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# 1 Introduction and Summary

## 1 Introduction and Summary

The AdS/CFT correspondence has given a concrete realization of the connection between gauge theories and string theory in the context of $`𝒩=4`$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills and type IIB string theory on $`AdS_5\times S^5`$ . One of the immediate implications of the correspondence, pointed out by Witten in , is the relation between the corresponding theories at nonzero temperature. Namely, it was conjectured that a direct relation exists between a nonzero temperature field theory and the properly thermalized supergravity background. This correspondence was effectively anticipated in the series of papers . A remarkable feature of the nonzero temperature correspondence is that it involves nonsupersymmetric theories on both sides and it is therefore a more dynamical connection than the usual zero-temperature correspondence.

Recently, Berenstein, Maldacena and Nastase (BMN)  put a new twist on the AdS/CFT correspondence and proposed a gauge theory interpretation of the Penrose-Güven limit of $`AdS_5\times S^5`$ . The IIB maximally supersymmetric plane wave background with constant null RR five form resulting from the limit is

$`ds^2`$ $`=`$ $`2dx^+dx^{}\mu ^2x_ix^i(dx^+)^2+dx_idx^i,`$
$`F_{+1234}`$ $`=`$ $`F_{+5678}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}2}\mu .`$ (1.1)
In this limit a particular sector of $`𝒩=4`$ SYM survives in the gauge theory side while the string theory is solvable in the light-cone gauge . One particularly interesting observation that follows from the study of BMN operators is that certain quantities, such as the dimensions of the BMN operators, when calculated using perturbative gauge theory in the effective ’t Hooft coupling $`(\lambda ^{})`$ match precisely the string theory prediction which is reliable at strong coupling . This provides an example of smooth interpolation between the weak and strong coupling regimes of a sector of $`𝒩=4`$ SYM. Additional exploration of more complicated observables was presented in .

In the context of the Penrose limit of $`AdS_5\times S^5`$, it is very natural to pose a similar question about the nonzero temperature correspondence. The present situation is very peculiar however. An important ingredient introduced in the analysis of  is the consideration of all backgrounds with the same asymptotic behavior. In the concrete case of $`𝒩=4`$ SYM this implies the need to consider at least thermalized $`AdS_5`$ and the Schwarzschild-AdS black hole. The inclusion of these two backgrounds implies the presence of Hawking-Page phase transitions. The question of the proper thermalization of the plane wave background is ambiguous. Moreover, the Penrose limit of the Schwarzschild-AdS black hole does not seem to naturally determine a horizon and therefore it lacks the notion of temperature . Thus, the supergravity approach seems to be at least not straightforward. On the other hand, the fact that string theory on the plane wave can be quantized in the light-cone gauge gives us the possibility of exploring some of the corresponding thermodynamic properties.

Strings in flat space exhibit a Hagedorn density of states $`\rho (M)=M^a\mathrm{exp}(bM)`$, with $`a`$ and $`b`$ constants characterizing the various string models. Given the exponential growth in the density of states, the theory cannot be defined above a critical temperature $`T_H1/(l_sb)`$. This behavior has inspired a lot of speculations; one analogy that is frequently made is between the Hagedorn transition of strings and the confinement/deconfinement phase transition of QCD. It is natural to return to this question within the context of the BMN limit of $`𝒩=4`$ SYM since it provides an example of gauge/string relation on one side of which we have an exactly solvable string theory.

At first sight it seems very plausible that the high-temperature observables of string theory in the plane wave background have to be essentially the same as in flat space. An intuitive way to think about this is by using the fact that ultimately the main contribution to high temperature effects comes from the behavior of highly excited strings. Adding a mass term $`(m)`$ to the bosons does not seem to be a strong enough modification since, for any $`m`$ we have that for large enough excitation levels ($`n`$), the expression for the frequencies $`\sqrt{n^2+m^2}`$ will be better and better approximated by the flat space expression: $`n`$. However, a key property of strings in the plane-wave background that invalidates the above reasoning is that in the light-cone gauge the mass parameter is not constant, but $`p^+`$ dependent: $`m=2\pi \alpha ^{}\mu p^+`$. We will show that this explicit dependence on $`p^+`$ when properly taken into consideration modifies the modular properties of the partition function in a crucial way and in particular is responsible for the Hagedorn temperature being higher than the corresponding value for strings in flat space.

To make the connection to the BMN sector more precise recall the following relations between the string and the gauge theory quantities $`\mu \alpha ^{}p^+=\frac{J}{\sqrt{\lambda }},\frac{2p^{}}{\mu }=\mathrm{\Delta }J,`$ where $`J`$ is the R charge, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the conformal dimension and $`\lambda `$ is the ’t Hooft coupling. The BMN sector is singled out by considering operators with fixed $`p^+`$ and finite $`p^{}`$. Having fixed $`p^+`$ means considering operators whose R charge J grows as $`\sqrt{N}`$ as $`N\mathrm{}`$. We, by integrating over $`p^+`$, are forced to effectively consider a larger sector than the BMN sector. This fact obscures the direct relevance of our string calculation for the gauge theory side.

Leaving aside the usual difficulties associated with defining thermodynamics in gravitational backgrounds, in this paper we compute the thermal partition function of the IIB superstring in the plane wave background with constant null R-R 5-form. Moreover, we restrict ourselves to the leading genus one contribution to the thermal partition function. We pay special attention to the Hagedorn temperature which has now a parametric dependence on $`\mu `$. We find that for $`\mu 0`$ the Hagedorn temperature is higher than the corresponding value in flat space

$$\frac{\beta _H^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}16\pi \gamma _0(\mu \beta _H)+16\pi \gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta _H)=0,$$
(1.2)
where $`\gamma _0`$ and $`\gamma _{1/2}`$ are the zero-point energies of integer and half-integer moded massive oscillators respectively. In the limit $`\mu l_s0`$, the first correction to the flat space value of the Hagedorn temperature is $`T_H1/2\pi l_s+\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4}\mu `$. In the “weak field theory limit” $`(\mu l_s\mathrm{})`$ we find that the Hagedorn temperature is pushed to infinity. We also provide an approximate expression for the free energy near the Hagedorn temperature assuming that the main contribution comes from the one-string sector. A saddle point evaluation shows that the free energy and is finite as we approach the Hagedorn temperature from below. Therefore a phase transition could take place at $`T_H=1/\beta _H`$ . Given that in the canonical ensemble the energy fluctuations are notoriously large nearby $`T_H`$, the answer to the true nature (limiting or phase transition) of the Hagedorn temperature is hold by a complementary picture to the one presented here, namely by the microcanonical ensemble.

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 contains a short review of the canonical ensemble for strings in the light-cone gauge. Section 3 contains the essential ingredients in the calculation of the thermal partition function for the Green-Schwarz (GS) strings in the plane wave background. Throughout section 3 we make explicit how our results generalize those for GS strings in flat space. In section 4 we assemble all the ingredients and discuss the two natural limiting cases: flat space $`(\mu l_s0)`$ and the weak field theory $`(\mu l_s\mathrm{})`$ and discuss the thermodynamic quantities of interest (free energy and specific heat).

## 2 Review of the canonical ensemble of strings in light-cone

Since in the following sections we need to address the thermal properties of strings whose action is known only in the light-cone gauge-fixed form, and therefore a covariant treatment is not available, we begin with a brief review of the canonical ensemble of light-cone strings . As explained in , the finite temperature one-string partition function is defined by

$$Z_1(\beta )=\mathrm{Tr}\mathrm{e}^{\beta \mathrm{P}^0}=\mathrm{Tr}\mathrm{e}^{\beta (\mathrm{P}^++\mathrm{P}^{})},$$
(2.1)
where $`\beta `$ is the inverse temperature, $`P^+|\mathrm{\Phi }>=p^+|\mathrm{\Phi }>`$ is the light-cone momentum, and $`P^{}|\mathrm{\Phi }>=\frac{1}{p^+}\left(H_{lc}|\mathrm{\Phi }>\right)`$ with $`H_{lc}`$ being the light-cone Hamiltonian. Thus the partition function can be written as

$$Z_1(\beta )=l_s𝑑p^+e^{\beta p^+}z_{lc}(\beta /p_+).$$
(2.2)
For open strings, the partition function is evaluated over a cylindrical worldsheet, with periodic time $`tt+\beta /p^+`$, while for closed strings we must additionally impose the level-matching constraint: equal momentum carried by the left and right oscillators. This is usually done by means of a Lagrange multiplier

$$Z_1(\beta )=l_s𝑑p^+𝑑\lambda e^{\beta p^+}Tre^{\frac{\beta }{p^+}H_{lc}+2\pi i\lambda (N_LN_R)}.$$
(2.3)
From the point of view of the light-cone partition function, the effect of the angle $`\lambda `$ is to twist the ends of the cylinder before identifying them.

