqrt{1\frac{2n+1}{3}\frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}+\frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}}.$$
(25)
If

$$\gamma >\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^{1/2}4\sqrt{\frac{2n+1}{4n1}}\sqrt{\frac{\pi }{3}},$$
(26)
$`1/\rho _1`$ is negative independently, of $`\beta `$. Note that, when (26) is satisfied, then also (22) is automatically satisfied. We will restrict to this range of values for $`\gamma `$. In this case, as in , the physical string tension is real and proportional to $`1/\beta ^2`$ and $`1/\rho _1`$ is negative, giving:

$`F^2(\beta )={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\beta ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{D2}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{(4n+1)}{16}}\right)^4`$
$`[1\sqrt{1{\displaystyle \frac{2n+1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}}]^4\times `$
$`\times `$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{4}{(4n+1)\left[1\sqrt{1\frac{2n+1}{3}\frac{128\pi }{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\frac{D2}{2}}+\frac{256t\beta ^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{(4n+1)^2\gamma ^2\left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^2}}1\right]}}\right].`$ (27)
In the range defined by (26), this is negative. Note, moreover, that for $`n=1`$ we exactly reproduce the result found in . Since the sign of $`\lambda _1`$ does not change at high temperatures, the field $`x_\mu `$ is not unstable. In the rigid string case , instead, the change of sign of $`\lambda _1`$ gives rise to a world-sheet instability.

Let us now compare with the large-$`N`$ QCD result :

$$F^2(\beta )_{\mathrm{QCD}}=\frac{2g^2(\beta )N}{\pi ^2\beta ^2},$$
(28)
where $`g^2(\beta )`$ is the QCD coupling constant. To this end we first simplify our result by considering

$$\gamma \left(\frac{D2}{2}\right)^{1/2}\frac{8}{(4n+1)}\sqrt{\frac{2(2n+1)\pi }{3}}.$$

Moreover we ask that

$$t\beta ^2\frac{D2}{2},$$
(29)
so that we can ignore the last term in the square root in (27). Note that this condition is compatible with the high-temperature approximation (6). In this case (27) reduces to

$$F^2(\beta )=\frac{1}{\beta ^2}\frac{4\pi ^3}{125}\frac{(2n+1)^3}{(4n+1)^2}\frac{D2}{\gamma ^2}.$$
(30)
This corresponds exactly to the QCD result (28), with the identifications

$`g^2`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\gamma ^2}},`$
$`N`$ $`D2.`$
The weak $`\beta `$-dependence of the QCD coupling $`g^2(\beta )`$ can be accommodated in the parameter $`\gamma `$. As one would expect for an asymptotic free theory , our high-temperature result is valid at large values of $`\gamma `$, i.e. small values of $`g^2`$. As first noted in  there is an interesting relation between the order of the gauge group and the number of transverse space-time dimensions.

Together with the absence of crumpling, this result is a very strong indication that non-local interactions between surface elements are crucial to describe the world-sheet of QCD flux tubes. Investigations of the fundamental string model in which these interactions are mediated by an antisymmetric tensor field are in progress.


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# Optically faint counterparts to the ISO-FIRBACK 170𝜇m population: the discovery of cold, luminous galaxies at high redshift

## 1. Introduction

The spectral shape of the far-infrared background (FIRB) detected by FIRAS at 100 $`\mu `$m–4 mm and DIRBE at 140 and 240 $`\mu `$m (Puget et al. 1996; Fixsen et al. 1998) indicates a peak at $`200`$$`\mu `$m with energy comparable to the optical/UV background. This peak arises from optical/UV radiation from star formation and AGN activity in obscured galaxies at $`z0`$ which is absorbed by dust and reradiated in the far-infrared. This obscured population of galaxies could host approximately half of the massive star formation activity over the history of the Universe (e.g. Blain et al. 1999).

Far-infrared surveys at wavelengths close to the peak of the FIRB provide a powerful route for understanding the properties of the obscured activity in the distant Universe and its relevance to the formation and evolution of both galaxies and super-massive black holes. The FIRBACK (Far-InfraRed BACKground, Dole 2000) survey obtained wide-field imaging at 170 $`\mu `$m with the PHOT instrument on-board ISO satellite in three separate regions of the sky chosen for low Galactic cirrus foreground. FIRBACK is the most reliable and deepest ($`\sigma `$(170$`\mu `$m)$`40`$ mJy) infrared census at wavelengths near the peak in the FIRB. The FIRBACK sources down to 120 mJy account for about 10% of the FIRB seen by COBE at 140–240 $`\mu `$m (Puget et al. 1999). Evolutionary models (Dole et al. 2001, Lagache et al. 2002) suggest that the sources identified by FIRBACK comprise both star-forming galaxies at low redshifts, $`z0.1`$, and a population of much more luminous galaxies at higher redshifts. The models predict that a quarter of the FIRBACK sources should have $`z>0.5`$, with a tail reaching beyond $`z=1.5`$, however this is quite sensitive to the depth and form of the evolution assumed. The sources in this high-redshift tail provides the strongest constraints on the evolution of the population contributing to the peak of the FIRB at $`200`$$`\mu `$m. For this reason the identification and study of these galaxies is of particular interest (Sajina et al. 2002, Dennefeld et al. 2002).

