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An Infinitary Version of Sperner’s Lemma

Aarno Hohti, University of Helsinki, Finland

ABSTRACT. We prove an extension of the well-known combinatorial-topological lemma of E. Sperner  to the case of infinite-dimensional cubes. It is obtained as a corollary to an infinitary extension of the Lebesgue Covering Dimension Theorem.

KEYWORDS. Simplex, colouring, covering dimension, point-finite, fixed point, algebraic topology

AMS 1991 Subject Classification Numbers: Primary 57N20, Secondary 55M20, 54F45.

1. Introduction. The well-known lemma of E. Sperner on colourings of vertices of $`n`$-simplices is one of the cornerstones of simplicial algebraic topology, directly related to the invariance of homology groups under simplicial subdivisions. It was used by Sperner  to give a short proof that the topological dimension of an $`n`$-cell equals $`n`$. In fact, it can be considered a combinatorial (discrete) version of Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem, obtained from Sperner’s Lemma by a simple argument using the compactness of the cubes $`I^n`$, as shown in . There are several versions and extensions of this lemma (, , , , , ) and there are versions for matroids (, , ). The well-known extension of Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem to infinite-dimensional (Banach) spaces, Schauder’s Fixed Point Theorem, is stated for compact convex subsets and is based on the finite-dimensional theorem. Indeed, there is no “truly” infinitary Sperner lemma in the literature, and this is connected with the facts that Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem fails in general (see e. g. ) and the ordinary homology groups $`H_n(U,Z)`$ vanish for unit spheres $`U`$ of infinite-dimensional Banach spaces. However, we give here a natural extension of Sperner’s Lemma to colourings of cubical triangulations of infinite-dimensional cubes. The problem can be reduced to a combinatorial problem about colourings $`\phi :[k]^\omega \{0,1\}^\omega `$ (where $`k`$ is a positive integer and $`[k]`$ denotes the set $`\{0,\mathrm{},k\}`$) satisfying the Sperner condition that $`\phi (\sigma )\phi (\sigma ^{})`$ whenever the distance of $`\sigma `$ and $`\sigma ^{}`$ in $`[k]^\omega `$ is maximal. For such colourings $`\phi `$ we prove that there is $`\sigma [k]^\omega `$ such that $`\phi (K_\sigma )`$ is infinite, where $`K_\sigma `$ is the “cube” corresponding to $`\sigma `$. We also indicate why this result is the best possible. The results are stated in this paper for the unit cube $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ of the Banach space $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}`$; we consider $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ as the $`\omega `$-dimensional (combinatorial!) analogue of the finite-dimensional cubes $`I^n`$.

The Lebesgue Covering Dimension Theorem (cf., e. g., ) says that open covers of $`I^n`$ by sufficiently small sets have order at least $`n+1`$. This theorem cannot be extended to open covers of the cube $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$, since by paracompactness every open cover has a point-finite refinement. However, this theorem can be extended if only uniform covers are considered, replacing the lack of compactness of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ by the condition of uniformity. In this paper, this extension is proved first and then used to obtain Sperner’s Lemma as a direct corollary. The sets $`[k]^\omega `$ correspond to regular or uniform cubical subdivisions of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$, and, by the same token, Sperner’s Lemma is not valid for non-uniform subdivisions. The general question (Stone , Isbell ) whether every uniform cover of a Banach space has a point-finite uniform refinement was answered in the negative independently by Pelant  and Ščepin . It was handled in a different way later by Rödl , who by using results of  produced a counter-example of minimal cardinality.

2. Preliminaries. In this section we develop the necessary notation and background for our treatment of the infinitary covering dimension and Sperner’s Lemma. Let us first state the classical version of this result. In this paper the symbol $`[n]`$ denotes the subset $`\{0,\mathrm{},n\}`$ of integers. Let $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ be an $`n`$-simplex, and let $`𝒦=\{\mathrm{\Delta }_1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Delta }_m\}`$ be a subdivision of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. Let $`\phi :𝒦^{(0)}[n]`$ be a mapping (“colouring”) of the vertices of the simplices in $`𝒦`$. If $`\phi `$ satisfies the condition (Sperner Condition): $`\phi (\mathrm{\Delta }^{(0)})=[n]`$ (bijectivity) and if $`v𝒦^{(0)}`$ lies in an $`(n1)`$-face $`F`$ of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, then $`\phi (v)\phi (F^{(0)}),`$ then $`\phi `$ is called a Sperner colouring. (In some articles the notion “proper labelling” is used.) The classical Sperner Lemma asserts that there is a simplex $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i𝒦`$ such that $`\phi (\mathrm{\Delta }_i^{(0)})=[n]`$:

Theorem 2.1(Sperner’s Lemma ): If $`𝒦`$ is a subdivision of an $`n`$-simplex $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and $`\phi :𝒦^{(0)}[n]`$ is a Sperner colouring, then there is a simplex $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ of $`𝒦`$ such that the vertices of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_i`$ are coloured by $`\phi `$ with $`n+1`$ colours.

In the sequel we loosely call colourings satisfying a suitable version of Sperner Condition Sperner colourings. We notice here that in this finite-dimensional case, Sperner Condition can be replaced by the condition that the cover $`𝒞=\{\phi ^1(k):k[n]\}`$ determined by the colours of the vertices $`v\mathrm{\Delta }^{(0)}`$ is a “bounded” cover of $`𝒦^{(0)}`$ in the following sense. The complex $`𝒦`$ becomes a uniform complex in the sense of Isbell  if for $`p,q|𝒦|`$ (here $`|𝒦|`$ denotes the underlying set of $`𝒦`$) we let the distance $`d(p,q)`$ be the maximum difference of their barycentric coordinates. Then $`𝒞`$ is called bounded if $`\text{diam}_d(\phi ^1(k))<1`$ for all $`k[n]`$. Notice that boundedness implies $`\phi \mathrm{\Delta }^{(0)}`$ is injective: if $`v,w\mathrm{\Delta }^{(0)}`$ and $`vw`$, then $`d(v,w)=1`$ and hence $`\phi (v)\phi (w)`$. Thus, $`\phi \mathrm{\Delta }^{(0)}`$ is bijective.

It is natural to consider cubes $`I^n=[0,1]^n`$ instead of the simplices $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. For a “cubical” version of Sperner’s Lemma, see . In the infinite-dimensional situation, the cubical form becomes a natural one. Let $`𝒦`$ be the cubical complex consisting of the single cube $`I^n`$. (We consider cubical complexes given by a set of maximal cubes such that any two intersecting cubes meet in a common cubical face.) Then $`𝒦^{(0)}`$ corresponds to the set $`\{0,1\}^n`$. A regular (or uniform) subdivision of $`I^n`$ of sidelength $`1/m`$ ($`m1`$) is the set consisting of all products (called cubes of the subdivision)

$$K_\sigma =[i_1/m,(i_1+1)/m]\times \mathrm{}\times [i_n/m,(i_n+1)/m],$$

where $`i_1,\mathrm{},i_n[m1]`$ and where the $`n`$-tuple $`\sigma =(i_1,\mathrm{},i_n)`$ is called the index of the associated cube $`K_\sigma `$. For a regular subdivision $``$ of $`I^n`$, the vertex set $`^{(0)}`$ corresponds to $`[m]^n`$ for some $`m`$; the correspondence is simply given by the map $`f:[m]^n^{(0)}`$ for which

$$f(i_1,\mathrm{},i_n)=(i_1/m,\mathrm{},i_n/m).$$

Thus, the colourings of $`^{(0)}`$ satisfying Sperner Condition lead to colourings $`\phi :[m]^n\{0,1\}^n`$ with the following property: if $`\sigma ,\sigma ^{}[m]^n`$ and $`\sigma (i)=0`$, $`\sigma ^{}(i)=m`$ for some $`i[n]`$, then $`\phi (\sigma )\phi (\sigma ^{})`$. The natural way to extend these colourings to the infinitary situation is to consider colourings $`\phi :[m]^\omega \{0,1\}^\omega `$, where $`m\omega `$. As above, the sets $`[m]^\omega `$ correspond to regular cubical subdivisions of the cube $`[0,1]^\omega `$, denoted here by $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$. The topology of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ is given by the $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}`$-norm defined by $`||\sigma \tau ||_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}=sup\{|\sigma (i)\tau (i)|:i\omega \}.`$ We denote the distance of two elements $`\sigma ,\tau [m]^\omega `$ simply by $`\sigma \tau `$.

3. Regular subdivisions. The classical Sperner Lemma was extended to colourings of cubical triangulations by Kuhn in . It is easy to show by using either the classical result that $`dim(I^n)=n`$ or the results of Kuhn that for any colouring $`\phi :[m]^n\{0,1\}^n`$ satisfying Sperner Condition there is $`\sigma [m]^n`$ such that $`\phi (K_\sigma )`$ contains at least $`n+1`$ colours. (The result proved by Kuhn is stronger, see , p. 521) However, this result is true for any (finite) cubical triangulation of $`I^n`$ which is related to the fact that every open cover of $`I^n`$ is a uniform cover. (Likewise every cubical triangulation of $`I^n`$ with rational vertices has a subdivision which is regular in the above sense.)

