text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Noncommutative field theories became an object of intense study during the last year due to their close connection to string theory. Namely, in the large B-field limit the associative string field algebra $`𝒜`$ factors into an algebra that acts on the string center of mass and an algebra that describes all other degrees of freedom. The second algebra seems to be terribly complicated while the first one leads to the effective noncommutative theory. Specifically, description of the scalar field theory of tachyons on the world-volume of unstable Dp-branes in superstring theory is a field of employment for noncommutative theory.

Of especial interest are solutions of the equation $`\varphi \varphi =\varphi `$, i.e. projection operators. Here $``$ denotes the nonlocal (Moyal) star product that becomes

$$\begin{array}{c}fg(x)=e^{\frac{i}{2}ϵ^{\mu \nu }_\mu ^{^{}}_\nu ^{^{\prime \prime }}}f(x^{})g(x^{\prime \prime })|_{x^{}=x^{\prime \prime }=x}\end{array}$$
(1)
when written in rescaled coordinates. If one goes to the momentum space,

$$\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{f}(k)=\frac{d^2x}{2\pi }f(x)e^{ikx},\end{array}$$
(2)
then the $``$-product takes the form

$$\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{fg}(p)=\frac{d^2k}{2\pi }\stackrel{~}{f}(k)\stackrel{~}{g}(pk)e^{\frac{i}{2}ϵ^{\mu \nu }k_\mu p_\nu }.\end{array}$$
(3)
After rescaling the coordinates the (static) energy functional is given by

$$\begin{array}{c}E[\varphi ]=\frac{1}{g^2}d^2x(\frac{1}{2}_\mu \varphi ^\mu \varphi +\theta V(\varphi )).\end{array}$$
(4)
Here $`\frac{}{\varphi }V(\varphi )|_{\varphi =0}=0`$ is implied, $`\theta `$ is the noncommutativity parameter. All the fields are multiplied using the $``$-product.

The trick used to solve the equations of motion is to formally identify the noncommutative quantum space on which the $`\varphi `$-field lives with the classical phase space of a single particle and to recast the problem into the operator formalism using the Weyl-Moyal (WM) correspondence. The latter is the correspondence between the multiplication (composition) of operators acting on a single-particle Hilbert space and the $``$-product of functions on the corresponding phase space. It is defined by the commutativity of the following diagram:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\widehat{f},\widehat{g}& & \widehat{f}\widehat{g}\\ \mathrm{\Omega }^1& & \mathrm{\Omega }^1\\ f,g& & fg\end{array}$$

$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ denotes a map (more precisely, one-one correspondence) from the algebra of the functions to the algebra of corresponding operators using symmetric (Weyl) ordering prescription:

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Omega }:f(p,q)\widehat{f}(\widehat{p},\widehat{q})=\frac{d^2k}{2\pi }\stackrel{~}{f}(k_p,k_q)e^{i(k_p\widehat{p}+k_q\widehat{q})},\end{array}$$
(5)
$`\stackrel{~}{f}(k)`$ being defined by (2). Thus the $``$-product 111Here the same as in (1),(3). In our considerations $`\mathrm{}=1.`$ provides such a deformation of the algebra of functions on the phase space (which is restricted to be a symplectic manifold with a constant Poisson bi-vector $`\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$) that $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ becomes an isomorphism. The following relation also holds:

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{d^2x}{2\pi }\varphi (x)=Tr_{}\widehat{\varphi }.\end{array}$$
(6)
If the Hilbert space $``$ is the space of wave functions in coordinate representation, there exists the explicit formula to map a kernel of a Hilbert-Schmidt operator acting on $``$ into the corresponding function

$$\begin{array}{c}f(p,q)=𝑑x𝑑yK(x,y)e^{ip(xy)}\delta (q\frac{x+y}{2})\end{array}$$
(7)
such that $`x\widehat{f}y=K(x,y)`$; Weyl ordering has been used. The inverse formula reads

$$\begin{array}{c}K(x,y)=\frac{dpdq}{2\pi }f(p,q)e^{ip(xy)}\delta (q\frac{x+y}{2})\end{array}$$
(8)
and becomes a kind of Fourier transform after integration over $`q`$ (in order to obtain these two formulae one reorders $`\widehat{p},\widehat{q}`$ in the exponent in the rhs of (5) using the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula and calculates the matrix elements directly).

The following treatment beyond the WM correspondence also exists: one can avoid explicit mentioning the WM correspondence at all and omit the Hilbert space of wavefunctions by using the integral transform (7) immediately, then the $``$-product of two functions $`fg`$ corresponds to the convolution of their kernels (i.e. integral transforms(8)): 222To verify this one writes the $`\delta `$-function in (7) in the momentum representation
$$\begin{array}{c}\delta (q\frac{x+y}{2})=\frac{d\xi }{2\pi }e^{i\xi (q\frac{x+y}{2})}\end{array}$$
(9) or, equivalently, uses (3).

$$\begin{array}{c}K_{fg}(x,y)=𝑑\xi K_f(x,\xi )K_g(\xi ,y).\end{array}$$
(10)
In the large noncommutativity limit one can neglect the kinetic term and obtain the following equation of motion: $`\frac{V}{\varphi }=0`$, where $`V(\varphi )`$ is considered a polynomial or an analytic function (note that the constant term in the lhs is absent). Projection operators are the basic thing to solve such an equation. A localized solution will be referred to as a soliton.

In the next section the general form of any solution radially symmetric w.r.t. spatial coordinates is derived. The third section deals with some distribution-valued solutions and related topics. The fourth one is reasoning, mainly perturbative and numeric, how does the kinetic term affect the physics at finite $`\theta `$.

## 2 General radially symmetric solution

In radially symmetric projection operators diagonal in the holomorphic representation and corresponding functions on the phase space have been worked out. The reason for the present examination is that in general adding some non-radially symmetric functions ($`mn`$’s in the operator formalism, where $`mn`$) or composing a series from them one can in principle obtain a radially symmetric result (for example, $`p^2+q^2=r^2`$). In this section we are to construct the general ansatz for any radially symmetric solution. In order to do this we examine how $`\varphi `$ changes under an infinitesimal coordinate rotation $`\delta q=ϵp`$, $`\delta p=ϵq`$:

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta \varphi (p,q)=ϵ(p\frac{\varphi }{q}q\frac{\varphi }{p})+o(ϵ).\end{array}$$
(11)
(7) can be rewritten as

$$\begin{array}{c}\varphi (p,q)=2\underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}𝑑\xi K(q\xi ,q+\xi )e^{2ip\xi }.\end{array}$$
(12)
After use of (11) one calculates (up to the first order in $`ϵ`$)

$$\begin{array}{c}0=\underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}𝑑\xi (p(_x+_y)K(x,y)2iq\xi K(x,y))|_{x=q\xi ,y=q+\xi }e^{2iP\xi }.\end{array}$$
(13)
Being multiplied by $`e^{2ip\xi ^{}}`$ and integrated w.r.t. $`p`$, it becomes

$$\begin{array}{c}0=\underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}𝑑\xi (\frac{i}{2}(_x+_y)K(x,y)_\xi ^{}2iq\xi K(x,y))|_{x=q\xi ,y=q+\xi }\delta (\xi \xi ^{}),\end{array}$$
(14)
what simplifies to 333This equation is Fourier self-dual and remains unchanged under the transform
$$\begin{array}{c}K(x,y)=\frac{d^2k}{2\pi }\stackrel{~}{K}(k)e^{i(k_xxk_yy)}.\end{array}$$
(15)

$$\begin{array}{c}(\frac{1}{2}_{xx}+\frac{1}{2}x^2)K(x,y)=(\frac{1}{2}_{yy}+\frac{1}{2}y^2)K(x,y).\end{array}$$
(16)
Separating variables $`K(x,y)=\mathrm{\Psi }_x(x)\mathrm{\Psi }_y(y)`$ one finds

$$\begin{array}{c}(\frac{1}{2}_{xx}+\frac{1}{2}x^2)\mathrm{\Psi }_x(x)=E\mathrm{\Psi }_x(x),\\ (\frac{1}{2}_{yy}+\frac{1}{2}y^2)\mathrm{\Psi }_y(y)=E\mathrm{\Psi }_y(y).\end{array}$$
(17)
We are looking for such kernels that convolution of K with K exists (i.e. the integral in the rhs of (10) converges). This means that $`\mathrm{\Psi }_x`$ (and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_y`$) vanishes sufficiently rapidly when $`x\mathrm{}`$ (correspondingly $`y\mathrm{}`$). Similar asymptotic conditions follow from the finiteness of energy. 444Thus the WM correspondence is valid. There exist some solutions for (17) only when $`E=(n+\frac{1}{2})`$ and those are the wave functions of the 1d harmonic oscillator, i.e. the basis of the holomorphic representation discussed in. Thus any radially symmetric solution can be represented as $`\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}C_n\varphi _n`$, where $`C_n`$ are some coefficients and $`\varphi _n`$ are solutions built in.

## 3 On some generalized solutions

### Explicit construction.

Now we proceed to apply these considerations to the case of the SUSY even $`\varphi ^4`$ potential

$$\begin{array}{c}V(\varphi )=\frac{1}{2}\varphi ^2+\frac{1}{4}\varphi ^4\end{array}$$
(18)
The ”improper” sign to the quadratic term can describe tachyons as their squared mass is negative. On the other hand one can make a constant shift and substitute $`\varphi \varphi +const`$ thus expanding the potential near the minimum. In the large noncommutativity limit the equation of motion becomes

$$\begin{array}{c}\varphi +\varphi ^3=0.\end{array}$$
(19)
It has been pointed out that $`\varphi (x)=\pi \delta ^2(x)`$ satisfies such an equation and

$$\begin{array}{c}\pi \delta ^2(x)\pi \delta ^2(x)=1.\end{array}$$
(20)
Speaking commonly, how should one understand such a relation? Here we have $`\pi \delta ^2(x)`$, a singular distribution with a compact measure $`0`$ support which can be dealt with as a weak limit of a function $`\mathrm{\Phi }(x,ϵ)`$: for instance,

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Phi }(x,ϵ)=\frac{1}{2\pi ϵ}e^{\frac{x^2}{2ϵ}},ϵ+0\end{array}$$
(21)
(momentum representation with a regularization factor equal to $`e^{\frac{ϵk^2}{2}}`$). Then carrying out the $``$-multiplication in the momentum space, one finds that divergences (products of singular distributions and their derivatives) cancel each other (what may look like a miracle and happens due to the nonlocality of the $``$-product). Considering a function like $`\varphi (x)=\pi p(x)\delta (x)`$, where $`p(x)`$ is some polynomial, one finds that the Fourier transform mapping into the momentum space (and, consequently, the $``$-multiplication) does not distinguish between $`\mathrm{"}p(x)\mathrm{"}`$ and $`\mathrm{"}p(0)\mathrm{"}`$. This implies that any function

$$\begin{array}{c}\varphi (x)=\pi p(x)\delta ^2(x)\end{array}$$
(22)
such that $`p(x)`$ is a polynomial and

$$\begin{array}{c}p(0)=1\end{array}$$
(23)
solves (19). At first glance this result seems both evident and trouble-looking, so a little discussion on nonlocal product of distributions seems to be necessary.

First we note that

$$\begin{array}{c}_x^k(f(x)\delta (x))=f(0)_x^k\delta (x)\end{array}$$
(24)
in a weak sense (as a distribution), where $`f`$ is a regular function. As an evidence for this one can integrate both parts of the above equation with an arbitrary test function and perform integration by parts $`k`$ times. This observation is to prove the dependence only on $`f(0)`$.

Another question is to prove the convergence and to calculate the value of the integral in the momentum space. No uniform convergence w.r.t. the regularization parameter (like $`ϵ`$ in (21)) seems to be valid, but one imposes another regularization in the momentum space and successfully calculates the result of the $``$-multiplication. This approach is the basic one in quantum field theory and the distinction in our case is that no renormalization is needed. That is why we say ”the divergences cancel each other”. So being rigorous, the result in the momentum space also converges as a distribution.

The third thing is the series

$$\begin{array}{c}\pi \delta ^2(x)=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}(1)^n\varphi _n(x)\end{array}$$
(25)
converges only as a distribution. For example, replacing $`(1)^n`$ with $`(ϵ)^n`$, one gets a suitable regularization. In particular the vacuum energy becomes finite and equal to

$$\begin{array}{c}E(ϵ)=\frac{1+2ϵ^2}{4(1ϵ^4)},\end{array}$$
(26)
but $`E\mathrm{}`$ as $`ϵ10`$. Evidence that the configuration $`C_n=(1)^n`$ is situated at the boundary point of the strong convergence range enables one to put forward the equivalent mathematical approach to the polynomial $`p(x)`$ as a factor changing the form of the regularization.

The above considerations can also be applied to power series with reasonable asymptotic behaviour of the coefficients.

It is interesting to see what is the corresponding operator in the Hilbert space. From (8) one easily calculates $`K(x,y)=\delta (x+y)`$, i.e. this is the spatial reflection $`\widehat{P}`$ in imaginary particle’s configuration space. That is the obvious reason why it is no projector. Corresponding coefficients $`C_n`$ are simply the matrix elements of $`P`$ in the holomorphic representation: $`C_n=(1)^n`$ as the harmonic oscillator wavefunctions have definite parity. For the unity operator, of course, $`C_n=1`$ and we can construct a projector onto even states $`\frac{1}{2}(\widehat{I}+\widehat{P})`$, $`\varphi =\frac{1}{2}(1+\pi p(x)\delta ^2(x))`$.

### Classical stability.

Let us examine whether our solution $`C_n=(1)^n`$, $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ is stable. For this purpose we expand the energy functional near this configuration up to the second order terms and check if the quadratic form to appear is positively defined. No radial symmetry of the infinitesimal field change $`\delta \varphi `$ is implied. The second variation proves to be (in operator formalism) 555We have performed some cyclic permutations under the trace sign. Field variations are considered to be small.

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta E[\varphi ]=\frac{2\pi \theta }{g^2}Tr_{}(\frac{1}{2}(\widehat{\delta \varphi })^2+\frac{1}{4}(4\widehat{\varphi }^2\widehat{\delta \varphi }^2+2(\widehat{\varphi }\widehat{\delta \varphi })^2)),\end{array}$$
(27)
what by use of $`\widehat{\varphi }^2=\widehat{I}`$ reduces to

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta E[\varphi ]=\frac{\pi \theta }{g^2}Tr_{}(\widehat{\delta \varphi }^2+(\widehat{\varphi }\widehat{\delta \varphi })^2)>0.\end{array}$$
(28)
Thus the solution is stable. The same considerations apply to $`\varphi =1,`$ $`C_n=1`$. It is clear that any solution of (19) to satisfy

$$\begin{array}{c}\varphi \varphi =1\end{array}$$
(29)
is classically stable while the solution for which exists $`n`$ such that $`C_n=0`$ is unstable, for instance, to the radial fluctuations of the $`n`$-th mode because the quartic term gives no rise to the quadratic part of expansion now.

### Physical interpretation.

First, ”localization” of solution is understood comparatively as the energy of the $`\delta `$-like solution is infinite, but it is perfectly localized spatially.

Coefficients of the polynomial $`p(x)`$ are unlikely to be important on the classical level and seem to be some internal degrees of freedom. The question concerns their meaning.

In general there exist some different treatments with noncommutative solitons.

1. Such a localized 2d configuration can be considered to be a D23-brane within D25 brane. The correct brane tension is recovered from the action calculated on the noncommutative soliton. $`P(x)`$ can describe excitations living on the world volume of this D23-brane.

2. In it was proposed that noncommutative solitons are the classical vacua for the compact scalar field theory. In our case this statement is supported by the fact that

$$\begin{array}{c}E[\varphi ]|_{\varphi =\pi \delta ^2(x)}=E[\varphi ]|_{\varphi =1}=\mathrm{},\end{array}$$
(30)
while the energy density remains constant and equal to

$$\begin{array}{c}\varrho _E=\frac{\theta }{4g^2}.\end{array}$$
(31)
The energy density does not depend on the sign of $`C_n`$ if $`C_n=\pm 1`$ at all as $`\varphi _n`$ are $``$-orthogonal. Then such classical vacua can be parametrized by the infinite number of coefficients $`C_n=\pm 1`$. The coefficients of the polynomial $`p(x)`$ are some excitations. Similar considerations concerning the energy density partially apply to the next item.

Following these ideas, it is interesting to exhibit an example of an instanton interpolating between such vacua. To do this we first consider the scalar self-interacting field theory in 2+1-dimensional Minkowski space-time with the $`(+)`$ signature and commutative timelike direction. The action functional is 666No rescaling has been implied yet.

$$\begin{array}{c}S[\varphi ]=\frac{1}{g^2}d^3x(\frac{1}{2}_\mu \varphi ^\mu \varphi V(\varphi )),\end{array}$$
(32)
from what one reads the energy functional (4) and (now in rescaled noncommuting space coordinates) the non-static equation of motion

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{^2\varphi }{t^2}=\frac{1}{\theta }\varphi \frac{V}{\varphi }.\end{array}$$
(33)
When $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ the first term in the rhs can be neglected. In the euclidean time (or, equivalently, inverted potential)

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{^2\varphi }{t^2}=\frac{V}{\varphi }.\end{array}$$
(34)
Now it is easy to construct an example of an instanton tunneling between two noncommutative vacua. Should one restrict the solution to be diagonal at any time moment $`\mathrm{}<t<\mathrm{},`$ the equation of motion becomes the infinite set of decoupled equations

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{d^2}{dt^2}C_n=C_nC_n^3,\end{array}$$
(35)
each of them describes the well known quantum mechanical double well kink if the coefficient $`C_n`$ is tunneling from -1 to 1, antikink ($`11`$) or a constant ($`11`$ or $`11`$, no tunneling).

This construction can be applied to the dynamics of radially symmetric solitons and the equations of motion are written in the Minkowski space-time. Recently some new results concerning noncommutative soliton scattering were obtained using the adiabatic approximation. 777The calculations below are closed for $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$. The typical feature is that the equations (35) are identical for all modes. If all the initial conditions are the same (up to a sign), the solution is $`\varphi (r,t)=C(t)\mathrm{\Phi }(r)`$, i.e. the time dynamics reduces to the scaling factor in front of the soliton. As $`V(\varphi )\mathrm{}`$ when $`\varphi \mathrm{}`$, all the coefficients $`C_n`$ remain finite.

If small excitations mentioned above are radially symmetric, they can be described as small oscillations of $`C_n`$ near the minimum of potential.

3. Some vortex-like solutions in noncommutative abelian Higgs model (which has similar potential for the scalar field) have recently been discussed. In this context (and also for the brane interpretation) the subtlety to arise is the uniform energy density while it is significantly singular for a commutative brane or a vortex. It is not completely clear for what vortex’s internal degrees of freedom $`p(x)`$ is responsible.

## 4 Behaviour of solutions with finite $`\theta `$

### Recurrent relation.

The question still unanswered completely is how does the kinetic term affect the physics at finite $`\theta `$. To examine some aspects one should write the equations of motion at finite $`\theta `$. It is known that in the operator formalism

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{1}{2}_\mu \varphi ^\mu \varphi [\widehat{a},\widehat{\varphi }][\widehat{\varphi },\widehat{a}^{}],\end{array}$$
(36)
where $`\widehat{a}^{},`$ $`\widehat{a}`$ are creation and annihilation operators defined in Appendix. Performing variation in (4) w.r.t. $`\varphi `$, one obtains

$$\begin{array}{c}[\widehat{a}^{},[\widehat{a},\widehat{\varphi }]]+[[\widehat{\varphi },\widehat{a}^{}],\widehat{a}]=\theta \frac{V}{\varphi }(\widehat{\varphi }).\end{array}$$
(37)
By use of Jacobi identity and commutation relations for creation and annihilation operators lhs yields

$$\begin{array}{c}[\widehat{a}^{},[\widehat{a},\widehat{\varphi }]]=\frac{1}{2}\theta \frac{V}{\varphi }(\varphi ).\end{array}$$
(38)
With the radially symmetric ansatz the equation of motion simplifies to the recurrent relation 888For derivation see Appendix.

$$\begin{array}{c}(n+1)C_{n+1}(2n+1)C_n+nC_{n1}=\frac{1}{2}\theta V^{^{}}(C_n),n>0,\\ C_1C_0=\frac{1}{2}\theta V^{^{}}(C_0),n=0.\end{array}$$
(39)
Should one try to find an appropriate potential $`V(\varphi )`$ for a solution $`C_n=(1)^nA`$ to exist, it will end in no positive result as in this case (39) reduces to

$$\begin{array}{c}2(1)^{n+1}(2n+1)A=\frac{\theta }{2}V^{^{}}((1)^nA).\end{array}$$
(40)
As it has been emphasized, an equation like (39) is hard to solve, but some effects could be studied qualitatively or numerically.

### Qualitative effects.

1.The differential equation for this scheme is

$$\begin{array}{c}nC^{^{\prime \prime }}+C^{^{}}=\frac{1}{2}\theta C(C^21).\end{array}$$
(41)
A similar one occurs in the construction of the usual commutative Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortex and the only acceptable asymptotic for us is that the coefficients $`C(n)=C_n`$ vanish at the infinity. The mode expansion $`\varphi =C_n\varphi _n`$ is somewhat like a discrete Fourier transform. Then the singular (or at least localized) vortex-like solution in the discrete momentum space should lead to delocalization in the field $`\varphi `$-space. Thus, the $`\delta `$-like solution becomes finite-size. The effect of finite $`\theta `$ is imposing a regularization.

2.The energy functional is

$$\begin{array}{c}E[\varphi ]=\frac{1}{g^2}\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}((2n+1)C_n^22(n+1)C_{n+1}C_n+\theta V(C_n)).\end{array}$$
(42)
Analyzing the first two terms as a perturbation, i.e. simply calculating the energy functional for the solution at $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ one observes that the second addend in the kinetic term causes the level splitting and breaks the $`2^{\mathrm{}}`$-times degeneration. Perfectly localized $`\delta `$-like solution becomes the highest energy level because all the perturbative terms in (41) appear to be positive for the coefficients with alternating sign. This is the reason to understand of what importance is the $`\delta `$-like radially symmetric solution. To do that one observes that the results for $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ are true for any set of mutually orthogonal projectors. It is the kinetic term that causes the $`U(\mathrm{})`$ symmetry breakdown. For an arbitrary operator like

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{\varphi }=U^{}diag(\{\lambda _n\})U,\end{array}$$
(43)
with $`U`$ being unitary the energy functional is equal up to the coupling constant

$$\begin{array}{c}E[\{\lambda _n\},\{U_{mn}\}]=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda _n^2(1+2\underset{m=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}m|U_{mn}|^2)2\underset{m,n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda _m\lambda _n|A_{mn}|^2+\theta \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}V(\lambda _n),\end{array}$$
(44)
where

$$\begin{array}{c}A_{mn}=\underset{k=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\sqrt{k}U_{kn}U_{k1,m}^{},\end{array}$$
(45)
If we hold $`\{\lambda _n\}`$ fixed, then the first order variation of $`E`$ w.r.t. $`U`$ is

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta E=\frac{E}{U_{mn}}|_{U=1}\delta U_{mn}+\frac{E}{\overline{U}_{mn}}|_{U=1}\delta \overline{U}_{mn}=\\ 2\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}(3n+1)(\delta U_{nn}+\delta \overline{U}_{nn})=0\end{array}$$
(46)
as in the first order

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta U_{nn}+\delta \overline{U}_{nn}=0\end{array}$$
(47)
for $`U`$ is unitary.

Thus for $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ the matrix $`U`$ serves as coordinates along the vacuum valley, but at finite $`\theta `$ the special significance of radially symmetric solutions becomes clear.

### Numeric study.

Our method is different from that in. It is clear that specifying $`C_0`$ defines all the other coefficients and provides an opportunity for the numeric study. In our study $`\theta =100`$ and remains constant. The main goal is to see how does a finite-$`\theta `$ solution look like. Some graphs are presented below for $`C_0`$ = $`10^{10}`$.

The equations are strongly nonlinear, so as we start from $`C_0=10^{10}`$ it first grows in ten orders up to $`C1`$ and then slowly converges to $`0`$ (see the first graph). In the second graph we show the sum of the 100 first terms in the series for $`\varphi (r)`$. The third one illustrates that $`\varphi (0)`$ remains finite and thus the solution is finite-size.

Another interesting phenomenon is that a small change in $`C_0`$ can make the solution divergent. For example, there exist at least two disconnected ranges of convergence $`C_03.8210^{10}`$ and $`9.110^{10}C_0<11.610^{10}`$, $`\theta =100`$. This point agrees well with the soliton hierarchy first observed in.

## 5 Concluding remarks

In the present paper we consider 2+1-dimensional noncommutative classical scalar field theory. The standard and basic tool for solving equations of motion at $`\theta =\mathrm{}`$ is the Weyl-Moyal correspondence between the product of operators acting on the Hilbert space and the nonlocal product of functions. We mention how one can solve the equations of motion in principle without referring to the Weyl-Moyal correspondence. Then the general ansatz for a radially symmetric solution is obtained confirming the celebrated results of. Next these results are applied to studying generalized (distribution-valued) solutions and their physical assignment. The $``$-product of distributions is defined as a distribution in the momentum space. Small excitations are shown to change the regularization. An approach to the accurate study of the radially symmetric solution dynamics is given and the effect of the time dynamics coming to the field rescaling is described. Then we proceed to examine the physics at finite $`\theta `$. The effects of delocalization and taking down the degeneration are analyzed qualitatively and numerically. The special role of radially symmetric solutions is clarified.

There arise different questions of interest such as dynamics of fields without radial symmetry and general scattering problem. It is interesting to take quantum corrections into account. Among other problems there are coupling with the gauge field and searching out some closed form solution and analysis for finite $`\theta `$.

## 6 Acknowledgements

Author is greatful to ITEP group for hospitality and useful discussions (in particular to S.Gukov, K.Selivanov, Yu.Sitenko, V.Shadura, A.Zotov, A.Chervov, A.Alexandrov, D.Melnikov, S.Klevtsov, A.Dymarsky) and especially to A.Gorsky and A.Morozov for introducing the problem and discussions.