The coarse beam of ISO at 170 $`\mu `$m beam produces large uncertainties in the source positions, (100″ diameter, 99% error circle). However, using the empirical radio-infrared correlation for star forming galaxies (Helou et al. 1985), we can exploit deep 1.4-GHz radio data from the VLA in C-array configuration (Ciliegi et al. 1999) to identify the FIRBACK sources with positional uncertainties of only $`1^{\prime \prime }`$ ($`15^{\prime \prime }`$ VLA beamsize). Most FIRBACK sources lying within the sensitive region of the VLA image are detected in the radio (although some are not and are therefore difficult to identify at other wavelengths). Approximately 80% of the FIRBACK galaxies with radio IDs are detected in shallow sky surveys in the optical (DPOSS2) or near-IR (2MASS) (Dennefeld et al. in preparation). These 170-$`\mu `$m sources correspond to relatively low redshift galaxies. The remaining 20% of the radio/FIRBACK-N1 field population are identified in deep UKIRT $`K`$-band imaging at $`17<K<21`$ (Sajina et al. 2002). The faint near-IR magnitudes of these galaxies support the existence of a high-redshift tail in the sample and provides an efficient route to identifying high-redshift candidates from the 170-$`\mu `$m population.

Additional constraints on the redshifts of the distant FIRBACK population are provided by submillimeter observations of a subsample of the catalog (Scott et al. 2000; Sajina et al. in preparation). SCUBA photometry observations at 850 $`\mu `$m, in conjunction with the 170 $`\mu `$m and 1.4-GHz fluxes, provide photometric redshift estimates (e.g. Carilli & Yun 2000). In this paper we present Keck spectroscopy and UKIRT near-IR imaging observations of two FIRBACK sources, FIRBACK FN1-64 and FIRBACK FN1-40, which were detected by SCUBA in the submm (Scott et al. 2000) and whose far-IR/submm/radio properties indicate they potentially lie at $`z>1`$, in the high-redshift tail of the FIRBACK distribution. Our calculations will assume a flat, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ Universe, and H0=65 km s-1 Mpc-1, providing a scale of 8.4 kpc per arcsec at $`z=0.91`$ (FN1-64) and 6.2 kpc per arcsec at $`z=0.45`$ (FN1-40).

## 2. Observations

The initial identification of the FIRBACK sources involves searching for optical counterparts in the second generation Digital Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (DPOSS2) $`F`$-band images (close to gunn-$`r`$) of this region, using the accurate positions of the sources from the radio maps. This search highlights both FN1-40 and FN1-64 as optically faint (or undetected) sources, at the $`F<22`$ limit of DPOSS2.

The sources are expected to be at $`z>1`$ based on photometric redshifts from the FIR/submm/radio, and within a degeneracy between Td and $`z`$ (Blain 1999). Using the standard Carilli & Yun (2000) estimator for radio/850$`\mu `$m gives $`z_{\mathrm{FN1}40}=1.1`$, $`z_{\mathrm{FN1}64}=1.3`$, with a 1$`\sigma `$ uncertainty of 0.17. Aperture matching the observations at different wavelengths (radio–15″, 850$`\mu `$m–19″, 450$`\mu `$m–11″, 170$`\mu `$m–100″) could introduce errors in such redshift estimates, as well as SED fitting, with confusion problems particularly affecting the 170$`\mu `$m band. However, the very low source densities in the radio, 850$`\mu `$m, 450$`\mu `$m at the FIRBACK source flux levels preclude any significant contamination to the beam by interlopers with a very high probability. By contrast the beams are large enough to include all the flux from high redshift objects. To provide complete, high resolution $`K`$-band identifications for the FIRBACK sources a campaign is underway involving deep near-IR imaging (Chapman et al. in preparation).

### 2.1. UKIRT imaging

We observed FN1-40 and FN1-64 in the $`K`$-band at UKIRT using the Fast Track Imager (UFTI) as part of the on-going identification campaign of FIRBACK sources. The source positions were taken from the radio/SCUBA identifications as uncovered in Scott et al. (2000), with coordinates listed in the catalog of Dole et al. (2001). Each source was imaged for a total of 1800 s, with individual exposures of 60 s each, reaching a limiting magnitude in a $`2^{\prime \prime }`$ diameter aperture of $`K=20.4`$ (5$`\sigma `$) in $`0.4^{\prime \prime }`$ seeing. Data were reduced using the UKIRT software pipeline oracdr (Bridger et al. 2000).