On the other hand, regular subdivisions are necessary when we deal with infinite-dimensional cubes. Indeed, we will show that the straightforward extension of Sperner’s lemma to arbitrary cubical subdivisions of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ is false. Let $`𝒱`$ be an open cover of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`\text{diam}(V)<1`$ for each $`V𝒱`$. Since $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ is paracompact, we can assume that $`𝒱`$ is locally finite; let $`𝒲`$ be an open refinement of $`𝒱`$ such that each $`W𝒲`$ meets only finitely many members of $`𝒱`$. We can find a cubical subdivision $`𝒦`$ of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`𝒦𝒲`$; i. e., for each cube $`K𝒦`$ there is $`W𝒲`$ with $`KW`$. Indeed, let $`𝒦_1`$ be the regular subdivision of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ into cubes of sidelength $`1/2`$. Let $`𝒦_1^{}`$ be the subset of all $`K𝒦_1`$ such that $`KW`$ for some $`W𝒲`$, and let $`𝒦_2^{}`$ be the cubical complex obtained by subdividing each $`K𝒦_1𝒦_1^{}`$ into cubes of sidelength $`1/4`$. Let $`𝒦_2`$ denote the subset of all $`K𝒦_2`$ such that $`KW`$ for some $`W𝒲`$, and define $`𝒦_3`$ as the subdivision of $`𝒦_2𝒦_2^{}`$ into cubes of sidelength $`1/8`$. Continue in this fashion ad infinitum. Then let $`𝒦^{}=\{𝒦_n^{}:n\omega \}.`$ The set $`𝒦^{}`$ is naturally partially ordered with respect to the relation of inclusion. With this partial order, $`𝒦^{}`$ is a tree. Furthermore, this tree is well-founded, i. e. each maximal linearly ordered subset (that is, a decreasing sequence of cubes) is finite. To see this, suppose that $`K_1K_2\mathrm{}`$ is a decreasing sequence of cubes. Since $`\text{diam}(K_n)2^n`$ and since $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ is complete as a metric space, there is $`p\{K_n:n\omega \}.`$ Let $`pW_p`$, $`W_p𝒲`$. Then $`K_nW_p`$ already for some $`n`$, contradicting the assumption that $`K_{n+1}𝒦^{}`$. Thus, $`𝒦^{}`$ is well-founded. Consequently the minimal elements of $`𝒦^{}`$ form the desired complex $`𝒦`$. We define a colouring $`\phi :𝒦^{(0)}\{0,1\}^\omega `$ as follows. It is easy to see that the cardinality of the set $`𝒦`$ is $`2^\omega `$. Choose for each $`p𝒦^{(0)}`$ some $`V_p𝒱`$ such that $`pV_p`$, and let $`𝒱^{}=\{V_p:p𝒦^{(0)}\}`$. Then the cardinality of $`𝒱^{}`$ is $`2^\omega `$ and there is a bijection $`\varphi :𝒱^{}\{0,1\}^\omega `$. Define $`\phi (p)=\varphi (V_p)`$. Then $`\phi `$ satisfies Sperner Condition since $`\text{diam}(V)<1`$ for each $`V𝒱^{}`$. However, for each cube $`K𝒦`$ the set $`\phi (K)`$ of colours is finite, since $`K`$ meets only finitely many members of $`𝒱`$.

The above example also shows that the straightforward extension of Lebesgue’s Covering Dimension Theorem to the infinite-dimensional setting is false: there is no $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`𝒱_x=\{V𝒱:xV\}`$ is infinite. Anyhow, we prove that this extension is true for uniform covers of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$. We note here that if unit cubes of other Banach spaces, e. g. $`c_0(\omega )`$ are considered, then the infinitary Sperner lemma does not hold even for regular cubical subdivisions. Indeed, $`c_0(\omega )`$ is separable and hence every uniform cover of $`c_0(\omega )`$ has a uniformly locally finite uniform refinement (, p. 111). Thus, by repeating the construction in the above example, we can find arbitrarily fine regular cubical subdivisions $`𝒦`$ of the unit cube of $`c_0(\omega )`$ with colourings $`\phi :𝒦^{(0)}\omega `$ satisfying Sperner Condition such that $`\phi (K^{(0)})`$ is finite for each $`K𝒦`$. Combinatorially these subdivisions correspond to the sets $`[m]^{<\omega }`$ of all sequences $`\sigma [m]^\omega `$ satisfying $`\sigma (i)=0`$ for almost all $`i\omega `$. It is, however, possible to give modified versions of Sperner’s lemma even in these cases; we will return to this topic in Section 7.

4. Definitions. In this section we give definitions, in addition to those given in the previous section, necessary for the proof of the main result. Let $`n>1`$ be fixed. The sum $`\sigma +\tau `$ of two elements $`\sigma ,\tau [n]^\omega `$ is always understood relative to the interval $`[n]`$, i. e., $`(\sigma +\tau )(i)=\mathrm{min}(n,\sigma (i)+\tau (i))`$ for all $`iN`$. We define for each $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ the “positive cube” $`K_\sigma `$ with index $`\sigma `$ as the set of all $`\sigma +\tau `$, where $`\tau \{0,1\}^\omega `$. We also define a combinatorial generalization of metric balls. Let $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$, let $`A\omega `$ and let $`k[n]`$. Then $`B(\sigma ,A,k)`$ denotes the set of all $`\tau [n]^\omega `$ such that $`|\sigma (i)\tau (i)|k`$ for $`iA`$ and $`\sigma (i)=\tau (i)`$ for $`i\omega A`$. In the proof of 5.1 we primarily consider those subsets $`A`$ of $`\omega `$ for which both $`A`$ and $`\omega A`$ are infinite. For any subset $`S\omega `$ let $`𝒜(S)`$ denote the collection of all $`A\omega `$ such that $`SA`$ and $`|\omega A|=|AS|=\omega `$. We define

$$\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,L)=\{B(\sigma ,A^{}A,L):A^{}𝒜(A)\}.$$

Suppose that $`𝒢`$ is a covering of $`[n]^\omega `$. We define here a number that can be called a local relative Lebesgue number of the cover $`𝒢`$. Given $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ and $`A\omega `$, we define

$$\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A,𝒢)=\mathrm{max}\{k[n]:G𝒢(\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,k)G)\}.$$

We observe that $`A_1A_2`$ implies $`\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A_1,𝒢)\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A_2,𝒢)`$. For each $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ there is $`A𝒜(\mathrm{})`$ such that $`\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A,\phi )=\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A^{},\phi )`$ for all $`A^{}𝒜(A)`$. We also notice that if $`\sigma ^{}\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,k)`$, say $`\sigma ^{}B(\sigma ,A^{}A,k)`$, then $`\widehat{B}(\sigma ^{},A^{},k)\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,k)`$, which implies $`\mathrm{}(\sigma ^{},A^{},𝒢)\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A,𝒢)`$.

To facilitate the proof of our first result, we define here a property $`M`$ that depends on 5 parameters. (Unfortunately, simple arguments such as that of  do not seem applicable in this infinitary situation.) Let $`S`$ be the set of all $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ such that $`\sigma (i)=0`$ for infinitely many $`i\omega `$. Let $`\sigma S`$, let $`A𝒜(\mathrm{})`$, let $`k\omega `$, let $`𝒢`$ be a covering of $`[n]^\omega `$, and let $`G𝒢`$. Then $`M(\sigma ,A,k,G,𝒢)`$ iff $`\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,k)G`$ but $`\widehat{B}(\sigma ^{},A^{},k+1)G^{}`$ for all $`G^{}𝒢`$ and for all extensions $`\sigma ^{}`$ of $`\sigma `$ in $`\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,k)`$, where $`\sigma ^{}S`$ and $`A^{}𝒜(A)`$.

Let $`A\omega `$ and let $`k\omega `$. An $`(A,k)`$-function is a function $`\chi :\omega [k,k]`$ such that $`\chi (i)=0`$ for $`i\omega A`$. Thus, every element of $`B(\sigma ,A,k)`$ can be represented in the form $`\sigma +\chi `$, where $`\chi `$ is an $`(A,k)`$-function.

