format: text

text:
# Cosmic string induced sheet like baryon inhomogeneities at quark-hadron transition

## I Introduction

Generation of baryon inhomogeneities during quark-hadron transition is an important issue due to its consequences for the nucleosynthesis, and the possibility of creating compact baryon rich objects . Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the investigation of nucleosynthesis in the presence of baryon number inhomogeneities, the so called inhomogeneous big bang nucleosynthesis (IBBN) . This originates from the recent measurements of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) by the BOOMERANG, and MAXIMA experiments , which lead to a value of baryon density to critical density ratio $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ which is larger than the value allowed by the conventional models of homogeneous nucleosynthesis. Earlier, there have been numerous investigations of the nature of baryon inhomogeneities generated during a first order quark-hadron phase transition  and its effects on the abundances of various elements . In these investigations, baryon inhomogeneities arise due to moving bubble walls at the transition, with baryons getting concentrated in the remaining localized quark-gluon plasma (QGP) regions. Typical separation, $`l_{inhm}`$, between such localized baryonic lumps is of the order of separation between the nucleation sites of the hadronic bubbles, which is at most of the order of few cm at the end of the quark-hadron transition for homogeneous nucleation. In order that these baryonic lumps survive various dissipative processes, such as baryon diffusion, neutrino inflation etc., up to the time of nucleosynthesis, the required separation of these lumps is of the order of few meters .

There have been some attempts of getting a larger separation between baryon inhomogeneity regions, $`l_{inhm}`$, by deviating form the homogeneous nucleation theory. Christiansen and Madsen have argued  that sufficiently large values of $`l_{inhm}`$ can arise in the presence of impurities due to heterogeneous nucleation of hadronic bubbles. It is mentioned in ref. that possible sources of such impurities could be primordial black holes, cosmic strings, magnetic monopoles, or relic fluctuations from the electroweak scale. Hadronic bubbles are expected to nucleate at these impurities with enhanced rates, leading to separation between baryon rich regions being of the order of typical separation between impurities. Recently, Ignatius and Schwarz have proposed  that the presence of density fluctuations (which could arise at the time of inflation) at quark-hadron transition will lead to splitting of the region in hot and cold regions with cold regions converting to hadronic phase first. Baryons will then get trapped in the (initially) hotter regions. Estimates of sizes and separations of such density fluctuations were made in ref. using COBE measurements of the temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation arising from the density fluctuations responsible for the structure formation in the universe. It was argued in ref. that it is possible to get $`l_{inhm}`$ as large as few meters.

There are many possible sources of density fluctuations in the early universe, inflation being one such possibility. Cosmic defects (strings, monopoles, textures) also lead to density fluctuations in the universe. There has been extensive study of density fluctuations generated by cosmic strings from the point of view of structure formation . In this paper we study the influence of density fluctuations produced by cosmic strings on the dynamics of the quark-hadron transition. Though recent measurements of temperature anisotropies in the microwave background by BOOMERANG, and MAXIMA experiments  at angular scales of $`\mathrm{}`$ 200 disfavor models of structure formation based exclusively on cosmic strings . Still, due to many uncertainties in the scaling models of cosmic string network evolution one can not rule them out as candidates of sources of required density fluctuations. Some feature of the evolving string network which is capable of introducing super horizon string correlations, may be able to make these models compatible with recent observations. Further, even with present models, it is not ruled out that cosmic strings may contribute to some part in the structure formation in the universe. Above all, cosmic strings generically arise in many Grand Unified Theory (GUT) models. If the GUT scale is somewhat lower than $`10^{16}`$ GeV then the resulting cosmic strings will not be relevant for structure formation, but they will still affect various stages of the evolution of the universe in important ways. (For a discussion of these issues, see .) It is in this spirit that we undertake the study of the effects of cosmic strings on quark-hadron phase transition.

We will show that very interesting effects can arise due to cosmic strings, such as generation of sheet like baryonic inhomogeneities spreading across the horizon. Typical separation between such sheets will be of the order of a km at quark-hadron transition stage. (For simplicity we do not consider here the effects of density fluctuations due to oscillating string loops. These will give rise to localized regions of baryon inhomogeneity.) There is no other model known which can lead to such large values of separations between baryon inhomogeneity regions. Such inhomogeneities will have important effects on the nucleosynthesis. One could also reverse the argument and study the constraints on various cosmic string parameters which will arise from various elemental abundances from inhomogeneous nucleosynthesis in such a model.

As we mentioned above, a re-consideration of the models of IBBN is well motivated at the present stage due to recent measurements of the angular power spectrum of CMBR . These results imply a value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ which is larger than that allowed by the conventional homogeneous nucleosynthesis. In this context we mention that a recent analysis by Kurki-Suonio and Sihvola  shows that the results of IBBN may be (marginally) compatible with this large value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ as required by the recent CMBR measurements . However, as pointed out in ref., this agreement can be achieved only if regions of baryon inhomogeneity are separated by a distance scale of about 35-70 km (at T = 1 MeV), and if these regions have a more planar structure with high surface to volume ratio. It is intriguing that the baryon inhomogeneities generated by cosmic strings in our model satisfy both these criterion. These are clearly planar structures. Further, distance between these sheets at quark-hadron transition being of order 1 km (or somewhat smaller) will translate to about 100 km distance scale at T = 1 MeV.

## II Cosmic string wakes in a relativistic fluid

We first briefly review the structure of density fluctuations produced by a cosmic string moving through a relativistic fluid. The space-time around a straight cosmic string (along the z axis) is given by the following metric ,

$$ds^2=dt^2dz^2dr^2(14G\mu )^2r^2d\varphi ^2,$$
(1)
where $`\mu `$ is the string tension. This metric describes a conical space, with a deficit angle of $`8\pi G\mu `$. This metric can be put in the form of the Minkowski metric by defining angle $`\varphi ^{}=(14G\mu )\varphi `$. However, now $`\varphi ^{}`$ varies between 0 and $`(14G\mu )2\pi `$, that is, a wedge of opening angle $`8\pi G\mu `$ is removed from the Minkowski space, with the two boundaries of the wedge being identified. It is well known that in this space-time, two geodesics going along the opposite sides of the string, bend towards each other . This results in binary images of distant objects, and can lead to planar density fluctuations. These wakes arise as the string moves through the background medium, giving rise to velocity impulse for the particles in the direction of the surface swept by the moving string. For collisionless cold dark matter particles the resulting velocity impulse is , $`v_{impls}4\pi G\mu v_{st}\gamma _{st}`$ (where $`v_{st}`$ is the transverse velocity of the string). This leads to a wedge like region of overdensity, with the wedge angle being of order of the deficit angle, i.e. $`8\pi G\mu `$ ($`10^5`$ for GUT strings). The density fluctuation in the wake is of order one. Subsequent growth of this wake by gravitational instability has been analyzed in great detail in literature .