The $`K`$-band imaging of both sources is shown in Fig. 1. The precise mapping of the radio source catalog onto the optical grid suggests the astrometric error is dominated by the centroiding of the radio sources themselves ($`\frac{FWHM_{1.4\mathrm{GHz}}}{2\times S/N}`$ $`1`$″). The UKIRT observations clearly identify near-IR counterparts at the position of the radio source in both cases. Indeed, we find several near-IR components close to the radio counterpart, on scales of $`<5^{\prime \prime }`$ ($`<`$50 kpc at $`z<1`$). These components are all resolved in 0.4′′ seeing, confirming they are all galaxies.

Based on the available optical limits we find that in both sources the component which is coincident with the radio emission, and by implication is the source of the luminous far-IR emission, is very red, $`(RK)5`$ (Table 1).

### 2.2. Archival INT imaging

Archival, multi-band data is made publically available through the Isaac Newton Groups’ Wide Field Camera Survey Programme. We extracted $`U,g,r,i,z^{}`$ band imaging for our FIRBACK galaxies, stacking multiple exposures in the same filters with IRAF IMCOMB. The imaging has 0.33″/pixel, with an average 1.2″ FWHM PSF. The calibration zero points were taken from the archive listing for the appropriate observation date (www.ast.cam.ac.uk/$``$wfcsur/photom.html). Fig. 1 shows these images scaled to the UKIRT frame. FN1-64 displays a striking merger morphology, with components spanning a range in SEDs. The strong $`K`$-band J1 component appears only as a faint tail in the optical. FN1-40 is a much fainter optical source, and we have smoothed the image with the PSF for display purposes. Some faint emission between J1 ane J2 in the $`I`$,$`z^{}`$ images suggests that this source may also be an interaction between multiple components. We find that in both sources the component which is coincident with the radio emission, and by implication is the source of the luminous far-IR emission, is very red, $`(rK)5`$ (Table 1).

### 2.3. Keck spectroscopy

Having identified reliable counterparts to the 170-$`\mu `$m sources in these two fields we are then in a position to test the prediction that these galaxies should lie at $`z>1`$.

Spectroscopic observations of FIRBACK FN1-40 and FN1-64 were taken using the Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) on the Keck II telescope in 2001 July. In the echellette mode used here, ESI provides complete coverage of the optical waveband from the atmospheric cut-off to the limit of the sensitivity of silicon CCDs: 0.32–1 $`\mu `$m. The high spectral resolution of the system, $``$1Å, allows for very good sky subtraction into the atmospheric OH forest at the red end of the spectrum.

The galaxies were acquired and centered on the slit manually using the optical guide camera. In the case of FN1-40, we were able to center on the bright galaxy, J3 (Fig. 1), with the slit aligned to cover J1, the component identified with the radio emission. For FN1-64, only the optically brighter component of the merging pair, J2, was aligned on the slit.

The spectral integrations were 1800 s for each source. High signal-to-noise flats and wavelength calibrations were taken shortly before the observations of each target, and fluxes were calibrated using spectra of red standard stars. The data were reduced with the makee software using the standard reduction recipe outlined in the manual (Blightman 1998). The calibrated spectra for FN1-40/J1 and FN1-64/J2 (as well as the acquisition object J3) are shown in Fig. 2.

The spectra of both FN1-40/J1 and FN1-64/J2 show a series strong emission lines in the red, we identify the strongest of these as \[Oii\]3727, \[Oiii\]5007 and for FN1-40: H$`\alpha `$. Based on these identifications we determine a redshift of $`z=0.45`$ for FN1-40/J1 and $`z=0.91`$ for FN1-64/J2.111For completeness we note that an attempt to detect redshifted H$`\alpha `$ in FN1-64/J2, using a 1800 s $`J`$-band observation with the CGS4 spectrograph on UKIRT failed to detect a line at the relevant wavelength. In addition, we measure a redshift of $`z=0.40`$ for the acquisition galaxy, J3, in the field of FN1-40. More details of the spectral line strengths from these observations are given in Table 1.

## 3. RESULTS

The ESI spectroscopic observations provide reliable redshifts for the proposed radio-detected counterparts to the 170-$`\mu `$m sources in the fields of FN1-40 and FN1-64. These redshifts, $`z=0.45`$ and $`z=0.91`$, are below those predicted on the basis of the far-IR/submm/radio properties of these galaxies assuming a spectral energy distribution (SED) for these luminous, dusty galaxies similar to that of Arp 220. We now investigate this discrepency in more detail.

### 3.1. Far-IR properties

Figure 3 depicts the measured near-IR through radio photometry for the two FIRBACK galaxies. A template fit from SED library of Dale et al. (2001,2002) is overlayed, encompassing the mid-IR through radio wavelengths. This template library represents a parametrized sequence of SEDs (ordered in terms of their 60/100 $`\mu `$m restframe flux ratios) where a range of dust properties (temperatures and emissivities) are modelled to provide a composite SED, with increasing far-IR colors for increasing far-IR luminosity. These SEDs provide a good representation of all local far-IR luminous galaxies (Dale et al. 2001,2002). The radio luminosity of the model SED is tied directly to the far-IR luminosity, using the empirical relation from Helou et al. (1985).