5. Infinitary Covering Dimension. As will be seen in the remarks following the proof of 5.1 (Remark 5.4), the infinitary Sperner lemma does not yield a direct extension of Brouwer’s Fixed Point Theorem. However, it is equivalent to an infinitary extension of Lebesgue’s Covering Dimension Theorem. Here one has to consider uniform covers instead of open covers, because the cubes $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ are not compact. A uniform space $`\mu X`$ (see  for terminology) is called point-finite if every uniform cover $`𝒰\mu `$ has a uniform refinement $`𝒱`$ such that $`𝒱_x=\{V𝒱:xV\}`$ is finite for each $`xX`$. Is every uniform (e. g., metric) space point-finite? This question of A. H. Stone  and J. Isbell  was answered in the negative by E. V. Ščepin  and J. Pelant . Ščepin proved that $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}(\text{[}_\omega )`$ is not point-finite, where the beth number $`\text{[}_\omega `$ is defined inductively by $`\text{[}_0=\omega `$, $`\text{[}_{n+1}=2^{\text{[}_n}`$ and $`\text{[}_\omega =sup\{\text{[}_n:n\omega \}`$. Pelant proved that even $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}(\text{[}_1)`$ is not point-finite, by using his combinatorial technique of cornets. By using graph-theoretic results of Erdös, Galvin and Hajnal , V. Rödl  has given a simple proof showing that there is a non-point-finite space of cardinality $`\omega _1`$. By using 5.1, we can easily prove that $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}(\omega )`$ is not point-finite, by showing that the subspace $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ satisfies an infinitary version of Lebesgue’s Covering Dimension Theorem. This result has also been announced by Pelant.

Theorem 5.1: Let $`𝒰`$ be a uniform cover of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`\text{diam}(U)<1`$ for each $`U𝒰`$. Then there is $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`𝒰_x`$ is infinite.

Proof. To facilitate the argument, we move from the covering $`𝒰`$ of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ to a covering $`𝒢`$ of $`[n]^\omega `$ for a suitable $`n`$. Let $`n2`$ be such that the metric balls $`B(x,2/n)`$ of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ refine $`𝒰`$. Then for each $`U𝒰`$ let $`G_U[n]^\omega `$ consist of all $`\sigma `$ such that $`(\sigma (i)/n)U`$, and define $`𝒢=\{G_U:U𝒰\}`$. We shall construct a sequence of 4-tuples $`<\sigma _k,A_k,L_k,U_k>`$, where $`\sigma _k[n]^\omega `$, $`A_k𝒜(A_{k1})`$, $`L_k[n]`$, $`U_k𝒰`$, such that $`M(\sigma _k,A_k,L_k,G_{U_k},𝒢)`$ (as defined above) holds for each $`k`$.

Let $`A_0=\mathrm{}`$, let $`S`$ be as above and let

$$L_1=\mathrm{max}\{\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A,𝒢):\sigma S,A𝒜(A_0)\};$$

say $`L_1=\mathrm{}(\sigma _1,A_1,𝒢)`$, and let $`\sigma _1S`$ and $`U_1𝒰`$ be such that $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _1,A_1,L_1)G_{U_1}`$. Notice in particular that $`L_1<n`$; this follows from the assumption that $`\text{diam}(U)<1`$ for each $`U𝒰`$. We can assume that $`\sigma _1(i)=0`$ for all $`i\omega A_1`$ and that there is an element $`n_1A_1`$ such that $`\sigma _1(n_1)=0`$.

It is clear that $`\widehat{B}(\sigma ,A,L_1+1)G_U`$ for all $`\sigma S`$, $`A𝒜(A_1)`$ and $`U𝒰`$. It follows that $`M(\sigma _1,A_1,L_1,G_{U_1},𝒢)`$ holds. For the inductive hypothesis, assume that we have a sequence of 4-tuples $`<\sigma _k,A_k,L_k,U_k>`$, $`1km`$, with the following properties:

1) $`M(\sigma _k,A_k,L_k,G_{U_k},𝒢)`$ holds for each $`k\{1,\mathrm{},m\}`$;

2) $`L_1\mathrm{}L_m`$;

3) $`A_{k+1}𝒜(A_k)`$ for each $`k\{0,\mathrm{},m1\}`$;

4) there are fixed elements $`n_iA_i`$ such that $`\sigma _i(n_i)=0`$, where we assume that $`n_iA_iA_{i1}`$ for $`i>0`$ and that $`|A_iA_{i1}|>1`$;

5) if $`ikm`$, then $`\sigma _kA_i=\sigma _iA_i;`$

6) if $`i\omega A_m`$, then $`\sigma _k(i)=0`$ for all $`k\{1,\mathrm{},m\}`$;

7) $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _{i+1},A_{i+1},1)G_{U_i}`$ for all $`i\{1,\mathrm{},m1\}`$. We shall construct a 4-tuple $`<\sigma _{m+1},A_{k+1},L_{k+1},U_{k+1}>`$ such that the above conditions 1) - 7) hold with $`m`$ replaced by $`m+1`$. Notice that for each $`A𝒜(A_m)`$ and each $`(AA_m,L_m)`$-function $`\chi :\omega [L_m,L_m]`$, one has $`\sigma _m+\chi G_{U_m}`$. We claim that there is $`A_m^{}𝒜(A_m)`$ and an $`(A_m^{}A_m,L_m)`$-function $`\chi _m`$ such that

$$B(\sigma _m+\chi _m,A_m^{}A_m,1)G_{U_m}.$$

Indeed, suppose that there is no such $`A_m^{}`$. Then $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _m,A_m,L_m+1)G_{U_m}`$. To see this, let $`\alpha \widehat{B}(\sigma _m,A_m,L_m+1)`$. Thus, there is $`A𝒜(A_m)`$ such that $`\alpha B(\sigma _m,A^{},L_m+1)`$, where $`A^{}=AA_m`$. We have $`|\sigma _m(i)\alpha (i)|L_m+1`$ for all $`iA^{}`$ and $`\alpha (i)=\sigma _m(i)`$ for $`i\omega A^{}`$. Define a function $`\beta [n]^\omega `$ by setting $`\beta (i)=\sigma _m(i)`$ for $`i\omega A^{}`$, set $`\beta (i)=\alpha (i)`$ for $`iA^{}`$ such that $`|\alpha (i)\sigma _m(i)|L_m`$ and otherwise $`\beta (i)=\sigma _m(i)L_m`$ or $`\beta (i)=\sigma _m(i)+L_m`$ depending on whether $`\alpha (i)<\sigma _m(i)`$ or $`\alpha (i)>\sigma _m(i)`$. Clearly $`\beta B(\sigma _m,A^{},L_m)`$ and $`\alpha \beta 1`$, and thus $`\alpha B(\sigma _m+\chi ,A^{},1)`$ for the $`(A^{},L_m)`$-function $`\chi =\beta \sigma _m`$. Therefore, by our assumption, we have $`\alpha G_{U_m}`$ and consequently this shows that $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _m,A_m,L_m+1)G_{U_m}`$, which is a contradiction with the definition of $`L_m`$. (Notice that for this contradiction we need the crucial property that $`L_m<n`$.) Thus, the desired function $`\chi _m`$ and the desired set $`A_m^{}𝒜(A_m)`$ exist.

Let

$$L_{m+1}=\mathrm{max}\{\mathrm{}(\sigma ,A,𝒢):\sigma E,A𝒜(A_m^{})\},$$

where $`E`$ denotes the set of all extensions of $`\sigma _m+\chi _m`$ in $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _m,A_m,L_m)`$. It is easy to see that $`L_{m+1}L_m`$. We can find $`\sigma _{m+1}`$, $`A_{m+1}`$, $`U_{m+1}`$ with the following properties:

1) $`A_{m+1}𝒜(A_m^{})`$;

2) $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _{m+1},A_{m+1},L_{m+1})G_{U_{m+1}};`$

3) $`\widehat{B}(\alpha ,A,L_{m+1}+1)G_U`$ for all $`A𝒜(A_{m+1})`$, all $`U𝒰`$ and all extensions $`\alpha S`$ of $`\sigma _{m+1}`$ in $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _{m+1},A_{m+1},L_{m+1})`$. It follows that $`M(\sigma _{m+1},A_{m+1},L_{m+1},G_{U_{m+1}},𝒢)`$ holds. Finally, we note that Condition 4) can easily be satisfied since $`A_{m+1}`$ can be replaced by a larger infinite set. This finishes the inductive step.

As $`L_{i+1}L_i`$ for $`iN^{}`$, there is (the least) $`i_0N`$ such that $`ii_0`$ implies $`L_i=L_{i_0}`$. (Moreover, notice that $`L_i1`$ for all $`i`$ by the choice of $`n`$.) Define

$$\widehat{\sigma }=lim\sigma _i,$$

i. e., $`\widehat{\sigma }(i)=\sigma _k(i)`$ for $`iA_k`$ and $`\widehat{\sigma }(i)=0`$ otherwise. Then $`\widehat{\sigma }\widehat{B}(\sigma _i,A_i,L_{i_0})`$ for all $`ii_0`$. Indeed, the support of $`\widehat{\sigma }`$ is contained in $`A_\omega =\{A_k:kN\}\{n_k:kN^{}\}`$, and this is – by the inductive construction – an element of $`𝒜(\mathrm{})`$. For each $`ii_0`$, we have $`\widehat{\sigma }=\sigma _i+\chi _i`$, where $`\chi _i`$ is an $`(A,L_{i_0})`$-function with $`A𝒜(A_i)`$. We claim that $`i,ji_0`$, $`ij`$ implies $`U_iU_j`$. To prove this, let us assume $`i<j`$ and $`U_i=U_j`$ to derive a contradiction. By our assumption and by the choice of the sets $`G_U`$, we have

$$\widehat{B}(\sigma _j,A_j,L_i)G_{U_j}=G_{U_i},$$
$`()`$
and therefore $`B(\sigma _i+\chi _i,A_i^{}A_i,1)G_{U_i}`$. (Recall the above definition of the set $`A_i^{}`$.) To prove this claim, suppose that $`\xi B(\sigma _i+\chi _i,A_i^{}A_i,1)`$. For $`kA_i^{}A_i`$ we have by the definition of $`\sigma _{i+1}`$ that $`\sigma _j(k)=\sigma _i(k)+\chi _i(k)`$. Notice that $`\xi (k)=0`$ for all $`k\omega A_i^{}`$. If $`kA_jA_i^{}`$, then $`|\sigma _i(k)\sigma _j(k)|L_{i_0}`$. Finally, if $`kA_i`$, then $`\sigma _j(k)=\sigma _i(k)`$. It then follows from $`L_{i_0}1`$ that $`|\xi (k)\sigma _j(k)|L_{i_0}`$ for all $`kA_j`$, and hence by $`()`$ we have $`\xi G_{U_i}`$. This contradiction proves that $`U_iU_j`$.