Another useful way to approach the partition function is by way of the path integral formalism, with the light-cone partition function given by

$$z_{lc}=𝒟Xe^{_Td^2zL[X(z)]},$$
(2.4)
and where the worldsheet action is integrated over a torus $`T`$ with modular parameter

$$\tau =\tau _1+i\tau _2=\lambda +i\frac{\beta }{2\pi p^+}.$$
(2.5)
One of the advantages of the path integral approach is that it makes the modular properties of the partition function manifest. We will repeatedly exploit this fact in the following sections.

Having defined the one-string partition function it is natural to define the partition function for a gas of strings at constant temperature (canonical ensemble). The partition function for a gas of strings is built out of the one-string partition function through further exponentiation

$$\mathrm{ln}Z(\beta )=\frac{1}{2}\underset{r=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}[1(1)^r]\frac{Z_1(\beta r)}{r},$$
(2.6)
for the supersymmetric case and $`\mathrm{ln}Z(\beta )=\frac{1}{2}_{r=1}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{r}Z_1(\beta r)`$ for the bosonic case. The thermodynamical potential associated with the canonical ensemble is the free energy

$`F(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\beta }}\mathrm{ln}Z(\beta ).`$ (2.7)
Another thermodynamical quantity of interest is the specific heat

$`c_V`$ $`=`$ $`\beta ^2{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{\beta ^2}}\mathrm{ln}Z(\beta ).`$ (2.8)
At temperatures higher than the Hagedorn temperature $`T_H`$ the free energy diverges. If the free energy remains finite while $`T_H`$ is approached from below there is the possibility of a phase transition. On the other hand, if the free energy and specific heat are infinite, the Hagedorn temperature is a limiting (maximal) temperature.

## 3 Partition function of GS strings in the pp-wave background

The most straightforward way to obtain the partition function is through the Hamiltonian. The light-cone Hamiltonian of the first-quantized GS IIB string in the plane wave background with constant null R-R five-form background is given by :

$`H_{lc}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}}}[m(a_0^i{}_{}{}^{}a_{0}^{i}+S_0^i{}_{}{}^{}S_{0}^{i})`$ (3.1)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{8}{}}}(a_n^i{}_{}{}^{}a_{n}^{i}+\stackrel{~}{a}_n^i{}_{}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{a}_{n}^{i})+{\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}}(S_n^a{}_{}{}^{}S_{n}^{a}+\stackrel{~}{S}_n^a{}_{}{}^{}\stackrel{~}{S}_{n}^{a}))]`$
where we follow the conventions of Metsaev and Tseytlin . We want to emphasize at this point that the mass parameter is $`p^+`$-dependent:

$$m=\mu (2\pi \alpha ^{})p^+.$$
(3.2)
Explicitly performing the trace of the light-cone Hamiltonian, and implementing the level-matching constraint $`\lambda (N_RN_L)`$ as discussed in the previous section leads to the light-cone partition function

$`z_{lc}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{p^+}},\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n,n^{}=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left[\mathrm{exp}{\displaystyle \underset{N,N^{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}N\sqrt{n^2+m^2}{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}N^{}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda (NnN^{}n^{}))\right]^8`$ (3.3)
$`\left[\mathrm{exp}{\displaystyle \underset{N,N^{}=0,1}{}}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}N\sqrt{n^2+m^2}{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}N^{}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda (NnN^{}n^{}))\right]^8`$
$`\left[\mathrm{exp}{\displaystyle \underset{N=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}Nm)\right]^8\left[\mathrm{exp}{\displaystyle \underset{N=0,1}{}}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}Nm)\right]^8`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left|\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda n)}{1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda n)}}\right)^8\right|^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}m)}{1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}m)}}\right)^8`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙}{}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda n)}{1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+2\pi i\lambda n)}}\right)^8,`$
where we have taken into account that the usual normal ordering shift cancels between fermions and bosons (in each sector it equals the zero-point energy $`m/2+_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}`$).

The above expression is formally the answer for the partition function. However, it is very difficult to extract information directly in this form. We turn to the path integral approach where we can derive the modular properties of partition function. The latter will enable us to study the thermodynamic properties of the strings.

### 3.1 Scalars

To motivate some of the further manipulations needed to extract information from the partition function presented above we will also include the treatment for flat space. Another important point we would like to make is that by considering strings at nonzero temperature we explicitly break supersymmetry and therefore some of the thermodynamic properties of strings can be seen equally well by considering only the bosonic sector. Thus, we analyze first the bosonic contribution to the free energy, keeping in mind similarities with a system of closed bosonic strings. Let us briefly recall the determination of the Hagedorn temperature for the bosonic string in flat space. Each scalar degree of freedom contributes the following factor to the the transverse partition function

$`z_{lc}^{(0,0)}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{p^+}},\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑p\mathrm{exp}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta p^2}{2\alpha ^{}p^+}})\mathrm{exp}({\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}n){\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left|{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}n+2\pi i\lambda n)}}\right|^2`$ (3.4)
$`=`$ $`2\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}{\beta }}}\mathrm{exp}({\displaystyle \frac{1}{12}}{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}}){\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left|{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta }{\alpha ^{}p^+}n+2\pi i\lambda n)}}\right|^2.`$
A convenient way of rewriting the above expression is by means of introducing a complex variable

$$q=\mathrm{exp}(2\pi i\tau ),\tau =\lambda +i\frac{\beta }{2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}.$$
(3.5)
In this variable the partition function takes the following simple form which highlights its modular properties

$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau )=\tau _2^{1/2}\left((q\overline{q})^{\frac{1}{24}}\left|\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}(1q^n)\right|\right)^2=\tau _2^{1/2}|\eta (\tau )|^2.$$
(3.6)
For $`d2`$ transverse scalars, the one-string partition function reads

$`Z_1^{(0,0)}(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`l_s{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑p^+{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑\lambda \mathrm{exp}(\beta p^+)\left(\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}{\beta }}}|\eta (\lambda +i{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{2\pi p^+}})|^2\right)^{d2}`$ (3.7)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{2\pi l_s}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _1_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\tau _2\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2})2^{d2}\tau _2^{\frac{d2}{2}+2}|\eta (\tau )|^{2(d2)}},`$
where we have made the change of variable $`\frac{\beta }{2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}=\tau _2`$. The UV asymptotic behavior, $`\tau _20`$, of the one-string partition function is uncovered by using the modular properties of the Dedekind $`\eta (\tau )`$-function. Under the $`S`$-modular transformation $`\tau 1/\tau `$

$$\eta (\frac{1}{\tau })=\sqrt{i\tau }\eta (\tau ).$$
(3.8)
Substituting (3.8) into (3.7) one finds that the integrand of the one-string partition function in the UV regime behaves as

$$\tau _2^{\frac{d+2}{2}}|\tau |^{d2}\mathrm{exp}\left(4\pi \tau _2\frac{d2}{24|\tau |^2}\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}\right).$$
(3.9)
At temperatures higher than the Hagedorn temperature

$$\beta _H=\frac{1}{T_H}=\sqrt{\frac{\pi ^2(d2)}{3}}l_s$$
(3.10)
the free energy diverges.