The structure of this wake is easy to see for collisionless particles (whether non-relativistic, or relativistic). Each particle trajectory passing by the string bends by an angle of order $`4\pi G\mu `$ towards the string. In the string rest frame, take the string to be at the origin, aligned along the z axis, such that the particles are moving along the $`x`$ axis. Then it is easy to see that particles coming from positive $`x`$ axis in the upper/lower half plane will all be above/below the line making an angle $`4\pi G\mu `$ from the negative $`x`$ axis. This implies that the particles will overlap in the wedge of angle $`8\pi G\mu `$ behind the string leading to a wake with density twice of the background density. One thus expects a wake with half angle $`\theta _w`$ and an overdensity $`\delta \rho /\rho `$ where ,

$$\theta _w4\pi G\mu ,\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho }1.$$
(2)
However, our interest is in the density fluctuations generated by the strings at the quark-hadron transition in the early universe. At that stage, it is not proper to take the matter as consisting of collisionless particles. A suitable description of matter at that stage is in terms of a relativistic fluid which we will take to be an ideal fluid consisting of elementary particles in the QGP phase, and consisting of hadrons in the hadronic phase. Generation of density fluctuations due to a cosmic string moving through a relativistic fluid has been analyzed in the literature . The study in ref. focussed on the properties of shock formed due to supersonic motion of the string through the fluid. In the weak shock approximation, one finds a wake of overdensity behind the string. In this treatment one can not get very strong shocks with large overdensities. In refs. , a general relativistic treatment of the shock was given which is also applicable for ultra-relativistic string velocities. The treatment in ref. is more complete in the sense that the equations of motion of a relativistic fluid are solved in the string space-time (Eq.(1)), and both subsonic and supersonic flows are analyzed. One finds that for supersonic flow, a shock develops behind the string, just as in the study of ref. . In the treatment of ref. one recovers the usual wake structure of overdensity (with the wake angle being of order $`G\mu `$) as the string approaches ultra-relativistic velocities. Also the overdensity becomes of order one in this regime. For smaller string velocities, the results of  and  are roughly in agreement.

In the following we will reproduce some of the relevant results from these papers. It is not expected that the string will move with ultra-relativistic velocities in the early universe. Various simulations have shown that rms velocity of string segments is about 0.6  for which the shock will be weak. In this situation, any of the approaches of refs. can be followed. We will briefly discuss the properties of shock, along the lines of discussion in ref.. We will also reproduce some relevant results from ref.. These two sets of results will span the range of various parameters of interest for us.

The basic idea in the study of ref. is that the situation of a string moving through the fluid is the same as the situation when the fluid flows past a wedge with the wedge angle being the same as the deficit angle associated with the cosmic string. If the string velocity exceeds the sound speed in the fluid then one gets shock waves. The properties of the shock can be determined following the standard treatment of shocks .

Fig.1 shows the two dimensional spatial slice, with the string being perpendicular to the plane and located at the point marked as O. Direction of fluid flow is shown by arrows. Dark shaded region denotes the region of the shock with overdensity. The fluid region in the front of the shock has background energy density. The wedge with white interior denotes the deficit space, with the upper edge identified with the lower edge. Due to reflection symmetry of the problem, and due to the identification of upper and lower wedge boundaries, it is easy to see  that the direction of flow must be parallel to the upper and lower wedge boundaries respectively (forming the deficit region). The situation is thus indistinguishable from the situation of fluid flow past a wedge with wedge angle being the same as the deficit angle, i.e. $`8\pi G\mu `$. We will denote the fluid variables in front of the shock and in the back of the shock by using subscripts 1 and 2 respectively.

The energy momentum tensor of the fluid is taken to be of the perfect fluid form:

$$T^{\mu \nu }=wu^\mu u^\nu +p\eta ^{\mu \nu }.$$
(3)
Here $`w=\rho +p`$, $`\rho `$ and $`p`$ are energy density and pressure respectively. $`\mu ,\nu =0,1,2,3`$. Note that we use the flat metric $`\eta ^{\mu \nu }`$ here as the problem of conical space-time is now mapped to that of fluid flow past a wedge in the Minkowski space-time.

Certain continuity conditions must be satisfied at the surface of the shock. These are ,

$$T_1^{0n}=T_2^{0n},T_1^{nn}=T_2^{nn}.$$
(4)
Here superscript $`n`$ denotes the direction normal to the shock surface and subscripts 1 and 2 denote pre-shock and post-shock regions. These conditions give (using Eq.(3)),

$`\gamma _{1n}^2(\rho _1+p_1)v_{1n}=\gamma _{2n}^2(\rho _2+p_2)v_{2n},`$ (5)
$`\gamma _{1n}^2(\rho _1v_{1n}^2+p_1)=\gamma _{2n}^2(\rho _2v_{2n}^2+p_2).`$ (6)
Here $`\gamma _{1n}=1/\sqrt{1v_{1n}^2}`$ is the relativistic $`\gamma `$ factor corresponding to velocity $`v_{1n}`$ (similarly for $`\gamma _{2n}`$). In the rest frame of the shock surface, we have,

$$v_{1n}=v_fsin(\theta +4\pi G\mu ),v_{2n}=v_2sin(\theta ).$$
(7)
$`v_f`$ is the velocity of the fluid in the cosmic string rest frame in region 1. Thus, $`v_f`$ is the string velocity $`v_{string}`$ in the background plasma rest frame. Now, in addition to the continuity conditions in Eqs.(5),(6), we also require continuity of the component of velocity parallel to the shock. That is,

$$v_2cos(\theta )=v_1cos(\theta +4\pi G\mu ).$$
(8)
By writing the overdensity $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho =\rho _2\rho _1`$ and overpressure $`\mathrm{\Delta }p=p_2p_1`$, (and using $`G\mu <<1`$), one can determine various properties of the shock using above set of equations. We get,

$$\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho _1}\frac{16\pi G\mu v_f^2}{3\sqrt{v_f^2v_s^2}},sin\theta \frac{v_s}{v_f}.$$
(9)
For the first equation above we have used $`p_1=\rho _1/3`$ appropriate for relativistic ideal fluid. For the second equation we have used $`\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }p}{\mathrm{\Delta }\rho }=v_s^2`$ where $`v_s=1/\sqrt{3}`$ is the isentropic sound speed. (To show that the shock is isentropic, one needs to consider additional continuity condition for particle number, see ).

Eq.(9) contains all the relevant information for the overdense region behind the string. The regime of validity of these equations is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho /\rho ,\mathrm{\Delta }p/p<<1`$. For ultra-relativistic case, we use expressions from ref.. These are expressed in terms of fluid and sound four velocities, (in weak shock limit),

$$\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho _1}\frac{16\pi G\mu u_f^2(1+u_s^2)}{3u_s\sqrt{u_f^2u_s^2}},sin\theta \frac{u_s}{u_f},$$
(10)
where $`u_f=v_f/\sqrt{1v_f^2}`$ and $`u_s=v_s/\sqrt{1v_s^2}`$. We see that in the non-relativistic regime Eq.(9) and Eq.(10) give roughly similar results. However, in the ultra-relativistic regime the shock properties obtained from these two sets of equations are very different (still within the regime of validity of the two treatments). The parameters of relevance for us are $`\theta `$ and $`\delta \rho /\rho `$. In Fig.2 we have given the plots of the values of these as obtained by the above two sets of equations. As we are interested in temperatures close to $`T_c`$, in a close enough neighborhood of $`T_c`$, the speed of sound becomes very small . Thus, in Fig.2 we give plots for the value of speed of sound $`v_s=1/\sqrt{3}`$ (shown by thick curves), as well as $`v_s=0.1`$ (thin curves) .

When string velocity is ultra-relativistic, then one can get strong overdensities (of order 1) and the angle of the wake approaches the deficit angle $`8\pi G\mu `$. For string velocities in the range of 0.6 - 0.9 the predictions of the two sets are roughly similar (within a factor of order one). We will use a sample value corresponding to string velocity of 0.9 for which we take,

$$\theta _w20^0,\delta \rho /\rho 3\times 10^5.$$
(11)
These values correspond to those obtained from Eq.10 for $`v_s=1/\sqrt{3}`$. As mentioned earlier, the overdensities expected of collisionless matter are of order 1, with the wake angle being of order of the deficit angle (as given in Eq.(2)). This is what one also gets from the treatment in  for ultra-relativistic string velocities. Thus we will also consider this set of values. With this, we are now set to get back to our problem of understanding the effects of these density fluctuations on quark-hadron transition in the universe.

## III Effect of string wakes on quark-hadron transition

In the conventional picture of the quark-hadron transition, the transition proceeds as follows . As the universe cools below the critical temperature $`T_c`$ of the transition, hadronic bubbles of size larger than a certain critical size can nucleate in the QGP background. These bubbles will then grow, coalesce, and eventually convert the QGP phase to the hadronic phase. The details of this transition lead to an interesting and complex picture . Very close to $`T_c`$ the critical size of the bubbles is too large, and their nucleation rate too small, to be relevant for the transition. Universe must supercool down to a temperature $`T_{sc}`$ when the nucleation rate becomes significant. The actual duration of supercooling depends on various parameters such as the values of surface tension $`\sigma `$ and the latent heat $`L`$. We take the values of these parameters as in ref. (motivated by lattice simulations ), $`\sigma =0.015T_c^3`$ and $`L3T_c^4`$. With these values, one can estimate the amount of supercooling to be  (we take $`T_c=150`$ MeV),

$$\mathrm{\Delta }T_{sc}1\frac{T_{sc}}{T_c}10^4.$$
(12)
As the universe cools below $`T_{sc}`$, bubbles keep getting nucleated and keep expanding. This nucleation process is very rapid and lasts only for a temperature range of $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_n10^6`$, for a time duration of order $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n10^5t_H`$ ($`t_H`$ is the Hubble time) . The latent heat released in the process of bubble expansion re-heats the universe. Eventually, the universe is reheated enough so that no further nucleation can take place. Further conversion of the QGP phase to the hadronic phase happens only by the expansion of bubbles which have been already nucleated. Even this expansion is controlled by how the latent heat is dissipated away from the bubble walls. Essentially, the universe cools little bit, allowing bubbles to expand and release more latent heat. After the phase of rapid bubble nucleation, the universe enters into the slow combustion phase . As we will show below, the picture of this slow combustion phase is very different in our model. Here, in the wake region of the cosmic string, the conversion of the QGP phase to the hadronic phase proceeds by moving macroscopic planar boundaries. First, let us recall  the estimate of the duration of this slow combustion phase.

Energy density, entropy density, and pressure ($`\rho _q,s_q,p_q`$) in the QGP phase and ($`\rho _h,s_h,p_h`$) in the hadronic phase are,

$`\rho _q=g_qaT^4+B,s_q={\displaystyle \frac{4}{3}}g_qaT^3,p_q={\displaystyle \frac{g_q}{3}}aT^4B,`$ (13)
$`\rho _h=g_haT^4,s_h={\displaystyle \frac{4}{3}}g_haT^3,p_h={\displaystyle \frac{g_h}{3}}aT^4.`$ (14)
Here $`g_q51`$ and $`g_h17`$ are the degrees of freedom relevant for the two phases respectively (taking two massless quark flavors in the QGP phase, and counting other light particles) . At the transition temperature, we must have $`p_q=p_h`$ which relates $`T_c`$ and the bag constant $`B`$,

$$B=\frac{1}{3}aT_c^4(g_qg_h).$$
(15)
For the transition occurring at the temperature $`TT_c`$, the latent heat is, $`L=T_c(s_qs_h)=4B`$. For the time evolution of the scale factor $`R`$ of the universe, Einstein’s equations give,

$$\frac{\dot{R}(t)}{R(t)}=\sqrt{\frac{8\pi G\rho (t)}{3}}=A\sqrt{\frac{\rho }{B}},$$
(16)
where $`A^1`$ gives the typical time scale at the quark-hadron transition. For $`T_c=150`$ MeV, $`A^164\mu sec`$. Now, conservation of the energy-momentum tensor gives,

$$R(t)^3\frac{dp(t)}{dt}=\frac{d}{dt}\{R(t)^3[\rho (t)+p(t)]\}.$$
(17)
For the mixed phase, we write the average value of energy density as, $`\rho =f\rho _q+(1f)\rho _h`$, where $`f`$ is the fraction of volume in the QGP phase. Now, during the transition, $`T`$ and $`p`$ are approximately constant. Thus Eq.(17) gives,

$$\frac{\dot{R}}{R}=\frac{[\dot{f}(s_qs_h)}{3[f(s_qs_h)+s_h]}.$$
(18)
From Eqs.(16),(18), we can write down the evolution equation for the fraction $`f`$,

$$\dot{f}+\frac{A}{(\chi 1)}[4f+\frac{3}{\chi 1}]^{1/2}\{3f(\chi 1)+3\}=0,$$
(19)
where we have defined $`\chi =\frac{g_q}{g_h}3`$. From this equation one can estimate the total duration of the quark-hadron transition $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{trnsn}`$, that is the time in which the fraction $`f`$ decreases from initial value 1 (QGP phase) to final value 0 (hadronic phase). We find that $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{trnsn}14\mu `$ sec . Compared to this the Hubble scale at the time when $`T=T_c`$ is $`t_H50\mu `$ sec.