Finally, we have $`|(𝒢)_{\widehat{\sigma }}|\omega `$. In fact, as $`\sigma _i\widehat{\sigma }L_{i_0}`$ for all $`ii_0`$ and by the inductive construction $`\widehat{B}(\sigma _i,A_i,L_{i_0})G_{U_i}`$, we have $`\widehat{\sigma }G_{U_i}`$ for all $`ii_0`$. But then $`xU_i`$ for infinitely many $`i`$, where $`x=(\widehat{\sigma }(i)/n)`$. This concludes the proof of 5.1.

Remark 5.2: The statement of 5.1 is the best possible. One cannot prove consistently with ZFC that under the hypotheses of 5.1 there is $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`|(𝒰)_x|=\kappa >\omega `$. Indeed, assume that CH (the continuum hypothesis) holds. Then the uniformity of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ has a basis of covers of cardinality $`\omega _1`$. But then the proof given for the point-finiteness of separable spaces in , p. 111, shows that the uniformity of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ has a basis consisting of point-countable covers. Moreover, by using the method of Section 3 we can thus construct a regular cubical triangulation $`𝒦`$ of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ and a Sperner colouring $`\phi :𝒦^{(0)}\{0,1\}^\omega `$ such that $`\phi (K)`$ is at most a countable set for each cube $`K`$ of $`𝒦`$.

Remark 5.3: The simplest proof showing that a metric (uniform) space is not point-finite is given by Pelant and Rödl in . In fact, they implicitly formulate and prove a “weak” infinitary Sperner theorem. Suppose that $`m,n\omega `$, $`n>0`$, and let $`\phi :[\text{[}_{m+n1}]^n\text{[}_m`$ be a mapping (“colouring”) such that $`aa^{}=\mathrm{}`$ implies $`\phi (a)\phi (a^{})`$ for all $`a,a^{}[\text{[}_{m+n+1}]^n`$ (“Sperner Condition”). Then there exists a subset (“simplex”) $`\mathrm{\Delta }[\text{[}_{m+n1}]^n`$ such that 1) $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|=\text{[}_m`$; 2) $`aa^{}`$ implies $`\phi (a)\phi (a^{})`$ for all $`a,a^{}\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and 3) $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|=n1`$. The proof (by induction on $`n`$) easily follows from the strong assumptions. This result is used to show that $`\mathrm{}_1(\text{[}_\omega )`$ is not point-finite.

Remark 5.4: Theorem 5.1 as such does not imply a useful fixed point theorem for mappings $`U_{\mathrm{}}U_{\mathrm{}}`$. Indeed, the regular cubical triangulations correspond to uniformly continuous mappings $`f:U_{\mathrm{}}U_{\mathrm{}}`$, but the usual method of using Sperner’s lemma (see e. g. ) only yields that for each $`ϵ>0`$ there is an infinite set $`A\omega `$ and $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`|x_i(f(x))_i|<ϵ`$ for $`iA`$. This can readily be proved without the use of 5.1. It has been shown () that there are even Lipschitz mappings $`f:U_{\mathrm{}}U_{\mathrm{}}`$ without approximate fixed point; i. e., there is $`ϵ>0`$ such that $`xf(x)_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}ϵ`$ for all $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$. This leads us to the following question.

Question: Let $`f:U_{\mathrm{}}U_{\mathrm{}}`$ be a uniformly continuous mapping. Is there an infinite subset $`A\omega `$ such that $`(f(x))_i=x_i`$ for $`iA`$?

6. An Infinitary version of Sperner’s Lemma. In this section we state and prove our infinitary version of Sperner’s lemma. Let us recall that a mapping $`\phi :[n]^\omega \{0,1\}^\omega `$ is a Sperner colouring if $`\phi (\sigma )\phi (\sigma ^{})`$ whenever $`\sigma \sigma ^{}=n`$.

Theorem 6.1: Let $`nN`$ and let $`\phi :[n]^\omega \{0,1\}^\omega `$ be a Sperner colouring. Then there is $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ such that $`\phi (K_\sigma )`$ is infinite.

Proof. We will define a uniform cover $`𝒰`$ of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$ and apply Theorem 5.1. For each $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ define the set $`G_\sigma `$ as the product

$$G_\sigma =\underset{kN}{}I_k(\sigma ),$$

where for each $`kN`$, $`I_k(\sigma )`$ is the open interval $`]\frac{\sigma (k)2/3}{n},\frac{\sigma (k)+2/3}{n}[`$ for $`0<\sigma (k)<n`$, the interval $`[0,1/n[`$ for $`\sigma (k)=0`$ and $`]11/n,1]`$ for $`\sigma (k)=n`$. For each $`\tau \{0,1\}^\omega `$, let

$$U_\tau =\{G_\sigma :\phi (\sigma )=\tau \}.$$

Then $`𝒰=\{U_\tau :\tau \{0,1\}^\omega \}`$ is a uniform (open) cover of $`U_{\mathrm{}}`$, and $`\text{diam}(U_\tau )<1`$ for all $`\tau `$, because $`\phi `$ is a Sperner colouring. By 5.1 there is $`xU_{\mathrm{}}`$ such that $`(𝒰)_x`$ is infinite. Thus, $`x`$ is contained in infinitely many sets $`G_\sigma `$, each mapped by $`\phi `$ to a different $`\tau `$. Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be an infinite set of elements $`\sigma `$ such that $`xG_\sigma `$ and which (pairwise) map to distinct colours. Given two such elements $`\sigma _1,\sigma _2`$, we have $`|\sigma _1(i)\sigma _2(i)|1`$ for all $`i`$, by the definition of the sets $`G_\sigma `$. It follows that there is a cube $`K_\sigma `$ for which $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ forms a subset of vertices; indeed, we may define $`\sigma `$ as the coordinatewise infimum of the elements of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. This proves 6.1.

Remark 6.2: In the same way as the classical Sperner lemma corresponds to a homology theory of simplicial complexes (see, e. g. ), our infinitary version of Sperner’s lemma (Theorem 6.1) corresponds to an infinitary homology theory of infinite-dimensional cubical complexes.

7. The case of $`c_0`$. As noted earlier, the regular cubical triangulations of the unit ball of the Banach space $`c_0`$ correspond to the sets $`[n]^{<\omega }`$ of all $`\sigma [n]^\omega `$ such that $`s(\sigma )=\{k\omega :\sigma (k)0\}`$ is finite. We also noted that the infinitary version of Sperner’s lemma does not hold for these sets. However, although there are Sperner colourings $`\phi :[n]^{<\omega }\omega `$ such that for each cube $`K_\sigma `$ the vertices are coloured with only finitely many colours, one can show that there is a sequence $`(K_{\sigma _k})`$ of cubes and a sequence $`(\tau _k)_{kN}`$ of distinct colours $`\tau _k\omega `$ such that

1) $`\{\tau _1,\mathrm{},\tau _k\}\phi (K_{\sigma _k})`$;

2) $`\sigma _{k+1}`$ is an extension of $`\sigma _k`$ for each $`k`$, i. e., $`\sigma _{k+1}(i)=\sigma _k(i)`$ for $`is(\sigma _k)`$, where $`s(\sigma )`$ denotes the support of $`\sigma `$. This result is obtained from the following version of Lebesgue’s Covering Dimension Theorem for the unit cube $`U(c_0)`$ of $`c_0`$. It is established by virtually the same proof as that given for 5.1 except that the families $`𝒜(S)`$ are replaced by the families $`(S)`$ of finite subsets. (Let us note that even this result was announced by Pelant in 1986. The proof was based on his technique of cornets.)

Theorem 7.1: Let $`𝒰`$ be a uniform covering of $`U(c_0)`$ such that $`\text{diam}(U)<1`$ for each $`U𝒰`$. Then there is a sequence $`(U_n)_{nN}`$ of elements of $`𝒰`$ such that for each $`nN`$, we have $`U_1\mathrm{}U_n\mathrm{}`$.