To evaluate the contribution of the scalar modes of the IIB GS superstring in the plane wave background we choose to do a path integral calculation. This approach will pay off in the sense that the modular properties of the partition function are much more transparent when the partition function is expressed as a double product. Let us therefore begin with

$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,m)=𝒟X\mathrm{exp}\left[_Td^2z\overline{X}(_z_{\overline{z}}+m^2)X\right],$$
(3.11)
where the worldsheet integral is taken over a torus: $`z=\xi _1+\tau \xi _2`$, and the modular parameter is denoted as usual by $`\tau `$. Substituting the Fourier decomposition of the doubly periodic function

$$X(\xi _1,\xi _2)=\underset{n1,n2𝐙}{}X_{n1,n2}\mathrm{exp}[2\pi i(n_1\xi _1+n_2\xi _2)]$$
(3.12)
in the path integral and using

$`d^2z`$ $`=`$ $`d\xi _1d\xi _2\tau _2,`$ (3.13)
$`_z_{\overline{z}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\tau _2^2}}(|\tau |^2_1{}_{}{}^{2}2\tau _1_1_2+_2{}_{}{}^{2}),`$ (3.14)
we can explicitly perform the Gaussian integrals over $`X_{n1,n2}`$ in (3.11)

$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\mu )=\left[\underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}\tau _2\left((\frac{2\pi }{4\tau _2})^2|n_1\tau n_2|^2+m^2\right)\right]^{(d2)}.$$
(3.15)
The double product form of the partition function makes manifest its modular properties. For example, recalling that $`m`$ depends explicitly on $`p^+=\frac{\beta }{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}`$ and substituting $`m=2\pi \alpha ^{}\mu p^+`$ into (3.15) one derives:

$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(1/\tau ,\mu /|\tau |))=z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\mu ).$$
(3.16)
For cases considered in the literature , $`m`$ was uncorrelated with the torus modular parameter, and (3.16) is then replaced by $`z_{lc}(1/\tau ,m|\tau |)=z_{lc}(\tau ,m)`$ 111 After trivial relabellings in the double product,
$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(1/\tau ,\mu /|\tau |)=\left[\underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}\frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\left((\frac{2\pi |\tau |^2}{4\tau _2})^2\frac{|n_1n_2\tau |^2}{|\tau |^2}+\left(\frac{\beta \mu |\tau |^2}{|\tau |\tau _2}\right)^2\right)\right]^{(d2)}=z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\mu )$$
whereas for constant $`m`$ we have
$$z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(1/\tau ,m|\tau |)=\left[\underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}\frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\left((\frac{2\pi |\tau |^2}{4\tau _2})^2\frac{|n_1n_2\tau |^2}{|\tau |^2}+m^2|\tau |^2\right)\right]^{(d2)}=z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,m)$$
.

Following , one of the infinite products in (3.15) can be performed and the result is

$`z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,m)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[2\pi (d2)\tau _2\left(m/2+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}\right)\right]`$ (3.17)
$`\left[{\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙}{}}\left(1\mathrm{exp}[2\pi (\tau _2\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+i\tau _1n)]\right)\right]^{(d2)}.`$
This expression is in fact a natural generalization of the Dedekind $`\eta `$ function, where the first exponent substitutes the factor $`q^{1/24}`$ of the $`\eta `$-function. We use $`\zeta `$-function regularization to define the Casimir energy of a system of massive oscillators

$`\gamma _0(m)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}`$ (3.18)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}+\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{12}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m^2\mathrm{ln}(4\pi e^\gamma )+{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}(1)^n{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(n\frac{1}{2})}{n!\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{1}{2})}}\zeta (2n1)m^{2n}\right],`$
where $`\gamma `$ is the Euler constant. Note that the zero-th order term in the $`\gamma _0(m)`$ mass expansion is the same as for a massless scalar $`_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}n=\zeta (1)=1/12`$. The terms of order greater and equal to 2 can be derived as follows:

$`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1/2)}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑t\mathrm{exp}\left(t(n^2+m^2)\right)t^{3/2}`$ (3.19)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\mathrm{\Gamma }(1/2)}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑t\left[\mathrm{\Theta }_3(0,{\displaystyle \frac{it}{\pi }})1\right]\mathrm{exp}(tm^2)t^{3/2},`$
and after Taylor expanding the exponential, use further that

$$_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑xx^{s1}\left[\mathrm{\Theta }_3(0,ix^2)1\right]=\pi ^{s/2}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{s}{2})\zeta (s),s2.$$
(3.20)
The expression obtained in (3.17) for the partition function also represents the generalization to the complex plane of the modular forms $`f_1^{(m)}(e^{2\pi \tau _2})`$ introduced by . The feature that makes this generalization special is that the appropriate modular form for massive transverse scalars (as opposed to massless transverse scalars) is not a holomorphic function of the complex torus parameter $`\tau `$.

The UV behavior of the scalar degrees of freedom of the closed one-string partition function

$$Z_1(\beta ,\mu )=\frac{\beta }{2\pi l_s}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau _2}{\tau _2^2}𝑑\tau _1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2})z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\frac{\mu \beta }{\tau _2}).$$
(3.21)
is now determined with the help of the S-modular transformation (3.16). The integrand of (3.21) behaves as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau _2^2}}e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\mu )\stackrel{\tau _20}{}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau _2^2}}e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}\left(1e^{\frac{\mu \beta }{|\tau |}}\right)^{\frac{d2}{2}}e^{2\pi (d2)\frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\gamma _0(\mu \beta )}.`$ (3.22)
Ignoring for the moment the fermionic degrees of freedom and judging only by (3.21), the Hagedorn phase transition occurs again at the point where $`Z_1(\beta ,\mu )`$ becomes divergent

$$\frac{\beta _H^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}2\pi (d2)\gamma _0(\mu \beta _H)=0.$$
(3.23)
Note that since the mass parameter $`m`$ is temperature dependent $`m=\mu \beta /\tau _2`$, the finite temperature behavior of strings in the pp-wave background is fundamentally different than that of strings in flat space. We will come back to address this issue at length in Section 4.

### 3.2 Fermions

Let us briefly recall the thermal partition function of closed superstrings in flat space. The contribution of the fermionic (physical) degrees of freedom to the light-cone partition function

$$z_{lc}^{(1/2,0)}(\tau )=\left(|q|^{\frac{1}{12}}\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left|1+q^n\right|^2\right)^{d2}$$
(3.24)
can be rewritten using Jacobi’s triple product formula in terms of the $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$-functions:

$`{\displaystyle \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}q^{\frac{1}{24}}(1+q^n)`$ $`=`$ $`\eta (\tau )^{\frac{1}{2}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}(1+q^{n+1})^2(1q^n)\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}=\left(\mathrm{\Theta }_2(0,\tau )\eta (\tau )^1\right)^{1/2}`$ (3.25)
For type II superstrings ($`d2=8`$) the one string partition function is

$$Z_1^{(1/2,0)}(\beta )=\frac{\beta }{2\pi l_s}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau _2}{\tau _2^2}𝑑\tau _1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2})2^{16}\left|\mathrm{\Theta }_2(0,\tau )\eta (\tau )^3\right|^8.$$
(3.26)
Using some $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$-function algebra: $`\mathrm{\Theta }_2(0,\tau )\mathrm{\Theta }_3(0,\tau )\mathrm{\Theta }_4(0,\tau )=\eta (\tau )^3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }_3(0,\tau )\mathrm{\Theta }_4(0,\tau )=\mathrm{\Theta }_4(0,2\tau )`$ the one-string partition function can be cast in a more concise form

$$Z_1^{(1/2,0)}(\beta )=\beta _0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau _2}{\tau _2^2}𝑑\tau _1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2})2^{16}|\mathrm{\Theta }_4(0,2\tau )|^{16}.$$
(3.27)
Next, by invoking the modular properties of $`\mathrm{\Theta }_4`$

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_4(0,\tau )=(i\tau )^{\frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{\Theta }_2(0,\frac{1}{\tau })$$
(3.28)
one obtains the ultraviolet behavior of the integrand in (3.27):

$$\tau _2^2e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}e^{\frac{2\pi }{\tau _2}}.$$
(3.29)
Since near $`\tau _20`$ the integrand is convergent, the type II superstrings in flat space background can undergo a phase transition at $`T_H=1/(2\pi l_s)`$.