To fit these models to our observations we simply minimize $`\chi ^2`$ between the SED and the observations for the radio through far-IR points, ignoring the poor signal to noise 450 $`\mu `$m point, and weighting each of the points equally. In the case of FN1-64, the Dale et al. templates cannot simultaneously fit the radio, 850$`\mu `$m and 170$`\mu `$m bands to within the 1$`\sigma `$ uncertainties, however the fit lies within the 0.2 dex scatter of the FIR/radio relation (Helou et al. 1985). For reference, we also show the best fit excluding the 170 $`\mu `$m point for illustration. The excellent resulting fit with a slightly cooler template (lower 60/100 parameter) to the 450 $`\mu `$m, 850 $`\mu `$m and radio points suggests that the large ISO/PHOT beam (100″ diameter, 99% error circle) may include an additional far-IR source in addition to the one isolated by the radio and submm. A second radio source with S$`{}_{1.4\mathrm{GHz}}{}^{}<5\sigma `$ (Ciliegi et al. 1999) lies towards the edge of the FIRBACK error circle, and may be contributing to the FIR flux.

From our fits we estimate that galaxies are relatively cool with rest frame 60/100 $`\mu `$m ratios of 0.43$`\pm `$0.03 and 0.69$`\pm `$0.04 for FN1-40 and FN1-64 respectively, where flux errors lead to an uncertainty in the fit 60/100 $`\mu `$m ratio. As the Dale et al. SED models assume a superposition of black bodies of different temperatures, they can be described best in terms of percentage LIR contributions from dust at different temperatures: T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<15`$ K, $`<20`$ K, $`<31`$ K. FN1-40 has respectively 42%, 89%, 100%, while FN1-64 has 31%, 78%, 98%. However, for direct comparison with other galaxies from the literature we also fit a single dust temperature and emissivity ($`\beta `$) to the submm/far-IR data points and obtain: Td=25.7$`\pm `$0.4 K and $`\beta `$=1.76$`\pm `$0.01 for FN1-40; and Td=30.8$`\pm `$0.7 K with $`\beta `$=1.68$`\pm `$0.02 for FN1-64. These values of $`\beta `$ lie within the 1$`\sigma `$ range of local values for IRAS galaxies, as fit by Dunne et al. (2000) (median $`\beta `$=1.33). We consider the effects of dust temperature further in subsequent sections.

In terms of bolometric far-IR luminosity (40 to 200$`\mu `$m), using the best fitting SEDs we estimate that FN1-40 has a luminosity of around L$`{}_{\mathrm{FIR}}{}^{}7\times 10^{11}`$ L, placing it just in the ULIRG category. FN1-64 is more luminous, with L$`{}_{\mathrm{FIR}}{}^{}4\times 10^{12}`$ L, placing it well into the ULIRG class and showing that it is four times as luminous as Arp 220. In both cases, adopting total infrared luminosities, LTIR, covering all the emission from 3–1100$`\mu `$m in the restframe, we estimate luminosities which are $`2\times `$ higher than the corresponding LFIR.

We compare in Figure 4 the rest frame 60/100 ratios (corresponding roughly to dust temperature) and FIR luminosities for these FIRBACK galaxies with a sub-sample of the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample (BGS) with 850$`\mu `$m measurements (Dunne et al. 2000). Our extrapolation to 60/100 is somewhat model dependent; while our observed 170$`\mu `$m point measures the rest frame 100$`\mu `$m, our model fitting gives a variation in the 60$`\mu `$m point, dominated by photometric uncertainties (shown with error bars in Fig. 4). Fitting single dust temperature grey-bodies to local IRAS-selected galaxies using the 850$`\mu `$m point (Dunne et al. 2000) has demonstrated the 60/100 ratio alone to slightly overestimate Td, with Td showing a tighter correlation than 60/100 with LFIR. This comparison shows that these two FIRBACK galaxies are colder than the majority of the IRAS BGS given their LFIR. However, the BGS (S$`{}_{60\mu m}{}^{}>`$5.24 Jy) is relatively small with very few objects as luminous as FN1-40, FN1-64. We would like to make a comparison with the fainter S$`{}_{60\mu m}{}^{}>`$1.2 Jy IRAS galaxies (Fisher et al. 1995). The local 60/100 $`\mu `$m distribution of the 1.2 Jy sample is characterized in detail in Chapman et al. (2002a). Placing the two FIRBACK galaxies within their respective far-IR luminosity class, we find that FN1-40 lies midway into the first quartile of 60/100 values for L$`{}_{\mathrm{FIR}}{}^{}10^{11.6}`$, while FN1-64 lies at the first quartile point for L$`{}_{\mathrm{FIR}}{}^{}10^{12.1}`$. This is roughly consistent with the extrapolated relation for the BGS shown in Figure 4. We discuss the implications of this discovery in section 4.