We will interpret 7.1 with respect to Noetherian covers of uniform spaces. Let $`X`$ be a set, and let $`𝒱`$ be any point-finite cover of $`X`$. There is a natural partially ordered set $`𝒫(𝒱)`$ associated with $`𝒱`$ which consists of all finite subsets $`\{V_1,\mathrm{},V_n\}`$ such that $`V_1\mathrm{}V_n\mathrm{}`$ and which is ordered with respect to set inclusion. (The poset $`𝒫(𝒱)`$ corresponds to a simplicial complex in which the finite intersecting subsets are regarded as simplices.) The cover $`𝒱`$ is called Noetherian if $`𝒫(𝒱)`$ does not contain any infinite increasing chain. Theorem 7.1 implies that no bounded uniform cover of $`U(c_0)`$ is Noetherian. Since the Lebesgue covering dimension of an $`n`$-cube can be regarded as the minimum of the maximal length of chains in posets $`𝒫(𝒱)`$, where $`𝒱`$ is a bounded open covering of the cube, Theorem 7.1 can again be considered an infinitary version of Lebesque’s Covering Dimension Theorem. As in the case of $`U(\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}})`$, the extension fails for general open coverings. Indeed, any paracompact space has a base of open Noetherian coverings (this result has been established independently by J. Fried ).

The infinite chains of intersecting sets are representatives of infinite-dimensional simplices of dimension $`\omega `$, and 7.1 corresponds to an infinitary homology theory in the same way as the classical Sperner lemma is related to the classical simplicial homology theory. In this context, the cube $`U(c_0)`$ represents the finitary boundary of $`U(\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}})`$, to be compared with $`S^{n1}`$ as the boundary of $`I^n`$. These problems will be considered in another paper.

Acknowledgement. The author expresses his gratitude, once again, to Heikki Junnila for his helpful comments.

References

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 Brown, A. B., and S. Cairns: Strengthening of Sperner’s lemma applied to homology theory, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 47, 1961, pp. 113–114.

 Cohen, D. I. A: On the Sperner Lemma, Journal of Comb. Theory 2, 1967, pp. 585–587.

 Engelking, R.: Dimension theory, Polish Scientific Publishers, Warszawa, 1978.

 Erdös, P., Galvin, F., and A. Hajnal: On set-systems having large chromatic number and not containing prescribed subsystems, Infinite and Finite Sets (A. Hajnal, R. Rado, V. T. Sós (Eds.)), North-Holland, 1976, pp. 425–513.

 Fan, Ky.: A generalization of Tucker’s combinatorial lemma with topological applications, Ann. of Math. 2, 56, 1952, pp. 431–437.

 Fried, J: Personal communication,

 Goebel, K.: On the minimal displacement of points under Lipschitzian mappings, Pacific J. Math. 45, 1973, pp. 151–163.

 Isbell, J. R.: Uniform spaces, Mathematical Surveys 12, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, Rhode Island, 1964.

 Knaster, B., Kuratowski, C. and S. Mazurkiewicz.: Ein Beweis des Fixpunksatzes für $`n`$-dimensionale Simplexe, Fund. Math. 14, 1929, pp. 132–137.

 Kryński, S.: Remarks on matroids and Sperner’s lemma, Europ. J. Combinatorics 11, 1990, pp. 485–488.

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 Lindström, S.: On matroids and Sperner’s lemma, Europ. J. Combinatorics 2, 1981, pp. 65–66.

 Lóvasz, L.: Matroids and Sperner’s lemma, Europ. J. Combinatorics 1, 1980, pp. 65–66.

 Mani, P.: Zwei kombinatorisch-geometrische Sätze vom Typus Sperner-Tucker-Ky Fan, Monatshefte f. Mathematik 71, 1967, pp. 427–435.

 Pelant, J.: Combinatorial properties of uniformities, General Topology and its Relations to Modern Analysis and Algebra IV, Lecture Notes in Mathematics 609, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York, 1977, pp. 154–165.

 Pelant, J.: Embeddings into $`c_0^+(\omega )`$, preprint.

 Pelant, J., and V. Rödl: On coverings of infinite-dimensional metric spaces, preprint.

 Rödl, V.: Small spaces with large point-character, Europ. J. Combinatorics 8, 1987, pp. 55–58.

 Sperner, E.: Neuer Beweis für die Invarianz der Dimensionzahl und des Gebietes, Abh. Math. Sem. Hamburg 6, 1928, pp. 265–272.

 Sperner, E.: Kombinatorik bewerter Komplexe, Abh. Math. Sem. Hamburg 39, 1973, pp. 21–43.

 Stone, A. H.: Universal spaces for some metrizable uniformities, Quart. J. Math. Oxford, Ser. 11, 1960, pp. 105–115.

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The address:

Aarno Hohti University of Helsinki Department of Mathematics Yliopistonkatu 5 SF-00100 Helsinki FINLAND


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# Superstring Relics, Supersymmetric Fragmentation and UHECR

## 1 Introduction

Strings are with no doubt the richest and most fascinating theoretical constructs of the last decades, but, at this time, no experimental signal has emerged pointing toward a validation/ falsification of the theory. This is the main motivation for studying string model building .

On the other hand, the success of the Standard Model has its own unescapable limitations, since the origin of the mass in the model is still under question and issues of naturalness indicate that new physics might be at the door at forthcoming collider experiments. In the meanwhile, we have also seen that important new results from the astroparticle side -such as neutrino oscillations- are getting more and more entangled with “traditional” collider studies to give us a broader perspective of what may lay beyond the high energy frontier.

## 2 Cosmic Rays

Particle Astrophysics, in particular cosmic rays astrophysics, may not be able to reach the level of accuracy that we expect from other kinds of experiments, such as collider experiments, but the technology is rapidly changing and we may hope for serious improvements within a decade or even less.

It is to be remarked that theoretical methods and tools of analysis which are common in collider phenomenology are not immediately applicable to astroparticle physics, since the scales entering in the dynamics, for instance in the UHECR dynamics , are in practice much larger that those we are used to in collider studies. Neverthless, it is still interesting to see what we can say about processes at the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) ($`10^{19}`$ eV) cutoff in terms of standard QCD tools based on perturbation theory.

Recently, it has been shown that the renormalization group can be used to describe the dynamics of the UHECR is the so called “ top-down” approach to their origin. In particular, the impact of supersymmetry in the re-organization of the spectrum of heavy relics fragmenting into ordinary hadrons has been quantified . The re-adjustement of the spectrum obtained is, of course, dependent on the type of evolution model used to generate supersymmetric fragmentation functions from the high scale, down to the low energy scale where ordinary hadronization takes place. In  the model analized is based on the mixing of supersymmetric anomalous dimensions with the corresponding QCD ones with vanishing initial conditions at the susy threshold(s) .

We have to mention that the analysis presented in  can be also applied to other mechanisms held responsible for the origin of the UHECR, such as Z-bursts and others, since it is the first impact (the interaction of the protons of the primary ray with the atmosphere) to affect the evolution of the cascade and to arrange the multiplicity distributions and the associated shape variables. We recall that for GZK energies, the center of mass energy of the incoming nucleon with the nucleon in the atmosphere is of the order of several hundreds of TeV’s.

## 3 Wilson Lines Breaking and Fractionally Charged States

One of the solution to the problem of the origin of the UHECR, as we have mentioned above, comes from the decay of long-lived super-heavy states whose mass is in the $`10^{1215}`$ GeV range. The primaries, according to this hypothesis, would be generated in the galactic halo, and the GZK cutoff would not apply. The mass required for the meta-stable state, whose lifetime is between $`10^{17}10^{27}`$ sec, is about $`10^{1213}`$ GeV. Their abundancy ($`5\times 10^{11}`$) is constrained by the observed flux of the UHECR events.

Superstring theory can naturally account for the meta-stable states, through a stabilization mechanism due to the breaking of the non-abelian gauge symmetries by Wilson lines. This mechanism  gives rise to states in the string spectrum which carry standard charge under the Standard Model, but fractional charge under an additional $`U(1)_Z^{}`$ gauge group. The existence of fractionally charged states can be regarded as a standard consequence of string unification.

## 4  Detecting UHECR and the Case for New Physics

The Auger experiment is constructing two $`300`$ Km2 grids of detectors spaced at 1.5 km intervals, one in the northern hemisphere and a second one in the southern hemisphere. The possibility to detect fluorescence radiation along the slanted path of the incoming primary has also been taken into account and implemented through flye’s eye detector arrays, beside the usual Cerenkov detectors, laid on the ground.

In the top-down approach to the formation of UHECR

1) a relic decays and generates a given initial distribution of primaries;

2) primary particles propagate and mostly protons survive;

3) primary protons collide with the atmosphere thereby generating atmospheric showers;

4) multiplicity of distributions and their deposited energy are detected on the ground.