In the plane wave background the transverse fermions are massive and this prevents us from using the triple product formula or the $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$-function technology. However, the fermionic partition function is still a modular form, and we can still perform an $`S`$-transformation in order to read-off its asymptotics for $`\tau _20`$.

The light-cone gauge-fixed action of the fermionic degrees of freedom for type IIB GS superstring in the plane wave background takes the form 222 A few manipulations are in order to bring the fermionic action in this form. One first redefines the Weyl complex space-time fermions of  by conveniently absorbing a factor of $`\sqrt{p^+}`$: $`\theta ^\alpha =\frac{S_1^\alpha +iS_2^\alpha }{\sqrt{2p^+}},\alpha =\mathrm{1..8}`$ and after evaluating the matrix $`\mathrm{\Pi }=\gamma ^1\gamma ^2\gamma ^3\gamma ^4`$ present in the fermionic mass term $`mp^+\overline{\theta }\mathrm{\Pi }\theta `$, a trivial re-shuffling of the variables $`S^\alpha `$ leads to the action presented here.

$$𝒮=d^2z\underset{a=1}{\overset{8}{}}\left(iS^{1,a}_zS^{1,a}+iS^{2,a}_{\overline{z}}S^{2,a}+2mS^{1,a}S^{2,a}\right).$$
(3.30)
Since we are interested in evaluating the thermal partition function, we impose periodicity in the $`\sigma `$-direction and antiperiodicity in the world-sheet time direction. Therefore we make the identifications $`S^a(\xi _1+1,\xi _2)=S^a(\xi _1,\xi _2)`$, $`S^a(\xi _1,\xi _2+1)=S^a(\xi _1,\xi _2)`$, $`z=\xi _1+\tau \xi _2`$, where as explained before $`\tau =\lambda +i\frac{\beta }{2\pi \alpha ^{}p^+}`$. In the new coordinates the action becomes

$$𝒮=𝑑\xi _1𝑑\xi _2\left(iS^{1,a}(\overline{\tau }_1+_2)S^{1,a}+iS^{2,a}(\tau _1_2)S^{2,a}+2mS^{1,a}S^{2,a}\right).$$
(3.31)
Substituting the appropriate Fourier decomposition of the fermionic degrees of freedom

$$S^a(\xi _1,\xi _2)=\underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}S_{n_1,n_2}^ae^{i2\pi n_1\xi _1}e^{i\pi (2n_2+1)\xi _2}$$
(3.32)
into the the path integral expression of the partition function we obtain

$`z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,m)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝒟S^1𝒟S^2e^{𝒮[S^1,S^2]}}`$
$`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}}\tau _2\left(({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{4\tau _2}})^2\left|n_1\tau +{\displaystyle \frac{2n_2+1}{2}}\right|^2+m^2\right)\right]^8`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[16\pi \tau _2\left({\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}\right)\right]\left\{{\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{exp}[2\pi (\tau _2\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+i\tau _1n)]\right)\right\}^8`$
(3.33)
where in the last step we used a result of .

Under the modular $`S`$-transformation, a function antiperiodic in the $`\xi _2`$ direction becomes antiperiodic in the $`\xi _1`$ direction. The partition function for fermions obeying this new boundary conditions is

$`z_{lc}^{(1/2,0)}(\tau ,m)`$ $`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \underset{n_1,n_2𝐙}{}}\tau _2\left(({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{4\tau _2}})^2\left|{\displaystyle \frac{2n_1+1}{2}}\tau +n_2\right|^2+m^2\right)\right]^8`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[16\pi \tau _2{\displaystyle \underset{n=1/2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}\right]\left\{{\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙+1/2}{}}\left(1\mathrm{exp}[2\pi (\tau _2\sqrt{n^2+m^2}+i\tau _1n)]\right)\right\}^8.`$
The Casimir energy for half-integer modes can be computed using $`\zeta `$-function regularization

$`\gamma _{1/2}(m)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1/2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{(2n+1)^2+4m^2}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+4m^2}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}`$ (3.35)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[\gamma _0(2m)m\right]\left[\gamma _0(m){\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}\right]`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{24}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}m^2\mathrm{ln}(\pi e^\gamma )+{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}(1)^n\left(2^{2n1}1\right){\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(n\frac{1}{2})}{n!\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{1}{2})}}\zeta (2n1)m^{2n},`$
where in the first line we rewrite the sum over odd integers as the the sum over all minus even integers; in the second line we use the $`\zeta `$-function regularization introduced in (3.18). As we expected, the modular $`S`$-transformation relates the two partition functions

$$z_{lc}^{(1/2,0)}(1/\tau ,\mu /|\tau |)=z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,\mu ).$$
(3.36)
Once again, recall that $`m`$ is not a constant: $`m=\mu \beta /\tau _2`$. We can now easily extract the high-energy behavior of the fermionic light-cone partition function:

$$z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,\mu )\stackrel{\tau _20}{}e^{16\pi \frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta )}.$$
(3.37)
The two modular forms we have introduced in (3.33) and (3.2) are also generalization to the complex plane of the modular forms $`f_2^{(m)}\left(e^{2\pi \tau _2}\right)`$ and respectively $`f_4^{(m)}\left(e^{2\pi \tau _2}\right)`$ of  with the distinguishing property that they are not holomorphic functions of $`\tau `$.

## 4 Hagedorn temperature of IIB strings in the pp-wave background

We have by now computed all the ingredients that go into the partition function. In a sense we can now simply return to the light-cone string partition function already given by (3.3). However, after the detour of the path integral computation we have gained knowledge of the modular properties of (3.3), and thus paved the road to find out the high energy behavior of the partition function. The one-string partition function is

$$Z_1(\beta ,\mu )=\frac{\beta }{2\pi l_s}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\tau _2}{\tau _2^2}𝑑\tau _1\mathrm{exp}(\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2})z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\frac{\mu \beta }{\tau _2})z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,\frac{\mu \beta }{\tau _2}).$$
(4.1)
In terms of the one-string partition function the free energy is

$`F(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\beta }}{\displaystyle \underset{r=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\left[1(1)^r\right]{\displaystyle \frac{Z_1(\beta r)}{r}}`$ (4.2)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi l_s}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\tau _2}{\tau _2^2}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _1\underset{r=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left[1(1)^r\right]e^{\frac{\beta ^2r^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,\frac{\mu \beta r}{\tau _2})z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,\frac{\mu \beta r}{\tau _2})}.`$
In flat space where the only dependence on the number of strings $`r`$ comes from $`\mathrm{exp}(\beta ^2r^2/(2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2)`$, one can explicitly perform the summation over $`r`$ and write the free energy as a combination of theta functions . Given the more involved $`r`$ dependence in (4.2) we have not been able to find such a closed form of the free energy. However, it can still be argued that the main contribution arises from the one-string term. In this case the relevant integrand behaves as (3.22, 3.37):

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau _2^2}}e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}z_{lc}^{(0,0)}(\tau ,{\displaystyle \frac{\mu \beta }{\tau _2}})z_{lc}^{(0,1/2)}(\tau ,{\displaystyle \frac{\mu \beta }{\tau _2}})\stackrel{\tau _20}{}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau _2^2}}e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}\left(1e^{\frac{\mu \beta }{|\tau |}}\right)^4e^{16\pi \frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\gamma _0(\mu \beta )}e^{16\pi \frac{\tau _2}{|\tau |^2}\gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta )},`$ (4.3)
where we have used the S-modular transformation to arrive to the second line. Considering the region where the above expression diverges we find that the Hagedorn temperature for the GS IIB superstring in the plane wave background is determined by solving:

$$\frac{\beta _H^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}16\pi \gamma _0(\mu \beta _H)+16\pi \gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta _H)=0,$$
(4.4)
and it depends parametrically on $`\mu `$. Taking $`\mu =0`$ in the above equation and making use of (3.18) and (3.35) we find that $`\beta _H=2\pi l_s`$ which is nothing but the value corresponding to flat space. To further explore the behavior of the Hagedorn temperature we consider the limit of small $`\mu `$ in units of the string scale $`l_s`$, that is, $`\mu l_s1`$. Expanding (4.4) up to terms linear in $`\mu `$ and using the expressions (3.18, 3.35) we find

$$T_H\frac{1}{2\pi l_s}+4\mu ,\mathrm{for}\mu \mathrm{l}_\mathrm{s}1,$$
(4.5)
that is, the Hagedorn temperature is higher than its value for strings in flat space.