### 3.2. Optical properties and morphologies

The existing optical imaging (1.2″ FWHM) reveals an obviously merging, $`r=21.4`$ elongated source for FN1-64, and barely detected $`r24.5`$ components for FN1-40, Our $`0.4^{\prime \prime }`$ UKIRT imaging at $`K`$-band, however, provides significant morphological information (Fig. 1).

The $`K`$ image of FN1-64 resolves into a pair of galaxies, with approximately equal $`K`$-band flux, and the complete system has a $`K=18.15`$. However, only the northern $`K`$-band source has a bright optical counterpart, with only a faint $`r=23.5`$ tail corresponding to the southern source. Hence this pair comprise a blue component to the north and a red $`(rK)5`$ galaxy in the south. The latter is coincident with the radio emission and by implication is probably generating the bulk of the far-IR output. The galaxies are separated by $`2.4^{\prime \prime }`$ which translates into 20 kpc at $`z=0.91`$ and there is a bridge of emission connecting the two components, suggestive of tidal debris.

FN1-40 is a faint galaxy ($`r=24.5`$), with a possible close companion at $`2.3^{\prime \prime }`$ separation (J2), and a third optically bright galaxy (J3) lying $`3.6^{\prime \prime }`$ away from J1. The radio centroid is coincident with component J1, the $`K`$-brightest source with $`(rK)=4.8`$, as labelled in Fig. 1. Our spectrum identifies this as a galaxy at $`z=0.45`$. As the J3 source ($`z=0.40`$) has a velocity offset of $`13000`$ km s-1 from J1, it cannot be considered a part of the system. Both J1 and J2, however, show low surface brightness extension (especially in the $`z^{}`$ and $`i`$ images) along the axis separating the two components, and we suggest that this probably represents a merging system.

A comparison of the morphologies of these two FIRBACK sources, multiple components separated on scales of $`10`$ kpc, with local ULIRGs (Goldader et al. 2002) suggests a similarity with “early stage mergers” such as VV 114. Equally, the tendency for the radio emission (and therefore presumably the far-IR) to come from the redder component is also shared with local ULIRG samples. However, there are differences: The far-IR curves for FN1-40/FN1-64 are fit by cool SEDs, which would normally be accompanied by a modest LFIR/Loptical ratio for such early stage mergers (Dale et al. 2000). In contrast, the measured LFIR/Loptical ratio, considering both the J1 and J2 components in each case, is large (20.7 and 36.2) for FN1-64 and FN1-40 respectively). Loptical is calculated from the integrated flux under a power law fit to restframe wavelengths 0.5$`\mu `$m to 1.5$`\mu `$m. These values are similar to Arp 220, a more evolved ULIRG with a hotter dust temperature ($`50`$ K).

### 3.3. Spectral Properties and Metallicities

Combinations of strong emission lines can be used to determine or constrain the nature of the ionizing radiation (Veilleux & Osterbrock 1987), the amount of reddening to the emission region, and the metallicity of the interstellar medium (ISM; e.g., Pagel et al. 1979; Kobulnicky et al. 1999). It is important to stress that these measurements only reflect the environment from which photons can escape and it is possible that the most active regions within these systems are so highly obscured that they do not contribute to the optical spectra used in our analysis. Moreover, in the case of FN1-64/J2, our optical spectrum is offset from the very red object, radio emitting component of the system (although this has not traditionally limited the analysis of other similar systems, e.g. Ivison et al. 2001).

The narrow lines and the resolution of the \[Oii\] doublet in both systems suggest no AGN component is present in either FN1-64/J2 or FN1-40/J1, although without direct spectroscopic information from the far-IR dominant region of FN1-64/J2, we cannot rule out an AGN origin within this component (J1). The optical spectra of both FN1-64/J2 and FN1-40/J1 resemble that of luminous Hii regions.

For FN1-40/J1, we can calculate the optical reddening based on the Balmer ratio, H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$. The region emitting Balmer lines is apparently highly reddened, equivalent to an AV=3.6 mag, and consistent with the copious far-IR emission being centralized in the same location as the optically brighter region for which the spectra diagnostics have been measured. Applying this extinction to the H$`\beta `$ inferred star formation rate (SFR) suggests a correction from 0.7 M yr-1 to 20 M yr-1, still well beneath that extrapolated from the far-IR (160 M yr-1). We are able to probe the extinction in FN1-64/J2 through the H$`\beta `$/H$`\gamma `$, revealing a more modest $`A_V=2.1`$. As stressed before this constraint is not for the major source of far-IR emission in this system (J1). However, the H$`\beta `$ implied SFR from J2 (416 M yr-1), is comparable to the far-IR derived SFR from J1 (950 M yr-1). The FN1-64 system is therefore reminiscent of other high$`z`$ ULIRGs where the optically bright component provides an insight into the luminosity of the obscured portion (e.g. Ivison et al. 2001 – see discussion for further examples).