If we aim at unveiling new physics from UHECR experiments, we should

1) allow in the analysis of the first impact of the primary the possibility of new interactions;

2) allow a modification of the fragmentation region due to the new interactions (from angular ordering to small $`p_T`$ exchanges, now with susy).

In standard cosmic rays applications, the simulations of cosmic rays events are performed using monte carlo event generators whose purpose is

1) to generate a first collision with the nuclei in the atmosphere and

2) track down each secondary ray produced to some selected observation levels.

The type of interaction processes implemented in the existing simulation programs do not, at the moment, include any new physics yet.

## 5 New Models of Interaction and their Simulations

It is possible to introduce new models of interactions, (in our case, specifically, supersymmetric models) and interface them with the traditional monte carlo generators which generate the profile of the final shower and see the enhanced/modified effects on the multiplicities at various observation levels in the atmosphere. This study is on the way and results will be presented elsewhere. However, to illustrate the shape of the distribution of multiplicites that one expects from the simulations of this type, we have included 3 Figs., which we have generated using the simulation program CORSIKA , interfaced with the program SYBILL  for the generation of the hadronic interactions. The Figs. show separate multiplicities for various particles plotted against rapidities and/or radial distances, the latter measured respect to an axis running perpendicular to the plane of the detector. The geometry is simplified here for a zero zenith angle of impact of the ray, as measured by an observer on the ground of the detector.

It is to be remarked that the experiments will be measuring only the energy deposited and other measurements, such as of rapidities or $`p_T`$ distributions on the final showers will not be possible at any of these experiments. Neutrinos are also not detected and therefore these plots are mostly of theoretical interests.

As one can see, multiplicity distributions of the 3 main particles are clearly separated, the photon showing higher statistics compared to the other particles. In the simulations we have kept the depth of the first impact to be random, at an energy below the GZK cutoff ($`10^5`$ TeV). We remark that current hadronic interaction models may not be appropriate at the GZK cutoff. The results show a fast increase in the number of the secondaries as we raise the collision energy. To allow comparisons, the multiplicities have been normalized in such a way that the area under each distribution is set to be one.

## 6 Astro QCD/ SUSY-QCD: Perspectives

Among the issues that need to be analized in the context of Ultra High Energy QCD (Astro-QCD) is the role played by supersymmetry in the fragmentation, the role of mini-jet cross sections and of vacuum exchanges (with and without supersymmetry) near the cutoff, where theory is still lagging compared to the planned experiments.

Numerical solutions of the Renormalization Group Equations  have been obtained recently and indicate that \- at least at large momentum transfers- the impact of supersymmetry on the evolution of the cascades is small and comparable to other hadronic background . To support this point, in Fig.4  we show results obtained by solving the Renormalization Group Equations for the following inclusive observables,

$$R_{QCD}^h(Q^2)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n_f}{}}e_i^2_{z_{min}^h}^1𝑑z\left(D_{q_i}^h(z,Q^2)+D_{\overline{q}_i}^h(z,Q^2)\right)$$
(1)
and

$$R_{SQCD}^h(Q^2)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n_f}{}}e_i^2_{z_{min}^h}^1𝑑z\left(D_{q_i}^h(z,Q^2)+D_{\overline{q}_i}^h(z,Q^2)+D_{\stackrel{~}{q}_i}^h(z,Q^2)+D_{\overline{\stackrel{~}{q}}_i}^h(z,Q^2)\right)$$

with $`D_{q_i}^h(z,Q^2)`$ being the fragmentation of function of quark flavour $`i`$ into hadrons $`h`$, and with $`z_{min}^h=m_h/(Q/2)`$ being the minimum fractional energy required for the fragmentation to take place. $`e_i`$ are the charges of the $`n_f`$ quark and squark flavours. This result has been obtained solving approximately 100 coupled equations of DGLAP-type, as described in . Fig. 4 describes the fragmentation into final protons and compares the QCD case (curve above) to the Susy QCD (SQCD) one (curve below). Again, we see that there are indications that susy effects, linked to the mixing of supersymmetric operators to QCD light-cone operators, are at the few percent level. These differences, although small, can’t be discarded, since in monte carlo simulations of showers these effects change sensitively the hadronization process. If they combine to give variations in the total cross sections at the 10 percent level, they may affect the profile of the showers .

Although these results are encouraging, and theorists have shown a great deal of interest on the matter , more work in this direction, however, is needed.

Acknowledgement

We thank Alon Faraggi for collaboration on related work and Subir Sarkar for discussions. The work of A.C., C.C. and M.G. is partly supported by INFN (iniziativa specifica BA21).


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# PSR B1951+32 and PSR J0537-6910 - where are the optical counterparts?

## 1 Introduction

The detection of non-thermal high energy magnetospheric emission from isolated pulsars has remained a non-trivial problem, despite great advances in instrumentation and technological expertise. To date, only 7 optical pulsars have been detected with emission believed to be magnetopsherically dominated, and despite considerable effort, only 8 $`\gamma `$-ray pulsars. In contrast to radio emission, which is generally believed to be generated in close proximity to the magnetic poles, no clear theoretical model construct exists as regards the higher energies. The two principal schools of thought place $`\gamma `$-ray emission localized either to the magnetic poles (Daugherty & Harding 1996) or located further out in the magnetosphere (Romani 1996). Considerable problems remain with these two frameworks, in terms of predicted fluxes, spectral indices and light curve morphologies, and it is clear that further work is required on this subject. This is all the more relevant when one attempts to address the growing empirical database of lower energy emission, in particular in the optical regime. A consequence of non-linear processes within the magnetosphere, this synchrotron emission forms a useful constraint with which one can attempt to comprehensively develop a self-consistent theoretical framework.

## 2 PSR B1951+32

The pulsar PSR B1951+32, located within the complex combination supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 80, was first identified as a steep-spectrum, point-like source in the radio (Strom 1987), and discovery of radio pulses with an unusually fast 39.5-s period quickly followed (Kulkarni et al. 1988). Canonically, the pulsar’s age and the estimated dynamical age of the SNR are consistent at $``$105 yrs (Koo et al. 1990) and both have been determined to be at a distance of $``$ 2.5 kpc. There is thus general agreement that the association is valid. Evidence for pulsed emission was subsequently found in gamma-rays (Ramanamurthy et al. 1995) and possibly in X-rays (Safi-Harb et al. 1995; Chang & Ho 1997). The ROSAT observations in the X-ray regime do indicate a complex light curve strongly dominated by the intense X-ray radiation of a pulsar-powered synchrotron nebula (Safi-Harb et al. 1995; Becker & Truemper 1996). The unambiguous double-peaked $`\gamma `$-ray (EGRET) light curve obtained by Ramanamurthy et al. (1995) at the appropriate spin-down ephemeris suggested that the pulsar had a conversion efficiency, in terms of rotational energy to $`\gamma `$-rays, of $``$ 0.004. Consequently there are strong grounds for the possibility of an optical detection. Using a ground-based MAMA detector in the TRIFFID camera, we have previously examined the central field of CTB 80, but could find no evidence of pulsations in either B or V from this region (O’Sullivan et al., 1998).

### 2.1 Analysis of archival HST/WFPC2 observations

We obtained from the HST archive all existing WFPC2 data of the CTB 80 SNR, as listed in Table 1. The core of the CTB 80 remnant lies on chip WF3 of the WFPC2 camera in every case. Image processing and photometry were performed using the IRAF (Tody 1993), STSDAS, and DAOPHOT-II (Stetson 1994) packages. The images in each band were stacked and cleaned of cosmic rays and hot pixels using standard techniques. The F547M intermediate-width band enabled us to perform a deep photometric search for faint stellar sources, to S/N=2 at MAGF547M = 26.7. More details of our reduction procedure, including refinement of the HST astrometry using the 2MASS point-source catalog, can be found in Butler et al. (2002). The photometric and astrometric results are shown in Figure 1 and Table 2.

The two “best” radio positions for PSR B1951+32, from Foster et al. (1990) \[interferometric\] and Foster et al. (1994) \[glitchless timing\], are shown overplotting the HST field and its detected point-source content in Figure 1. Two point-sources were found to be the most positionally consistent with these two radio positions; the first (object 4HST in Table 2) is a straightforward point-source measurement at MAGF547M = 24.21 $`\pm `$ 0.12; whereas the second (object 1HST) is superimposed on the compact synchrotron knot reported by Hester (2000), and required photometric simulations to determine its true magnitude, at MAGF547M between 25.0 - 26.0. Further Monte Carlo simulations to determine the limiting magnitude of the WFPC2 observation showed that an object within this magnitude range is indeed detectable against such nebular background in this data, albeit with $`S/N`$ of only $``$2 - 2.5.

Crucially, the corrected magnitude of MAGF547M = 25.0 - 26.0 for object 1HST is within the range predicted by the successful mode framework of Pacini & Salvati (1987) and more recently the phenomenological analysis of Shearer & Golden (2001). The magnitude of object 4HST is also consistent with these models, at the brighter end of the predicted range. Consequently, taken together with their positions with respect to the two radio-position error ellipses, we suggest that these two objects are plausible new optical counterpart candidates to PSR B1951+32.