This result is very interesting and naturally leads us into the question of the behavior in the opposite limit, $`\mu l_s\mathrm{}`$. This limit is the more important due to the results of  where it has been established that in the context of the BMN limit it corresponds to the weakly coupled field theory.333However, as mentioned in the introduction, we should be extremely careful conjecturing the relation of our results to the BMN limit since we simply do not work on that limit. To better answer the question of the Hagedorn temperature for large $`m`$ we find it convenient to use an alternative expression for the Casimir energies (see the appendix for a derivation):

$`\gamma _0(m)={\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}+{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}={\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}+\left[{\displaystyle \frac{m}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1+\gamma }{4}}m^2{\displaystyle \frac{m}{\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}K_1(2\pi nm)\right].`$ (4.6)
For the fermions we will simply use the identity described in (3.35) to relate their Casimir energy to that of bosons. In equation (4.4) we have that $`\beta _H`$ is proportional to the difference of the Casimir energies:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\beta _H^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}}`$ $`=`$ $`16\pi \left[\gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta _H)\gamma _0(\mu \beta _H)\right]={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\gamma _0(2\mu \beta _H)2\gamma _0(\mu \beta _H)`$ (4.7)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mu \beta _H}{\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\left[2K_1(2\pi n\mu \beta _H)K_1(4\pi n\mu \beta _H)\right].`$
As $`\mu \mathrm{}`$, the difference between the two Casimir energies approaches zero since all the Bessel functions in the infinite sum (4.6) vanish in the limit, and therefore the Hagedorn temperature is pushed toward infinity. Recalling that the Hagedorn temperature can be interpreted as the temperature where a winding state becomes tachyonic 444From the path integral approach we obtain the free energy naturally expressed as an integral over the entire strip $`(1/2\tau _11/2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}\tau _2<\mathrm{})`$. Using the fact that the integrand enjoys modular properties, the free energy can be rewritten as an integral over the fundamental domain only. The net effect of this manipulation is to add a trace over “winding” modes in the partition function. These modes can be interpreted as states of the string wrapping the temporal direction. , we can rephrase the above result as the disappearance of the tachyon associated with the Hagedorn temperature. In this form the result is similar to recent investigations of type 0B , where the tachyon has been found to disappear in the $`\mu \mathrm{}`$ limit.

Having established the existence and some of the properties of the Hagedorn temperature we turn to the question of its nature. Namely, we would like to find out whether the Hagedorn temperature signals a maximal temperature or it simply points to the possibility of a phase transition. To answer this question we should consider the behavior of the free energy and the specific heat as we approach the Hagedorn temperature from below. Working in the one-string approximation and assuming that the main contribution to the free energy (4.2) comes form the UV region and using (4.3), we find that, for fixed $`\mu `$, the free energy diverges near the Hagedorn temperature

$$F\frac{1}{2\pi l_s}\underset{0}{\overset{1}{}}𝑑\tau _2\frac{1}{\tau _2^2}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\tau _2}\left[\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}}+16\pi (\gamma _0(\mu \beta )\gamma _{1/2}(\mu \beta ))\right]\right).$$
(4.8)
Evaluating the integral we can estimate the behavior of the free energy near the Hagedorn temperature

$$F(T)C(\beta _H)^1\frac{T_H}{T_HT}+\text{analytic in}(\beta \beta _H).$$
(4.9)
where $`C(\beta _H)=\beta _H^2/(\pi \alpha ^{})+16\pi \beta _H\mu [\gamma _0^{}(\mu \beta _H)\gamma _{1/2}^{}(\mu \beta _H)]`$. Let us now turn to the specific heat which we write in terms of the free energy as

$$c_V=\beta ^2\frac{^2}{\beta ^2}\mathrm{ln}Z=\beta ^2\frac{^2}{\beta ^2}\beta F=\beta ^2\left[2\frac{}{\beta }F+\beta \frac{^2}{\beta ^2}F\right].$$
(4.10)
Using (4.9) one derives that the specific heat also blows up near the Hagedorn temperature. Therefore for IIB strings in RR plane wave background the Hagedorn temperature is limiting, and, at least from the point of view of a canonical ensemble analysis, there is no phase transition which the system undergoes at $`T_H`$. Curiously, in flat space only open strings seem to have a limiting Hagedorn temperature. At least to this level of scrutiny, IIB strings in the RR plane wave background behave as open strings.

Note added:

A better estimation of the free energy behavior (finite or divergent) at the Hagedorn temperature can be done by evaluating the $`\tau _1`$ integral, as pointed out by Brower et al. . Using the saddle point approximation, the integral over $`\tau _1`$ of (4.3) yields

$`F`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi l_s}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _2\frac{1}{\tau _2^2}e^{\frac{\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}𝑑\tau _1e^{\frac{\beta _H^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}ϵ^{\frac{\beta _H^2\tau _1^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2^3}}}`$ (4.11)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\beta _H}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\tau _2\tau _2^{1/2}e^{\frac{\beta _H^2\beta ^2}{2\pi \alpha ^{}\tau _2}}}c(\beta _H)\sqrt{\beta \beta _H}+\text{regular}`$
which should be compared with the rougher approximation used in (4.8), where the integral over $`\tau _1`$ was omitted.

Thus the free energy is, in the end, finite, and a phase transition may occur when the system reaches the Hagedorn temperature. Note however that the specific heat is infinite at $`T_H`$, and negative.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to G. D’Appollonio, R. Emparan, A. Hashimoto, J. Maldacena, N. Quiroz, J. Sonnenschein, C. Thorn and A. Tseytlin. We are grateful to B. Greene, K. Schalm and G. Shiu for comments on a previous version of the manuscript and for informing us of their related work. We are especially thankful to Igor Klebanov for a very illuminating discussion. The work of D.V. is supported by DOE grant DE-FG02-91ER40671.

## Appendix A

For completeness we include a brief derivation of (4.6).

$`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙}{}}\sqrt{n^2+m^2}m\right)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}[F(0)m]`$ (A.1)
$`F(a)={\displaystyle \underset{n𝐙}{}}\sqrt{(n+a)^2+m^2}`$ (A.2)
Using the Poisson summation formula we can write

$$F(a)=\underset{k𝐙}{}\mathrm{exp}(2\pi ika)_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑y\mathrm{exp}(2\pi iky)\sqrt{y^2+m^2}.$$
(A.3)
Next substitute

$$\sqrt{y^2+m^2}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1/2)}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tt^{3/2}\mathrm{exp}[t(y^2+m^2)]$$
(A.4)
into (A.3), perform the Gaussian integral over $`y`$ and arrive at

$$F(a)=\frac{\sqrt{\pi }}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(1/2)}\underset{k𝐙}{}\mathrm{exp}(2\pi ika)_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑tt^2\mathrm{exp}(tm^2\frac{k^2\pi ^2}{t}).$$
(A.5)
The term $`k=0`$ in the sum leads to a divergent expression, proportional to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(1)/\mathrm{\Gamma }(1/2)`$ which is further regulated by keeping only the finite part of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+ϵ)`$, with $`ϵ0`$.

After one more change of variable $`v=tm/(\pi |k|)`$, the other terms in (A.5) can be expressed in terms of modified Bessel functions, and we obtain

$$F(a)=\frac{1+\gamma }{2}m^2\underset{k=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{2m\mathrm{cos}(2\pi ka)}{\pi k}K_1(2\pi km).$$
(A.6)
Substituting this expression into (A.1) completes the derivation of (4.6).


text:
# The types of Mott insulator

## I Doping a translationally invariant Bose Mott insulator

To begin with, we avoid the interesting complications which arise from spontaneous symmetry breaking or from the fermionic character of electrons by focusing on the simplest kind of Mott insulators formed by spin zero point bosons on a lattice at $`\nu =1`$. This is not a purely academic exercisedope , as it applies rather directly to the experiments in Ref.bosemott . Consider the following Hamiltonian

$`H`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{t}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{<ij>}{}}(a_i^+a_j+h.c.)+{\displaystyle \frac{U}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}(a_i^+a_i)(a_i^+a_i1)`$ (1)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}V_{ij}a_i^+a_ia_j^+a_j\mu {\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}a_i^+a_i,`$
where $`i,j`$ label the lattice sites on a D-dimensional hypercubic lattice, and $`a_i^+`$ creates a boson at site $`i`$. The first term of Eq. (1) describes the quantum mechanical “hopping” of bosons from a site $`i`$ to its nearest neighbors $`j`$, the second and third terms describe the pair-wise interactions between bosons. The $`U`$ term is a contact interaction and the $`V_{ij}`$ terms describe interaction between bosons separated by $`|𝐫_i𝐫_j|`$. This model is known as the extended Bose-Hubbard model, and has been extensively studied from various perspectivesBH .