To measure the ISM metallicity, a rigorous determination requires knowledge of electron temperature derivable only from intrinsically weak lines. However, metallicity diagnostic line ratios based on stronger lines have been empirically calibrated. In particular, the $`R_{23}`$ parameter, $`R_{23}`$ = (\[Oii\]3727 + \[Oiii\]4959+5007)/H$`\beta `$ (Pagel et al. 1979), has been calibrated against metallicity, with an intrinsic scatter of only 0.2 dex. It is a weak function of the ionization ratio \[Oiii\]4959+5007/\[Oii\]3727. A reversal in $`R_{23}`$ occurs at $`Z0.3Z_{}`$ due to cooling effects, so a low- and a high-metallicity solution are associated with most values of $`R_{23}`$. This degeneracy can however be broken using the \[Oiii\]5007/\[Nii\]6584 ratio (Kobulnicky et al. 1999).

The metallicity can be used as an indicator of a galaxy’s evolutionary state, and as a constraint on possible present-day descendants. Carollo & Lilly (2001) have investigated the ISM metallicities of H$`\beta `$-luminous field galaxies in the $`0.5<z<1.0`$ redshift interval from the Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS). These galaxies fall in the $`R_{23}`$ versus \[Oiii\]/\[Oii\] plane in locations that are occupied by galaxies in the local Jansen et al. (2000) sample. At both epochs, galaxies selected to have the same H$`\beta `$ luminosities exhibit the same range of $`R_{23}`$ and \[Oiii\]/\[Oii\]. We find that the galaxies FN1-40/J1 and FN1-64/J2 are within our 1$`\sigma `$ error of the median properties of the CFRS sources in the \[Oiii\]4959+5007/\[Oii\]3727 versus R23 plane. For the lower redshift FN1-40 source, we can use the detected \[Nii6584\] to break the metal degeneracy of the R23 indicator. The $`[OIII]5007/[NII]6584<2`$ necessitates metallicities $`Z>0.5Z_{}`$, placing the source on the upper branch of the relation, with a metallicity close to the solar value.

While the Carollo & Lilly (2001) galaxies in the $`0.5<z<1.0`$ range are bright star forming galaxies, they fall an order of magnitude below the bolometric luminosity of our two FIRBACK sources under study (several Carollo & Lilly 2001 galaxies are detected in the CFRS 15$`\mu `$m ISO sample of Flores et al. 1999). While it is therefore interesting to compare R23 metallicities for these objects, we stress that the $`R_{23}`$ indicator has only been calibrated for low obscuration regions, and may not be a valid surrogate for metallicity in the highly obscured environments of ULIRGs. In particular, we are only measuring $`R_{23}`$ from regions which happen to be visible from a system which is likely to be generally obscured.

## 4. DISCUSSION

At $`z<1`$, sources observed at both 170 and 850 $`\mu `$m will exhibit similar characteristics as a function of dust temperature (Blain 1999); the coldest and most dusty galaxies will have the greatest flux densities for an equivalent far-IR luminosity. Beyond $`z1`$, the 170 $`\mu `$m band lies blueward of the peak in the restframe black body and dust temperatures T$`{}_{d}{}^{}<100`$ K no longer have significant effects on the observed source flux. A flux-limited survey such as FIRBACK is thus expected to be biased towards cooler galaxies at higher redshifts. While we do not yet have the statistics to quantify the actual selection rate, we note that the identification of the unusually cold ULIRGs FN1-40 and FN1-64 are in agreement with this prediction: we find cooler galaxies than expected for the $`10^{12}`$ L bolometric luminosities.

Models of the FIRBACK population (Dole et al. 2001) have evolved the local luminosity function by boosting only the ULIRG contribution with redshift, assuming an average SED template for ULIRGs. This scenario is able to fit the FIRB and the FIRBACK counts, inferring that 30% of these sources lie at $`0.5<z<1.0`$, and 10% at $`1<z<2.5`$ (Dole et al. 2001). However, the assumption that an average ULIRG template can represent the FIRBACK source population is flawed as it does not take into account the much colder sources which will be preferentially selected at 170$`\mu `$m for $`z<1`$. Other recent models of the far-IR galaxy population (Franceschini et al. 2001; Chary & Elbaz 2001) do not incorporate a cold luminous galaxy template and cannot directly acount for numerous sources such as FN1-40/FN1-64. Revisions to the Dole et al. model (Lagache et al. 2002) include a population of colder luminous objects based on the SED shape of the less luminous local FIRBACK sources.