## 3 PSR J0537-6910

PSR J0537-6910 was first observed by RXTE satellite (Marshall et al. 1998). ROSAT observations by Wang et al. (1998) showed that the pulsar lies within the SNR N157B near the 30 Doradus star formation region in the LMC. The spin period (16 ms) and age ($``$ 5000 years) make it the fastest spinning young pulsar known. Scaling the expected optical emission from the Crab pulsar, using the Pacini & Savati (1987) model, we would expect a pulsed magnitude in the range $`m_B`$ 19-21. Using archival CCD data, both Mignani et al. (2000) and Gouiffes & $`\ddot{\mathrm{O}}`$gelman (2001) show no obvious counterpart candidate down to 23rd magnitude.

### 3.1 TRIFFID Observations

We observed the region around the ROSAT position in February 2000 using the ESO 3.6m telescope and the TRIFFID 2-d photometer. This instrument consists of a relatively low quantum efficiency MAMA detector, observing in B and V, in combination with a high sensitivity (system QE 25 %) group of avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The primary APD was positioned towards the centre of the X-ray error circle on candidate star 16 on Figure 2. Conditions were not photometric and the seeing varied between 1.1” and 1.6”. The region was observed on two nights for a total of 5 hours. No pulsed signal was observed from the APD at a limiting magnitude of $`m_R`$ 24. A timing signal was then searched for in the MAMA data, at the locations of all stars marked within the 7”-radius circle in Figure 2; again no signal was seen. A final search was then performed over the full area of the 7”-radius error circle using a set of multiplexed seeing width apertures; again no signal at the pulsar frequency was observed. Our limiting magnitude is estimated as $`m_B`$ = 23.6 at the 3 $`\sigma `$ level. This upper limit implies a pulsed optical / X-ray ratio of about $`10^3`$.

### 3.2 The Chandra-HST registration of the N157B field

We obtained from the HST archive all WFPC2 images which overlapped the field of N157B. The only moderately deep exposures where in the F606W filter (“wide V-band”). Again, image processing, astrometry, and photometry were performed with STSDAS, IRAF, and DAOPHOT-II. We searched for possible pulsar optical counterpart candidates amongst the stars detected within the ROSAT X-ray error circle for PSR J0537-6910, centred at RA 05:37:47.1 Dec -69:10:23.0, by mapping this coordinate into the astrometric solution in the WFPC2 file headers. Figure 3 shows the colour-magnitude diagram for the stars in the field. A similar analysis, using the RA & Dec derived by Wang et al. (2001) for the pulsar in their Chandra observations, yielded a similar optical (mapped) position, albeit with a somewhat smaller error circle. However a comparison with the same analysis by Wang et al. (2001), shown in their Fig. 2, shows a striking positional difference of approx. 7 - 8 arcsec. This is very difficult to explain, as the Chandra coordinate for the pulsar should be good to 1 arcsec, based on agreement of this order with the 2 Wolf-Rayet stars in the X-ray field; and the average absolute pointing error for the HST pipeline astrometric solution (based on the Guide Star Catalog) is 0.8 \- 1.5 arcsec (Biretta et al. 2000). Furthermore, our astrometry on the HST image (shown in Figure 4) agrees very well with our independent astrometry on NTT-SUSI imagery (Gouiffes & $`\ddot{\mathrm{O}}`$gelman, 2001). One must conclude that some error was made in the Chandra-HST registration of the N157B field by Wang et al. (2001).

Indeed, if the X-ray contours in Fig. 2 of Wang et al. (2001) were shifted to agree with our computed position, then these X-ray contours would match the underlying nebulosity structures much better. This would also have the effect of weakening their argument regarding the extended X-ray emission extending “beyond \[filament\] F4” - the extent would drop back by about 2 contour levels - although it is not entirely incorrect. More seriously, their statement that “the image shows no evidence for the optical counterpart of the pulsar” surely becomes invalid, as they apparently searched the wrong area of the HST image.

Although we can better address the latter question, having searched the correct area of the HST image, we cannot report a convincing optical counterpart either, because the HST exposures were not deep enough - especially in the F300W filter (approx. U-band), which prevented us from obtaining colour indices ( U-V) of the fainter F606W sources. This illustrates the need for deeper, high-resolution imaging and time-resolved imaging. The TRIFFID photometer would be capable of reaching 26th magnitude with 10 hours of observation under reasonable conditions.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from Enterprise Ireland under the Basic Research Programme. RFB is also grateful for financial support from the Improving Human Potential programme of the European Commission (contract HPFM-CT-2000-00652). This publication is partly based upon Hubble Space Telescope data obtained from the ST-ECF archive, ESO, Garching, Germany. It also makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. Finally, we also wish to thank Richard Strom for useful suggestions and comments while we prepared this paper.


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# Conductance of a Quantum Point Contact in the presence of a Scanning Probe Microscope Tip

Quantum point contacts (QPCs) formed in two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) have attracted significant attention for the past two decades. Since the discovery of the conductance quantization in these structures, QPCs have been widely used in a variety of investigations, including transport through quantum dots, the quantum Hall effect, magnetic focusing, and the Aharonov-Bohm effect.  Also, with the rapid development on scanning probe microscope (SPM) techniques, it is possible to image current directly to study many remarkable phenomena, including quantum corrals, electron flow through nanostructures, charge distribution and photoactivity of dopant atoms, and spectra of metallic nanoclusters. Since the QPC plays such an important role in mesoscopic devices, it is an ideal system to be studied by the SPM techniques.

Very recently, Topinka et al. have directly imaged the electron flow from the QPC by scanning a negatively charged SPM tip above the surface of the device and measuring the position-dependent conductance simultaneously. In the experiment, as the width of the QPC increases, the conductance increases in quantized steps of $`2e^2/h`$, as was also reported in other experiments. Besides, several new and interesting features were observed. Widening of the angular structure of electron flow has been clearly seen as the QPC channel becomes wider. Another feature of their images is the appearance of fringes spaced by half the Fermi wavelength transverse to the electron flow, which clearly shows the character of coherent quantum interference. The above fringes are thermally smeared out by increasing the effective electron temperature. Moreover, when the tip is placed such that it interrupts the flow from particular modes of the QPC, a reduction can be observed in the conductance of those channels, while other channels are not affected. On the other hand, it is also found that, in contrary to intuitions, the electron flow from the point contact forms narrow branching strands instead of smoothly spreading fans.

Using the recursive Green’s function technique, in this paper, we study theoretically a mesoscopic structure similar to the experimental one. Our numerical results are able to explain the experimental finding in Refs.7,8. Therefore, the recursive Green’s function technique seems to be a suitable method to study the coherent electron conductance in such a mesoscopic system.

We consider a negatively charged SPM tip capacitively coupled to the 2DEG where the QPC is formed. The effect of SPM tip is that, the conductance will decrease if the tip is positioned over regions with high electron flow from the QPC, while it will be less modified if the tip is at low electron flow regions. The electron flow can be imaged by scanning the tip over the two-dimensional surface. Two contributions to the potential in the 2DEG region should be taken into account. One is from the negatively charged gates that define the QPC, which we model with the Büttiker saddle-point potential $`U(x,y)=V_gm^{}\omega _x^2x^2/2+m^{}\omega _y^2y^2/2`$ with $`V_g`$ as the gate voltage, $`m^{}`$ as the electron effective mass and $`\omega _{x,y}`$ as the strength of the lateral confinement. This potential is a practical candidate to reproduce the quantized conductance of a QPC. The other is a Lorentzian type potential induced by the SPM tip, which we approximate as a delta function in the present work : $`V_{SPM}=V_t\delta (\stackrel{}{r}\stackrel{}{r_t})`$, where $`\stackrel{}{r_t}`$ denotes the position of the tip, and $`V_t`$ is a negative constant. It is worth noting that the numerical results obtained with the simple delta potential are consistent the experimental results.

We use a 2D square lattice model to describe the QPC system. The sites of the lattice are denoted as $`(na,ma)`$ with $`a`$ to be set equal to unit, $`n=1,2,\mathrm{},N`$ and $`m=1,2,\mathrm{},M`$. The lattice may be divided into three regions, as shown in Fig.1. The shadowed central zone is a mesoscopic structure with a Büttiker saddle-point potential and scanned by a SPM tip. Both sides of the structure are assumed to be connected with semi-infinite ideal leads to simplify scattering boundary conditions. The one-electron tight-binding Hamiltonian of the system takes the form

$`H`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n,m}{}}\epsilon _{n,m}|n,mn,m|`$ (1)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n,m}{}}(t|n,mn1,m|+t|n,mn,m1|+H.C.),`$ (2)
where $`t=\mathrm{}^2/2m^{}a^2`$ and $`|n,m`$ is a orthonormal set in the lattice sites $`(n,m)`$. The on-site energy in the central zone is given by $`\epsilon _{n,m}=U_{n,m}+V_{SPM}+4t`$. Then the Hamiltonian for this region reads

$$H_c=\underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}|n)H_n(n|+\underset{n=1}{\overset{N1}{}}(|n)H_{n,n+1}(n+1|+H.C.),$$
(3)
where $`|n)`$ denotes the set of $`M`$ ket vectors belonging to the $`n`$-th cell, and

$$H_nH_{n,n}=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}\epsilon _{n,1}& t& 0& \mathrm{}& 0\\ t& \epsilon _{n,2}& t& \mathrm{}& 0\\ 0& t& \epsilon _{n,3}& \mathrm{}& 0\\ \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}& \mathrm{}\\ 0& 0& 0& \mathrm{}& \epsilon _{n,M}\end{array}\right],$$

$$(H_{n,n1})_{pp^{}}=(H_{n,n+1})_{pp^{}}=t\delta _{pp^{}}(p,p^{}=1,\mathrm{},M).$$

The Hamiltonians for the two ideal leads have the same form as Eq.(3), but with different summing regions ($`\mathrm{}<n<1`$ at the left lead and $`N<n<\mathrm{}`$ at the right lead) and $`\epsilon _{n,m}=4t`$.

Using the recursive Green’s function technique, the transmission amplitude for the incident channel $`l`$ and outgoing channel $`j`$ is found to be

$$t_{lj}=\sqrt{v_j/v_l}\varphi _{k_j}^+G_{N+1,0}\mathrm{\Theta }(E)\varphi _{k_l}e^{ik_jL_x},$$
(4)
where $`v_j=E/\mathrm{}k_j`$ with $`E=4t2t(cosk_j+cos\pi j/(M+1))`$, $`\mathrm{\Theta }(E)=2it_{l=1}^MQ_lsink_l`$ with

$$(Q_l)_{pp^{}}=\frac{2}{M+1}sin\frac{l\pi p}{M+1}sin\frac{l\pi p^{}}{M+1},(p,p^{}=1,\mathrm{},M).$$

The set of vectors $`\varphi _{k_j}^+`$ are the duals of the set $`\varphi _{k_l}`$, defined by $`\varphi _{k_j}^+\varphi _{k_l}=\delta _{jl}`$ where

$$\varphi _{k_j}=\sqrt{\frac{2}{M+1}}(\mathrm{sin}\frac{\pi j}{M+1},\mathrm{},\mathrm{sin}\frac{\pi jm}{M+1},\mathrm{},\mathrm{sin}\frac{\pi jM}{M+1})^{T_r}$$

with $`T_r`$ as the transposition of matrix. $`G_{N+1,0}`$ is the retarded Green’s function for the scattering region between two ideal leads, which can be obtained by a set of recursion formulas in a matrix form,

$`G_{n^{}+1,0}`$ $`=`$ $`tg^{n^{}+1}G_{n^{},0},(0n^{}N)`$ (5)
$`g^{n^{}+1}`$ $`=`$ $`(E\stackrel{~}{H}_{n^{}+1}t^2g^n^{})^1,`$ (6)
by iteration starting form $`g^0=G_{0,0}=(E\stackrel{~}{H}_0)^1`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{H}_l=H_l(1lN)`$, and $`\stackrel{~}{H}_\alpha =H_\alpha t_{j=1}^Me^{ik_j}Q_j`$ $`(\alpha =0,N+1)`$.

At finite temperature $`T`$, the conductance through a 2D mesoscopic structure is given by the Landauer-Büttiker formula

$$G(T)=\frac{2e^2}{h}\underset{l,j}{}_0^{\mathrm{}}T_{lj}\frac{f(E,T)}{E}𝑑E,$$
(7)
where $`T_{lj}=|t_{lj}|^2`$ is the transmission coefficient, and $`f(E,T)=[1+\mathrm{exp}(EE_F)/k_BT]^1`$ is the Fermi-Dirac distribution with $`E_F`$ as the Fermi energy and $`k_B`$ as the Boltzmann constant. Obviously, at zero temperature Eq.(7) reduces to $`G=2e^2/h_{\{l,j\}}T_{lj}`$.

The above formulas are valid under the assumption that the voltage across the device is low. High voltage will raise the energies of electrons flowing from the QPC. Thus, as shown by van Wees et al.,  the conductance at a finite voltage $`V`$ has a similar behavior to that with a finite temperature effect, and is given by

$$G(V)=\frac{2e}{h}\frac{1}{V}\underset{l,j}{}_{E_F}^{E_F+eV}T_{lj}𝑑E.$$
(8)
In the following we calculate numerically the conductance of a QPC system with the size $`N=15`$ and $`M=11`$. We set $`t`$ and the lattice constant $`a`$ as the units of energy and length, respectively. In order to obtain well-pronounced quantized plateaus with the Büttiker saddle-point potential, we choose $`\omega _y=2\omega _x`$, $`E_F=2t`$, and $`V_t=1.5t`$.

At zero temperature and low voltage limit, images of electron flow from the 2D surface of the QPC are plotted in Fig.2. The gate voltage $`V_g`$ is chosen to ensure Fig.2(a) - (c) correspond to the first, the second and the third conductance plateau of the QPC, respectively. It is seen clearly that a new electron flow pattern appears when a higher mode is opened (then the conductance of the QPC rises to another plateau) by decreasing the gate voltage. This feature agrees with the result reported in Ref.7: electronic wavefunctions inside the QPC have $`N`$ maxima when QPC has $`N`$ conductance modes. Note that the images do not turn into smoothly spreading fans as the electrons flow across the QPC from the left to the right. Instead, they form branching strands which are relatively narrower. In fact, even the width of the sample decreases to $`M=6`$ in the calculation, the images change little (not shown here). It is not surprising that strands are formed in our model since the electrons are laterally confined. On the other hand, a similar but also striking phenomenon is reported in Ref.8, where the strands were found in regions far away from the point contact . So we can see that the electron path has a rare probability to pass through the edge regions of the sample, and thus the impurity density and the boundary scattering in these regions are less relevant to the conducting property of the QPC. Moreover, the fringe structures due to the alternating constructive and destructive interference of electrons are evident in Fig.2, though the distribution is not so homogeneous when compared with the experiments. This inhomogeneity induced from the varieties of electron wavelength inside the QPC is the main difference between the structure of fringe inside and outside QPC. It is worth pointing out that the fringes directly demonstrate the coherent character of electron flow in QPC.

Meanwhile, we also note that the angular structures in these electron flow patterns are quite different from each other, especially for the first and second modes. For the first mode, the pattern contains one branch only, while there are two branches for the second mode. So there are some regions in the 2D surface where the distribution of electrons at one mode make no contribution to the other mode. As reported in experiments, when the SPM tip is placed over these regions, only the flow from particular channels of the QPC are changed, while other channels are not affected. This phenomenon is clearly manifested in Fig.3, where the quantized $`GV_g`$ curves of the QPC with or without the SPM tip are plotted. From the comparison between the behaviors of the solid line and the dash line in Fig.3(a), we can see that when the tip is placed at the central axis of the QPC where the electrons from the first mode travel through, the heights of all plateaus are reduced. But the height difference between each pair of neighboring plateaus remains to be $`2e^2/h`$, except for that between the first plateaus and the $`0`$-axis. In Fig.3(b), the SPM tip is positioned off the central axis. According to Fig.2(a) and (b), we can learn that this position corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }G0`$ in the first mode, and it only affects the second mode. Thus in Fig.3(b) it is shown that the first conductance plateau is almost unchanged, and the second and other higher plateaus are lowered. Again, the height difference between the second and the third plateaus still remains to be $`2e^2/h`$.

The electron flows under the finite voltages across the QPC are imaged in Fig.4, where $`(ac)`$ are at a low voltage $`(eV=0.05t)`$ and $`(a^{}c^{})`$ are at a high voltage $`(eV=0.2t)`$. Comparing it with Fig.2, we see that the pattern still remains the same in each mode, but the values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }G`$ is no longer so severely fluctuated when the voltage is raised. A more important characteristic of voltage effect is that fringe structure would gradually disappear as the voltage rises. Actually, we find that the three conductance modes gradually merge into one conductance mode, which implies that the quantized plateaus also disappear as the voltage is increased. The origin of the fringes is the coherent quantum interference. Since the fringes are less perceptible as the fluctuation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }G`$ becomes pacified, it is manifested that the consequence of using effectively hotter electrons is to smear out the coherence among electrons. The above properties are similar for elevating temperature as the physical effects of temperature and voltage are the same here. Clearly, the voltage effect addressed here is in qualitative agreement with the experimental observation.

In conclusion, we have calculated the conductance of a QPC in the presence of the SPM tip by the recursive Green’s function technique. The numerical results are able to explain the experimental results in Refs.7,8.

This work was supported in part by the RGC grant of Hong Kong under Grant No. HKU7118/00P. G. P. H. was supported in part by the NSF of Guangdong Province (Contract No.011151) and the Foundation of Zhongshan University Advanced Research Centre (Contract No.02P2). Z. D. W. also thanks support in part from the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. S. L. Z. was supported in part by the NSF of Guangdong under Grant No. 021088.