Let us focus on the $`U/t\mathrm{}`$ limit. In this “hardcore” limit, doubly occupied sites cost too much energy, hence are excluded. In this case for large positive $`\mu `$ there is an unique ground state

$$|\mathrm{Mott}>=\underset{j}{}a_j^+|0>,$$
(2)
in which each site is occupied by one and only one boson and hence $`\nu =1`$. Since this state is separated from all other states with the same particle number by an energy gap of order $`U`$, clearly we have an insulator. (For $`\mu `$ large and negative, the groundstate is the empty lattice, $`|0>`$.)

The behavior of the system upon varying $`\mu `$ (i.e. doping) depends on the values of $`V_{ij}`$. For $`V_{ij}=0`$ the doped holes (i.e the empty sites) interact only through the hardcore exclusion. Since the kinetic energy favors a uniform density state with delocalized holes, this limit corresponds to a Type II Mott insulator. Indeed, a small concentration of doped holes, $`\delta 1\nu <<1`$, is equivalent to a system of dilute bosons (defined relative to the vacuum state $`|Mott>`$) with short-range interactions, a problem whose solution has long been knownPopov ; fisherhohenberg . The energy is clearly minimized by delocalizing the holes so the ground state in D = 2 is a uniform superfluid with superfluid stiffness proportional to $`t\delta `$. Conversely, if $`V_{ij}`$ is attractive (negative), it is clear that the holes will cluster when $`|_iV_{ij}|t`$. Thus depending the nature of $`V_{ij}`$ Eq. (1) can describe either a Type I or Type II Mott insulator. Note that in this example, the Mott state does not break any symmetry, so any inhomogeneity of the the doped state cannot be attributed to order parameter competition. The Type I behavior discussed here is more generalbeg  than that which occurs in the bicritical point scenario in the Landau theory of two competing order parameterszhang .

To be still more explicit, consider the case in which $`V_{ij}=V`$ for (ij) nearest-neighbor sites, and $`V_{ij}=0`$ otherwise. Technically in this limit Eq. (1) is equivalent to the S=1/2 ferromagnetic XXZ model in a z-direction magnetic field

$$H=J_{xy}\underset{<ij>}{}(S_i^xS_j^x+S_i^yS_j^y)J_z\underset{<ij>}{}S_i^zS_j^zh_z\underset{i}{}S_i^z.$$
(3)
The mapping between these two models relates $`J_{xy}`$ to $`t`$, $`J_z`$ to $`V`$, $`h_z`$ to $`\mu +Vc/2`$ ($`c=`$ the coordination number). The $`z`$ component of the magnetization is related to the boson density according to $`M_z=(\nu 1/2)N`$. (Here $`N`$ is the total number of lattice sites.) For $`J_z<J_{xy}`$ (i.e.$`V<t`$), this model has XY order in the absence of $`h_z`$. In this range of parameters varying $`h_z`$ causes the magnetization $`M_z`$ to vary continuously, but the ground state is uniform and, so long as $`|M_z|<N/2`$, has a non-zero component of the magnetization which lies in the XY plane and spontaneously breaks the XY symmetry. In terms of bosons this means that the insulating state is Type II, and the doped system is a uniform superfluid for all $`1>\nu >0`$.

Conversely, for $`J_z>J_{xy}`$ (i.e. $`V>t`$) the model is effectively an Ising ferromagnet with a fully polarized ground state. In this case $`M_z`$ exhibits a discontinuity $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_z=N`$ as $`h_z`$ is varied through zero. If we consider a constrained groundstate, with $`|M_z|<N/2`$, the state exhibits phase separation into two oppositely polarized domains. In terms of the bosons, these two domains are Mott insulating ($`\nu =1`$) and empty ($`\nu =0`$) respectively. On the boundary between the two behaviors ($`J_z=J_{xy}`$), the system is equivalent to a Heisenberg ferromagnet in a magnetic field. In the absence of $`h_z`$ the ground state is N+1 fold degenerate correspond to $`M_z=N/2,\mathrm{},N/2`$. In the presence of $`h_z`$ the state with $`M_z=\pm N/2`$ ($`\pm `$ depends on the sign of $`h_z`$) has the lowest energy. For this system there is again a first order transition at $`h_z=0`$. However, precisely at the transition point the boson inverse compressibility $`\kappa ^1`$ diverges, and a uniform ground state exists for any $`\nu `$; at this critical point, only, the system is neither truly Type I nor Type II.

## II Duality Transformation for the Bose Mott Insulator in D=2

There is a particularly convenient way of thinking about Bose Mott insulators that is specific to $`D=2`$. It turns out that for the class of model given by Eq. (1), there is an exact mapping, the “duality” transformation, that provides us an alternative view of the physics of Eq. (1) in terms of the vortices of the boson fieldleesh ; fl . It is this mapping that enables us to establish a precise connection between the two types of Mott insulators with Type I and Type II superconductorsfl ; leesh ; bfn . In the following we discuss the physical content of the duality transformation without going into its technical details of the transformationleesh .

A vortex is a topological defect in the Bose field. When a boson is adiabatically transported around a vortex, the boson wavefunction acquires a phase factor - the Aharonov-Bohm phase $`\theta =2\pi `$. In the dual picture, the role of the vortices and the particles are interchanged: the vortices are the dual particles (they turn out to have Bose statistics as well), and when a dual particle is transported around an original boson, the wave function acquires the same Aharonov-Bohm phaseleesh ; fl  discussed above. The fact that a boson and a vortex acquire a phase when they go around one another implies that bosons and vortices can not Bose condense simultaneously. As is well known, in the Bose superfluid phase the vortices must be absent or localized, i.e. form an Abrikosov lattice. Conversely, in the dual phase, where the vortices form a superfluidnote10 , the boson density (and hence the dual magnetic flux) must be frozen; the vortex superfluid phase is the Mott insulating phase of the original bosonsleesh ; fl .

It is important to note that the absence of dynamical boson density fluctuation is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for vortex condensation. A static boson density acts like a background magnetic field to the vortices, which can still frustrate vortex condensation. However when the static boson density corresponds to an integral $`\nu `$, the vortices see a background magnetic flux corresponding to integral number of flux quanta per plaquette. (The vortices live on the dual lattice, i.e., the centers of the square plaquettes.) This type of flux is “invisible” because it can be “gauged away”. The $`\nu =1`$ Bose Mott insulator, discussed in the previous section, corresponds to precisely this situation.

When the boson density is a fraction ($`\nu =p/q`$) it is also possible for the vortices to condense. This is well knownxy  in the context of the classical frustrated XY model (the XY order parameter is the Bose amplitude of the vortices) in $`D=2`$. Quantum analogues of this, especially for low order rationals ($`q`$ a small integer) can readily be imagined. Such a state is most naturally accompanied by spontaneous translation symmetry breakingleesh ; oshikawa , as discussed above (and as occurs in the classical model), leading to an enlarged unit cell with an effective integer $`\nu `$. However, it is possible to imagine a more exotic Mott state at $`\nu =p/q`$ in which the translation symmetry is unbroken. As has been discussed in Ref. bfg , this could happen if $`q`$ elementary vortices form a bound-state, and these composites then condense. Such a composite condensation is unfrustrated by an uniform static boson density with $`\nu =p/q`$. Moreover, since the condensate vortex consists of $`q`$ elementary vortices, charge $`1/q`$ bosonic soliton excitation (viewed by the condensate vortices as a flux quantum) can become a finite energy excitation. Thus there is fractional charge solitons!