The actual redshifts of both FN1-40/FN1-64 ($`z=0.45`$/$`z=0.91`$) lie significantly below the $`z=1.1`$/$`z=1.3`$ predicted from the submm and radio, using the Carilli & Yun (2000) estimator (with 1$`\sigma `$ uncertainty of 0.17) which is also derived from the average ULIRG SED. Moreover, if the majority of FIRBACK sources were to span the range in properties observed in these two galaxies, the average properties deduced from an Arp220 template would be severely skewed to higher redshifts. We chose these two sources for Keck follow-up at random from the FIRBACK sources where the sub-mm/radio ratio suggested a high ($`z>1`$) redshift. As a consequence, the distinct possibility exists that almost none of the radio identified FIRBACK sources may lie at $`z>1`$, dependent on the mid- and high-redshift distributions in dust temperature.

The measurement of the 850/1.4 ratio for both these sources does allow a constraint on its use as a redshift indicator. Clearly the ratio for these sources must lie significantly above the canonical value for ULIRGs found by Carilli & Yun (2000), as shown in Fig. 5. The existence of such cooler luminous sources may affect seriously the interpretation of the high redshift SCUBA selected population (see also Eales et al. 2000).

Cold yet luminous dusty sources suggest large masses of dust heated at moderate intensity, rather than small amounts of dust in a compact configuration subjected to extremely intense radiation fields. This latter scenario is clearly supported by the spatial and SED properties of the nearby ULIRG Arp220 (Soifer et al. 1984). While one could invoke evolving or novel dust properties to explain cooler high-luminosity sources like FN1-40 and FN1-64, there is no evidence to support such unusual dust properties, especially that the SEDs of both FN1-40 and FN1-64 are fitted quite well with the Dale et al. models from the local Universe. For objects like FN1-40 and FN1-64 however, the data suggest a spatially distributed star formation activity heating a more extended ISM. Arp 302 represents a nearby system with a 60/100 color as cold as FN1-40 and LFIR=5$`\times `$1011 L. Lo, Gao & Gruendl (1997) have shown that luminous CO emission traces the entire optically defined disks of both merging components, covering 23 kpc and 11 kpc respectively, and we might imagine a similar configuration in FN1-40. The main difficulty then is to explain the high extinctions suggested by the large infrared-to-visible ratios in these systems. Since we know little of their detailed morphology or geometry, we cannot exclude the possibility that the initial conditions and the details of the encounters (strong tidal interactions rather than direct collisions or mergers) result in obscured yet distributed rather than strongly concentrated star formation activity.

### 4.1. Comparison with higher redshift SCUBA populations

Figure 4 shows how these FIRBACK sources compare to other submm luminous sources with measured spectroscopic redshifts. Note that while the FIRBACK sources appear to be pure starburst, there are very few spectroscopically identified sub-mm galaxies at high redshift for comparison which do not show AGN signatures (SMM J14011+0252 at $`z=2.56`$ – Ivison et al. 2001, Westphal MMD 11 at $`z=2.99`$ – Chapman et al. 2002b, HR 10 at $`z=1.44`$ – Dey et al. 1999). Both FN1-64 and FN1-40 appear morphologically similar to the SCUBA galaxies SMM J14011+0252 and Westphal MMD 11, having a red $`(RK)`$ source identified to the far-IR emission along with a bluer companion. This is similar to several local ULIRGs (e.g. 08279+1372 – Surace & Sanders 2000; Goldader et al. 2002), and may suggest that all of these galaxies are generating their far-IR output by similar mechanisms.

As these two sources lie midway between the local IRAS population, and the high redshift SCUBA-selected population (e.g. Smail et al. 2002), understanding their properties provides a crucial benchmark for continued progress on the evolution of IR-luminous galaxies. FN1-40 and FN1-64 are representative of the optically faint FIRBACK sample with radio and SCUBA detections ($``$30% – Scott et al. 2000), comprising $``$8% of the radio identified FIRBACK survey. In terms of the bright (S$`{}_{850\mu \mathrm{m}}{}^{}>6`$ mJy), blank field submm sources (e.g. Smail et al. 2001, Scott et al. 2001) in this area on the sky, they would represent only a small fraction of the 850 $`\mu `$m counts ($`3`$%).

The strong bias to colder dust temperatures in sub-mm and far-IR selected samples occurs because the selection bands fall redward of the grey-body peak. At an observed 170 $`\mu `$m, this implies the cold bias out to $`z1`$ discussed earlier. However, for 850 $`\mu `$m, this bias is inherent in the entire plausible range of galaxy evolution, out to $`z8`$ (e.g. Blain 1999). In this sense, the wide field SCUBA surveys will preferentially uncover the coldest sources for a given luminosity.