## 7 Appendix

### Derivation of the recurrent relations.

In the holomorphic representation the key role is played by the two operators

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{a}=\frac{\widehat{q}i\widehat{p}}{\sqrt{2}},\\ \widehat{a}^{}=\frac{\widehat{q}+i\widehat{p}}{\sqrt{2}}.\end{array}$$
(48)
Commutation relations for them $`[\widehat{a},\widehat{a}^{}]=\widehat{I}`$ do have a representation in the space of analytic functions $`f(\overline{z})`$ with the inner product

$$\begin{array}{c}f_1,f_2=\frac{dzd\overline{z}}{2\pi ı}e^{(\overline{z}z)}\overline{f_1(\overline{z})}f_2(\overline{z}).\end{array}$$
(49)
The orthonormal state vectors are represented as

$$\begin{array}{c}n\psi _n(\overline{z})=\frac{(\overline{z}^n)}{\sqrt{n!}},\end{array}$$
(50)
creation and annihilation operators as

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{a}^{}\overline{z},\\ \widehat{a}\overline{}.\end{array}$$
(51)
An arbitrary operator $`\widehat{U}`$ with matrix elements equal to

$$\begin{array}{c}U_{mn}=\psi _m\widehat{U}\psi _n\end{array}$$
(52)
can be represented as the integral operator with the kernel 999$`A(z,\overline{w})`$ is an analytic function (some series) of two complex arguments, and in general $`zw`$.

$$\begin{array}{c}A(\overline{z},z)=\underset{m,n}{}U_{mn}\frac{\overline{z}^m}{\sqrt{m!}}\frac{z^n}{\sqrt{n!}},\end{array}$$
(53)
$$\begin{array}{c}(\widehat{U}f)(\overline{z})=\frac{dzd\overline{z}}{2\pi ı}e^{(\overline{z}z)}A(\overline{z},z)f(\overline{z}).\end{array}$$
(54)
Now all the needed commutators in the equation of motion can be simply computed using the formulae 101010The last two ones are obtained using integration by parts and reflect the fact that $`\widehat{a}`$, $`\widehat{a}^{}`$ are hermitian conjugate.

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{a}^{}\widehat{U}\overline{z}A(\overline{z},z),\\ \widehat{a}\widehat{U}\overline{}A(\overline{z},z),\\ \widehat{U}\widehat{a}^{}A(\overline{z},z),\\ \widehat{U}\widehat{a}zA(\overline{z},z).\end{array}$$
(55)
Under the assumption of the radial symmetry $`U_{mn}=C_m\delta _{mn}`$ the result is

$$\begin{array}{c}(\overline{}z\overline{z}\overline{}+z\overline{z}1)A(\overline{z},z)=\frac{\theta }{2}\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{V}{\varphi }(C_n)\psi _n(\overline{z})\overline{\psi _n(\overline{z})},\end{array}$$
(56)
and after the simple direct calculation of matrix elements one arrives to (39). The energy functional is obtained in a similar way.


format: text

text:
# Contents

## Introduction

The electric dipole moment (EDM), $`\stackrel{}{d}`$, of a classical charge distribution $`\rho (\stackrel{}{x})`$ is given by

$$\stackrel{}{d}=d^3x\stackrel{}{x}\rho (\stackrel{}{x}).$$
(1)
which is a polar vector. It is known that the elementary particles have no intrinsic vector quantity other than their spin. Therefore, their electric ($`\stackrel{}{d}`$) as well as magnetic dipole ($`\stackrel{}{\mu }`$) moments are expected to be proportional to their spins ($`\stackrel{}{S}`$). So under discrete spacetime transformations, these moments and the spin must have the same transformation properties.

Despite their similarity concerning the particle spin, the electric and magnetic moments have quite different characteristics. This can be understood by studying the particle under electromagnetic field. Depicted in Fig. 1 is a particle (grey blob) with spin $`\stackrel{}{S}`$ under electric ($`\stackrel{}{E}`$) and magnetic ($`\stackrel{}{B}`$) fields. Consider the upper part of the figure. Initially, particle is in a frame where $`\stackrel{}{B}||\stackrel{}{S}`$. Under under time–reversal (T) operation (where $`\stackrel{}{B}\stackrel{}{B}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{S}\stackrel{}{S}`$) they still remain parallel. Therefore, the corresponding moment of interaction, that is, the magnetic moment ($`\stackrel{}{\mu }`$) implies no violation of the discrete symmetry T$``$ CP, assuming CPT is a good symmetry of the Nature.

Consider now the lower part of the same figure where initial configuration is similar to that of the upper part; $`\stackrel{}{E}||\stackrel{}{S}`$. However, under a T operation $`\stackrel{}{E}\stackrel{}{E}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{S}\stackrel{}{S}`$, and thus, the corresponding interaction term in the Lagrangian violates the CP symmetry. Therefore, unlike the magnetic moment discussed above, the electric dipole moment implies the violation of CP invariance in Nature. It has long been known that CP is not a conserved symmetry of the Nature. Indeed, the CP–odd long–living neutral kaon $`K_L`$ is known to disassociate into the CP–even final state consisting of two neutral pions $`\pi ^0\pi ^0`$ . Therefore, CP is not a respected symmetry at all so all particles with spin, must have an EDM at some level.

At the field theory level, the P and T violating interaction between a spin 1/2 fermion field $`\psi (x)`$ and the photon $`A_\mu `$ can be written as:

$$D(k^2)\overline{\psi }\left(q+k/2\right)\sigma _{\mu \nu }\gamma _5k^\nu \psi \left(qk/2\right)A^\mu (k)$$
(2)
where $`k`$ is the momentum taken away by the photon. One notes that when $`\gamma _5`$ is removed from this operator the corresponding quantity becomes the magnetic moment interaction which does not imply the discrete symmetries. The value of the form factor $`D(k^2)`$ for on–shell photon ($`k^2=0`$) is the sought expression for the EDM of the fermion $`\psi `$:

$$d_\psi D(k^2=0)$$
(3)
Of all the baryons the EDM of the neutron 111The neutron is most convenient object for precision measurements of the EDMs, owing to vanishing of its electric charge, its sufficient stability, and the possibility of using beams of ultracold particles. $`d_n`$ has been of interest to the physicists for a long time. In 1950, Purcell and Ramsey  first considered the problem of existence of the neutron EDM. However, at that time, it was assumed that the physical world is invariant under P inversion, and in order to have a nonzero $`d_n`$, Purcell and Ramsey had to construct a rather unconventional P even EDM of neutron. They gave the first limit on the EDM of the neutron:

$$d_n=|\stackrel{}{d}_n|10^{13}\text{}3.10^{18}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{cm}.$$
(4)
In 1957, Landau  observed that a non-vanishing EDM of the neutron was a signal of P and T violation. About that time it was discovered that P invariance is not a strict law of nature  as was experimentally confirmed . EDM of neutron violates both parity and time reversal invariance.
Even after the parity was found to be violated by the weak interactions it was believed that EDM of the neutron was time–reversal invariant and by virtue of CPT theorem was also invariant under CP symmetry. In 1964, when the CP violation was observed in kaon system , the subject of EDM of neutron has become of particular importance for both theoretical and experimental interests.
Various methods have been invoked for the experimental investigation of the EDMs of elementary particles (for details see, for example, ). So far only the upper limits on the EDM of different particles have been obtained .
The detection of a non-zero EDM for neutron would have extremely important implications. It would be the first observation of CP violation outside the kaon system. So, it could give us a new understanding of the CP violation mechanism and of the early universe cosmology where it is generally believed that CP violation gave rise to the observed baryon–antibaryon asymmetry of the universe .
Since the experimental discovery of CP noninvariance in Nature, many diverse mechanisms of the CP violation have been proposed and several estimates of the EDM of neutron have been obtained. A comprehensive review of the EDM of neutron in various models of CP violation can be found in .
In this dissertation we shall consider the CP violation and hence the neutron EDM in the frame work of $`SU(3)_c\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y`$ theory of electroweak and strong interactions, $`i.e.`$, The Standard Model. In the standard model there are two sources of CP violation namely:
1. The first source of CP violation in the standard model is related to the properties of strong interaction theory described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). It has long been realized that, the nontrivial structure of vacuum in QCD and the existence of instantons  in the non-Abelian gauge theory make it necessary to add to the Lagrangian the so–called $`\theta `$-term, which violates P and CP symmetries. This term for $`\theta calO(1)`$ gives an exceedingly large value for the neutron EDM which can be made consistent with the experimental bounds  if $`\theta <10^9`$. Several methods have been employed to evaluate the effect of CP violation on neutron EDM. The first investigation on this subject was carried out by Baluni . In Chapter I we will discuss sources of CP violation in the strong interactions together with a calculation of the neutron EDM.
2. The second source of CP violation in the SM appears in the electroweak sector where the mixing matrix of quarks $`V_{KM}`$, appearing in the charged–current interactions, possess a complex phase which generates CP–violating observables. For three generations of the chiral fermions this matrix can be parametrized by three Euler angles and a single phase, $`\delta _{CKM}`$ . For two generations, for instance, there is no CP violation because the quark mixing matrix can always be made real. The analysis of the EDM of the neutron in the electroweak sector is presented in Chapter II, where we have adopted the calculational techniques given by Nanopoulous et al .

## Chapter 1 The Neutron EDM: Strong Interactions

In this chapter we will study first the sources of CP violation in strong interactions. For this purpose we will work out the nonperturbative and topological properties of the QCD vacuum together with its symmetries. Progressively, we will construct the representation–independent CP violation Lagrangian which is the mere source of CP–violating quantities in the hadron spectrum. Finally we will compute the EDM of neutron and compare the theoretical estimate with experimental bounds.

### 1.1 Symmetries of the QCD Lagrangian

The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the gauge theory of quarks and gluons, which are believed to be constituents of the hadrons. The total action density of the theory can be divided into two distinct parts,

$$_{QCD}=_0+_\theta ,$$
(1.1)
where $`_0`$ describes the quarks (color triplets: $`\psi ^i,i=1,2,3`$) and gluons (color octets: $`A_\mu ^a,a=1,\mathrm{},8`$) together with their interactions

$$_0=\frac{1}{2g_s^2}\text{Tr}\left[F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right]+i\{\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}_L(\mathrm{}iA\mathrm{})\mathrm{\Psi }_R+(RL)\}(\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}_R_q\mathrm{\Psi }_L+h.c),$$
(1.2)
where $`g_s`$ is the gauge (here color $`SU(3)`$) coupling constant. In this expression the gluon field strength tensor reads as

$$F_{\mu \nu }=_\mu A_\nu _\nu A_\mu +i[A_\mu ,A_\nu ]$$

where $`A_\mu =A_\mu ^a\mathrm{\Lambda }^a`$, and $`3\times 3`$ anti–hermitian matrices $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^a`$ ($`a=1,\mathrm{},8`$) are the $`SU(3)_c`$ generators satisfying $`2\text{Tr}\left(\mathrm{\Lambda }^a\mathrm{\Lambda }^b\right)=2\delta ^{ab}`$.

The second and third terms in (1.2) refer to the chiral quarks

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_{R,L}=\{\frac{1}{2}(1\pm \gamma _5)\psi ^ff=1,\mathrm{},N_f\}$$

where $`N_f`$ is the number of flavours, and each $`\psi ^f`$ is a color triplet. The quark mass matrix $`M`$, which is in general non–hermitian, is an $`N_f\times N_f`$ matrix in the flavour space.

The second piece in (1.1) is given by

$`_\theta =\theta 𝒜,\text{where}𝒜={\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi ^2}}\text{Tr}\left[\stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right]`$ (1.3)
where $`0\theta 2\pi `$ is an angle parameter, and the dual field strength tensor is defined by $`\stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }=\frac{1}{2}ϵ_{\mu \nu \alpha \beta }F^{\alpha \beta }`$.

For the coherence of the discussions it is convenient to specify the symmetries of the QCD Lagrangian first. The main difference between $`_0`$ and $`_\theta `$ is that the latter does not respect the time–reversal (T$``$CP) invariance. This is clear from the fact that (in the temporal gauge: $`A_00`$) the first term in $`_0`$ corresponds to $`\stackrel{}{E}_a^2\stackrel{}{B}_a^2`$ whereas $`_\theta `$ does to $`\stackrel{}{E}_a\stackrel{}{B}_a`$, where $`\stackrel{}{E}_a`$ and $`\stackrel{}{B}_a`$ are the non–Abelian electric–like and magnetic–like fields. In fact, it is this CP–violating character of $`_\theta `$ which makes it fundamental for calculating the EDMs, which are inherently CP–odd quantities.

Furthermore, since the gluons are flavour–diagonal, the massless quarks possess a $`U_L(N_f)\times U_R(N_f)`$ global symmetry in the massless limit; $`M0`$. In practice, compared to the dynamical scale of QCD ($`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{QCD}300MeV`$) one can take $`u`$, $`d`$ and $`s`$ quarks approximately massless. To this approximation the global symmetry of (1.1) becomes $`U_L(3)\times U_R(3)`$. The diagonal group $`U_{L+R}(3)SU(3)_V\times U(1)_B`$ is also respected by the vacuum state since ($`i`$) hadrons obey an approximate $`SU(3)_V`$ symmetry ( $`i.e.`$ the $`Eightfold`$$`Way`$), and ($`ii`$) the baryon number is conserved. The remaining symmetries $`U_{LR}(3)SU(3)_A\times U(1)_A`$ are not manifest in the hadron degeneracies so that the dynamics should be such that the QCD vacuum breaks all these axial symmetries. According to the Goldstone theorem, from the break–down of $`SU(3)_A`$ we expect eight pseudo scalars which can indeed be identified with the set $`[\pi ^+,\pi ^0,\pi ^{},K^+,K^0,\overline{K^0},K^{},\eta ]`$. However, there is no pseudoscalar meson in the spectrum to be identified with the Goldstone boson of $`U(1)_A`$. Hence, in the massless limit, there should be a remnant global symmetry of the QCD Lagrangian given by the phase rotation $`\psi e^{i\alpha \gamma _5}\psi _L`$. However, this symmetry is realized neither linearly (by the vacuum invariance) nor nonlinearly (by the existence of a light pseudoscalar).

As will be detailed in the following sections, the resolution of the $`U(1)_A`$ problem and the appearance of the CP–violating Lagrangian $`_\theta `$ are both related to the nontrivial vacuum structure of QCD. Although there will be explicit quoting of the relevant work in the analyses below, still an exhaustive review of these problems can be found in  together with .

### 1.2 QCD Vacuum

For a clear understanding of the QCD vacuum it is convenient to discuss the topological properties of the continuous functions. To study the topological properties of the continuous functions one can divide them into $`homotopic`$ $`classes`$; each class contains the functions that can be deformed continuously into each other. As a warm–up case one can consider the $`S^1S^1`$ mapping. Let $`A`$ be the set of points $`\left\{\alpha \right\}`$ on a unit circle $`S^1`$, and let $`B`$ be the set of unimodular complex numbers $`\left\{e^{i\beta }\right\}`$. Then the function $`f_\gamma \left(\alpha \right)=e^{[i(n\alpha +\gamma )]}`$ realizes the mapping $`\left\{\alpha \right\}S^1\left\{e^{i\beta }\right\}S^1`$. For a fixed $`n`$, $`f_\gamma \left(\alpha \right)`$ forms a homotopy class as $`\gamma `$ varies . More precisely, given $`f_{\gamma _0}`$ and $`f_{\gamma _1}`$ with $`\gamma _0\gamma _1`$ then these two functions can be deformed continuously into each other by the $`homotopy`$ $`F(\alpha ,x)=e^{[i(n\alpha +(1x)\gamma _0+x\gamma _1)]}`$ where $`x\{0,1\}`$. One can visualize $`f_\gamma \left(\alpha \right)`$ as mapping $`n`$ points of one circle into one point of the other circle in other words one winds around the latter by $`n`$ times. Every homotopy class is characterized by a $`winding`$ $`number`$

$$n=_0^{2\pi }\frac{d\alpha }{2\pi }\frac{i}{f_\gamma \left(\alpha \right)}\frac{df_\gamma \left(\alpha \right)}{d\alpha }$$
(1.4)
In particular, mapping with $`n=1`$ is $`f_\gamma ^{(1)}(\alpha )=e^{i\alpha }`$, and one can obtain the mapping for any winding number $`n`$ by using $`\left(f_\gamma ^{(1)}\right)^n`$.

Though the $`S^1S^1`$ mapping above is useful for illustrating the homotopy classes, a physically relevant case occurs only when the symmetry group under concern has an $`SU(2)`$ subgroup. Here the question arises: “How much it depends on the gauge group being $`SU(2)`$ ?” The answer is: Firstly, if the gauge group is $`U(1)`$, it is easy to see that every mapping of $`S^3`$ into $`U(1)`$ is continuously deformable into the trivial mapping (all the $`S^3`$ is mapped into a single point). Thus for an abelian gauge theory there is no analog of winding number. Secondly, there is a theorem by Raoul Bott  which states that any continuous mapping of $`S^3`$ into G can be continuously deformed into a mapping into $`SU(2)`$ subgroup of G, where G is a simple Lie Group. Thus everything which will be discovered for $`SU(2)`$ will be true for an arbitrary simple Lie Group, in particular it will be true for $`SU(n)`$.
As will be clear below, the $`SU(2)`$ group structure is needed to have a one–to–one correspondence with the spherical geometry at spatial infinity. Therefore, we now discuss the $`S^3S^3`$ mapping  – a mapping from the three–dimensional Euclidean space (parametrized by three Euler angles) into the $`SU(2)`$ space (characterized by three parameters) . In fact, we now seek for solutions to the classical $`SU(2)`$ Yang–Mills theory in Euclidean space ($`|\stackrel{}{r}|^2=x_0^2+\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}`$) with $`finite`$ $`action`$

$$𝒮_E=\frac{1}{2g_s^2}d^4x\text{Tr}\left[F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right],$$
(1.5)
that is, the field strength tensor must vanish at infinity,

$$F_{\mu \nu }(x)\underset{|\stackrel{}{r}|\mathrm{}}{}0.$$
(1.6)
Normally this condition is equivalent to vanishing of $`A_\mu (x)`$ at infinity. However, a vanishing field configuration is equivalent to $`U_\mu U^1`$ with $`USU(2)`$ thanks to the gauge transformation

$$A_\mu ^{}=UA_\mu U^1+U_\mu U^1.$$
(1.7)
Therefore, $`F_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ still vanishes at infinity (1.6) for $`A_\mu `$ in the $`pure`$ $`gauge`$;

$$A_\mu (x)\underset{|\stackrel{}{r}|\mathrm{}}{}U^1_\mu U.$$

One notices that the points at infinity in the Euclidean space are three–spheres, $`S^3`$. Therefore, the gauge transformation matrix $`USU(2)`$ realizes a mapping from $`S^3(\text{Euc. space})`$ to the $`SU(2)(\text{group space})`$. More precisely, the manifold of the $`SU(2)`$ group elements is topologically equivalent to the three–sphere $`S^3`$. This can be seen from the fact that $`USU(2)`$ can be expressed as

$$U=e^{i\stackrel{}{\alpha }\stackrel{}{\sigma }}u_0+\stackrel{}{u}\stackrel{}{\sigma },\text{for}|\stackrel{}{\alpha }|<<1.$$
(1.8)
Due to unitary character of the gauge transformations, $`U^{}U=UU^{}=1`$ , it is clear that $`u_\mu `$ spans a sphere

$$u_0^2+\stackrel{}{u}\stackrel{}{u}=1$$

that is the group space of $`SU(2)`$ is topologically equivalent to the unit sphere, $`S^3`$. Following Coleman , the previous expression (1.4) for the winding number can now be written as

$`n`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{24\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x_\mu ϵ_{\mu \nu \rho \lambda }\text{Tr}\left[A_\nu A_\rho A_\lambda \right]}={\displaystyle d^4x𝒜}`$ (1.9)
where $`A_\mu `$ here are in the pure gauge discussed above, and the quantity $`𝒜`$ is defined in (1.3). This is the expression for $`S^3S^3`$ winding number corresponding to the $`SU(2)`$ gauge theory. From this very expression of the winding number (1.9) it can be shown that the action (1.5) is indeed finite, $`𝒮_E8\pi n^2/g_s^2`$, and the corresponding gauge field is either self–dual or antiself–dual, $`i.e.`$, $`F_{\mu \nu }=\pm \stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }`$.

The finite–action solutions of the classical Euclidean Yang–Mills system (1.5) are $`instanton`$ solutions

$$A_\mu =\left(\frac{r^2}{r^2+\gamma ^2}\right)U_\mu U^1$$

where $`\gamma `$ is an arbitrary scale parameter, and the corresponding gauge transformation matrix has the form

$$U_1(\stackrel{}{r})=\frac{1}{|\stackrel{}{r}|}\left(x_0+i\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{\sigma }\right).$$

Thus, the gauge field is of finite extension, and as $`|\stackrel{}{r}|\mathrm{}`$ it approaches the pure gauge form, as expected. For this very solution the action integral has the value $`8\pi ^2/g_s^2`$, that is, this solution corresponds to the homotopy class $`n=1`$ hence the subscript ”1” in $`U_1(x)`$. Clearly the solution for the $`n`$th homotopy class can be obtained by compounding $`U`$ by $`n`$ times:

$$U_n(\stackrel{}{r})=(U_1(\stackrel{}{r}))^n.$$

Suppose that there are two vacua belonging to different homotopy classes $`n`$ and $`m`$. Then the vacuum to vacuum transition amplitude reads as

$$n|e^{iHt}|m=[dA_\mu ]_{nm}e^{iS}$$
(1.10)
In imaginary time (or Euclidean space), this becomes

$`n|e^{Ht}|m`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle [dA_\mu ]_{nm}e^{S_E}}`$ (1.11)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle [dA_\mu ]_{nm}e^{{\scriptscriptstyle d^4x[L(A_\mu )]}}}e^{8\pi (nm)^2/g_s^2}.`$
where $`S_E=iS`$ is the Euclidean action.
Therefore the intanton configuration corresponds to tunneling between the vacuum states having different winding numbers. The rough estimate above, based on the finiteness of the Eucleadean action, shows clearly that the effect here is inherently $`nonperturbative`$, that is, the transition rate is enhanced in the limit of large gauge coupling. Besides this, the rate is enhanced for neighboring vacua; $`|nm|=1`$. In the limit of small gauge coupling, the transition amplitude is diminished leaving system in any of the (equivalent) vacua with inherently $`perturbative`$ dynamics. In summary we have infinite number of vacua each being characterized by its homotopy class or the winding number. Another point of primary importance is the behavior of these vacua under gauge transformations. The gauge transformation that changes $`A_\mu ^n`$ to $`A_\mu ^{n+1}`$ works as

$`A_\mu ^{n+1}`$ $`=`$ $`U_{n+1}_\mu U_{n+1}^1`$ (1.12)
$`=`$ $`U_1U_n_\mu U_n^1U_1^1`$
$`=`$ $`U_1_\mu U_1^1+U_1A_\mu ^nU_1^1`$
so that the collection of the vacua $`\left\{|n\right\}`$ is not gauge–invariant at all:

$$U_1|n=|n+1.$$
(1.13)
Thus, these infinitely many vacua are connected by topologically nontrivial gauge transformations.

Since the vacuum states $`|n`$ belonging to different homotopy classes (having different winding numbers) are separated by the energy barriers (as dictated by the tunneling amplitude in (1.11)), it is clear that the $`true`$ vacuum state will be a linear superposition of all these vacua. Similar to the situation with periodic potentials in quantum mechanics (whose true ground state is the Bloch wave), we define the true vacuum to be

$$|\theta \underset{n}{}e^{in\theta }|n$$
(1.14)
which we name as the “$`\theta vacuum`$”. As expected, in contrast to $`\left\{|n\right\}`$ the $`\theta vacuum`$ is gauge–invariant. This can be seen by computing

$`U_1|\theta `$ $`=`$ $`U_1{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}e^{in\theta }|n`$ (1.15)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}e^{in\theta }|n+1`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}e^{i\theta }e^{in\theta }|n+1`$
$`=`$ $`e^{i\theta }|\theta .`$
Therefore, $`\theta `$ labels the physically inequivalent sectors of the theory, and in each sector we can work physical processes in a gauge–invariant manner. The different $`\theta `$ worlds do not communicate with each other unlike $`\left\{|n\right\}`$ which can be communicated via the quantum tunneling. Obviously, $`\theta `$ is arbitrary, and thus, there is no $`a`$ $`priori`$ way of determining it from the theory.

The amplitude for a transition between two $`\theta `$ worlds in the presence of an external conserved current $`J`$ is given by

$`\theta ^{^{}}|e^{iHt}|\theta _J`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m,n}{}}e^{im\theta }e^{in\theta }m|e^{iHt}|n_J`$ (1.16)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m,n}{}}e^{i(nm)\theta }e^{im(\theta ^{^{}}\theta )}{\displaystyle [dA_\mu ]_{nm}e^{i{\scriptscriptstyle d^4x(L+JA)}}}`$
$`=`$ $`\delta (\theta ^{^{}}\theta ){\displaystyle \underset{\nu nm}{}}e^{i\nu \theta }{\displaystyle [dA]_\nu e^{i{\scriptscriptstyle d^4x(L+JA)}}}`$
$`=`$ $`\delta (\theta ^{^{}}\theta ){\displaystyle \underset{\nu }{}}{\displaystyle [dA]_\nu e^{i{\scriptscriptstyle d^4x(L_{eff}+JA)}}}`$
where in the last step we have introduced the effective action density

$$L_{eff}=L+\mathrm{\Delta }L\text{with}\mathrm{\Delta }L=\theta \nu g_s^2_\theta $$
(1.17)
where $`_\theta `$ is already defined in (1.3). Stating in more explicit terms, the entire effect of the $`\theta `$ vacuum can be taken into consideration by introducing the effective action

$$S_{eff}=\frac{1}{2}d^4x\text{Tr}\left[F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right]\theta \frac{\alpha _s}{4\pi }d^4x\text{Tr}\left[\stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right]$$
(1.18)
where we have rescaled the gauge field as $`A_\mu g_sA_\mu `$, for convenience. It is clear that this effective action is equivalent to (1.2).

In concluding this section we note that the QCD vacuum has a nontrivial structure described by the gauge field configuration corresponding to “pure gauge”. The finite action solutions of the Euclidean $`SU(2)`$ Yang–Mills system (1.2) split into infinite number of equivalent subsets corresponding to the homotopy classes of $`S^3(\text{Euclidean space})S^3(\text{SU(2) space})`$ mapping. The gauge field configurations are $`instanton`$ solutions in that they correspond to tunneling between the vacua with different winding numbers. Therefore, the Yang–Mills system is characterized by infinite number of vacua communicated by quantum tunneling. Moreover, the vacua are not gauge invariant; gauge transformation with winding number $`\nu `$ transforms the vacuum state $`|n`$ to $`|n+\nu `$.

The true ground state of the theory is given by a linear superposition of these vacua whereby defining the so–called $`\theta `$ vacuum. The $`\theta `$ vacuum is gauge–invariant, and each value of the parameter $`\theta `$ corresponds to a physically distinct state of the system. This parameter is in general arbitrary the theory gives no way to determine it.

There is no communication among distinct $`\theta `$ vacua; moreover, the corresponding transition amplitude is described by an effective action which differs from the original Yang–Mills action by $`_\theta `$ in (1.3). The most interesting property of this additional piece is that it is odd under the CP transformation. Therefore, the appearance of $`_\theta `$ is due to the nontrivial nonperturbative topological structure of the QCD vacuum.

### 1.3 Effective Vacuum Angle

As was mentioned when discussing the symmetries of the QCD Lagrangian, there is an excess axial global symmetry ($`U(1)_A`$) of (1.2) which has no imprint in the hadron spectrum. A resolution of the $`U(1)_A`$ problem rests on the anomalous nature of this global symmetry and the nontrivial structure of the QCD vacuum discussed above. The conserved current, for massless $`u`$, $`d`$, and $`s`$ quarks, reads as

$$J_5^\mu =\overline{u}\gamma ^\mu \gamma _5u+\overline{d}\gamma ^\mu \gamma _5d+\overline{s}\gamma ^\mu \gamma _5s.$$
(1.19)
At tree approximation this current is conserved because its divergence, which is proportional to the quark masses, vanishes identically in the massless limit. However, this current is no longer conserved if one goes to one loop level

$$_\mu J_5^\mu =2N_fg_s^2𝒜$$
(1.20)
where $`N_f=3`$ for the present case. This result is independent of the looping quark masses. Moreover, this result is exact, that is, it does get no contribution from higher loops (the famous ABJ anomaly ). It is this quantum mechanical nonconservation of $`J_5^\mu `$ which forbids an $`exact`$ $`U(1)_A`$ symmetry . In this sense the QCD Lagrangian has no excess symmetry compared to the observed hadron spectrum, the partonic (quarks and gluons) and hadronic symmetry properties agree.

Though this observation solves the $`U(1)_A`$ problem, there is more to be done with the QCD anomaly of $`J_5^\mu `$. First, one observes that $`𝒜`$ can, in fact, be written as a total divergence

$$_\mu K^\mu =16\pi ^2𝒜\text{with}K_\mu =\text{Tr}\left[\stackrel{~}{F}_{\mu \nu }A_\nu \right],$$
(1.21)
with, however, the fact that $`K^\mu `$ is $`not`$ gauge invariant at all. Despite this, one can embed the anomalous divergence in (1.20) to define the a new current

$$\stackrel{~}{J}_5^\mu =J_5^\mu 2N_f\frac{g_s^2}{16\pi ^2}K^\mu $$
(1.22)
which is conserved in the massless quark limit. Therefore, the anomalous character of $`J_5^\mu `$ (that is the mismatch of the classical and quantum symmetries) is now removed via (1.22). However, under a gauge transformation its conserved charge

$$\stackrel{~}{Q}_5=d^3x\stackrel{~}{J}_5^0$$
(1.23)
can be shown to shift as follows

$`U_1\stackrel{~}{Q}_5U_1^1`$ $`=`$ $`U_1{\displaystyle d^3x\stackrel{~}{J}_5^0U_1^1}`$ (1.24)
$`=`$ $`U_1\left[J_5^02N_f({\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _s}{4\pi }}K^0)\right]U_1^1`$
$`=`$ $`U_1J_5^0U_1^1U_12N_f({\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _s}{4\pi }}K^0)U_1^1`$
$`=`$ $`J_5^02N_f({\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _s}{4\pi }}K^0)+2N_f`$
$`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_5+2N_f,`$
where in arriving at the last line of the equation use has been made of (1.22). This is a very important result as it implies that the $`\theta `$–vacuum is not invariant under chiral transformations. To see this one computes

$`U_1\left[e^{i\alpha \stackrel{~}{Q}_5}|\theta \right]`$ $`=`$ $`U_1e^{i\alpha \stackrel{~}{Q}_5}U_1^1U_1|\theta `$ (1.25)
$`=`$ $`e^{i(\theta +2N_f\alpha )}\left[e^{i\alpha \stackrel{~}{Q}_5}|\theta \right],`$
which says that after a chiral rotation by an angle $`\alpha `$ the $`\theta `$ parameter is shifted by $`2N_f\alpha `$. Therefore, similar to the fact that the gauge transformations shift the winding numbers, or equivalently, cause transitions between vacua of different homotopy classes, the chiral transformations shift the $`\theta `$–vacuum depending on the number of massless quark flavors. This very shift of the $`\theta `$ parameter under a chiral transformation has important implications concerning the quark sector of (1.2).

It has long been known that CP is not a respected symmetry in the neutral $`K`$–meson ($`K^0`$) system since the mixings as well as the decays of these mesons apparently violate the CP symmetry \[1, kaon\]. Since the QCD vacuum angle $`\theta `$ does not contribute to $`K^0`$ CP, it is clear that there should be finite CP violation in the electroweak sector (which will be throughly discussed in the next chapter), or simply, in the quark mass matrices in (1.2). The sensitivity of the $`\theta `$–vacuum to the chiral transformations thus implies a hand–shaking of the vacuum angle $`\theta `$ and the phases of the quark mass matrix $`_q`$.

In general, the mass matrix of quarks is non–Hermitian, so that part of (1.2) containing the quark mass terms can be rewritten as

$$_M=\overline{\psi }_{R_a}M_{ab}\psi _{L_b}+\overline{\psi }_{L_a}(M^{})_{ab}\psi _{R_b},$$
(1.26)
where $`a,b`$ are flavour indices, and $`M_{ab}`$ are elements of $`_q`$. However, by a chiral $`SU(N_f)`$ ( here $`N_f=3`$) transformation

$$\psi _{R(L)}^{}=U_{R(L)}\psi _{R(L)},U_{R(L)}SU_{R(L)}(N),$$
(1.27)
one can diagonalize $`_q`$ with positive elements up to an overall phase factor. Thus, without loss of generality the elements of $`_q`$ can be assumed to have the form

$$M_{ab}=m_a\delta _{ab}e^{i\rho },$$
(1.28)
where it is clear that the common phase factor here cannot be rotated away. Using this form of $`_q`$ in (1.2) one observes that after a further chiral rotation, similar to (1.25), by the angle $`\alpha _0=\theta /(2N_f)`$ it is clear that the topological term $`_\theta `$ disappears from the QCD Lagrangian (1.2). However, this very chiral transformation acts on the quarks as $`\psi e^{i\gamma _5\alpha _0}\psi `$. Therefore, the expression for quark masses (1.28) now goes over to

$$\overline{M_{ab}}=m_a\delta _{ab}e^{i\overline{\rho }}$$
(1.29)
where

$$\overline{\rho }=\rho \frac{\theta }{N_f}$$
(1.30)
is the net phase of the quark mass matrix. One notices that now there is no $`\theta `$ term in the original QCD Lagrangian (1.2); however, the same phase is now moved to the quark mass Lagrangian through the angle $`\overline{\rho }`$. In general the hand–shaking between the CP phases in the QCD vacuum ($`\theta `$) and the phases in the quark mass matrices ($`\rho `$) is expressed through the effective $`\theta `$ angle:

$`\overline{\theta }N_f\overline{\rho }=\theta \text{Arg}\text{Det}[_q]`$ (1.31)
where, obviously, $`\text{Arg}\text{Det}[_q]=N_f\rho `$.

Obviously it is the nature of (1.31) which makes the CP violation by strong interactions nontrivial. Indeed, if $`\theta `$ where stable under chiral transformations then there would not be any contribution to $`\overline{\theta }`$ from the phases of the quark masses. In such an instance, setting $`\theta `$ to some value (say, zero) would be a natural operation because $`\theta `$ cannot anyhow be determined from the theory itself. However, even if one chooses $`\theta `$ zero initially, this choice cannot be kept unchanging due to the nonvanishing (because of finite $`K^0`$ CP) phases of the quark mass matrices. Therefore, the CP violation in the QCD Lagrangian (1.2) is not removable at all. One can interpret it either as the topological $`_\theta `$ piece in (1.2) with real quark masses, or equivalently, as the quark mass Lagrangian with the phase (1.30) with $`_\theta `$ absent. Except for this hand–shaking, there is an unremovable source of CP violation in the QCD Lagrangian with primarily nonperturbative, topological origin. In the next section we discuss an observable effect of $`\overline{\theta }`$: the EDM of the neutron.

### 1.4 Computing EDM of Neutron

As was stated in the Introduction, the nonvanishing, unremovable $`\overline{\theta }`$ induces a finite EDM for the neutron. Calculating this effect with a high degree of precision is difficult as it is a long distance effect, and it may not be possible to employ the parton picture. In actuality, one must employ either an empirical model for the neutron structure (say, the Bag Model)  or make use of the current algebra techniques . However, the main purpose of the work here is to derive the effective Lagrangian ($`\delta _{CP}`$ below) responsible for CP–violating effects in the strong interactions. Therefore, instead of a detailed calculation we will quote the results of the earlier works in estimating the neutron EDM.

As a starting operation one should first determine the $`CP`$–violating Lagrangian which is responsible for developing the EDM. This Lagrangian, $`\delta (𝒞𝒫)`$, follows from the quark mass Lagrangian. Consistent with all the above calculations we consider three light flavours $`u`$, $`d`$ and $`s`$. As suggested by (1.31) if $`\overline{\theta }`$ or at least one of the quark masses vanishes (that is, the determinant itself vanishes) then $`\delta (CP)0`$. To make it clear, consider an appropriate unitary transformation reducing the quark mass Lagrangian with the mass term in (1.28) to

$$_{\stackrel{~}{M}}_{\stackrel{~}{M}}^{^{}}=(e^{3i\overline{\rho }})m_u\overline{u}_Ru_L+m_d\overline{d}_Rd_L+m_s\overline{s}_Rs_L+H.C.$$
(1.32)
where we have arbitrarily transferred the entire phase content to the $`u`$ quark mass. From this we can see that if $`m_u0`$ then $`\overline{\rho }`$ drops out. Therefore, $`\delta (𝒞𝒫)`$ cannot be simply part of the quark mass Lagrangian having imaginary parts. As mentioned in the introductory section, the spontaneous break–down of the axial $`SU(3)_A`$ symmetry of the QCD Lagrangian produces a total of eight Goldstone bosons. In this case the vacuum is infinitely degenerate, and the naive perturbation theory is not reliable. To determine $`\delta (𝒞𝒫)`$ we have to select one vacuum state out of this infinitely many sets, which of course leaves the physical content of the theory unchanged. To leading approximation the vacuum is flavour–blind. The correct perturbation $`\delta `$ should be chosen unitary–equivalent quark mass matrices (1.27). Moreover, this perturbation should cause a minimal shift of the vacuum energy with no danger of destabilizing it:

$$\mathrm{\Omega }|\delta |\mathrm{\Omega }=\underset{U_{R,L}SU(3)_{R,L}}{\mathrm{min}}\mathrm{\Omega }|_{\stackrel{~}{M}}(U_{R,L})\mathrm{\Omega }.$$
(1.33)
where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ stands for the vacuum. This constrained selection of states with unitarily equivalent quark mass matrices can be done with the help of Dashen’s theorem ( which assumes that ($`i`$) the transformations should be pure chiral, $`U_R^{}=U_L`$, and ($`ii`$) $`\delta L`$ is flavour–blind. With these conditions at hand, one can parameterize $`\delta L`$ as

$$\delta =\overline{\psi }_R^a(\mu _a+i\omega )\psi _L^ae^{i\delta }+H.c.,$$
(1.34)
where $`\mu _a`$ and $`\omega `$ are assumed to be real parameters and are fixed by

$`m_a^2=\mu _a^2+\omega ^2,`$ (1.35)
$`\theta ^{}=\overline{\theta }+\delta ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\text{Arg}{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}(\mu _a+i\omega ),`$ (1.36)
$`\text{when}\mu _a>0.`$ (1.37)
Now we will derive the correct form of $`CP`$ violating perturbation. Consider (1.34)

$`\delta `$ $`=`$ $`\overline{\psi }_R^a(\mu _a+i\omega )\psi _L^ae^{i\delta }+\overline{\psi }_L^a(\mu _ai\omega )\psi _R^ae^{i\delta }`$ (1.38)
$`=`$ $`\overline{\psi }^aL(\mu _a+i\omega )L\psi ^ae^{i\delta }+\overline{\psi }^aR(\mu _ai\omega )R\psi ^ae^{i\delta }`$
$`=`$ $`\overline{\psi }^aL(\mu _a+i\omega )\psi ^ae^{i\delta }+\overline{\psi }^aR(\mu _ai\omega )\psi ^ae^{i\delta }`$
$`=`$ $`\overline{\psi }^a\left[\mu _a(L+R)+i\omega (LR)\right]\psi ^ae^{i\delta }`$
$`=`$ $`\overline{\psi }^a\left[\mu _a+i\omega \gamma ^5\right]\psi ^ae^{i\delta }`$
where we have used,

$$L=\frac{1+\gamma _5}{2},R=\frac{1\gamma _5}{2}$$
(1.39)
Hence $`\delta (CP)`$ is the $`CP`$ nonconserving part we need excluding $`\delta `$. Therefore,

$$\delta (CP)=\omega \overline{\psi }i\gamma _5\psi $$
(1.40)
where $`\omega `$ can be solved by inverting (1.35) as:

$$\overline{\theta }=\frac{1}{3}\text{Arg}\left[(\mu _1+i\omega )(\mu _2+i\omega )(\mu _3+i\omega )\right]$$
(1.41)
therefore

$`\text{tan}\overline{\theta }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\text{tan Arg}\left[(\mu _1+i\omega )(\mu _2+i\omega )(\mu _3+i\omega )\right]`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{\frac{\omega }{\mu _1}+\frac{\omega }{\mu _2}+\frac{\omega }{\mu _3}+\frac{\omega ^3}{\mu _1\mu _2\mu _3}}{1+\omega ^2(\frac{1}{\mu _1\mu _2}+\frac{1}{\mu _1\mu _3}+\frac{1}{\mu _2\mu _3})}}.`$
In the limit $`|\overline{\theta }|<<1`$, and when also $`\omega `$ is small ( in order to neglect $`\omega ^2,\omega ^3`$) we obtain

$$\omega =3\frac{\mu _1\mu _2\mu _3}{\mu _1\mu _2+\mu _1\mu _3+\mu _2\mu _3}\overline{\theta }$$
(1.43)
From (1.35) for small $`\omega `$ we can write $`m_a^2\mu _a^2`$, which upon substitution in the last expression yields,

$$\omega =3\frac{m_1m_2m_3}{m_1m_2+m_1m_3+m_2m_3}\overline{\theta }$$
(1.44)
which can be used in (1.40) to rewrite it as

$$\delta (CP)=\frac{3m_um_dm_s}{m_um_d+m_um_s+m_dm_s}\overline{\theta }(\overline{\psi }i\gamma _5\psi ).$$
(1.45)
Derivation of this Lagrangian is the most important step in studying the CP–violating effects in the strong interactions. It is this very Lagrangian with which there arise CP–violating effects in the hadronic interactions. The EDM of the neutron is one such fundamental quantity through which the the parameter $`\overline{\theta }`$ becomes observable. Below we will sketch its derivation without going into details of the hadronic model adopted. Two existing calculations due to  and  are in good agreement.

We now choose to sketch the derivation in . The neutron EDM is defined via the correlator

$`n\left(p+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{2}}\right)|J_\mu ^{em}\left(k\right)i{\displaystyle d^4x\delta (CP)}|n\left(p{\displaystyle \frac{k}{2}}\right)D_n\left(k^2\right)\overline{u}\sigma _{\mu \nu }k^\nu u,`$ (1.46)
where $`J_\mu ^{em}`$ electromagnetic current of the quarks. The value of the formfactor $`D(k^2)`$ for on–shell photon (that is, $`D(k^2=0)`$) is the EDM of the neutron. The Figure below illustrates the correlator above. Here the black blobs designate the usual $`\pi ^{}np`$ and $`\pi ^{}\pi ^+\gamma `$ vertices. The grey blob, however, shows the CP–violating $`\pi np`$ vertex generated by $`\delta _{CP}`$ in the correlator above.

In general the calculation of the correlator (1.46) involves a summation over all intermediate states

$$\underset{X}{}n|J_\mu ^{em}|X\times X|\delta (CP)|n$$

where $`|X=\{|N,`$ $`|\pi N,`$ $`|\pi \pi N,\mathrm{}\}`$. However, as shown in , it is the $`|\pi N`$ contribution that dominates the amplitude, in accordance with the figure above. The reason for the dominance of this particular intermediate state follows from the fact that the neutron disassociates into charged constituents (needed to emit a photon) in acquiring an EDM. The largest contribution comes from the lightest constituents ( pion) because it attains the greatest distance from the center of the charge distribution.

Due to the explicit CP violation in the system the pion–nucleon interactions are now generalized to

$`_{\pi NN}=\stackrel{}{\pi }\overline{N}\stackrel{}{\sigma }\left(ig_{\pi NN}\gamma _5+\overline{g_{\pi NN}}\right)N`$ (1.47)
where $`\overline{g_{\pi NN}}`$ reflects the CP violation. A direct evaluation of $`\pi ^aN|\delta _{CP}|N`$ leads one to $`\overline{g_{\pi NN}}`$

$`\overline{g_{\pi NN}}=\overline{\theta }\times {\displaystyle \frac{M_\mathrm{\Xi }M_N}{F_\pi }}\times {\displaystyle \frac{m_um_d\left(2m_sm_um_d\right)}{m_u+m_d}}`$ (1.48)
which is proportional to $`\overline{\theta }`$ as expected. The remaining vertex in the correlator (1.46) is $`n|J_\mu ^{em}|\pi N`$ is known to be proportional to $`\gamma _5\sigma _{\mu \nu }k^\nu `$ .

Then a direct computation of the diagram in the figure above gives

$`d_nD_n(k^2=0)={\displaystyle \frac{g_{\pi NN}\overline{g_{\pi NN}}}{4\pi ^2M_N}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{M_N}{m_\pi }}\right),`$ (1.49)
which equals numerically $`\overline{\theta }\times 2\times 10^{16}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{cm}`$ .

Here one notices that this numerical estimate is quite close to the results reported by Baluni  though two calculations adopt different methods in computing the hadronic matrix elements. However, a more interesting coincidence comes by the recent estimate  of $`d_n`$ using the QCD sum rules . In this calculation the main object is the two–point correlator of the neutron current (that current which excites neutron from the QCD vacuum) in that background containing the electromagnetic field and the $`\theta `$–term derived above.

### 1.5 Remarks

The numerical value of the neutron EDM given above is unfortunately far above the experimental upper bound: $`|d_n|\stackrel{<}{_{}}10^{25}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{cm}`$ . This means that the effective QCD vacuum angle should satisfy $`|\overline{\theta }|\stackrel{<}{_{}}10^9`$ ! This requires a huge fine tuning of the pure QCD angle $`\theta `$ and the phases of the quark mass matrices (1.31). That one has such a small value for $`\overline{\theta }`$ instead of the expected order of unity poses the well–known $`strong`$ CP $`problem`$ – a CP hierarchy, or a fine–tuning, or a naturalness problem .

We will not attempt to discuss possible solutions to this issue instead we will summarize shortly existing proposals. There are two main ideas towards a solution to the strong CP problem: Relaxation and cancellation. The former refers to the celebrated Peccei–Quinn solution  (see also reviews ) according to which $`\overline{\theta }`$ (being now a dynamical variable) relaxes to zero and remains so to all orders in perturbation theory. More explicitly, one one ($`i`$) promotes the phases of the quark mass matrices to dynamical variables (corresponding to the Goldstone bosons of spontaneously broken global symmetries), then ($`ii`$) computes the instanton–induced effective potential for $`\overline{\theta }`$, and finally ($`iii`$) shows that this potential is actually minimized for $`\overline{\theta }=0`$. Therefore, in this picture, $`\overline{\theta }`$ relaxes to zero dynamically resulting in a vanishing EDM for the neutron. This Peccei–Quinn idea has generated several other versions in quest for an experimentally viable model: Weinberg  and Wilczek  put the Peccei–Quinn scale to the weak scale which disagreed with the phenomenological constraints then, later Dine $`et.al`$ shifted it to the unification scale . As another version, instead of working with the quark mass matrices directly, Kim and Shifman $`et.al`$ introduced additional heavy color triplets . In all versions of the Peccei–Quinn idea the effective vacuum angle $`\overline{\theta }`$ possesses a dynamical character and then relaxes to a purely CP–conserving point via the background instanton effects.

The other proposal to solve the strong CP problem runs via an appropriate choice of the quark mass matrix $`_q`$ (which is block diagonal in up– and down–sector quark mass matrices ) such that $`\text{Det}[_u_d]`$ is real whereas the CKM matrix (discussed in the next chapter) keeps having a finite phase , as originally proposed by Ann Nelson. With such a cancellation of the phases coming from the quark mass matrices, the interplay between the original QCD vacuum angle and that of the quark sector is lost, so that one can take $`\theta 0`$ from the scratch. For instance, in the Babu–Mohapatra model , the theory is left–right symmetric (parity–conserving) at higher energies so that the topological term is not allowed to contribute at all. Subsequently a finite $`\overline{\theta }`$ could be generated were not it for the flavour structure of the quark mass matrices.

At this point it is convenient to comment on the situation in the supersymmetric models concerning both ideas above. The supersymmetric models provide enough global symmetries replacing the Peccei–Quinn symmetry together with novel sources of CP violation coming from the soft terms . The Peccei–Quinn solution can therefore be adapted to supersymmetry for not only solving the strong CP problem but also solving its own hierarchy problems . Finally, the Peccei–Quinn idea can be generalized also for examining the CP hierarchy problem of supersymmetry in a dynamical way . Apart from the operation of the Peccei–Quinn mechanism in supersymmetry, it is possible to implement supersymmetric falvour models which incorporate the Nelson–Barr models  which can be particularly useful for having observable supersymmetric CP violation .

## Chapter 2 The Neutron EDM: Electroweak Interactions

In the framework of the Standard Model (SM) of electroweak and strong interactions the other source of CP violation is the single complex phase in the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa (CKM) matrix . To examine it’s consequences for EDM of the neutron we will first briefly review the electroweak sector of the SM with particular emphasis on the CP–violation currents and parameterizations of the CKM matrix.

### 2.1 Electroweak Lagrangian and the CKM matrix

The particle spectrum of the SM consists of gauge and Higgs bosons together with three families of quarks and leptons (See \[ali\] for a review):
Fermions

$$\mathrm{𝐋𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬}:\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ e\end{array}\right)_L,\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _\mu \\ \mu \end{array}\right)_L,\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _\tau \\ \tau \end{array}\right)_L;e_R,\mu _R,\tau _R$$

$$\mathrm{𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬}:\left(\begin{array}{c}u\\ d\end{array}\right)_L,\left(\begin{array}{c}c\\ s\end{array}\right)_L,\left(\begin{array}{c}t\\ b\end{array}\right)_L;u_R,d_R,c_R,\mathrm{}$$

Gauge Bosons

$$\left(\begin{array}{ccc}W_\mu ^1& W_\mu ^2& W_\mu ^3\end{array}\right);B_\mu $$

Scalars

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\left(\begin{array}{c}\varphi ^+\\ \varphi ^0\end{array}\right),\mathrm{\Phi }^{}=\left(\begin{array}{c}\varphi ^{}\\ \varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{0}\end{array}\right)$$
(2.1)
The interaction between the fermions and the gauge bosons has the form:

$$(f,W,B)=\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}\left\{\overline{l}_L^jD\mathrm{}l_L^j+\overline{l}_R^jD^{}\mathrm{}l_R^j+\overline{q}_L^jD\mathrm{}q_L^j\right\}+\underset{i=1}{\overset{6}{}}\overline{q}_R^iD^{}\mathrm{}q_R^i$$
(2.2)
where j is the family index,

$$l_L^1=\left(\begin{array}{c}\nu _e\\ e\end{array}\right)_L,l_R^1=e_R,\left(\begin{array}{c}u\\ d\end{array}\right)_L,q_R^1=u_R,q_R^2=d_R,\mathrm{}$$

and the two covariant derivatives are defined as:

$`D\mathrm{}D_\mu \gamma ^\mu ,D^{}\mathrm{}D_\mu ^{}\gamma ^\mu `$
$`D_\mu =_\mu ig(\stackrel{}{W}_\mu .{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{}{\sigma }}{2}})ig_1{\displaystyle \frac{Y}{2}}B_\mu `$
$`D_\mu ^{}=_\mu ig_1{\displaystyle \frac{Y}{2}}B_\mu .`$ (2.3)
where $`g_1`$ and $`g_2`$ are respectively, the $`U(1)_Y`$ and $`SU(2)`$, coupling constants, and $`\sigma ^a(a=1,2,3)`$ are the (weak) isospin matrices. The interaction term $`(f,\varphi )`$ involving the fermions and the Higgs fields has the Yukawa form,

$$(f,\varphi )=\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}\left\{(h_i)_j\overline{l}_L^j\mathrm{\Phi }l_R^j\right\}+\underset{j,k=1}{\overset{3}{}}\left\{(h_q^{})_{jk}\overline{q}_L^j\mathrm{\Phi }u_R^k+(h_q)_{jk}\overline{q}_L^j\mathrm{\Phi }^cd_R^k\right\}$$
(2.4)
where the charge–conjugated scalar doublet reads as

$$\mathrm{\Phi }^c=i\sigma _2\varphi ^{}=\left(\begin{array}{c}\varphi ^0\\ \varphi ^{}\end{array}\right)$$

with both $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }^c`$ transforming as a (weak) isospin doublet with opposite hypercharges.
After the spontaneous symmetry breaking $`SU(2)U(1)U(1)_{EM}`$, the gauge bosons, fermions and the neutral scalar field, $`\varphi `$ , acquire non-zero masses through the Higgs mechanism. After $`\varphi `$ develops a vacuum expectation value $`v`$, one can expand the Higgs doublet around this ground state so that (2.4) becomes:

$$(f,\varphi )^{SSB}=\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}(m_j)_l\overline{l}_L^jl_R^j\left(1+\frac{1}{\nu }\varphi \right)\underset{j,k=1}{\overset{3}{}}\left\{(m_{jk})_U\overline{u}_L^ju_R^k+(m_{jk})_D\overline{d}_L^jd_R^k\right\}\left(1+\frac{1}{\nu }\varphi \right)+h.c.$$
(2.5)
where the fermions mass matrices (in the flavour space) are defined by

$`(m_j)_l=(h_j)_l{\displaystyle \frac{\nu }{\sqrt{2}}}`$
$`(m_{jk})_U=(h_q)_{jk}{\displaystyle \frac{\nu }{\sqrt{2}}}`$
$`(m_{jk})_D=(h_q^{})_{jk}{\displaystyle \frac{\nu }{\sqrt{2}}},`$ (2.6)
with $`(m_{jk})_U`$ and $`(m_{jk})_D`$ being $`3\times 3`$ mass matrices for up and down quarks, respectively. In order to write the Lagrangian in terms of quark mass eigenstates, the mass matrices $`(m_{jk})_U`$ and $`(m_{jk})_D`$ have to be diagonalized. This can be done with the help of two unitary matrices usually denoted by $`V_L^{up}`$ and $`V_R^{up}`$ (similarly for down quarks):

$`V_L^{up}m_UV_R^{up}(m_{diag.})_UDiag.(m_u,m_c,m_t)`$
$`V_L^{down}m_DV_R^{down}(m_{diag.})_DDiag.(m_d,m_s,m_b)`$ (2.7)
with $`V_L^{up}v_L^{up}=1`$ , etc. Considering only up quarks we can write the mass term as:

$`\overline{u}_Lm_Uu_R`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{u}_LV_L^{up}V_L^{up}m_UV_R^{up}V_R^{up}u_R`$ (2.8)
$`=`$ $`\overline{u_LV_L^{up}}(m_{diag.})_U(V_R^{up}u_R).`$
which shows that the physical quark states are:

$`u_L^{Phys}=V_L^{up}u_L=V_L^{up}\left(\begin{array}{c}u_L\\ c_L\\ t_L\end{array}\right)`$ (2.12)
$`d_L^{Phys}=V_L^{down}d_L=V_L^{down}\left(\begin{array}{c}d_L\\ s_L\\ b_L\end{array}\right)`$ (2.16)
Then in terms of the mass eigenstates, (2.5) can be rewritten as:

$$(f,\varphi )^{SSB}=\left(1+\frac{1}{\nu }\varphi \right)\left\{\underset{i=1}{\overset{6}{}}m_{q_i}\overline{q}_iq_i+\underset{j=1}{\overset{3}{}}m_{l_j}\overline{l}_jl_j\right\}$$
(2.17)
The identification of the parameters $`m_{l_i},m_{q_i}`$ with the lepton and quark masses is now clear. Since we have written the term $`(f,\varphi )`$ in terms of the physical quark fields, we will express other terms of the Electroweak Lagrangian in terms of the physical quark fields like $`(f,W,B)`$.
Considering first the ‘neutral current’, we see that neutral current part of $`(f,W,B)`$ is manifestly flavor diagonal. Written in terms of physical boson $`(W_\mu ^\pm ,Z_\mu ^0,A_\mu )`$ and fermion fields:

$$J_\mu ^{NC}=\underset{i}{}\overline{f}_i\left[\frac{e}{2\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}Z_\mu (I_{3L}Q\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W)_i+eA_\mu Q_i\right]f_i$$
(2.18)
The neutral current interaction induced by the Z-exchange violates P and C but conserves CP.
It is important to emphasize here that the Higgs-fermion Yukawa couplings are flavour diagonal so there are no flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC). Thus, all the flavour changing transitions in the Standard Model are confined to the charged current (CC) sector. From (2.2), concentrating only on the quark sector, we obtain the charged current interaction lagrangian,

$$^{CC}=\frac{e}{2\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}\underset{i=1}{\overset{3}{}}\overline{u}_L^i\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^+d_L^i+h.c.$$
(2.19)
Making use of (2.12) in (2.18) we finally get:

$`^{CC}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{e}{2\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{3}{}}}\overline{u}_L^iV_L^{up}V_L^{up}\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^+V_L^{down}V_L^{down}d_L^i+h.c`$ (2.20)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{e}{2\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=1}{\overset{3}{}}}(\overline{u}_L^{Phys})^i\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^+(V_L^{up}V_L^{down})_{ij}(d_L^{Phys})^j+h.c.`$
Therefore, the charged current $`J_\mu ^{CC}`$ which couples to the $`W^\pm `$ is,

$$J_\mu ^{CC}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}\overline{u},& \overline{c},& \overline{t}\end{array}\right)\gamma _\mu V_{CKM}\left(\begin{array}{c}d\\ s\\ b\end{array}\right)_L$$
(2.21)
where $`V_{CKM}=V_L^{up}V_L^{down}`$ is the CKM matrix . It is a generalization of the Cabibbo rotation  to three quark flavours, and it was introduced to keep the unitarity of weak interactions. The charged current Lagrangian has a (V-A) structure, hence it violates P and C maximally.
In general, $`^{CC}`$ violates CP due to the possibility of some non-trivial phase in $`V_{CKM}`$. For instance, consider (1.12), dropping the superscript Phys and using the CP properties of fermionic fields we get:

$`^{CC}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{e}{2\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{3}{}}}\overline{u}_L^i\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^+(V_{CKM})_{ij}d_L^j+\overline{d}_L^j\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^{}(V_{CKM}^{})_{ij}u_L^i`$ (2.22)
$`\stackrel{CP}{}`$ $`\overline{d}_L^j\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^{}(V_{CKM})_{ij}u_L^i+\overline{u}_L^i\gamma ^\mu W_\mu ^+(V_{CKM}^{})_{ij}d_L^j`$
where we have used $`W_\mu ^+\stackrel{CP}{}W_\mu ^{}`$.
Thus the CP conservation requires the matrix V to be real. It is real for two families, and hence, for two families of quarks CP is automatically conserved. But in case of three families of quarks, as was suggested by Kobayashi and Maskawa, the CP is violated due to the presence of complex phase in $`V_{CKM}`$.
$`V_{CKM}`$ being a unitary matrix satisfies, $`V_{CKM}^{}V_{CKM}=1`$. The matrix elements of $`V_{CKM}`$ are determined by the charged current coupling to the $`W^\pm `$ bosons. Symbolically this matrix can be written as:

$$V_{CKM}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}V_{ud}& V_{us}& V_{ub}\\ V_{cd}& V_{cs}& V_{cb}\\ V_{td}& V_{ts}& V_{tb}\end{array}\right)$$
(2.23)
As long as the unitarity is maintained, one can parameterize the CKM matrix using three Euler angles (appropriate for $`3\times 3`$ matrices) and a complex phase $`\delta _{CKM}`$. There are different parameterizations of CKM matrix. The original one, due to Kobayashi and Maskawa  was constructed from the rotation matrices in the flavour space involving the angles $`\theta _i(i=1,2,3)`$ and the phase $`\delta _{CKM}`$,

$$V_{KM}=R_{23}(\theta _3,\delta _{CKM})R_{12}(\theta _1,0)R_{23}(\theta _2,0)$$
(2.24)
where $`0\theta _i\frac{\pi }{2},0\delta _{CKM}2\pi `$, and $`R_{ij}(\theta ,\varphi )`$ denotes a unitary rotation in the $`(i,j)`$ plane by the angle $`\theta `$ and the phase $`\varphi `$. Then a possible representation for $`V_{KM}`$ is:

$$V_{KM}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}c_1& s_1c_3& s_1s_3\\ s_1c_2& c_1c_2c_3s_2s_3e^{i\delta _{CKM}}& c_1c_2s_3+s_2c_3e^{i\delta _{CKM}}\\ s_1s_2& c_1s_2c_3+c_2s_3e^{i\delta _{CKM}}& c_1s_2s_3c_2c_3e^{i\delta _{CKM}}\end{array}\right)$$
(2.25)
with $`c_i=\mathrm{cos}\theta _i,s_i=\mathrm{sin}\theta _i`$. This reduces to the usual Cabibo form for $`\theta _2=\theta _3=0`$ with $`\theta _1\theta _c`$ identified with the Cabibo angle.
However, in discussing several flavour–changing processes it is useful to consider an approximate form of $`V_{KM}`$. Indeed, Wolfenstein , has made made the important observation that (empirically) the $`V_{KM}`$ can be expressed as

$`|V_{ii}|1,i=1\mathrm{}3`$
$`|V_{12}||V_{21}|\lambda `$
$`|V_{23}||V_{32}|\lambda ^2`$
$`|V_{13}||V_{31}|\lambda ^3`$ (2.26)
with $`\lambda \mathrm{sin}\theta _c=0.221`$. With this hierarchy of elements in terms of the Cabibo angle one can write

$$V_{Wolfenstein}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}1\frac{1}{2}\lambda ^2& \lambda & A\lambda ^3(\rho i\eta )\\ \lambda & 1\frac{1}{2}\lambda ^2& A\lambda ^2\\ A\lambda ^3(1\rho i\eta )& A\lambda ^2& 1\end{array}\right)$$
(2.27)
where $`A\rho 1`$ and $`|\eta |<<1`$. This form of the CKM matrix is rather common so that the improvements in the experimental determinations are generally expressed in terms of the parameters here. Having briefly reviewed the particle content of the Electroweak Theory and the CKM matrix we are now in a position to describe the consequences of CP violation in Electro-weak sector for the EDM of neutron.

### 2.2 Computation of Neutron EDM and Form Factors

In the sections which follow we will describe the calculation of the neutron EDM in the electroweak sector. It is clear that the end result will be proportional to $`\delta _{CKM}`$, the only source of CP violation in the electroweak theory. In estimating the neutron EDM we adopt the quark model where the neutron is composed of three valence quarks $`𝐮`$, $`𝐝`$m and $`𝐝`$. In principle, if one calculates the EDM of a free quark $`q`$ at the W–boson mass level then it is a straightforward issue to move it down to the nucleon mass level using the appropriate renormalization group equations (RGE). Then a rough expression for $`d_n`$ in terms of the quark EDM’s reads as

$`d_n{\displaystyle \frac{4}{3}}\left(d_d\right)_{M_N}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\left(d_u\right)_{M_N}`$ (2.28)
where the subscript $`M_N`$ shows that these moments are calculated at the nucleon mass scale. In estimating the contributions of the physics beyond the SM ($`e.g.`$ supersymmetry  or two–scalar doublet models ) this relation works well, and puts stringent bounds on the CP violation sources in the underlying model. Here one notices that the unknown parameters of the two–doublet models and the CP hierarchy problem in the supersymmetry can be avoided (at least partially) in models where supersymmetry is broken around $`a`$ $`\mathrm{TeV}`$ leaving a two–scalar doublet model with less unknowns and appropriate CP violation sources .

However, in estimating the contributions of $`\delta _{CKM}`$ to the neutron EDM one faces with certain difficulties associated with the EDM of a single free quark. After a detailed repetition of Ellis–Gaillard–Nanopoulos  analysis Shabalin  has shown that there is no contribution to a quark EDM up to three loops. This arises mainly from the cancellations among different diagrams due to the unitarity of the CKM matrix. To illustrate the situation it is convenient to refer to Fig. 2. 1. The one–loop graph (graph (a) here) in this figure is a self–conjugated graph which cannot contribute to CP violation. At the two loop level, there is a possibility of obtaining “non-self” conjugate diagrams, as seen from Fig. 2. 1. (b). Indeed, this diagram yields a vertex of the form

$$ed_n(k^2)\overline{u}\sigma _{\mu \nu }k^\nu \gamma _5uA^\mu $$
(2.29)
where $`d_n(k^2)`$ in the limit $`k^20`$ is the EDM, and is suppressed by the usual GIM factor of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m^2/M_W^2=\underset{i}{}V_{qi}V_{q^{^{}}i}^{}m_i^2M_W^2`$. Unlike the expectations of , it was shown by  that these two–loop contributions sum up to zero. Hence one is left with the three–loop and higher contributions for the EDM of a single free quark though even the three–loop contributions were already shown to partially cancel . These cancellations bring the d-quark contribution down to $`10^{34}`$ e-cm.

After illustrating the smallness of the single quark EDM’s with electroweak theory, we note that the problem here can be circumvented through a more realistic approach to the problem. Indeed, one has to take into account the multi–parton content of the neutron in calculating the EDM, that is, instead of dealing with a single free quark, one should consider all three quarks simultaneously. The original analysis by Nanopoulos–Yıldız–Cox  has thus dealt mainly with the diquark moments, where the third valence quark was taken as the ”spectator” of the process in charge of balancing the spin, charge and the kinematics of the nucleon. Therefore, below we shall be analyzing the neutron EDM (in parton language) taking into account two (very weakly interacting) quarks into account. It will be seen that with such a multi–parton language the nucleon’s moment turns out to be essentially a one–loop effect.

#### 2.2.1 Diquark Interaction and Neutron Moment

Depicted in Fig. 2. 2 are the class of diagrams contributing to the EDM of a two–quark system where the interaction between the two quarks is ”weak”, that is, mediated by the $`W^\pm `$ boson. The shaded blob in this figure is the $`quark`$$`quark`$$`photon`$ vertex which can get contributions from three possibilities shown in Fig. 2. 3. One keeps in mind that $`W^\pm `$ and $`\gamma `$ can be attached to any of the four external legs of the quarks.

Schematically, the amplitudes in Fig. 2. 3 add to give a transition amplitude of the form

$$\left(\text{a form factor}\right)\times \left(Q\mathrm{}\gamma ^\mu p\mathrm{}p\mathrm{}\gamma ^\mu Q\mathrm{}\right)P_L$$

where $`p_\mu `$ is the quark momentum, and $`Q_\mu `$ is the momentum of photon of which the quadratic terms have been neglected. Direct compoutation yelds a five–particle amplitude

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{dts}^\mu `$ $`=`$ $`\left((8G_F/\sqrt{2})M_W^2\right)^2VF(m_d^2,m_t^2)\overline{d}(Pk)`$ (2.30)
$`\times `$ $`\left[Q\mathrm{}\gamma ^\mu (P\mathrm{}k\mathrm{})(P\mathrm{}k\mathrm{})\gamma ^\mu Q\mathrm{}\right]`$
$`\times `$ $`P_L{\displaystyle \frac{(P\mathrm{}k\mathrm{})+m_s}{m_d^2m_s^2}}\gamma ^kP_Lu(P^{}k)`$
$`\times `$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{k\lambda }(PP^{})\overline{u}(P^{}+k)\gamma ^\lambda P_Ld(P+k),`$
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{k\lambda }`$ is the $`W^\pm `$ propagator in the unitary gauge, and $`V=(V^{})_{dt}V_{ts}(V^{})_{su}V_{ud}`$ is a reparametrization invariant combination of the relevant elements of the CKM matrix. The quantity $`F`$ is the form factor, which will be detailed below.

The EDM is given by the coefficient of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{dts}^0\stackrel{}{Q}A^0Q^0\stackrel{}{A}`$, so only $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{dts}^0`$ needs be determined for calculating the diquark EDM. To continue the analysis we need to determine first the quark spinors in the diquark rest frame. Parameterizing $`\gamma ^\mu `$ as

$`\gamma ^\mu `$ $`=`$ $`[\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ 0& 1\end{array}\right),\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \stackrel{}{\sigma }\\ \stackrel{}{\sigma }& 0\end{array}\right)]`$ (2.35)
the quark spinor $`𝐪=(𝐮,\text{or},𝐝)`$ can be written (as two–component spin states in non-relativistic approximation)

$`𝐪(p)`$ $`=`$ $`[2m(p^0+m)]^{1/2}\left(\begin{array}{c}p^0+m\\ \stackrel{}{p}.\stackrel{}{\sigma }\end{array}\right)q_\sigma `$ (2.38)
where $`q_\sigma =\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& \\ 0& \end{array}\right)\text{or}\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \\ 1& \end{array}\right)`$ are the usual two–component basis vectors. Using this construction in the rest frame of the diquark together with an averaging over the orientation of relative momentum of the quarks, we obtain the mean value of the five–particle vertex (2.30) as

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{dts}^0=\frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{8G_F}{\sqrt{2}}M_W^2\right)^2V\frac{F(m_d^2,m_t^2)}{m_d^2m_s^2}\frac{1}{M_W^2}K\stackrel{}{Q}.\stackrel{}{\sigma }_n.$$
(2.39)
In deriving this equation we have made use of the spherical symmetry of the nucleon wavefunction so as to have the neutron spin function

$`|n,\pm =\pm {\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{6}}}\{|\pm _𝐮(|++|+)_{\mathrm{𝐝𝐝}}2|_𝐮|\pm \pm _{\mathrm{𝐝𝐝}}\}`$ (2.40)
after using the appropriate Clebsch–Gordon coefficients. Between such states the evaluation of the spin–dependent operators can be done using

$`\stackrel{}{Q}\stackrel{}{s_1}\stackrel{}{Q}\stackrel{}{s_2}=\{\begin{array}{cc}\stackrel{}{Q}\stackrel{}{\sigma }_n,\text{for }\text{u}& \\ +\stackrel{}{Q}\stackrel{}{\sigma }_n,\text{for }\text{d}& \end{array}`$ (2.43)
where $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }_n`$ are the Pauli matrices for the neutron spin, defined in the basis (2.40). Another quantity in (2.39) to be mentioned is $`K=E\stackrel{}{p}^2/m`$ involves energy, momentum and mass of either quark in the diquark rest frame (remember we are using $`m_u=m_dm`$).

In addition to Fig. 2. 2. there is another diagram with the same structure, however, occuring at the other $`𝐝`$ quark leg. This diagram gives the same result except for the fact that $`V`$ is now replaced by the $`V^{}`$, and the overall sign is changed. So the net result will be given by (2.39) with $`V`$ replaced by $`2i\text{Im}V`$, i.e.

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{dts}^0=\frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{8G_F}{\sqrt{2}}M_W^2\right)^22i\text{Im}V\frac{F(m_d^2,m_t^2)}{m_d^2m_s^2}\frac{1}{M_W^2}K\stackrel{}{Q}.\stackrel{}{\sigma }_n.$$
(2.44)
Integrating this result over the quark phase space, supplying a factor of 2 for the $`\stackrel{}{d}`$ quarks, we determine the appropriate coefficient to be identified with the EDM of the neutron

$$d_n=\frac{2}{3}\left(\frac{8G_F}{\sqrt{2}}\right)(2i\text{Im}V)\frac{M_W^2F(m_d^2,m_t^2)}{m_d^2m_s^2}\frac{m_n}{\pi }\mathrm{\Lambda },$$
(2.45)
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=m_q|\stackrel{}{P}_q|^3`$ in the neutron state to be evaluated in the diquark rest frame. One notes that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }0`$ for both $`m_q0`$ (ultrareletivistic limit) and $`m_n3m_q0`$ (nonrelativistic limit). Assuming that averaging in the neutron state is given by the phase space alone, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is a bounded function of $`m_q`$ whose maximum being in between the two asymptotics lets one to make the rough estimate $`\mathrm{\Lambda }\stackrel{<}{_{}}10^3m_n^4`$. Now we discuss the behaviour of the form factor $`F`$. It was introduced in (2.30), and reads as

$`F(m_d^2,m_t^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{(4\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2M_W^2}}\left\{e\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{M_W^2}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}e\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{M_W^2}}\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}e\left(2{\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{M_W^2}}\right)\right\}`$ (2.46)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{(4\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{19}{12}}e{\displaystyle \frac{1}{M_W^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{M_W^2}},`$
where the three terms in the bracket correspond to the diagrams of Fig. 2. 3. From the experimental values of the top quark and $`W^\pm `$ mass we see that the terms in the parenthesis equals numerically $`10`$. It is clear that, if the top quark were not heavy the ratio $`m_t^2/M_W^2`$ would have brought about a GIM suppression factor, as usual.

Using the parameterization of the CKM matrix introduced in the previous section we can write

$$\text{Im}V=c_1s_1^2c_2s_2c_3s_3\mathrm{sin}\delta _{CKM},$$
(2.47)
with $`c_i=\mathrm{cos}\theta _i,s_i=\mathrm{sin}\theta _i`$, and the angles $`\theta _i`$ and $`\delta _{CKM}`$ are the parameters of CKM matrix.

Substituting (2.46) into (2.45), the neutron EDM turs out to have the following explicit expression

$`d_n`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{8G_F}{\sqrt{2}}}\right)(2i\text{Im}V){\displaystyle \frac{i}{(4\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{19}{12}}e{\displaystyle \frac{1}{M_W^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{M_W^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{M_W}{m_d^2m_s^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_n}{\pi }}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (2.48)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{38}{9\pi ^3}}(G_Fm_N^2)^2{\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{m_s^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_N^2}{M_W^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{m_N^4}}(\text{Im}V){\displaystyle \frac{e}{m_n}}.`$
The reparametrization invariant combinations of the CKM matrix elements are also contained by the amount of CP violation in mixings and decays of the $`K^0`$ and $`B^0`$ systems . For instance, assuming no new physics contribution, the experimental bound on the $`K^0\overline{K^0}`$ mixing parameter requires

$$c_1s_1^2c_2s_2c_3s_3sin\delta _{CKM}10^5.$$
(2.49)
Using this parameterization, and supplying the masses of the quarks, we arrive at a numerical estimate for the neutron EDM :

$$d_n10^{32}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{cm}.$$
(2.50)
It is clear that this number is seven orders of magnitude below the experimental upper limit. It is plausible that the existing bounds will not change drastically unless there arises completely new high–precision experiments. Therefore, this gap of seven orders of magnitude is probably going to be closed by the physics beyond the electroweak theory.

### 2.3 Remarks

In this chapter we have summarized the calculation of the neutron EDM when only the phase of the CKM matrix is present. The calculation involves several rough estimates for the hadron wavefunctions so there is always a certain amount of uncertainty in the theoretical prediction. However, the numerical result is seven orders of magnitude smaller than the present experimental upper bound, and this gap is unlikely to be closed by the theoretical uncertainties. Even if one (accidentally) forgets about the kaon system CP violation strength (2.49) the result is still 2–3 orders of magnitude below the experimental upper bound. It is in this sense that the EDM in the electroweak theory is much smaller than the (long–living) upper bound.

Apart from two–doublet models ) and supersymmetry , in close similarity to what has been done in this section, one can discuss the neutron EDM in extensions of the SM with more than three generations, say four generations. In this case there are three phases in the corresponding CKM matrix with more reparametrization invariant combinations. However, there is still strong constraints from $`K^0`$ and $`B^0`$ systems  so that it is unlikely that the neutron EDM will be levelled to the experimental upper bound .

## Conclusion

In this work we have presented a brief review of the neutron EDM calculation in the SM. In doing this we have analyzed the contributions of the strong and electroweak interactions separately. It is clear that the two force laws imply diversely different values for the neutron EDM:

$$\left(d_n\right)_{strong}/\left(d_n\right)_{exp}10^9,\text{and}\left(d_n\right)_{electroweak}/\left(d_n\right)_{exp}10^7.$$

Each interaction here has its own source for violating the CP symmetry. These sources have nothing in common concerning their nature and function in the theory. That of the strong interactions arises from the nontriviality of the QCD vacuum concerning its topological and nonperturbative structure. However, the CP violation source of the electroweak theory is related to the number of families (for two families no source of CP violation, for four families there are two more sources), and the strength and hierarchy of the intergenerational mixings.

The importance of these two contributions lies in the fact that they will always be present irrespective of what kind of extension of the SM is considered. For instance, in the supersymmetric models there are new sources of CP violation  which generally exceed the experimental bounds by three orders of magnitude . However, it is still meaningless to discuss the supersymmetric contribution alone, as the QCD contribution is there to exceed the bounds by several orders of magnitude unless a Peccei–Quinn type scenario is exploited (such as  or ).

The EDM of the neutron receives contributions from strong as well as electroweak interactions as mentioned above. This remains true in any extension of the SM model. However, being devoid of any color degrees of freedom, the electron EDM receives no contribution from the QCD angle. Indeed, it is known that the experimental bounds on the neutron and electron EDM’s differ by an order of magnitude as could be taken into account by their mass ratios; $`m_u/m_e10`$. This expectation is confirmed by the predictions of supersymmetry  and two–doublet models . It is here that one observes the ”excess” nature of the QCD contribution which spoils the existing bounds by several orders of magnitude. For any underlying model, consistency among the EDM’s and CP violation in meson systems is prerequisite for any meaningful prediction.

### Acknowledgements

The author greatfully acknowledges fruitful discussions with D. A. Demir. She also thanks F. Hussain and G. Thompson for their kind help.
It is a pleasure to thank M. A. Virasoro (Director, ICTP), IAEA, and UNESCO for giving the author an oppurtunity to be benefited from the Diploma Programme at ICTP.