In short, a vortex condensate requires the bosons to Mott insulate. Consequently we can view a boson Mott insulator as a vortex superconductorleesh ; fl . Doping changes the average background boson density. To the vortices this appears as a change in the background magnetic field. The zero temperature boson Mott insulator is mapped onto a zero-temperature vortex superconductor (with quantum fluctuating two-dimensional electromagnetic fields)note3 . However, the quantum partition function of a (particle-hole symmetric)note10  two dimensional superconductor with a fluctuating gauge field is equivalent to the classical (i.e. thermal) partition function of a three-dimensional superconductor with thermally fluctuating magnetic fieldnote4 . This leads to the final correspondence between the Mott insulator and the classical fluctuating 3D superconductor summarized in Table I.

The properties of classical 3D superconductors in a magnetic field are generally well known, so most of the comparisons in Table I are self-evident. We therefore confine ourselves to commenting on a few of the subtleties of this comparison:

Although a Type I supercondunductor typically expels any applied field of magnitude $`H<H_c`$, by choosing an appropriate experimental geometry it is possible to study its behavior at fixed average magnetic induction - which is analogous to studying the Mott insulator at fixed doping concentration. This can be done, for example, by subjecting a flat slab of a Type I superconductor to a perpendicular magnetic field of strength $`H<H_c`$. It is known that when that is done the “intermediate state” consists of a mixture in particular, among many possible inhomogeneous structures which have been observedtink , one of the most common is a laminar (or stripe) structure.

Much recent attention has been focussed on fluctuation effects in the mixed state of a Type II superconductor. Mean-field theory predicts that the magnetic induction $`B`$ increases from zero continuously as $`H`$ is raised above the lower critical field $`H_{c1}`$. Moreover, the magnetic induction first appears in the form of flux tubes each enclosing a single quantum of magnetic flux which (in the absence of disorder) form a regular (Abrikosov) lattice. However, thermal meandering of the flux tubes can affect the physics dramatically near $`H_{c1}`$ as well as near the mean-field $`H_{c2}`$. Near $`H_{c1}`$, the distance between neighboring flux tubes is much greater than the range of their interaction (the London penetration depth $`\lambda `$). As a result thermal meandering of the flux tubes will melt the flux lattice to form a flux liquidmelt . At larger magnetic fields the density of flux tubes becomes higher so that their interaction can stabilize the flux lattice. This flux lattice persists until $`HH_{c2}`$ where the thermal meandering melt the flux lattice again. The corresponding behavior of a Type II Bose Mott insulator is a reentrant series of transitions to a superfluid, an insulating crystal of doped holes, and again a superfluid as a function of increasing doping concentration.

Finally, it is worth recalling that what determines whether a superconductor is Type I or Type II is the ratio between the London penetration depth and the core size of the vortices, or more physically the sign of the interface energy between normal and superconducting regionstink . Type I superconductors have a positive interface energy while in Type II superconductors it is negative. As a result, the flux tubes effectively attract each other in Type I superconductors and repel each other in Type II. As we have seen in Eq. (1), this is exactly how we turn a Type I Mott insulator into a Type II.

## III Doping a Mott insulator with an order parameter

As we discussed at the beginning of this paper a Mott insulating state can be accompanied by translation (and/or other) symmetry breaking. For example let us consider Eq. (1) with $`U/t\mathrm{}`$ and $`V_{ij}=+V`$ for nearest neighbor $`<ij>`$ and $`0`$ otherwise. For sufficiently strong $`V`$ and $`\mu =0`$ the ground state breaks translation symmetry and bosons form a checkerboard lattice and Mott insulate. In this two-fold degenerate ground state the unit cell is doubled. Is this Mott insulator Type I or Type II?

With the above specific choice of $`U`$ and $`V_{ij}`$ Eq. (1) is equivalent to Eq. (3) with $`J_{xy}=t`$, $`J_z=V`$ and $`h=\mu Vc/2`$. For this choice of parameters it is known that as a function of $`h_z`$ Eq. (3) exhibits a “spin flop” transition from the antiferromagnetic Ising ($`S_z`$) ordered phase into the ferromagnetic XY ordered phase. Translate this into the boson language it implies that it is Type I.

There is, in fact, a general reason to expect broken symmetry to increase the tendency of a Mott insulator to be Type I. If there is a broken symmetry in the insulating state, then there generally is a corresponding local order parameter ($`\psi `$) (for the above example $`\psi `$ is the two-sublattice density wave order parameter). We now consider the effect of this order parameter on the interface energy between the insulating and the metallic (doped) state. Typically, $`\psi `$ will have a reduced value (perhaps 0) in the doped state. Thus, at the interface between doped and undoped region a spatially varying $`\psi `$ is necessary. The spatial gradient energy

$$d^dx|\psi |^2$$
(4)
will thus make a positive contribution to the interface energy, increasing the tendency of the Mott insulator to be Type I.

## IV An example of translationally invariant Bose Mott insulator at $`\nu =1/2`$

A recently discovered system which exhibits a Bose Mott insulating state at a fractional $`\nu `$ is the quantum hardcore dimer model on a triangular lattice. The model is defined in terms of bosons (called dimers) which live on the nearest neighbor bonds of a lattice, i.e. $`b_{ij}^{}`$ creates a boson on the bond connecting sites i and j. We impose a hardcore constraint - this can be thought of as deriving from the $`U\mathrm{}`$ limit of a contact interaction, which forbids two dimers to occupy the bonds emanating from a single site, i.e. $`b_{ij}^{}b_{ij}b_{jk}^{}b_{jk}=0`$ for any triplet of nearest neighbor sites, $`<ijk>`$. Thus, since each bond touches exactly two sites, it is possible on any regular lattice with one site per unit cell to satisfy this constraint if and only if $`\nu 1/2`$. The simplest (shortest range) Hamiltonianrk  one can construct for these dimers is

$`H=`$ $`t{\displaystyle \underset{(ijkl)}{}}[b_{ij}^{}b_{kl}^{}b_{il}b_{jk}+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.]`$
$`+V{\displaystyle \underset{(ijkl)}{}}[b_{ij}^{}b_{kl}^{}b_{kl}b_{ij}+b_{il}^{}b_{kj}^{}b_{kj}b_{il}]`$
where $`(ijkl)`$ denotes a “square” of nearest-neighbor sites, such that $`<ij>`$, $`<jk>`$, $`<kl>`$, and $`<li>`$ are all pairs of nearest-neighbors.

On a square lattice, all zero temperature Mott insulating phases with $`\nu =1/2`$ derived from this Hamiltonian are believed to break translational symmetry, at least doubling the unit cell size, so that the effective $`\nu `$ is integralsondhi . However, on a triangular lattice, it has now been establishedsondhi  that for a range of parameters near $`tV`$, there is a dimer liquid phase, with exponentially falling correlation functions and no broken symmetries. From the dual viewpoint, this phase can be viewed as a superfluid of vortex pairsbfg . As mentioned previously, there are observable topological consequences of the vortex pairing, including certain predictable ground-state degeneracies on closed surfaces.

This same model can serve as a paradigmatic example of a Mott insulating state of spinfull fermions at an odd integer $`\nu =1`$. To see this, we merely need to define fermion creation operators, $`c_{\sigma ,ij}^{}`$, for an electron with spin polarization $`\sigma `$ on bond $`<ij>`$. In terms of this, we can express the dimer creation operators as

$$b_{ij}^{}=c_{,ij}^{}c_{,ij}^{}$$
(6)
and an additional constraint, $`_\sigma c_{\sigma ,ij}^{}c_{\sigma ,ij}^{}=0`$ or 2, which can be thought of as a consequence of a strong attractive interaction between two electrons on the same bond.