We would like to use the existence of these cold, luminous sources to place a constraint on the dust temperature distribution at high redshifts. If the important driver of the dust temperature is the radiation field then we must compare at similar luminosity systems. Figure 4 suggests that these luminous FIRBACK sources are within the coldest 16% of the local population if we cut at the same luminosity. If we propose that this local population of IR-luminous objects undergoes a strong luminosity evolution of the form $`(1+z)^4`$ out to $`z=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.5}`$, we can determine the relative numbers of cold and warm objects isolated by our selection function. This form of evolution has been shown to match the observe space density of high$`z`$ ULIRGs to the local population (e.g. Blain et al. 1999; Chapman et al. 2002c).

We start with the FIRBACK survey limit, S$`{}_{170}{}^{}>120`$ mJy. We add the requirement that S850/S1.4 give $`\frac{(1+z)}{T_\mathrm{d}/50K}`$ $`>2`$, the Carilli & Yun (2000) criterion we employed to select high redshift objects for spectroscopic followup with Keck. This selection function implies that we begin to detect objects with T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<30`$ K at $`z>0.35`$, and T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<50`$ K at $`z>1`$. We find 35% more FIRBACK detectable objects with T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<30`$ K than with 30 K$`<T_\mathrm{d}<50`$ K in the accessible volume from $`z=0.35`$ to $`z=1.6`$, where we can no longer detect a $`50`$ K source. As our two detected sources have Td=26 K and 32 K, our 35% bias towards selecting T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<30`$ K sources implies that the outcome of our experiment deviates by less than $`1\sigma `$ from the expected outcome.

We can conclude that the dust temperature distribution at higher redshifts is consistent with that observed locally (or alternatively, that the characteristic temperature of a ULIRG doesn’t increase dramatically out to $`z1`$). Note that this is not necessarily the expected result. For instance, different temperatures distributions for similar luminosity ULIRG populations at $`z=0`$ and $`z=1`$ could arise due to different geometry of the active region, or different chemical properties of the dust. Complete redshift distributions for the FIRBACK population will be required to carefully test the dust temperature distributions at low and high redshift. A more detailed model, taking acount of the local bivariate luminosity function in LTIR and S60μm/S100μm, studies directly the effect of the complete distribution of dust properties on the high redshift far-IR population (Chapman et al. 2002a).

## 5. CONCLUSIONS

We have obtained Keck spectra and UKIRT high spatial resolution near-IR imagery for two of the proposed highest redshift sources from the FIRBACK-N1 170$`\mu `$m survey. This survey is currently the most sensitive probe of the properties of dusty galaxies at the peak of the FIRB.

We find that the redshifts of counterparts to the 170 $`\mu `$m sources confirm that both sources are ULIRGs, but that their redshifts are significantly lower than implied by fitting a typical ULIRG SED to their far-IR/submm/radio SEDs. This indicates that they have cooler dust temperatures, T$`{}_{d}{}^{}30`$ K, than the canonical ULIRG values (T$`{}_{d}{}^{}50`$ K). The sources both show morphologies suggestive of early stage mergers, similar to recently identified SCUBA galaxies, and also many local ULIRGs.

For FN1-40, we are able to examine optical line diagnostics in the region of far-IR emission. We measure a large, A$`{}_{\mathrm{V}}{}^{}4`$ mag, extinction, indicating a large correction to the H$`\beta `$ estimated SFR. The metallicity in this region, as probed by the R23 and indicator and OIII/NII ratio, is found to be typical for starforming galaxies 2 orders of magnitude less luminous (close to solar).

The detection of these galaxies in the submm by SCUBA allows a constraint on the 850/1.4 redshift indicator. We find a relation for these galaxies lying significantly above the relation found by Carilli & Yun (2000), due to their cooler dust temperatures. The existence of such cooler, but still luminous sources may thus affect the interpretation of the SCUBA selected population, if they are numerous at high redshift. Recent models of the far-IR galaxy counts, relying on the rapid evolution of a hot ULIRG component to the local luminosity function, may predict an erroneous redshift distribution without taking into account sources such as FN1-40 and FN1-64.

We have turned the discovery of these two cold, luminous galaxies into an estimate for the dust temperature distribution at $`z1`$ for the ULIRG population. We conclude that our 170$`\mu `$m, 850$`\mu `$m, and 1.4 GHz selection function isolates approximately 35% more cold sources ($`<30`$ K) than warmer sources ($`30<`$T$`{}_{\mathrm{d}}{}^{}<50`$) over the detectable redshift range, under the assumption that the temperature distribution at $`z=0`$ and $`z=1`$ is similar. The relative proportion of the cold population at low/high-$`z`$ can therefore be understood as consistent with the local 60$`\mu `$m/100$`\mu `$m distribution.

Thanks to A. Blain for stimulating conversations about this source population. We acknowledge the useful comments of an anonymous referee, which helped improve the text. The INT WFC data was made publically available through the Isaac Newton Groups’ Wide Field Camera Survey Programme. The Isaac Newton Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. UKIRT is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. IRS acknowledges support from the Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust.