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# Generic entanglement generation, quantum statistics and complementarity

## Abstract

A general and an arbitrarily efficient scheme for entangling the spins (or any spin-like degree of freedom) of two independent uncorrelated identical particles by a combination of two particle interferometry and which way detection is formulated. It is shown that the same setup could be used to identify the quantum statistics of the incident particles from either the sign or the magnitude of measured spin correlations. Our setup also exhibits a curious complementarity between particle distinguishability and the amount of generated entanglement.

Recent years have witnessed a great surge of interest in the applications of entanglement . In this context, it is important to explore efficient and general ways of preparing entanglement. Most known mechanisms for obtaining entangled states , are dependent on the specific nature of the systems involved. Here we propose a very general scheme for entangling the spins (or any spin-like degree of freedom) of two particles of any type (bosons or fermions) by a combination of two particle interferometry and which way detection. The fractional yield of entangled pairs for a given number of input pairs can be arbitrarily increased by a recursive procedure using just one beam splitter and two detectors. The main application of our setup will be in entangling material objects such as neutrons, electrons, atoms or macromolecules. This will enable testing quantum nonlocality through separate measurements on far separated massive particles. A salient feature of our setup is the fact that two independent identical particles do not need to interact directly for getting entangled. They only need to interact individually with beam splitters and detectors and their indistinguishability can be exploited to yield entanglement. This is thus useful for entangling those particles which interact weakly (or do not interact) with other particles of the same species. Another advantage of our setup is that the disentangled initial state of the independent particles can be prepared by classical communications without any non-linearity as opposed to the states in the current methods . We show that the same setup allows identification of the quantum statistics of the incident particles from either the presence/absence of entanglement or the sign of measured spin correlations, depending upon whether the two-particle input state is unpolarized or oppositely spin polarized, as opposed to previous tests based on particle number measurements . It also exhibits a complementarity between particle distinguishability and the amount of entanglement produced. This complementarity involving ”which particle” information in two particle interference, differs fundamentally from the usual form involving ”which way” information in single particle interference . Our work also suggests a curious dual to standard entanglement in the context of second quantization.

We will first present a preliminary setup (not our complete scheme) by modifying an interference process used in the last stage of production of polarization entangled of photons through down-conversion  which produces entangled states with $`50`$ percent efficiency (successful cases being identifiable by appropriate detector clicks). Fig.1 depicts the setup composed of a beam splitter with input channels $`A`$ and $`B`$, output channels $`C`$ and $`D`$ and which-channel detectors $`P_C`$ in $`C`$ and $`P_D`$ in $`D`$. These detectors are assumed to be nonabsorbing and are able to determine the path without disturbing the spin (this is possible since position and spin commute; feasibility discussed later). Now consider two identical particles in different spin states (say $`|`$ and $`|`$) incident simultaneously on the beam splitter from arms $`A`$ and $`B`$ as shown in Fig.1. This state, in second quantized notation, is described as $`a_A^{}a_B^{}|0`$ where $`|0`$ is the vacuum state and $`a_A^{}`$ and $`a_B^{}`$ are creation operators for $``$ spin in path $`A`$ and $``$ spin in path $`B`$ respectively. We will label the state concisely as $`|A;B`$. For fermions, $`|A;B=|B;A`$ and for bosons $`|A;B=|B;A`$. The transformation done by the beam splitter is

$`|A;B`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}\{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}(|D;C\pm |D;C)\}`$ (1)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}(|C;C+|D;D),`$ (2)
where the $`+`$ sign stands for fermions and the $``$ sign stands for bosons. After the detectors click, the combined state of the particles and the detectors is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}\{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}(|D;C`$ $`\pm `$ $`|D;C)\}|P_C^{}|P_D^{}`$ (3)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}(|C;C|P_C^{}|P_D`$ $``$ $`|D;D|P_C|P_D^{}),`$ (4)
where $`\{|P_C,|P_D\}`$ and $`\{|P_C^{},|P_D^{}\}`$ are the unexcited and excited (corresponding to detection of one or more particles) detector states respectively. In the above $``$ has been used to indicate the lack of coherence between orthogonal detector states. When the detectors are found in the state $`|P_C^{}|P_D^{}`$ (coincidence), the state of the particles is projected onto $`\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|D;C\pm |D;C)`$. The spin part of this state can be rewritten in the first quantized notation (using the paths as particle labels) as $`|\psi ^\pm _{CD}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|_D|_C\pm |_D|_C)`$ (spin entangled state). It is fully legitimate to use the paths as particle labels because the particles are identical (the same labeling is used for photon pairs exiting a parametric down converter ).

In the above description, we have made two significant changes to the scheme used for photons. First is the presence of the special detectors, which could be easier to design for massive particles. For photons , such detectors are absent and after the path measurements, the resource of entanglement is not available for applications. Our detectors help us to obtain an useful source of spin entangled particles. The other difference with the photonic scheme is that the incident state $`|A;B`$, is not entangled. In contrast, the down-conversion based schemes  use a momentum entangled incident state of the two photons. We merely require the particles to impinge on the beam splitter at the same instant of time; any prior entanglement is not necessary for this. For example, if atoms from two independent sources are velocity selected, they can be made to pass through the same region at the same time as in recent cavity QED experiments . By removing the necessity of non-linearity for generating the incident state, we thus enlarge the scope of the method to cover all types of particles.

We now describe our full scheme, in which the efficiency can be arbitrarily increased. First we consider the addition of two more beam splitters to the setup as shown in Fig.2 with the four exit paths $`E,F,G`$ and $`H`$ being incorporated with which-path detectors $`P_E,P_F,P_G`$ and $`P_H`$ respectively. If the state $`|A;B`$ is incident on the first beam splitter, then the final combined state of the particles and the detectors is

$`(|G;E\pm |G;E)|P_E^{}|P_F|P_G^{}|P_H`$ (5)
$`i(|H;E\pm |H;E)|P_E^{}|P_F|P_G|P_H^{}`$ (6)
$`i(|G;F\pm |G;F)|P_E|P_F^{}|P_G^{}|P_H`$ (7)
$`(|H;F\pm |H;F)|P_E|P_F^{}|P_G|P_H^{}`$ (8)
$`(|F;E|F;E)|P_E^{}|P_F^{}|P_G|P_H`$ (9)
$`(|H;G|H;G)|P_E|P_F|P_G^{}|P_H^{}`$ (10)
$`i\{|E;E|P_E^{}|P_G|G;G|P_E|P_G^{}\}`$ $`|P_F|P_H`$ (11)
$`i\{|F;F|P_F^{}|P_H|H;H|P_F|P_H^{}\}`$ $`|P_E|P_G`$ (12)
where the upper/lower signs stand for fermions/bosons and $``$ and $``$ indicate the lack of coherence. The above expression indicates that there will be coincidence between a pair of detectors in $`75`$ percent of the cases. In each of these cases, a spin entangled state will be generated along the corresponding pair of exit channels. For example, for fermions, if $`P_E`$ and $`P_G`$ click, $`|\psi ^+_{GE}`$ is produced and if $`P_H`$ and $`P_G`$ click, $`|\psi ^{}_{GH}`$ is produced. Based on the knowledge of the detector clicks, all the different entangled states can be converted to a desired entangled state by applying spin dependent phases along appropriate paths. Note that, only in $`25`$ percent of the cases detector clicks will result in a disentangled state.

The above improvement in success probability stems from the fact that the extra pair of beam splitters not only map the entangled part $`|\psi ^\pm _{DC}`$ of the state after the first beam splitter to entangled final parts, but also map $`50`$ percent of the disentangled parts  $`|C;C`$ and $`|D;D`$ to entangled final parts . We can easily double the number of output channels by subdividing each of the existing outputs by beam splitters and at each stage the entangled fraction increases. If we subdivide in this manner to obtain $`2^N`$ outputs, and put detectors only in these final exit paths, the fractional yield of entangled pairs is $`11/2^N`$. For $`N=7`$, this exceeds $`99`$ percent.

We now describe an interesting feedback scheme to reduce the resources (i.e the number of beam splitters) required in our proposal, while still retaining the arbitrarily high efficiency. In the setup of Fig.1), when the output is found disentangled (i.e, $`P_C`$ and $`P_D`$ do not click in coincidence), it is fed back again into the same beam splitter. This procedure could be repeated successively to increase arbitrarily the efficiency of entanglement generation. Here, the probability of failure decreases exponentially ($`2^N`$) with the number $`N`$ of feedback rounds, while the required resources (a single beam splitter and a pair of detectors) remain unchanged.

The next issue of the paper is the identification of quantum statistics through spin correlation measurements. Consider Fig.1 once again and the incident state $`|A;B`$. If there is a detector coincidence, then the unitary operation $`|\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|+|),|\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(||)`$ is applied to the spins of particles in each of the output channels. The spins are then measured in the $`\{|,|\}`$ basis. There will be perfect correlation between the spin measurement outcomes in the two paths for fermions and perfect anticorrelation for bosons. The sign of the spin correlation can thus be used to identify quantum statistics of the incident particles. This differs from earlier schemes which rely on particle number measurements for testing statistics .

In our setup (Fig.1), if each particle is fed in the random spin state $`\rho _M=||+||`$, the difference between bosons and fermions is manifested through the presence or absence of entanglement in a given experiment. For detector coincidence, a maximally entangled state $`|\psi ^{}_{CD}`$ is created for bosons and a disentangled state $`(1/2)|_C_D_C_D|+(1/2)|_C_D_C_D|+(1/\sqrt{2})|\psi ^{}_{CD}\psi ^{}|_{CD}`$ results for fermions. The difference between bosons and fermions can thus be demonstrated through Bell’s inequalities. The sufficiency of $`\rho _M`$ implies that no prior spin correlation between the incident particles is necessary for entanglement generation using bosons.

We now describe a curious complementarity between particle distinguishability and entanglement in our scheme. The complementarity of “which channel” information with fringe contrast in single particle interference is much discussed . In two particle interferometry, “which channel” information is naturally replaced by “which particle” information. The particles impinging on our setup (Fig.1) are indistinguishable apart from their spins (which we choose not to measure as we intend to create a spin entangled state). Now suppose, the particles were partially or fully distinguishable through some other observable such as energy or momentum or any non-spin internal degree of freedom. For example, suppose the incident state is $`|AS_1;BS_2`$, with $`|S_1|S_2|=a1`$. Then the two-particle state produced due to detector coincidence is $`\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|DS_1;CS_2\pm |DS_2;CS_1)`$. The spin state of the particles (in the first quantized notation) is

$`\rho ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}`$ $`(`$ $`|_C_D_C_D|+|_C_D_C_D|`$ (13)
$`\pm `$ $`|a|^2|_C_D_C_D|\pm |a|^2|_C_D_C_D|)`$ (14)
Note that in the second quantized notation all the degrees of freedom belong to the same Hilbert space (are created from the same vacuum). But they become elements of distinct Hilbert spaces when we proceed to the first quantized notation. For the above state, a certain entanglement measure called concurrence  is $`𝐄=|a|^2`$. The probability of successful discrimination between the states $`|S_1`$ and $`|S_2`$ (which is a measure of particle distinguishability) is $`𝐃=1|a|^2`$. Thus we have, in analogy with Englert’s relation in single particle interference , the following testable complementarity relation

$$𝐄+𝐃=1.$$
(15)
The concurrence $`𝐄`$ for $`\rho `$ can be inferred by measuring the expectation value of the Bell-CHSH operator $`\widehat{a}\widehat{b}+\widehat{a}\widehat{b^{^{}}}+\widehat{a^{^{}}}\widehat{b}\widehat{a^{^{}}}\widehat{b^{^{}}}`$ on the two particles (labeled by their paths $`C`$ and $`D`$) with $`\widehat{a}=\sigma _x^C,\widehat{a^{^{}}}=\sigma _y^C,\widehat{b}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\sigma _x^D+\sigma _y^D),\widehat{b^{^{}}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\sigma _x^D\sigma _y^D)`$ and dividing the result by $`\pm 2\sqrt{2}`$.

Eq.(15) also helps us to estimate the amount of entanglement generated by our scheme if $`|S_1`$ and $`|S_2`$ are Gaussian wave-packet states of the incident particles arriving at the beam splitter. If the wave packets have width $`\sigma `$, velocity $`v`$, and a time delay $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ with respect to each other, the entanglement is E$`=\mathrm{exp}(v^2\mathrm{\Delta }t^2/2\sigma ^2)`$.

We now suggest an an unexplored ramification of entanglement in the context of second quantization invoked in our treatment. One needs at least two quantum numbers associated with the creation operators (the spin and output channel labels in our case) to meaningfully describe an entangled state. In a suitable quantum state such as $`\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|D;C\pm |D;C)`$, when one of the labels (the channel labels $`C`$ and $`D`$ in our case) denotes the identity of the particle, the other degree of freedom (the spin in our case) appears entangled. However, the above state can equally well be rewritten in first quantized notation as $`|D_{}C_{}+|C_{}D_{}`$ (for both bosons and fermions), where the spins have been used to label the particles and their paths are entangled. Devising schemes to detect this dual form of entanglement (via the reversal of labels) is currently under way .

Finally we discuss the feasibility of our scheme. The three basic ingredients are: beam splitters, the capability of performing two particle interference, and which way detectors that keep the internal degree of freedom to be entangled undisturbed. Beam splitters are available for photons, electrons , neutrons  , atoms  and even for macromolecules . Two particle interferometry is feasible with photons . Its realizability with electrons has received much attention of late . For atoms, one could use the recently fabricated beam splitters for guided atoms  to study two particle interferometry, as discussed in Ref.. Next is the question of the special type of ”which way” detectors required for our scheme. A theoretical model of an absorptionless path detectors that keep spin unaffected has been considered in the context of quantum state reduction . Such detectors have already been fabricated for electrons (based on the effects of electric fields) for a complementarity experiment  and there are also proposals for simple variants of such detectors . Detectors of the required type have been suggested for photons (based on crossed phase modulation) , and for neutrons (based on momentum transfer) . For atoms, one can implement our scheme by placing cavities in the arms $`C`$ and $`D`$ to act as our which way detectors. One would have to use an atom with hyperfine ground levels $`|g_1,|g_2,|g_3`$ and $`|g_4`$ which can be made to interact with a cavity field in Fock state $`|n`$ to undergo transitions $`|g_1|n|g_2|n+1`$ and $`|g_3|n|g_4|n+1`$ . Then, with an incident state $`|Ag_1;Bg_3`$, appropriate transitions in cavities will result in the entangled state $`\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|g_2_D|g_4_C\pm |g_4_D|g_2_C)`$ when both cavities are found in the state $`|n+1`$. For macromolecules with many internal degrees of freedom, one can choose any two independent degrees of freedom, one for entangling and the other for path detection.

To summarize, we have presented a scheme of arbitrarily high efficiency for entangling two particles of any type. This is important, as entangled states of objects such as neutrons, electrons or macromolecules are yet to be prepared. Our scheme provides strong motivation for developing two particle interferometry for various systems in tandem with absorptionless ”which-way” detectors. That the same setup can be used to test quantum statistics through entanglement-induced spin correlations and probe complementarity in two particle interference enhance the significance of our scheme. Our work also suggests potential connections between entanglement, quantum statistics and complementarity, which call for further study (See for example, Ref.) .

We thank D. Atkinson and D. Bouwmeester for useful discussions. The feedback scheme was stimulated by the comments of R. Srikanth and a referee. DH acknowledges the Royal Society - Indian National Science Academy Exchange Programme which helped to initiate this collaboration. We also acknowledge the First SERC Winter School on Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Optics (Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India).


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# Fermi-liquid behaviour of the low-density 2D hole gas in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure at large values of 𝑟_𝑠.

## Abstract

We examine the validity of the Fermi-liquid description of the dilute 2D hole gas in the crossover from ’metallic’-to-’insulating’ behaviour of $`\rho (T)`$. It has been established that, at $`r_s`$ as large as $`29`$, negative magnetoresistance does exist and is well described by weak localisation. The dephasing time extracted from the magnetoresistance is dominated by the $`T^2`$-term due to Landau scattering in the clean limit. The effect of hole-hole interactions, however, is suppressed when compared with the theory for small $`r_s`$.

There has recently been much attention drawn to the unusual crossover in the temperature dependence of resistivity with varying carrier concentration from ’metallic’ ($`d\rho /dT>0`$) to ’insulating’ ($`d\rho /dT<0)`$ behaviour, which has been seen in some low-density 2D systems . With decreasing carrier density $`p`$ the ratio of the Coulomb to Fermi energy $`r_s=U/E_Fm^{}/p^{1/2}`$ increases, so it was suggested that in these systems the Fermi-liquid description is not valid and new approaches are needed . In  the insulating state at low hole densities, $`p7.7\times 10^9`$ cm-2 and interaction parameter $`r_s35`$ (with $`m^{}`$ =0.37 $`m_0`$), was attributed to Wigner crystallisation . At the same time, it was shown that even at $`r_s1014`$ the 2D hole gas can manifest itself as a normal Fermi liquid, as far as weak localisation (WL) and weak hole-hole interaction (HHI) effects are concerned  .

As conventional theories of weak localisation and electron interactions  are derived for $`r_s1`$, their applicability to $`r_s1014`$ in  is already a surprising fact. One can argue though that in the structures studied the carrier density was not low enough and mobility not high enough for the deviations from the Fermi liquid description to be seen ($`p4.6\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2 and peak mobility $`\mu _p=2.5\times 10^5`$cm2V-1s-1 in ). In this work, we examine the existence of WL and HHI in a 2D hole gas with lower density down to $`p=1.17\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2 . In our high mobility structures, with peak mobility $`\mu _p=6.5\times 10^5`$ cm2V-1s-1, the experimental conditions approach those in  where the Wigner crystal formation has been claimed. We show that even at $`r_s=29`$ the strong Coulomb interaction does not affect the WL description of the negative magnetoresistance , although it suppresses the contributions to the phase-breaking time and Hall coefficient of the weak hole interactions expected in a disordered system with small $`r_s`$ .

The experiments have been performed on a high mobility heterostructure formed on a (311)A GaAs substrate, where the 2D hole gas at the GaAs/AlGaAs interface is separated from the Si-modulation doped layer by a 500Å AlGaAs undoped spacer. A standard four-terminal low-frequency lock-in technique has been used for resistivity measurements at temperatures down to 45 mK, with currents of 1-10 nA to avoid electron heating. The hole density $`p`$ is varied by the front gate voltage to provide the range of $`r_s`$ from $`10`$ to $`29`$ (with effective mass $`m^{}`$ taken as $`0.38`$ $`m_0`$).

Fig. 1a shows a typical temperature dependence of the longitudinal resistivity in our samples. The lower part of the plot, corresponding to higher densities, has a ’metallic’ behaviour with $`d\rho /dT>0`$. As the hole density is decreased, $`\rho (T)`$ becomes nonmonotonic, and further decreasing $`p`$ leads to an ’insulating’ dependence with $`d\rho /dT<0`$. In the ’metal’ to ’insulator’ crossover, where $`r_s`$ varies from $`23`$ to $`29`$, we have observed negative perpendicular magnetoresistance, Fig. 1b, which increases with lowering the hole density. It is natural to ascribe this effect to WL which occurs due to quantum interference of elastically scattered carriers on closed phase-coherent paths. However, great care should be taken in analysing WL in high-mobility structures.

Firstly, the application of the conventional theory of WL is based on the diffusion approximations and is restricted by the range of magnetic fields $`B<B_{tr}`$, where $`B_{tr}=\mathrm{}/4De\tau `$ is the ’transport’ magnetic field, $`D`$ is diffusion coefficient and $`\tau `$ is momentum relaxation time . Physically, this means that the magnetic length $`L_B`$ has to be larger than the mean free path $`l`$. Within this approach, no negative magnetoresistance is expected at $`B>`$ $`B_{tr}`$, when $`L_B<l`$ . In our high mobility samples the value of $`B_{tr}`$ is very small, ranging from 0.003 to 0.08 T for the densities studied. At the same time, the NMR is observed up to $`0.2`$ T, where Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations start. This means that even at $`B>B_{tr}`$ there is a phase-breaking effect of magnetic field, which acts on the trajectories which are still smaller than $`L_B`$ (and smaller than $`l`$). The theory of WL in such a regime has been considered in several papers , although no experimental tests of the theories have yet been performed.

Secondly, all theories of WL discuss the positive magnetoconductivity $`\mathrm{}\sigma _{xx}(B)=\delta \sigma _{xx}(T,B)\delta \sigma _{xx}(T,0)`$, which is due to the decrease of the negative correction $`\delta \sigma _{xx}(T,B)`$ to the longitudinal classical (Drude) conductivity. Usually, the phase-breaking effect of magnetic field is seen at small fields where its effect on the Drude conductivity is negligible. In a high mobility system, however, the phase-breaking effect will coexist with the magnetic field dependence of the Drude conductivity itself:

$$\sigma _{xx}^D(B)=\frac{\sigma _0}{1+(\mu B)^2},$$
(1)
where one cannot neglect the parameter $`\mu B`$. To analyse $`\mathrm{}\sigma _{xx}(B)`$ due to WL , the classical (negative) magnetoconductivity has to be first subtracted.

Fig. 2 shows the total conductivity as a function of magnetic field, obtained by inversion of the resistivity tensor , $`\sigma _{xx}^{tot}(B)=\left(1/\rho _{xx}\right)/(1+\rho _{xy}^2/\rho _{xx}^2)`$, where $`\rho _{xx}(B)`$ and $`\rho _{xy}(B)`$ are measured simultaneously. The dotted line is the classical expression Eq. (1), with $`\mu B=\rho _{xy}(B)\sigma _0`$. The zero field conductivity $`\sigma _0`$ is used as an adjustable parameter to make the best fit in the higher field region where WL is expected to be totally suppressed. For $`\rho _{xy}(B)`$ we use the expression $`\rho _{xy}=B/ep`$, where the hole density $`p`$ is determined from Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the higher field regime. The difference between the solid and dotted lines then gives the WL correction $`\delta \sigma _{xx}(T,B)`$, which decreases to zero at high fields where the classical effect dominates. From this difference the zero-field value $`\delta \sigma _{xx}(T,0)`$ is then subtracted to obtain the required dependence $`\mathrm{}\sigma _{xx}(B)`$.

To analyse our experimental data, we use the WL theory  developed beyond the diffusion approximation. It gives the magnetoconductivity at an arbitrary ratio $`B/B_{tr}`$, provided $`\tau <\tau _\phi `$ is satisfied:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma (B)=\frac{e^2}{\pi h(1+\gamma )^2}\left[\underset{n=0}{\overset{N}{}}\left(\frac{b\psi _n^3(b)}{1+\gamma \psi _n(b)}\right)\mathrm{ln}\frac{1+\gamma }{\gamma }\right],$$
(2)
where $`\gamma =\tau /\tau _\phi `$, $`\tau _\phi `$ is the dephasing time, $`b=\frac{1}{(1+\gamma )^2}\frac{B}{B_{tr}}`$, $`\psi _n(b)=_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑\xi e^{\xi b\xi ^2/4}L_n(b\xi ^2/2)`$, and $`L_n`$ are the Laguerre polynomials. In Fig. 3a we show representative data at different densities in the middle of the temperature range studied, plotted against dimensionless magnetic field $`B/B_{tr}`$ ($`B_{tr}`$ is found as $`(4\pi \mathrm{}\mu \sigma _0/e^2)^1`$). Solid lines in Fig. 3 are obtained from Eq. (2), where $`\gamma `$ is used as an adjustable parameter. At lowest $`p`$ and $`T`$ the error in determining $`\gamma `$ is 10%, but as the density or/and temperature increases it steeply drops to 5%. The obtained $`\gamma `$-values range from 0.04 to 0.43 and satisfy the condition $`\tau <\tau _\phi `$.

The apparent agreement with WL theory suggests that, surprisingly, even at $`r_s2329`$ the Fermi-liquid description of the system remains valid. The further evidence of this has been obtained from the analysis of the temperature dependence $`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ of the dephasing rate. Estimations show that the contribution to $`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ of electron-phonon scattering  is negligible in the studied temperature range. According to the Fermi-liquid theory , the dephasing rate due to electron-electron scattering is dominated either by a linear or quadratic term, dependent on the parameter $`\tau k_BT/\mathrm{}`$:

$`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{(k_BT)^2}{\mathrm{}E_F}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{4E_F}{k_BT}}\right),\text{ when }k_BT\tau /\mathrm{}1`$ (3)
$`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{k_BT}{2E_F\tau }}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2E_F\tau }{\mathrm{}}}\right),\text{ when }k_BT\tau /\mathrm{}1`$ (4)
where $`\alpha =\pi /8`$ . The quadratic term in Eq. (3) is due to Landau-Baber scattering associated with collisions in a clean Fermi-liquid with large momentum transfer, and the linear term in Eq. (4) corresponds to particle-particle interactions with small energy transfer in disordered conductors. In the experiment, the parameter $`k_BT\tau /\mathrm{}`$ varies from 0.06 to 0.8 for the lowest studied density and from 0.1 to 0.9 for the highest density, so that we need to examine the applicability of both expressions to the dependence $`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ extracted from the analysis of the magnetoresistance data, Fig. 4a.

It is interesting to note that in the whole range of $`p`$, including the lowest densities with ’insulating’ dependence $`\rho (T)`$, we have seen Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. In the studied sample a shift of the Shubnikov-de Haas minima was seen with increasing temperature from 45 mK to 600 mK, indicating a weak ($`10\%`$) increase of the hole density. Thus, it was convenient to analyse the dephasing rate as the product $`\tau _\phi ^1p`$, with density $`p`$ directly measured at each temperature by the Shubnikov-de Haas effect. In this case Eqs. (3-4) are re-written as

$`\tau _\phi ^1p`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m^{}}{\pi \mathrm{}^3}}\left[\alpha k_B^2T^2\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{4E_F}{k_BT}}\right)\right]`$ (5)
$`\tau _\phi ^1p`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m^{}}{\pi \mathrm{}^3}}\left[k_BT{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}}{2\tau }}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2E_F\tau }{\mathrm{}}}\right)\right]`$ (6)
The experimental curves in Fig. 4a show two distinct features: a non-linear form and a saturation at low temperatures. We have established that in the entire range of hole densities and temperatures, the data are well described by the quadratic term, Eq. 5, with a zero-temperature saturation value $`1/\tau _\phi (T=0)=1/\tau _\phi ^{sat}`$ added to it. In the analysis of $`\tau _\phi \left(T\right)`$ we used values $`p`$, $`E_F`$ and $`\tau `$ experimentally determined at each $`T`$. Coefficient $`\alpha `$, found as an adjustable parameter, agrees within 20% accuracy with the value $`\pi /8`$ for all hole densities, inset to Fig. 4a. At the same time, the data show that the linear term in the dephasing rate is suppressed by more than an order of magnitude compared with the value estimated using Eq. 6 . The expected contribution to the dephasing rate for the middle density $`p=1.3\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2 is shown in Fig. 4a as a solid line (which is practically a straight line due to the weak ($`10\%`$) temperature dependence of $`\tau `$ and $`E_{F\text{ }}`$).

We suggest two possible reasons for the suppression of the linear term. According to the conventional theories , the $`T`$-term originates from electron-electron scattering in systems with a diffusive character of transport, when the interaction potential between electrons is weak $`(r_s<<1)`$. The interactions in our system are strong. In addition, in our high mobility system, the coherent paths of size $`L_\phi `$ contain only a small number of scatterers ($`10`$), thus the diffusion approximation may not be valid. The non-diffusive transport does not affect, however, the $`T^2`$ term which is an intrinsic property of clean systems.

Let us briefly discuss the saturation of $`\tau _\phi ^1`$. The problem of saturation of the dephasing rate at low $`T`$ has been known for many years , with several explanations of this effect suggested. A characteristic feature of the saturation in our case is that it becomes more pronounced with increasing density. Then a possible origin of the saturation can be a nonequilibrium external noise which does not disturb the temperature dependence of $`\tau _\phi ^1`$ in the Fermi liquid and manifests itself simply as an additive to the dephasing rate . According to  the saturation due to noise is $`1/\tau _\phi ^{sat}D^{1/5}(\mathrm{\Omega }eE_{ac})^{2/5}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the radiation frequency and $`E_{ac}`$ is amplitude of the ac electric field. In Fig. 4b the value $`1/\tau _\phi ^{sat}`$ is plotted as a function of $`D`$ and shows agreement with the $`D^{1/5}`$ dependence.

In a conventional Fermi liquid, WL is usually accompanied by electron-electron interaction effects, which are seen as quantum corrections to the conductivity and Hall coefficient. At small $`r_s`$, the two corrections are related as $`\delta R_H(T)/R_H=2\delta \sigma (T)/\sigma `$ . In  it was argued that in p-GaAs heterostructures the weak hole-hole interaction effect persists up to $`r_s1014`$. Now we have measured the temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient at much larger $`r_s`$. In Fig. 4c we plot the Hall coefficient as $`\left(R_He\right)^1`$for different temperatures in the range from 45 to 400 mK at the density $`p=1.45\times 10^{\text{10}}`$ cm$`^{\text{-2}}`$ (solid squares). The decrease of $`R_H`$ with increasing $`T`$ appears to be of the same order of magnitude as that estimated from theory . However, the observed shift of Shubnikov-de Haas minima has indicated an increase of the hole density with temperature in this experiment (circles in Fig. 4c), such that it agrees well, within 2%, with the change in $`R_H`$ . The inset in Fig.4c shows good agreement between the densities measured by Hall and Shubnikov-de Haas effects at different $`V_g`$ for $`T=45`$ mK. One can then conclude that the interaction effects in the Hall coefficient appear to be much weaker than expected from the perturbation theory derived at small $`r_s`$. We believe that this suppression of the temperature dependence in the Hall coefficient has the same origin as the absence of the linear term in the dephasing rate, namely strong interactions at large $`r_s`$ and, possibly, breakdown of the diffusion approximation.

To summarise, we have investigated the applicability of the Fermi-liquid description to a high mobility, low density 2D hole gas with large $`r_s`$, approaching the conditions of expected Wigner crystallisation. We have found that the negative magnetoresistance in the crossover region from ’metal’ to ’insulator’ persists up to $`r_s`$ $`29`$, and is caused by weak localisation. The dephasing rate $`\tau _\phi ^1(T)`$ is dominated by a $`T^2`$-contribution due to Landau-Baber scattering, which is a characteristic property of a Fermi-liquid in the clean limit. At the same time, the linear in $`T`$ -term in the scattering rate, due to scattering with small energy transfer, is suppressed. Its decrease is accompanied by absence of the temperature dependence in the Hall coefficient. This demonstrates directly that conventional understanding of interaction effects, developed at $`r_s1`$, has to be modified for a high-mobility Fermi liquid with strong interactions.

We are grateful to B.L.Altshuler and D.L.Maslov for stimulating discussions, Harry Clark for help with fabricating the samples, EPSRC and ORS fund for financial support.


text:
# Exclusive electroproduction of ϕ mesons at 4.2 GeV

## I Introduction

Vector meson photo- and electroproduction have been important tools used to understand the hadronic properties of the photon . For low values of the four-momentum transfer squared, the photon interacts with the target predominantly through vector meson intermediate states that diffractively scatter off the target. This process, shown in Fig. 1a, was originally described within the framework of the Vector-Meson Dominance (VMD) model. The production of the $`\varphi `$ meson through this mechanism may be interpreted in terms of the hadronic structure of the photon, that couples to a virtual meson with a strength proportional to the square of the charge of its constituent quarks. Due to the dominant $`s\overline{s}`$ quark component in the $`\varphi `$ meson, quark exchange (e.g. meson-exchange) mechanisms and s-channel resonance production are strongly suppressed . As a consequence, $`\varphi p`$ scattering at low four-momentum transfer proceeds primarily through pomeron exchange, similar to hadron-hadron diffractive scattering.

It is generally believed that the underlying mechanism for pomeron exchange is multi-gluon exchange, where the simplest possibility requires at least two gluons since all hadrons are color singlets. A simplification to these calculations was introduced by Donnachie and Landshoff , who proposed a model whereby the pomeron couples to quarks inside the interacting hadrons as shown in Fig. 1b. Calculations within this context have been applied to $`\varphi `$ electroproduction to study the quark substructure of mesons  and to photoproduction at large momentum transfer . In these models the cross section increases slowly with center-of-mass energy, $`W`$, reflecting the pomeron trajectory.

At high $`Q^2`$ the pomeron can be resolved into two-gluon exchange, and predictions for hard diffractive electroproduction of vector mesons can be made within the context of perturbative QCD . At lower energies ($`W`$ $`\stackrel{<}{}`$ 10 GeV), quark exchange mechanisms  become significant for the production of vector mesons with valence $`u`$ and $`d`$ quarks, but play a limited role in the production of $`\varphi `$ mesons.

The hadronic structure of the photon arises from fluctuations of the virtual photon into short-lived quark-antiquark ($`q\overline{q}`$) states of mass $`M_V`$ during a formation time

$`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2\nu }{(Q^2+M_V^2)}},`$ (1)
where -$`Q^2`$ is the squared mass and $`\nu `$ is the laboratory-frame energy of the virtual photon (see Appendix A for notation). The effect of the formation time on the propagation of these virtual quantum states in strongly interacting media has been observed for $`\rho `$ mesons propagating inside a proton  and inside nuclear targets . To date, no clear dependence on the formation time has been observed in $`\varphi `$ meson production by virtual photons .

This paper presents measurements of exclusive $`\varphi `$ meson electroproduction off a proton target for $`2.0W2.6`$ GeV and $`0.7Q^22.2`$ GeV2 where there is extremely limited data. In this kinematic regime, the short formation distance ***In the literature the formation distance is also referred to as coherence length. of the virtual $`q\overline{q}`$ state ($`0.35c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau 0.75`$ fm) limits the time for interaction and probes the $`\varphi `$ production mechanism at small formation times.

In Section II we present the details of our experimental techniques and data analysis. It concludes with values for the measured $`t`$-slopes and total cross sections. In Section III we compare our results with previous data, and compare with a geometrical model of the relation between formation time and $`t`$-slope. The model is discussed in some detail in Appendix B.

## II Experiment

The experiment was performed using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS)  in Hall B of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). The data were taken with a 4.2 GeV electron beam incident on a 5.0 cm liquid hydrogen target in March and April of 1999. The CLAS torus magnet current was set to 2250 A, bending negatively charged particles toward the beam axis. The trigger required a single scattered electron signal, identified as a coincidence of the forward electromagnetic calorimeter (EC) and Cerenkov counters . Data were recorded at an instantaneous luminosity of $`0.610^{34}`$ cm-2 s-1 and a typical livetime of 95%. This data set has a live-time corrected integrated luminosity $`L_{int}=1.4910^{39}`$ cm-2.

Data Reduction. In order to reduce the data sample to a manageable size, the data of interest were first pre-selected using very loose requirements on particle identification, missing mass, and the requirement for $`W`$ to be above 1.8 GeV. The $`\varphi `$ mesons were identified through their $`K^+K^{}`$ decay mode. Because of the small acceptance of $`K^{}`$ due to the CLAS magnetic field setting, we required only three final-state particles to be detected: electron, proton, and $`K^+`$. The $`K^{}`$ was reconstructed by identification in the $`epK^+(X)`$ missing mass. The momenta of charged tracks were reconstructed from their curvature in the CLAS magnetic field using a system of drift chambers . The data reduction process selected about 82,000 events for further analysis. The size of this filtered data sample was compact ($``$ 0.5 GigaByte) and easily manageable in comparison with the size of the entire data set ($``$ 1 TeraByte).

Electron Identification. In addition to a fiducial requirement that an electron hit be at least 10 cm from the outer edge of the electromagnetic calorimeter, cuts on energy deposition in the EC were applied in order to avoid misidentification of $`\pi ^{}`$ as $`e^{}`$. The total energy deposited by an electron in the EC is proportional to the momentum determined by magnetic analysis. This dependence is illustrated in Fig. 2a. The electron band with the width of the EC resolution is clearly seen. In order to cut out hadronic background, we applied cuts around this band (the solid lines in Fig. 2a). An additional improvement in e-/$`\pi ^{}`$ separation was achieved by cutting out the $`\pi ^{}`$ signal based on the energy deposited in the inner layer of the calorimeter as shown in Fig. 2b. The cluster of entries to the left of the line is the $`\pi ^{}`$ signal in the EC. The solid line is the applied cut ($`E_{in}>0.04`$ GeV) to eliminate pions. To determine this cut we used $`\pi ^{}`$ identified by the Time-of-Flight system (TOF) of the CLAS .

Hadron Identification. The identification of charged hadrons is illustrated in Fig. 3. The distribution of positively charged particle momenta versus reconstructed mass is shown in Fig. 3a. Proton, kaon, and positive pion bands are clearly distinguished. The width of the reconstructed mass increases with momentum. However, there is no systematic dependence after careful timing calibration of the detector .

$`K^+`$ Identification. In order to optimize the signal-to-background ratio in kaon identification, the kaon momentum range was divided into six bins. In each bin the mass distribution was fitted to a Gaussian with a polynomial background to determine the characteristics of the $`K^+`$ peak. An example of this procedure is shown in Figs. 3a-b. The horizontal lines in Fig. 3a show the momentum bins for $`K^+`$ identification, and the fitting result for one of the bins is illustrated in Fig. 3b. To identify kaons, $`\pm `$2$`\sigma `$ cuts were applied around the mean value $`m_{K^+}`$.

Proton Identification. The proton signal is very clean and does not have a significant background contribution. For proton identification we applied a simple reconstructed mass cut from 0.8 to 1.1 GeV.

$`K^{}`$ Identification. We identified the $`K^{}`$ using the missing mass technique. The $`K^{}`$ band is clearly seen in Fig. 4a. The selection used $`\pm 2\sigma `$ cuts around the $`K^{}`$ peak. The invariant mass, $`M_{KK}`$, of the $`K^+K^{}`$ is computed using the known mass of the kaons, the measured momentum of the $`K^+`$ and the missing momentum of the event for the $`K^{}`$. We note that because the masses are large compared to the momenta of the particles, this quantity has significantly better resolution than the $`epX`$ missing mass.

Identification of the Signal. Applying the electron and hadron identification cuts described above, we identified about 3800 events of the $`epK^+K^{}`$ final state. In order to eliminate events caused by false triggers on low energy electrons (e.g. from $`\pi ^{}`$ Dalitz decays) we also required the energy transfer, $`\nu =E_eE_e^{}`$, to be smaller than 3.5 GeV. The selected sample includes $`\varphi `$ mesons, high mass hyperons, and background events that come from particle misidentification.

The most important features of the final selection are shown in Figs. 4a-c. In the scatter plot of $`epK^+X`$ versus $`epX`$ missing mass (see Fig. 4a) the signal of the $`epK^+K^{}`$ final state is clearly distinguished from the rest of the data. The lines solid show the $`\pm 2\sigma `$ selection cuts in the reconstructed $`K^{}`$ mass. Fig. 4b shows the $`M_{KK}`$ mass distribution of the selected final state with a prominent peak due to exciting $`\varphi `$ particles. To extract the total $`\varphi `$ yield, we fitted the peak with a Gaussian (the integral is shown as the filled area in the plot) and the background with an empirical phase space function,

$`f(M_{KK})`$ $`=`$ $`A\sqrt{M_{KK}^2M_{th}^2}+B(M_{KK}^2M_{th}^2),`$ (2)
where the threshold $`M_{th}=0.987`$ GeV. The fit gives $`N_\varphi =248`$, a mean value $`M_{KK}=1019.1\pm 0.6`$ MeV, and $`\sigma =6.0\pm 0.6`$ MeV, where the width of the peak is dominated by the resolution of CLAS. The mass of the $`\varphi `$ is 1019.417 $`\pm `$ 0.014 MeV, and the decay width (FWHM) is 4.458 $`\pm `$ 0.032 MeV . The $`\varphi `$ signal-to-background ratio is 0.7 within $`\pm 2\sigma `$ from the mean value of the $`\varphi `$ peak.

The primary source of physical background consists of high mass hyperons, $`epe^{}K^+Y^{}`$, with a subsequent decay $`Y^{}N\overline{K}`$. The production and decay amplitudes of these particles are not well known. The main channel is the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(1520)`$ with a cross section larger than $`\varphi `$ production. Additional contributions come from $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(1600)`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(1800)`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(1820)`$, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(1660)`$, and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(1750)`$, which have large branching ratios for decay into the $`N\overline{K}`$ channel . These backgrounds were investigated by Monte Carlo using exactly the same algorithms as the experimental data in order to optimize selection cuts. In order to minimize the number of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$(1520) in the data sample, we require M$`{}_{X}{}^{}(eK^+X)`$ to be greater than 1.56 GeV. The cut is shown for the data sample with the solid line in Fig. 4c.

The $`M_{KK}`$ mass distribution with the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$(1520) cut applied is shown in Fig. 4d. The simultaneous fit of the $`\varphi `$ peak and the background gives $`N_\varphi =197`$, a mean value $`M_{KK}=1019.4\pm 0.9`$ MeV, and $`\sigma =6.4\pm 1.1`$ MeV. The $`\varphi `$ signal-to-background ratio is improved, and equals 1.3 within $`\pm 2\sigma `$ of the $`\varphi `$ peak. The remaining background, consistent with phase space, is due to high-mass hyperon states, non-resonant $`K^+K^{}`$ production and experimental misidentification of a $`\pi ^+`$ as a $`K^+`$ (events under the $`K^+`$ peak in Fig. 3b). We note that the level of the background under the $`\varphi `$ peak depends on the fitting procedure, and will be addressed when we discuss systematic errors.

The kinematic range of the data sample is shown in Fig. 5. The range of $`Q^2`$ varies from 0.7 to 2.2 GeV2, $`W`$ from 2.0 to 2.6 GeV, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ from 1.8 to 4.0 GeV-1 ($`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ from 0.35 to 0.79 fm). The small values of $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ indicate that the formation distance in our kinematic regime is below the hadron size, $`2r_h2`$ fm. The data binning to calculate the exponential $`t`$-slope (see below) is indicated in Fig. 5 by horizontal dashed lines, which show the ranges of $`Q^2`$ (integrated over $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$) and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ (integrated over $`Q^2`$). In both cases the data range in $`W`$ is the same (solid lines in Fig. 5a). We note that finer binning in $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$ is used for the evaluation of the cross sections integrated over $`t^{}`$.

Ideally, with enough statistics and an understanding of the background shape, fits would be used to extract the signal yield in every kinematic bin of interest. With limited statistics this is not possible, and we proceeded by using a side-band subtraction technique.

Background Subtraction. The side-band technique, as illustrated in Fig. 6, was used to determine the background distribution as a function of $`Q^2`$, $`W`$ and $`t^{}`$. The signal region was determined within a $`\pm 2\sigma `$ cut around $`M_\varphi `$ after excluding the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$(1520) from the final state data sample. The side bands were located $`\pm 3\sigma `$ away from the $`\varphi `$ peak, and the number within the band was scaled to the background as determined by the fit (see Fig. 4d). The normalized side-band events were then subtracted in each distribution of interest. This procedure is illustrated in Fig. 6 for the entire data set and was repeated for each kinematic region defined in Table 1.

| Kinematic | $`Q^2`$ and $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ | $`Q^2`$ | $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ | $`b_\varphi `$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| region | range | (GeV2) | (fm) | (GeV-2) |
| All Data | 0.7 – 2.2 GeV2 | 1.02 |  | 2.27$`\pm `$0.42 |
|  | 0.35 – 0.75 fm |  | 0.6 |  |
| Low $`Q^2`$ | 0.7 – 1.2 GeV2 | 0.87 |  | 2.31$`\pm `$0.59 |
| High $`Q^2`$ | 1.2 – 2.2 GeV2 | 1.47 |  | 2.10$`\pm `$0.52 |
| Low $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ | 0.35 – 0.55 fm |  | 0.49 | 2.04$`\pm `$0.42 |
| High $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ | 0.55 – 0.75 fm |  | 0.63 | 2.12$`\pm `$0.46 |

TABLE 1. The measured values of the $`t`$-slope parameter, $`b_\varphi `$, fitted to the data for $`t^{}<`$ 1.2 GeV2. The errors are statistical only.

Acceptance. For the calculation of the acceptance, we used a GEANT-based simulation of CLAS, taking into account trigger efficiency, problematic hardware channels, and the CLAS resolution. The Monte Carlo event sample was generated assuming the VMD model for $`\varphi `$ electroproduction. Two iterations in the acceptance calculation were made to adjust the VMD parameters to be close to the data. In each kinematic region, the acceptance was calculated from the ratio of reconstructed to generated $`\varphi `$ events with the same kinematics and particle identification cuts that were applied to the data. Fig. 7 shows the acceptance as a function of $`Q^2`$ and $`t^{}`$ for the entire data set. This procedure was also used to calculate the acceptance as a function of $`W`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ in each kinematic bin.

Radiative Corrections. For the calculation of the radiative corrections, we used the peaking approximation . We define the radiative corrections in each bin of every kinematic variable as the ratio $`F^{rad}=N_{norad}/N_{rad}`$, where $`N_{rad}`$ and $`N_{norad}`$ are the generated $`\varphi `$ yields with radiative effects turned on and off, respectively. The model for the $`\varphi `$ production cross section employed for the computation of acceptance was also used for the studies of radiative corrections. The ratios were calculated with the same kinematics and particle identification cuts that were applied to the data. The simulated $`\varphi `$ mass distributions with and without radiative effects are shown in Fig. 8a. The inverse radiative correction factor, 1/$`F^{rad}`$, as a function of $`Q^2`$ is shown in Fig. 8b. The correction factors as a function of $`t^{}`$ in all four kinematic regions are of the order of 1.4 and uniform over the kinematics considered here.

| $`Q^2`$ bin | $`W`$ | $`ϵ`$ | $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$($`Q^2`$,$`W`$) | $`\sigma (Q^2,W)`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| (GeV2) | (GeV) |  | ($`10^4`$ GeV-3) | (nb) |
| 0.8 – 1.0 | 2.37 | 0.51 | 1.50 $`\pm `$ 0.15 | 27.6 $`\pm `$ 6.1 |
| 1.0 – 1.2 | 2.31 | 0.50 | 1.12 $`\pm `$ 0.10 | 24.2 $`\pm `$ 5.4 |
| 1.2 – 1.4 | 2.28 | 0.49 | 0.879 $`\pm `$ 0.067 | 23.0 $`\pm `$ 5.2 |
| 1.4 – 1.6 | 2.28 | 0.44 | 0.701 $`\pm `$ 0.050 | 20.8 $`\pm `$ 5.7 |
| 1.6 – 1.8 | 2.25 | 0.42 | 0.562 $`\pm `$ 0.033 | 14.5 $`\pm `$ 6.4 |

TABLE 2. The averaged values of $`W`$, $`ϵ`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$($`Q^2`$,$`W`$), and $`\sigma (Q^2,W)`$ as a function of $`Q^2`$. The numbers given for the virtual photon flux, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$($`Q^2`$,$`W`$), computed event-by-event, are the mean and the standard deviation for the bin.

Data Normalization. The final step in the analysis procedure was the normalization of the $`\varphi `$ yield to the integrated luminosity, the virtual photon flux, and all calculated corrections as:

$`\sigma (Q^2,W)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{N_\varphi /BR_{\varphi K^+K^{}}}{\mathrm{\Delta }Q^2\mathrm{\Delta }W}}{\displaystyle \frac{F^{acc}F^{rad}F^{win}}{2\pi \mathrm{\Gamma }(Q^2,W)L_{int}}},`$ (3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }Q^2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$ are the bin widths in $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(Q^2,W)`$ is the virtual photon flux, $`L_{int}`$ is the integrated luminosity, $`N_\varphi `$ is the $`\varphi `$ yield in the bin, $`F^{acc}`$ is the acceptance factor in a given bin, $`F^{win}`$ is a small correction factor for production from the target windows ($`1\%`$), $`F^{rad}`$ is the radiative correction factor, and $`BR=0.492\pm 0.007`$ is the decay branching ratio for $`\varphi K^+K^{}`$ . The virtual photon flux was calculated on an event-by-event basis and averaged for each kinematic bin as

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }(Q^2,W)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{8\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{W}{M_pE_e^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{W^2M_p^2}{M_pQ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1ϵ}},`$ (4)
where $`M_p`$ is the mass of the proton, $`E_e`$ is the electron beam energy, and $`ϵ`$ is the polarization of the virtual photon:

$`ϵ`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4E_e(E_e\nu )Q^2}{4E_e(E_e\nu )+2\nu ^2+Q^2}}.`$ (5)
Cross Section, $`\sigma (Q^2,W)`$. The cross section integrated over all $`t^{}`$, $`\sigma (Q^2,W)`$, was extracted in five bins over a $`Q^2`$ range from 0.8 to 1.8 GeV2 with a bin width of 0.2 GeV2. The range in $`W`$ was determined as the allowed kinematic range for each $`Q^2`$. The binning, values of the virtual photon flux used during normalization, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$($`Q^2`$,$`W`$), and the measured cross section are given in Table 2. The table shows statistical errors only.

Differential Cross Section, $`d\sigma /dt^{}`$. The measured cross section, $`d\sigma /dt^{}`$, is generally parameterized at small $`t^{}`$ by

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma }{dt^{}}}`$ $`=`$ $`A_\varphi e^{b_\varphi t^{}}.`$ (6)
The entire $`t^{}`$ range ($`0t^{}2.6`$ GeV2) can be fit to a single exponential with a slope $`b_\varphi `$ = 1.61$`\pm `$0.31 GeV-2 and a $`\chi ^2`$ = 0.9/DF. However, Eq. 6 is only expected to be valid at small $`t^{}`$, so we have restricted our analysis to $`t^{}`$ less than 1.2 GeV2 which also allows direct comparison to previous measurements. For this restricted range, we obtain $`b_\varphi `$ = 2.27$`\pm `$0.42 GeV-2 (solid line in Fig. 9). We also performed fits in the four overlapping kinematic regions specified in Table 1: two ranges in $`Q^2`$ (integrated over $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$), and two ranges in $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ (integrated over $`Q^2`$). The results of these fits are given in Table 1.

We note that at larger $`t^{}`$, there is an apparent change in the slope of the distribution with a break at $`t^{}1.3`$ GeV2. This suggests that additional mechanisms may be present at $`t^{}1`$ GeV2. Despite the fact that the break is not statistically significant, we discuss possible mechanisms for a slope change. A similar pattern is observed in hadron-hadron elastic scattering , where a dip is observed at $`t1.4`$ GeV2 followed by a second maximum at $`t1.8`$ GeV2. However, $`\varphi `$ photoproduction data do not show a change in the slope for $`t2`$ GeV2 . $`S`$-channel production of resonances results in a large measured value of $`t^{}`$. However, there are no known resonances that decay into $`\varphi N`$. Finally, imperfect background subtraction could also lead to an enhancement at large $`t^{}`$, but should be subsumed into our quoted systematic errors.

| Source | $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma (\%)`$ | $`\mathrm{\Delta }b_\varphi (\%)`$ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Target stability | 0.7 |  |
| Target walls | 1.0 |  |
| Acceptance | 7.8 | 5.0 |
| Radiative corrections | 4.7 |  |
| Background subtraction | 5.4 | 4.6 |
| Total | 10.7 | 6.8 |

TABLE 3. Summary of the contributions to the systematic errors.

Systematic Errors. Estimates of our systematic errors for the cross section, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma `$, and the $`t`$-slope parameter, $`\mathrm{\Delta }b_\varphi `$, are given in Table 3. The errors are averaged over the kinematics of the experiment, although the lowest Q2 cross section point may have about twice this systematic uncertainty due to the steepness of the acceptance function (see Fig. 7a). To estimate the systematic errors due to background subtraction, a complete analysis of the cross section and $`t`$-slope parameter was performed using two different assumptions for the shape of the background: phase space and a constant. The difference between these results is quoted as the systematic error due to background subtraction. The systematic errors due to acceptance and radiative corrections are discussed in Ref.  and , respectively. Additional details can be found in Ref. . We note that the overall uncertainty is dominated by statistical errors.

## III Results

Cross Section Dependence on $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$. The world data on elastic virtual photon production of $`\varphi `$ mesons are shown as a function of $`Q^2`$ in Fig. 10, and as a function of $`W`$ in Fig. 11. Selected photoproduction data are also plotted for completeness. Additional data of $`\varphi `$ production on nuclear targets  are available at $`W`$ 14 GeV. We show the data on both plots with common symbols.

All HERA data  correspond to $`W`$ ranging from 40 to 130 GeV, where the gluonic density in the proton at low $`x=Q^2/2M_p\nu `$ plays a significant role. Only the Cornell measurement  exists at low $`W`$, corresponding to $`x`$ in the valence region. §§§We note that data points from Ref.  have different integration ranges for the cross section as a function of $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$ presented in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. For the high-energy data, the $`Q^2`$ behavior of the cross section is well described by the vector meson propagator squared. The data are not yet in the asymptotic perturbative QCD regime where the longitudinal cross section for vector meson production is dominant, and should scale as $`Q^6`$ . Nevertheless, the longitudinal contribution becomes increasingly important and must be treated systematically. For example, $`\rho `$ mesons in muoproduction at large $`Q^2`$ are found to be dominantly in the helicity zero spin state .

Pomeron-exchange models, such as those described in the introduction, reproduce the $`Q^4`$ behavior of the data at large $`Q^2`$. The predictions of a model , based on the Donnachie-Landshoff pomeron exchange (Fig. 1b), are shown in Fig. 10 for the $`W`$ range of our experiment ($`2.0<W<2.6`$ GeV) and at $`W`$=70 GeV. The model describes the data reasonably well at high $`W`$, and reproduces the trend at low $`W`$, but overestimates the new cross section results presented here. We note that our data are close to the $`\varphi `$ production threshold, where the cross section increases rapidly as a function of center-of-mass energy. In the model of Pichowsky , the transition from a cross section that slowly decreases with $`Q^2`$ to one that falls off as $`Q^4`$ occurs at a threshold that increases with the current-quark mass of the vector meson. No clear threshold is visible in the $`\varphi `$ data, but the scarcity of points precludes drawing conclusions.

The photoproduction cross section increases slowly with $`W`$, reflecting the pomeron trajectory. At higher $`Q^2`$, a stronger dependence on $`W`$ has been observed in preliminary analysis of HERA data . If the cross section is parameterized as $`W^\delta `$, $`\delta `$ varies from about 0.2 for photoproduction to $`\delta 0.7`$ at a $`Q^2`$ of 8 GeV2. This increased dependence of the cross section on $`W`$ has been interpreted as being due to the rise of the gluon momentum density in the proton at small $`x`$ .

To be able to extract the $`W`$ dependence by comparing our measurement at $`Q^2`$ = 1.3 GeV2 to HERA data at the same $`Q^2`$ and $`W=75`$ GeV, threshold effects must be taken into account. For example, threshold behavior can be clearly seen in the photoproduction data  (see Fig. 11). The reduced phase space near threshold behaves as $`(\stackrel{}{p}_\varphi /\stackrel{}{q})^2`$, where $`\stackrel{}{p}_\varphi `$ and $`\stackrel{}{q}`$ are the center-of-mass three-momenta of the $`\varphi `$ and virtual photon, respectively. This dependence of the cross section on $`W`$ can be parameterized as

$`\sigma (W)`$ $`=`$ $`\sigma _{}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{}{p}_\varphi }{\stackrel{}{q}}}\right)^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{W}{W_{}}}\right)^\delta .`$ (7)
Correcting for the threshold factor, our measurement of the cross section becomes $`\sigma _{corr}(Q^2=1.3)`$ = 110$`\pm `$27 nb, and using the HERA measurement, $`\sigma (Q^2=1.3)`$ = 220$`\pm `$51 nb , we obtain $`\delta `$ = 0.2$`\pm `$0.1. The quoted uncertainties were obtained by summing the statistical and systematic errors in quadrature. This slope is consistent with that measured in photoproduction. The curves of $`\sigma (W)`$ are shown in Fig. 11 for $`Q^2`$ of 0, 1.3 and 2.2 GeV2, and $`\delta =0.2`$. The curves are normalized to the HERA data ($`\sigma _{}`$, $`W_{}`$) that are far from the production threshold.

Dependence of $`t`$-slope on $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$. The dependence of the $`t`$-slope, $`b_\varphi `$, on formation distance, $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$, for $`\varphi `$ meson production is shown in Fig. 12 together with previous data. In the terminology of the uncertainty principle, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ is the time during which the virtual photon, with mass $`\sqrt{Q^2}`$, can fluctuate into a $`\varphi `$ meson . We expect that $`b_\varphi `$ should decrease at low $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ as the interaction becomes more point-like. The previous electroproduction measurements  do not show the expected behavior. However, a consistent picture emerges when we include photoproduction data as well. Both of our data points (solid stars) lie in the region of $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ below 1 fm, and show a decrease of $`b_\varphi `$ with decreasing formation time when combined with other data. This is consistent with the well-measured dependence for $`\rho `$ meson production  as discussed in Appendix B. To fit the $`\varphi `$ meson data to Eq. B5, we constrain the parameter $`r_h`$ to the value extracted from the fit to the $`\rho `$ data (Eq. B6). This yields

$`b_\varphi (c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau )=(6.87\pm 0.17)\left[\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}1}e^{c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau /2(0.78)}\right]`$ (8)
with $`\chi ^2/DF=4.8`$. The fit to the $`\varphi `$ data is shown in Fig. 12 with the solid curve. The ratio of $`b_\varphi /b_\rho `$ indicates that the $`\varphi `$ meson interaction size, $`R_\varphi ^{int}`$, is smaller than that for the $`\rho `$ meson:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{b_\varphi }{b_\rho }}=\left({\displaystyle \frac{R_\varphi ^{int}}{R_\rho ^{int}}}\right)^2=0.87\pm 0.08.`$ (9)
A summary of the existing measurements of $`b_\varphi `$ together with our results is shown in Fig. 13. Previous $`\varphi `$ electroproduction measurements are consistent with no $`Q^2`$ or $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ dependence . We observe a low value of $`b_\varphi `$ 2.2 GeV-2, which, taken together with the values measured in photoproduction, shows a significant dependence on $`Q^2`$. However, the $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`b_\varphi `$ can be explained by the implicit dependence of $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ on $`Q^2`$ (Eq. B7). This is shown in Fig. 13 where we plot the dependence of $`b_\varphi `$ on $`Q^2`$ using Eq. 8 and the relation in Eq. B7 at two values of $`W`$. The lower curve, at $`W=2.3`$ GeV, corresponds to our kinematics and connects our measurements with photoproduction values. The upper curve is closer to the Cornell kinematics.

Because the value of $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ is smaller than the size of the nucleon, the scattering may be considered to be point-like. The application of QCD-inspired models, sensitive to the quark structure of the interacting meson and nucleon, should provide an interesting interpretation of the observed $`b(\mathrm{\Delta }\tau )`$ and $`b(Q^2)`$ dependencies. It has been argued that with increasing $`Q^2`$ the radius of the virtual vector meson will shrink , and a corresponding decrease of $`b`$ should be observed. At large enough $`Q^2`$, quark models  predict the decrease of the transverse dimension of the vector meson as $`r_Vr_hM/\sqrt{M^2+Q^2}`$. The mass scale $`M`$ represents a typical hadronic mass scale, which might be as small as the vector meson mass, e.g. $`M_\varphi `$ = 1020 MeV, but is likely to be large compared to the $`Q^2`$ values of this experiment. Even though we do not need to invoke an explicit $`Q^2`$ dependence to describe our data, we note that the effects of transverse size and fluctuation times are not easily separated, especially when fine binning is prohibitive due to limited statistics.

## IV Summary

The electroproduction of the $`\varphi `$(1020) vector meson was measured for $`Q^2`$ from 0.7 to 2.2 GeV2, $`W`$ from 2.0 to 2.6 GeV, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ from 1.8 to 4.0 GeV-1 ($`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ from 0.35 to 0.79 fm). A sample of 197 $`\varphi `$(1020) mesons was accumulated for the exclusive reaction of $`epe^{}p^{}\varphi `$ with the CLAS detector in Hall B at Jefferson Lab.
(i) Taken together with the world data sample, we find a consistent picture of $`\varphi `$ production on the proton. Yet the scarcity of $`\varphi `$ data do not permit a precise quantitative description of the production process.
(ii) We observe the expected decrease of the slope $`b_\varphi `$ of $`d\sigma /dt^{}`$ on the formation length $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ below 2 fm. The rate of the $`b_\varphi `$ decrease is similar to that in $`\rho `$ meson production, but with a lower asymptotic value. Using a simple geometric model, the data show that the interaction size of $`\varphi `$ mesons with a proton is smaller than for $`\rho `$ mesons.
(iii) The $`\varphi `$ production cross section measurement adds new information at low values of $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$. The cross section dependence on $`Q^2`$ is qualitatively reproduced by pomeron exchange models. The cross section dependence on $`W`$ as $`W^{0.2\pm 0.1}`$ at $`Q^2=1.3`$ GeV2 was determined by comparison to $`\varphi `$ production at HERA after correcting for threshold effects. This dependence is the same as observed in photoproduction.

Additional electro- and photoproduction data from CLAS are currently being analyzed and will increase the overall qualitative and quantitative understanding of the physics that underlies vector meson production.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Accelerator, the Physics Division, and the Hall B technical staff that made this experiment possible. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, including DOE Contract #DE-AC05-84ER40150, the National Science Foundation, the French Commissariat $`\stackrel{`}{\mathrm{a}}`$ l’Energie Atomique, the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, and the Korea Science Engineering Foundation. We would also like to acknowledge useful discussions with D. Cassel, M. Pichowsky and B. Z. Kopeliovich.

## A Notation

We denote the four-momenta of the incident and scattered electron by $`p_e`$ and $`p_e^{}`$, the virtual photon by $`qp_ep_e^{}`$, and the target and recoil proton by $`p_p`$ and $`p_p^{}`$. Each four-vector can be written as ($`E`$, $`\stackrel{}{p}`$) with appropriate subscripts. We use the common notation for Lorentz invariants: $`Q^2=q^2>0`$, $`\nu =qp_p/M_p`$ ($`M_p`$ is the mass of the proton), the squared hadronic center-of-mass energy $`W^2=(q+p_p)^2`$, and $`t=(p_pp_p^{})^2`$ is the four-momentum transfer to the target. The above-threshold momentum transfer is given by $`t^{}=tt_{min}(Q^2,W)<0`$, where $`t_{min}`$ is the minimum value of $`t`$ for fixed kinematics.

## B Geometric Model

We describe a qualitative picture of vector meson diffractive scattering within a simple geometric model. A sketch of the process is shown in Fig. 14. The virtual photon is converted into the virtual vector meson (of radius $`r_V`$), which diffractively interacts with the proton (of radius $`r_h`$) during a formation time $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$. Differential elastic cross sections are closely related to the charge form factors $`F(t)`$ of colliding hadrons at high energy . For small values of $`t`$, the form factors are related to the charge radii $`r^2`$, via

$`F(t)=1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}r^2t+O(t^2).`$ (B1)
For hadron-hadron elastic scattering , the cross sections depend exponentially on t:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma /dt}{(d\sigma /dt)_{t=0}}}=e^{bt}.`$ (B2)
Comparison of equations B1 and B2, and noting that the cross section is proportional to the square of the form factor, leads to a relationship between the radius of interaction, $`R_V^{int}`$, and the $`t`$-slope parameter $`b`$:

$`b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\left(R_V^{int}\right)^2.`$ (B3)
The radius of interaction can be written as

$`(R_V^{int})^2`$ $``$ $`r_h^2+r_V^2(Q^2),`$ (B4)
where $`r_h`$ and $`r_V`$ are the radii of the nucleon and vector meson, respectively.

Because of the virtuality of the vector meson, the interaction region should also decrease if the formation distance is less than the size of the nucleon (c$`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ $`\stackrel{<}{}`$ $`2r_h`$ 2 fm). A representative sample of the large body of $`\rho `$ data shown in Fig. 15 suggests the following phenomenological parameterization for the $`t`$-slope dependence on $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$:

$`b(c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}(1e^{c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau /2r_h})\left(R_V^{int}\right)^2.`$ (B5)
A two-parameter fit to Eq. B5, ignoring any explicit dependence of $`r_\rho `$ on $`Q^2`$, yields

$`b_\rho (c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau )=(7.86\pm 0.26)\left[\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}1}e^{c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau /2(0.78\pm 0.05)}\right]`$ (B6)
with $`\chi ^2/DF=2.08`$.

However, Eq. B5 also has an indirect dependence on $`Q^2`$ through $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$. At fixed $`W`$, we can write Eq. 1 as

$`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{c(W^2M_p^2+Q^2)}{M_p(Q^2+M_\rho ^2)}}`$ (B7)
Thus, we can plot Eq. B5 as a function of $`Q^2`$, using this expression for $`c\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$. This is shown in Fig. 16 for $`\rho `$ data at the fixed value of $`W`$ = 2.6 GeV . Thus, we see that most, if not all, of the variation of the slope parameter $`b`$ can be accounted for by changes in the fluctuation time.

For the kinematics of this experiment, c$`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$ ($`0.5`$ fm) is small compared to the size of the nucleon, so we expect the fluctuation time factor to be significant for our $`\varphi `$ data.