Is this sort of fractional Mott insulator Type I or Type II? The intensive study of what happens when one dopes such a “spin-liquid” state was initiated by the proposalpwa  that doping such a liquid would lead inevitably to high temperature superconductivity. The basis for this proposal was the thought that pairing correlations (e.g. a spingapkrs ) might be present already in the insulating state, and these would evolve smoothly into superconducting pairing upon doping. Central to this proposal is the assumption that the spin-liquid is a Type II Mott insulator. Indeed, an early triumph of this idea was the observation by Ioffe and Larkinil ; rk  that, for at least a range of parameters, doped holes in the quantum dimer model do not phase separate. Moreover, reversing the logic of the previous section, the fact that this state has no broken symmetry increases the likelihood that it is Type II.

## V conclusions

To summarize, in this work we introduce the concept that there are two types of Mott insulator. In particular, there exist a whole class of Mott insulators, the type I Mott insulators, that become inhomogeneous upon doping. The type I behavior does not have to originate from order parameter competition. We give a familiar lattice boson example where the Mott state exhibits no symmetry breaking, however depending on the sign of certain interaction, it can be either type I or type II after doping. Through duality these two types of insulating states have a close tie to Type I and Type II superconducting states.bfn  Finally after addressing the “zeroth order” physics of doped Mott insulator, we point out that many important “first order” issues remain unanswered. Among them are “what determines the structure of the inhomogeneity in a doped Type I Mott insulator?” “What is the ultimate low energy behavior of these inhomogeneities?”

Acknowledgements: We wish to thank C.Nayak for useful discussions. This work was supported in part by NSF grants # DMR 99-71503 (DHL) and DMR - 0110329 (SAK).


text:
# 1 The mysterious SS 433 system

## 1 The mysterious SS 433 system

SS 433 has been discovered as a source of strong H$`\alpha `$ lines, and as a variable radio and X-ray source . It is an X-ray binary with a $`13`$ days period, producing bipolar relativistic (0.26 c) jets undergoing a precession movement in $``$ 162.5 days, so covering a cone with an opening angle of 19.8 and an axis of $`78.8^{}`$ with the line of sight. This precession has indeed been observed in radio, at arcsec  and milliarcsec scales . So SS 433 was actually the first microquasar discovered. In spite of intensive studies, no line has been associated to the companion star yet. It is generally accepted but has never been proved that SS 433 is a neutron star + massive star binary system.

## 2 Mid-IR observations of SS 433

### 2.1 Comparison with Wolf-Rayet stars spectra

SS 433 has been observed with ISOPHOT, in the spectral mode at 2.5-5 $`\mu `$m ($``$ 0.04 $`\mu `$m resolution) and 6-12 $`\mu `$m ($``$ 0.1 $`\mu `$m resolution), and in the photometric mode at 12, 25 and 60 $`\mu `$m, in November 1996 and April 1997. We looked for Wolf-Rayet (WR) star observations in the ISO archives, as it was the suspected type for SS 433 companion star. Several WRs were observed with ISOSWS, and so we rebined the SWS spectra to the spectral resolution of ISOPHOT.
As a lot of hydrogen is seen in SS 433 optical spectra, we chose to compare it to WRs of nitrogen type (WN) which are in the first stage of WR evolution. Figure 1 (left) shows the observed spectra of the four corresponding WRs, classified from the not very evolved (late type WNL) to the evolved (early type WNE) ones: WR 147 $``$ WN8+B0.5 (WNL), WR 78 $``$ WN7h (WNL), WR 136 $``$ WN6b (WNE) and WR 134 $``$ WN6 (WNE). Comparing on figure 1 these spectra to the one of SS 433, it is clear that SS 433 is closest to WR 147, a late type WR.

Figure 1 (right) also shows the comparison of WR 147 spectrum with that of SS 433 taken at different phases. SS 433 and WR 147 spectra were dereddened with AV = 8 and 11.2 mag respectively, using the Lutz et al.  law. The lines, identified according to , are strong and weak H+HeI blended lines (because of ISOPHOT spectral resolution) and weak HeII lines. No metallic line was observed. The SS 433 line spectrum is clearly WR-like. We note that WR 147 is known as a colliding wind binary system which may explain its resemblance to SS 433.

### 2.2 Continuum

Figure 2 shows the continuum spectra of SS 433, which flux density (Fν) is well fitted by power laws in the 2-12 $`\mu `$m range, corresponding to free-free emission: optically thin for F$`{}_{\nu }{}^{}\lambda ^{0.1}`$, and in the intermediate regime between optically thin and thick for F$`{}_{\nu }{}^{}\lambda ^{0.6}`$. In far-IR, an additional component, as a black-body due to dust surrounding the system, is needed. The 0.6 spectral index is characteristic of an ionized homogeneous wind with a spherical expansion at a constant velocity , although it is also valid for a more complex geometry as long as it stays thick . So SS 433 continuum spectrum corresponds to the one emitted by a standard O or WR wind.

### 2.3 Mass loss rate

We calculated the mass loss rate of this free-free emitting wind, following the Wright & Barlow  formula (8). With a distance D = 3.5 kpc, a Gaunt factor g $``$ 1, a Fν = 1000 mJy flux at 4 $`\mu `$m ($`7.5\times 10^{13}`$ Hz), and for a WN-type wind where the mean atomic weight per nucleon $`\mu =\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.5}`$, the number of free electrons per nucleon $`\gamma =\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}`$, the mean ionic charge Z = 1 and the velocity $`v_{\mathrm{}}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1000}`$ km.s-1, we find: Ṁ $`=1.0\times 10^4`$ M.yr-1. However, the recent WN mass-loss rate estimates  show that this value has to be lowered by a factor 2 or 3 due to clumping in the wind. This is in good agreement with the mass transfer rate estimated by van den Heuvel et al.  assuming a normal homogeneous WR wind, or with the recent mass transfer values obtained from simulations of SS 433 evolution by King et al. . For WR 147, Ṁ $`1.53.7\times 10^5`$ M.yr-1 and the WN mean is $`3\times 10^5`$ M.yr-1, so our $`10^4`$ M.yr-1 mass loss evaluation for SS 433 is compatible with a strong WNL wind.

What happens to the material contained in this wind is unknown since only $``$$`10^7`$ M.yr-1 is ejected into the jets . It may be accreted then ejected via the L2 point , or close to the compact object . It may then form dust seen in far-IR at a distance $`>20`$ a.u. This material is probably responsible for the equatorial outflows observed with the VLBA  at $`100`$ a.u. from SS 433.

## 3 Cygnus X-3

Cygnus X-3 is a microquasar for which WR-like features have been detected in near-IR spectra . We also observed it with ISOPHOT-S during its quiescent state, but with much more difficulties as it is a weak IR source. Its spectrum was also compared to the four WR spectra as shown in figure 3. Only one line was found in Cygnus X-3 spectrum, at 4.3 $`\mu `$m with a confidence level of more than 4.3 $`\sigma `$, corresponding to an HeI line only visible in WR 147 spectrum.

The spectral fitting of Cygnus X-3 dereddened (AV = 20 mag) spectra is obtained with a unique power law Fν$``$$`\lambda `$-0.6 in the 2.4-12 $`\mu `$m range when dereddened with the Lutz et al.  law (figure 2 upper right), and with the sum of a power law with slope $`\lambda `$-1.6 and a black body, a hint for the presence of circumstellar dust, when using the Draine law  (figure 2 lower right). We cannot choose between these two laws since the molecular composition of the absorbing material on the line of sight to Cygnus X-3 is unknown. As for SS 433, the power law part of the continuum spectrum can be explained by free-free emission of an expanding wind in the intermediate case between optically thick and optically thin regimes. The corresponding mass loss evaluation, with 63 mJy at 6.75 $`\mu `$m and $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$=1500 km.s-1, gives Ṁ $`=1.2\times 10^4`$ M.yr-1. We conclude  that our results are consistent with a Wolf-Rayet companion to the compact object in Cygnus X-3 of WN8 type, a later type than suggested by previous works .

## 4 Conclusion

SS 433 shows a WN8-like spectrum, which continuum is due to free-free emission corresponding to a standard O or WR wind or a geometrically complex thick wind. The inferred mass loss of $`10^4`$ M.yr-1 is compatible with a WNL wind. So either SS 433 is the second Wolf-Rayet X-ray binary known in our Galaxy after Cygnus X-3, or it shows WR-like conditions, and at that point we cannot distinguish between these two cases.