Let us now see how density fluctuations in the shocks created by cosmic strings affect the dynamics of quark-hadron transition. We first take the parameters of the density fluctuations as given in Eq.(11). Density fluctuation $`\delta \rho /\rho 3\times 10^5`$ translates to a temperature fluctuation of order $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_{wake}\delta T/T10^5`$. We note that this temperature fluctuation is larger than $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_n10^6`$. This means that the nucleation of hadronic bubbles will get completed in the QGP region outside the wake of the string, while no nucleation can take place in the wake region during that stage. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_{sc}`$ is of similar order as $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_{wake}`$, one can conclude that the outside region will enter a slow combustion phase before any bubbles can nucleate in the region of overdensity in the wake. For this it is required that the overdensity in the wake should not decrease at the time scale of $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n10^5t_H`$. The typical average thickness of the overdense region in the shock $`d_{shk}`$ will be (for a wake extending across the horizon),

$$d_{shk}sin\theta r_H5km.$$
(20)
A density fluctuation of this length scale (which is smaller than the horizon size) primarily propagates as a plane wave (though, since $`d_{shk}`$ is not too small compared to $`r_h`$, the evolution of this overdense region will have two modes, one propagating like plane wave and the other growing as $`R^2`$ ). Typical time scale for the evolution of the overdensity in this region, $`t_{shk}`$, will be governed by the sound velocity $`v_s`$ which becomes very small close to the transition temperature . Taking $`v_s0.1`$ we get,

$$t_{shk}\frac{d_{shk}}{v_s}t_H.$$
(21)
Thus the density (and hence temperature) evolution in the shock region happens in a time scale which is too large compared to $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n`$. It is also larger (by a factor of about 4) than $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{trnsn}`$ during which the quark phase is completely converted to the hadronic phase in the region outside the wake. We mention that in our picture, we consider the time when the universe has just started going through the quark-hadron transition, and we focus on a region in which a wake of density fluctuation of size of order $`r_H`$ has been created by the moving string. Essentially the region of study for us is the horizon volume from which the string is just exiting at the time when the universe temperature $`T=T_{sc}`$. The formation of most of the region of shock thus happens when the temperature is still large enough compared to $`T_c`$ so that the speed of sound is close to the value 1/$`\sqrt{3}`$. However, some portion of the wake will certainly form when the temperature is close enough to $`T_c`$, that the relevant sound speed is small, say, $`v_s0.1`$. At that stage the parameters of the shock will be determined by the plots shown by thin curves in Fig.2. The extent of the overdense region will be governed by the time scale $`t_{shk}`$. Thus, if $`t_{shk}`$ is much smaller than $`t_H`$, then wake will not extend across the horizon.

The precise time duration, $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{lag}`$, by which the process of bubble nucleation in the shock region lags behind that in the region outside the wake is given by ,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t_{lag}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }T_{wake}t_H}{3v_s^2}10^5t_H,$$
(22)
with $`v_s=1/\sqrt{3}`$. $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{lag}`$ will be larger if we take $`v_s=0.1`$. $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{lag}`$ is the extra time in which the temperature in the wake decreases to $`T_{sc}`$ compared to the time when the temperature drops to $`T=T_{sc}`$ in the region outside the wake. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{lag}`$ is of same order as $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_n`$, we conclude that the region outside the wake enters the slow combustion phase before any bubbles can nucleate in the wake region. It is then reasonable to conclude that the latent heat released in the region outside the wake will suppress any bubble nucleation in the wake especially near the boundaries of the wake. If the heat propagates to the interior of the wake, then the bubble suppression may extend to the interior of the wake also, implying that there will simply be no bubbles in the entire wake region. In that case, hadronic bubbles which have been nucleated outside the wake will all coalesce and convert the entire outside region to the hadronic phase (with occasional QGP localized regions embedded in it). This hadronic region will be separated from the QGP region inside the wake by the interfaces at the boundaries of the wake, as shown in Fig.3a.

Further completion of the phase transition will happen when these interfaces move inward from the wake boundaries. Clearly, these moving, macroscopic interfaces will trap most of the baryon number in the entire region of the wake (and some neighborhood) towards the inner region of the wake. Finally the interfaces will merge, completing the phase transition, and leading to a sheet of very large baryon number density, extending across the horizon. Actual value of baryon density in these sheets will depend on what fraction of baryon number is trapped in the QGP phase by moving interfaces. It is possible that a large fraction of the total baryon number in the wake region may get trapped in these sheets, resulting in sheets of extremely high baryon densities . The baryon number density on the sheet may vary by a factor of two, from one end of the sheet to the other end, since the shock region has the form of a wedge (though, the portion of the shock region formed later may have different parameters as compared to the portion formed in the beginning due to different sound speeds).

Second possibility is that the bubble nucleation is not entirely suppressed near the center of the shock region. While the region outside the wake converts to the hadronic phase, same may happen at the center of the wake as well. In that case the hadronic phase will spread from inside the wake at the same time when the hadronic phase is moving in from outside the wake through the wake boundary. These two sets of interfaces will then lead to concentration of baryon number in two different sheet like regions, with the separation between the two sheets being of the order of a km or so. This type of evolution is shown in Fig.3b. (Note, from Eq.(19) that the total time duration of the transition still remains the same, irrespective of the fact that now the transition is happening by moving planar boundaries, rather than by expansion of bubbles.) The final result is that, string induced shocks will lead to either a single sheet of high baryon concentration spreading across the horizon, or a pair of sheets again spreading across the horizon.

Typical separation between such structures will be governed by the number of long strings in a given horizon, which is expected to be about 15 (from numerical simulations ). Thus these sheets (or pairs of sheets) will be separated by a typical distance of order of a km which is far too large compared to any other relevant scale at that time which could dissipate such inhomogeneities . These structures will then certainly survive until the time of nucleosynthesis and will affect the abundances of elements . We mention here that we are not considering the effect of density fluctuations produced by string loops. These will also lead to baryon number inhomogeneities via the effects discussed here. However, these structures will be on a more localized scale. It is more complicated to calculate the effects of density fluctuations by oscillating loops (especially when time scales are of crucial importance). Still, a more complete investigation of the effects of cosmic strings on quark-hadron transition should include this contribution also.

We now discuss the situation if the shock behind the string is strong. In that situation one expects a wake of opening angle of about $`10^5`$ with overdensities of order 1. These overdensities will lead to temperature fluctuations of order 1 behind the string. This temperature fluctuation is far too large compared to the temperature interval of bubble nucleation $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_n`$, or even $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_{sc}`$. In such a situation, even if the transition to the hadronic phase has been (just) completed, as string moves through the hot hadronic medium, the overdensity in the wake will force the temperature in the wake region to rise above $`T_c`$, forcing that region to convert to the QGP phase. The evolution of this region will be complicated due to the tension of the interfaces at the boundaries of this region. (Otherwise an overdensity of wavelengths much smaller than the horizon simply propagates as plane waves). If we assume that the region primarily cools due to the universe expansion, then a wake of QGP region extending across the horizon will form before the interfaces close in and convert this temporary QGP phase back to the hadronic phase. End result will again be a sheet of large baryon density spreading across the horizon. (In this case, the separation between the two sheets for the case of Fig.3b will be of order few cm, as the average thickness of the wake is about $`0.5\times 10^5\times `$ 15 km $``$ 8 cm. Thus, by the time of nucleosynthesis, effectively only one sheet may survive. Also, due to smaller wake thickness, baryon density on these sheets in this case will be smaller.) If the region cools at a faster rate then the sheets will be of smaller length.

## IV Conclusion

We conclude by re-emphasizing that cosmic string defects are generic in GUT models, irrespective of their role in structure formation and it is important to study how they can affect the dynamics of the universe. Dynamics of phase transitions, especially for a first order transition, can be extremely sensitive to temperature variations. Density fluctuations, and hence temperature fluctuations, produced due to cosmic strings, even if they are of small magnitude, can affect the phase transition dynamics in crucial ways. In this paper we have shown that the presence of cosmic strings can dramatically alter the dynamics of a first order quark-hadron transition leading to horizon size sheets, or pairs of sheets with large baryon number densities. These will have strong effects on the abundances of elements as calculated during the epoch of nucleosynthesis. This becomes important in view of the recent measurements of the angular power spectrum of CMBR  which imply a large value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ which is not compatible with the calculations of conventional homogeneous nucleosynthesis. Our model leads to a very specific structure of baryon inhomogeneities. These are planar structure (with large surface to volume ratio), and are separated by a distance scale of about 1 km at the quark-hadron transition (which translates to a distance scale of about 100 km when T = 1 MeV). Baryon inhomogeneities of this nature seem to be what is required to make the results of IBBN (marginally) compatible with the large value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_b`$ required by the recent CMBR measurements .

Observations of these abundances may also be used to constrain the cosmic string parameters as well as the models of cosmic string network evolution. Since the baryon number density in these sheets will be very large, it will be interesting to check whether such sheet like regions can survive up to the present stage. Finally, we mention that the effects described here can lead to interesting consequences for electroweak (EW) phase transition. For example, just after the EW transition, EW symmetry may get restored in the overdense wake region behind the cosmic string. For a strong shock, that region may cool rapidly, breaking the EW symmetry spontaneously and generating baryon number in the process (even for a 2nd order EW phase transition). We will discuss this in a future work.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are very thankful to Sanatan Digal, Amit Kundu, Rajarshi Ray, and Supratim Sengupta for useful comments.


text:
# Untitled Document

Excited diskrete spectrum states

wave functions of quantum integrable

N-particle systems in an external field

D.V.Meshcheryakov, V.B.Tverskoy

Physics Department, Moscow State University,

Leninskie gory, 119899, Moscow, Russia

Abstract

A problem of constructing excited state swave functions of the discrete spectrum of completely integrable quantum systems is considered. Recurrence relations defining wave functions up to the normalizing constant are obtained.

1. Introduction

Explicit solutions of classical and quantum completely integrable systems still attract much attention\[1-5\].

By now a lot of completely integrable systems with $`N`$ degrees of freedom have been discovered\[3-5\]. However for few of such systems explicit solutions have been found. Some methods use additional constants of motion to reduce and simlify corresponding eigenvalue problems.

In  we proposed a method of finding descrete spectrum energies and wave functions. This method doesn’t use the fact of existence of additional constants of motion. In  we applied this method to the quantum systems with the following Hamilton function

$$H=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\left(\frac{p_i^2}{2}+W(x_i)\right)+\alpha (\alpha +1)\underset{i>j}{\overset{N}{}}[V(x_ix_j)+ϵV(x_i+x_j)]$$
$`(1)`$
with pair interaction potentials

$$V(x)=\frac{1}{sh^2x},ϵ=0,1$$

External field for $`ϵ=1`$ has the form

$$W(x)=\frac{\mu (\mu 1)}{2}\frac{1}{sh^2x}\frac{\lambda (\lambda +1)}{2}\frac{1}{ch^2x},\lambda >0$$
$`(2a)`$
whereas for $`ϵ=0`$ it takes the form

$$W(x)=2A^2(e^{4x}2e^{2x})$$
$`(2b)`$
The first step of the method proposed in  is the transformation of variables $`t_j=(chx_j)^2,j=1,\mathrm{},N`$, which enables us to reduce the order of sigularities in Schrodinger equation $`H\psi =E\psi `$. Then we perform furhter transformation to variables symmetrical in $`t_j,j=1,\mathrm{},N`$

$$a_1=\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}t_j,a_l=\frac{\widehat{D}^{l1}}{(l1)!}a_1,\widehat{D}=\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{}{t_j},l=1,\mathrm{},N$$

which enables us to convert Schrodinger equation into the form convenient for solving it explicitly

$$[H_1(\beta )+H_2(\beta )]\kappa =[Eϵ(\beta )]\kappa $$

$$H_1(\beta )=2\underset{l,m=1}{\overset{N}{}}[\underset{\tau =1}{\overset{l1}{}}\underset{\nu =0}{\overset{1}{}}((l+m2\tau )\nu )a_\tau a_{l+m\tau \nu }(Nm+2)a_{m1}a_l$$

$$(Nl+2)a_ma_{l1}(N+m+1)a_la_m]\frac{^2}{a_la_m}$$
$`(3)`$
$$\underset{l=1}{\overset{N}{}}[a_{l1}(Nl+2)(4\beta +2\mu +3+2\alpha (N+l3))+2a_l(nl+1)(2\beta +1+\alpha (N+l2)]\frac{}{a_l},$$

$$H_2(\beta )=a_N(2\underset{l,m=1}{\overset{N}{}}a_la_m\frac{^2}{a_la_m}$$

$$+\underset{l=1}{\overset{N}{}}a_l\frac{}{a_l}(4\beta +2\mu +3+4\alpha (N1)+p(\beta ))$$

Here parameter $`\beta `$ and $`ϵ(\beta ),p(\beta )`$ are to be determined from normalizing condition. Wave functions are polinomials in symmetrical variables $`a_j`$ :

$$\psi (x_1,\mathrm{},x_N)=\kappa (a_1,\mathrm{},a_N)\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}z_j^\mu (1z_j^2)^\beta \underset{j>k}{}(z_j^{1+ϵ}z_k^{1+ϵ})$$

$`z_j=thx_j`$ and

$$\kappa (a_1,\mathrm{},a_N)=\underset{p=0}{\overset{n}{}}\underset{0j_1,\mathrm{},j_NN}{}c_{j_1,\mathrm{},j_N}a_1^{j_1}\mathrm{}a_N^{j_N}$$
$`(4)`$
Energy levels are determined by a set of $`N`$ integers $`j_1,\mathrm{},j_N,0j_1,\mathrm{},j_Nn,j_1+\mathrm{}+j_N=pn`$ , where $`n`$ – is the highest powerof the polinomial $`\kappa `$. One can conclude from the normalizing condition that the upper boundary for $`n`$ is

$$n<\frac{\lambda \mu }{2}\alpha (N1),ϵ=1$$

$$n<A\alpha (N1)\frac{1}{2},ϵ=0$$

Energy levels are the following

$$E_{j_1,\mathrm{},j_N}=ϵ(\beta )4\underset{l>m}{\overset{N}{}}lj_lj_m+2(N+1)p(\beta )(p(\beta )+\lambda \mu 2n\alpha N)$$

$$+2\underset{l=1}{\overset{N}{}}lj_l[\alpha (2N+1)+2n+\mu \lambda j_l\alpha l]$$
$`(5)`$
In  we only considered the simplest case $`n=1`$ . Here we find wave functions of excited levels with $`n=2`$.

2. Poschl-Teller potential

Expression (2 ) is a generalized Poschl-Teller potential. Having demanded wave functions to have the following form

$$\kappa (a_1,\mathrm{},a_N)=\underset{l=0}{\overset{N}{}}c_la_l+c_{N+1}+\underset{lk}{\overset{N}{}}b_{lk}a_la_k$$
$`(6)`$
and taking into account the normilizing condition we come to

$$\beta =\frac{\lambda \mu }{2}\alpha (N1)2$$

$$p(\beta )=12\lambda $$
$`(7)`$
$$ϵ(\beta )=\frac{N}{2}[\frac{\alpha ^2}{3}(N^21)+(\lambda \mu \alpha (N1)4)^2]$$

Substititing (5), (6) and (7) into (3), we come to a system of $`\frac{N(N+1)}{2}`$ linear algebraic equations with zero determinant. Unlike the case $`n=1`$, there is a contribution from the first term in $`H_1(\beta )`$ with second order derivatives in $`a_j`$. This leads to coefficients $`c_l,b_{lk}`$ being dependent on all non-zero coefficients $`c_m,m>l,b_{mn},m>l,n>k`$. Performing induction one can obtain recurrence relations for coefficients in (6). As a result we come to 3 different sets of recurrent relations for different meanings of quantum numbers $`j_1,\mathrm{},j_N`$.

1. In this case $`j_l=2\delta _{ls},s=1,\mathrm{},N,p=2;s^{}=2sN1,n^{}=2sj,K=(Ns+1)(\lambda \mu 2\alpha (Ns));b_{ss}=d_s`$ , where $`d_s`$ is an arbitrary constant to be determined from the normilizing condition, and

$$b_{jl}=0,j+l>2s;c_j=0,j>s^{}$$

$$b_{jn^{}}=\frac{4(n^{}j)}{F_{j00}}\underset{\sigma =j+1}{\overset{s}{}}b_{\sigma n^{}\sigma +j}$$
$`(8)`$
where $`F_{jkl}`$ are defined below.

2. In this case $`j_l=\delta _{ls}+\delta _{lN},s=1,\mathrm{},N1,p=2;s^{}=s1,n^{}=N,K=\mu \lambda +1;b_{sN}=d_s`$ , where $`d_s`$ is an arbitrary constant to be determined from the normilizing condition, and

$$b_{jl}=0,j+l>s+N;c_j=0,j>s^{}$$

Other relations have the form

$$b_{sN}=\frac{12\lambda }{Q_s}d_s$$

$$b_{smN}=\frac{1}{Q_{sm}}\{2[(Ns+m+1)(2\lambda 32\alpha (Ns+m)+1]b_{sm+1N}$$

$$+4(Ns+m)\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}\underset{\tau =0}{\overset{1}{}}b_{sm+kNk+\tau }+(12\lambda )c_{sm}\},m=1,\mathrm{},s1$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2kNs+m+\tau `$.

It must be stressed here that Hamiltonian (1) is self-conjugated if and oly if $`(2\lambda 1)>10+4\alpha (N1)`$, i.e. the coefficients $`c_j`$ and $`b_{jk}`$ are not independent.

3. In this case $`j_l=\delta _{ls}+\delta _{lNm},s=1,\mathrm{},N2,m=1,\mathrm{},Ns+1,b_{sNm}=d_{sNm},s^{}=sm1,n^{}=N+smj,`$ , where $`d_s`$ is an arbitrary constant, and

$$b_{jl}=0,j+l>s^{};c_j=0,j+l>N+sm$$

Coefficients $`b_{jn^{}}`$ are determined by (8). Suppose

$$R_{jkl}=2^l\underset{\tau =1}{\overset{l}{}}[(sj+k\tau )(\lambda \mu 3\alpha (2Nsj+k\tau ))K],$$

$$F_{jkl}=2^{kl}\underset{\tau =0}{\overset{kl}{}}[(sj)(\lambda \mu 3\alpha (2Nsj+1))$$

$$+(Nn^{}+k\tau +1)(\lambda \mu 1\alpha (Nn^{}+k\tau ))K],$$

$$S_j=R_{j11}+Nj+1,$$

$$Q_j=R_{j11}+2(Ns+1)(\lambda \mu 3\alpha (N3))+2(2\lambda 2\mu 7).$$

Then the common part of the three recurrence relations sets is the following:

$$c_{s^{}k+1}=\frac{(Ns^{}+k)!}{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((2\lambda 5)/(2\alpha )N+s^{}k\right)}[(2\alpha )^k$$

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((2\lambda 5)/(2\alpha )N+s^{}\right)}{(Ns^{})!R_{s^{}kk}}c_{s^{}+1}$$

$$+4\underset{l=1}{\overset{k}{}}(2\alpha )^{l1}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((2\lambda 5)/(2\alpha )N+s^{}k+l1\right)}{(Ns^{}+kl)!R_{s^{}kl}}$$

$$\underset{\sigma =1}{\overset{ss^{}+k\tau l}{}}\underset{\tau =0}{\overset{1}{}}b_{s^{}k+l+\sigma +\tau N\sigma +1}(1\delta _{\tau 1}\delta _{lk}],k=1,\mathrm{},s^{}$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2\sigma N+1+ks^{}l\tau `$.

$$b_{jn^{}k}=(4\alpha )^k\frac{(Nn^{}+k+1)!}{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((\lambda 2)/\alpha N+n^{}k\right)}\{\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((\lambda 2)/\alpha N+n^{}\right)}{(Nn^{}+1)!F_{jk1}}b_{jn^{}}$$

$$2\underset{l=1}{\overset{k}{}}(n^{}lj)\underset{\sigma =j+1}{\overset{s}{}}\underset{\tau =0}{\overset{1}{}}(4\alpha )^k\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left((\lambda 2)/\alpha N+n^{}l\right)}{(Nn^{}+l+1)!F_{jkl}}[$$

$$(2(Nj+1)(\lambda 2\alpha (N1))+n^{}l+j)b_{j+1n^{}l}$$

$$2(n^{}lj)\underset{\sigma =j+1}{\overset{s}{}}\underset{\tau =0}{\overset{1}{}}b_{\sigma n^{}l\sigma +\tau +j}(1\delta _{\tau 1}\delta _{\sigma j+1})]\},k=1,\mathrm{},n^{}j+1$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2\sigma n^{}l+1+\tau +j`$.

$$b_{jj}=\frac{2(Nj+1)(2\lambda 32\alpha (Nj))}{S_j}b_{jj+1}.$$

3. Morse potential

One can come to a a case of molecular Morse potential by a limiting procedure $`x_j=q,q\mathrm{}`$. As a result potential (2 ) turns into (2b), and

$$\lambda \mu 2A+1$$
$`(9)`$
However it’s easier to find wavefunctions directly from (3) and perform the calculations similar to those in section 2. Substituting (9) into (5) and (7), one can derive energy levels in Morse potential. Taking into account $`p(\beta )=8A`$ recurrence relations for the coefficients in (6) turn out to be the following

$$c_{s^{}k+1}=(Ns^{}+k)![\frac{(2A)^k}{(Ns^{})!R_{s^{}kk}}c_{s^{}+1}$$

$$+4\underset{l=1}{\overset{k}{}}\frac{(2A)^{l1}}{(Ns^{}+kl)!R_{s^{}kl}}\underset{\sigma =1}{\overset{ss^{}+k\tau l}{}}b_{s^{}k+l+\sigma +\tau N\sigma +1}],k=1,\mathrm{},s^{}$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2\sigma N+1+ks^{}l`$.

$$b_{jn^{}k}=(4A)^k(Nn^{}+k+1)!\{\frac{b_{jn^{}}}{(Nn^{}+1)!F_{jk1}}$$

$$2\underset{l=1}{\overset{k}{}}\frac{(4A)^k}{(Nn^{}+l+1)!F_{jkl}}[(2A(Nj+1)b_{j+1n^{}l}$$

$$2(n^{}lj)\underset{\sigma =j+1}{\overset{s}{}}b_{\sigma n^{}l\sigma +j}]\},k=1,\mathrm{},n^{}j+1$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2\sigma n^{}l+1+j`$.

$$b_{smN}=\frac{1}{Q_{sm}}\{[(Ns+m+1)(14A)1]b_{sm+1N}$$

$$+4(Ns+m)\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}b_{sm+kNk}4Ac_{sm}\},m=1,\mathrm{},s1$$

In this relation summation is performed under the condition $`2kNs+m`$.

$$b_{jj}=\frac{4A(Nj+1)}{S_j}b_{jj+1}.$$

It is sufficiently to perform $`\lambda \mu 2A+1`$ in the other relations.

Therefore we have found recurrence relations which determine cofficients $`c_j`$ and $`b_{jk}`$ for arbitrary $`N`$ for Poschl-Teller and Morse potentials. Wave functions are determined by means of (6).

Let us stress here that at $`0<\lambda \mu 2\alpha (N1)<6`$ and $`1<2A2\alpha (N1)<7`$ wave functions found together with wave functions for $`n=1`$, which were found in , give the whole discrete spectrum of the systems in question.

As an example we have found four particle wave function of one of the excited states in Morse potential (see Appendix).

The results obtained could be used for testing of various approximate methods of solving many particle quantum system as well as in supersymmetrical generalizations of such systems. They could also be useful for investigations of systems close to integrable.

Let us note in conclusion that wave functions of higher levels with such values of parameters $`A`$ and $`\alpha `$ that $`n3`$ can be found in the same way.

Appendix.

Here we write down explicit form of the coefficients $`c_j`$ and $`b_{jk}`$ for the 14th exited state for four-particle system in Morse potential.Parameters $`A`$ and $`\alpha `$ satisfy inequality $`1<2A6\alpha <7`$. Discrete spectrum consists of 15 levels: the ground state, 4 levels with $`n=1(p=1)`$ and 10 levels with $`n=2(p=2)`$. The energy of the level in question corresponds to $`j_l=\delta _{l3}+\delta _{l4}`$ and is equal to

$$E=2(4A^212\alpha A16A+14\alpha ^2+30\alpha +19)$$

Suppose

$$F(A,\alpha )=(12A)(12A5\alpha 23)(4A3\alpha 6)(4A3\alpha 5)$$

$$T(A,\alpha )=2(24A^3104A^2+42\alpha A+116A3)(4A3\alpha 5)/F(A,\alpha )$$

$$X(A,\alpha )=8A(4608A^45376\alpha A^315720A^3+1035\alpha ^2A^2$$

$$+9504\alpha A^2+13144A^242\alpha A116A+3)/F(A,\alpha )$$

$$Y(A,\alpha )=3(73216A^5248565A^485632\alpha A^4+150328\alpha A^3$$

$$+149893\alpha ^2A^3+204520A^3+1888\alpha A^2+2285A^2$$

$$624A126\alpha ^2A606\alpha A+9\alpha +15)/[(8A6\alpha 9)F(A,\alpha )]$$

$$Z(A,\alpha )=64A^2(32A^224\alpha A36\alpha 3)(14A10\alpha 9)/(8A6\alpha 9)$$

$$N(A,\alpha )=\frac{296A366\alpha 421}{8A6\alpha 9}$$

$$M(A,\alpha )=\frac{2A^2[3Z(A,\alpha )N(A,\alpha )Y(A,\alpha )]}{(5A6\alpha 7)(3A4(\alpha +1))}$$

Then the coefficients of (6) depend on the potential depth $`A`$ and pair interaction constant $`\alpha `$ in the following way

$$c_1=2\left(\frac{2}{3A4\alpha 5}(T(A,\alpha )+\frac{8A}{2A1})\frac{3A(A3\alpha 6)}{(2A2\alpha 3)(4A3\alpha 6)^2}\right)d$$

$$c_2=\frac{6}{4A3\alpha 6}d$$

$$b_{11}=M(A,\alpha )\frac{4A}{3A4(\alpha +1)}d$$

$$b_{12}=M(A,\alpha )d$$

$$b_{13}=\frac{4A}{5A6\alpha 7}[Y(A,\alpha )+Z(A,\alpha )]d;b_{14}=Y(A,\alpha )d$$

$$b_{22}=\frac{12A}{8A6\alpha 9}X(A,\alpha )d;b_{23}=X(A,\alpha )d$$

$$b_{24}=T(A,\alpha )d;b_{33}=\frac{8A}{2A1}d;b_{34}=d$$

Here $`d`$ is an arbitrary constant to be fixed by normilizing condition.

References

 J.Dittrich, V.I.Inozemtsev. J. Phys.A. 1993. V.20. P.753.

 D.V.Meshcheryakov, V.B.Tverskoy. Moscow University Bull. Physics, Astronomy. 2000. N1. P. 65.

 F.Calogero. J.Math.Phys. 1971. V.12. P.419.

 B.Sutherland. Phys.Rev.A. 1971. V.4. P.2019

 M.A.Olshanetsky, A.M.Perelomov. Phys.Rep. 1983. V.94. P.312

 V.I.Inozemtsev, D.V.Meshcheryakov. JINR Rapid Communications. 1984. N4-84. P.22

 V.I.Inozemtsev, D.V.Meshcheryakov. Physica Scripta. 1986. V.33. P.99


text:
# Strong interconversion of non-polar phonons and Josephson plasma oscillations induced by equilibrium Josephson currents in high 𝑇_𝑐 superconductors

## I Introduction

The nature of the superconductivity in the high $`T_c`$ materials continues to be a subject of hot debates. Following the suggestion , very significant advances have been made in revealing the dominant d-wave symmetry of the superconducting order parameter (OP) in these materials . A direct consequence of this symmetry is the possibility of the $`\pi `$\- Josephson coupling . The existence of the $`\pi `$-type Josephson junction (JJ) and feasibility of its controlled implementation in circuits have been firmly established . The most startling consequence of the $`\pi `$-type coupling is the spontaneous Josephson current which generates the magnetic flux characterized by the half of the standard unit. It should be noted that a strong interest to the unconventional JJ made of the high-$`T_c`$ materials is inspired, besides purely academic attention, by the very recent proposal  of employing such JJ as a qubit for quantum computations.

Another intriguing consequence of the non-traditional symmetry of the OP is the time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) at the grain boundaries . An automatic consequence of such states are spontaneous currents leading to fractional vortices, characterized by the magnetic flux which is neither the half nor the whole unit. It is worth noting that spontaneous fractional vortices have been detected in recent years . Their exact nature, however, is still alluding the explanation.

Detection of single vortices is usually achieved by means of the Scanning SQUID Microscopy technique (see in Ref.). It relies on measuring the total magnetic flux threading the pick up loop which scans the surface from the distance of few $`\mu `$m. Thus, only those spontaneous currents can be revealed which produce magnetic field normal to the surface. In fact, the resolution of the method  is limited by the pick up loop size (4-18$`\mu `$m) as well as by the distance between the loop and the surface. Furthermore, the inductive interaction between the loop and the fluxes may distort the actual current distribution. In this regard we note that it would be desirable to have a technique capable of a direct high resolution imaging of the spatial distribution of the stationary (spontaneous) Josephson currents regardless of their orientation and of the scale of their spatial variations.

In this paper, we discuss the effect which could be employed for the imaging of the Josephson currents with high resolution. This effect is based on the empirical observations of a very strong sensitivity of values of the Josephson critical current density $`J_c`$ in the grain boundary (GB) JJ to the misorientation angle between the grains . The nature of this effect remains very controversial. Many explanations have been proposed. One of them relies on the d-wave symmetry of the OP and faceting of the boundary, so that the macroscopic (average) critical current density is much smaller than the local critical current density , which may change sign due to the $`\pi `$-type coupling. As suggested in Ref., an extremely strong suppression of $`J_c`$ is a result of mechanical deformations concentrated at the GB. It has been suggested that superconductivity is suppressed locally as long as the local mechanical strain becomes $``$ 1% . In accordance with the phenomenological approach , the strain shifts the chemical potential of the JJ barrier, and this may strongly affect the Josephson coupling, as long as the barrier is characterized by the proximity to the metal-insulator transition. Many properties of the GB JJ have been successfully explained by this model. On the microscopic level, in Ref. it has been pointed out that small changes of the local structure, existing in the vicinity of the GB, should induce large variations of the valence of the copper ions, which control the free charge carriers concentration.

Recently, the anomalous proximity effect has been induced by light in the Y-Ba-Cu-O JJ . This indicates that the JJ barrier can easily be perturbed (in this case, by light) into the superconducting state. As suggested in Ref., this effect can naturally be explained if the electron system in the barrier is a sort of nearly superconducting quantum critical liquid, so that any external factor can easily shift its equilibrium. In fact, such a factor could be - light; mechanical deformations; optical displacements of atoms, etc.

In this paper, we pose a general question about mechanisms by which deformations (lattice displacements, in general) affect the Josephson coupling in the GB JJ made of the high-$`T_c`$ materials:

Is the role of the deformations primary or secondary?
If the effect of deformations is primary with respect to the electronic system, it can be revealed by means of applying reasonable deformations externally in the superconducting state and observing subsequent strong changes of $`J_c`$. If it is secondary, the deformations may not affect directly the electronic system. These may predetermine the electronic properties during the formation of the GB JJ at high temperatures (way above the superconducting temperatures) through the processes of, e.g., oxygen depletion controlled by local mechanical stress and oxygen diffusion, so that no significant direct effect due to the external deformations should be expected to occur in the superconducting phase. In order to resolve this problem we note that, if the deformations play the primary role, a strong dynamical coupling should exist between sound and the Josephson phase. In contrast, if the deformations play a secondary role, no such a significant dynamical coupling should be observed.

In this paper we will assume that the deformations play the primary  role in accordance with the general concepts , and will concentrate on the dynamical implications of the strong sensitivity of $`J_c`$ to the mechanical and, possibly, optical (non-polar) deformations of the crystal lattice. Specifically, we will analyze a coupled dynamics of the phonons and the Josephson phase. We suggest that the coupling between the phase and the phonons should be anomalously large because of the proximity of the barrier to the superconducting state. In this phenomenological analysis, no quasi-particle effects are considered. This approximation can be well justified by the requirement that the phonon frequencies under consideration are much smaller than a typical superconducting gap. In this sense, we will be employing an adiabatic approximation in which the superconducting electronic ensemble adjusts itself momentarily to Josephson phase and the phonon variable(s). Thus, the following consideration is limited by the framework of the coupled dynamical Josephson equation  and equation of motion for the phonon variable.

It is important to emphasize, that the first order coupling between small oscillations of the Josephson phase and sound (or optical non-polar phonons) can exist in a medium characterized by the inversion symmetry, if only some equilibrium Josephson currents are present. In other words, the linear coupling between the phase and the non-polar phonons can exist if and only if the time reversal symmetry is broken (either spontaneously or externally). This contrasts with the case of the polar phonons, which are coupled to the phase oscillations through the dynamical electric fields (due to the Josephson relation) regardless of the presence of the equilibrium currents. In this respect, we limit our consideration by the sound and the non-polar optical phonons, so that a mere presence of the linear coupling between the phase and the non-polar phonons is indicative of the stationary Josephson currents (we do not consider the case when no inversion symmetry exists). We believe that predictions following from our analysis provide an opportunity for experimental testing of the dynamical properties of the JJ barrier in the high-$`T_c`$ materials, and for answering fundamental questions about the nature of the Josephson effect in the high-$`T_c`$ materials. Furthermore, the discussed effect could be employed for the imaging of the stationary Josephson currents. This, in its turn, may shed light on the nature of the spontaneous Josephson currents and the TRSB in these materials.

In Sec.II, we show how the linear coupling between the Josephson phase and the non-polar phonons is induced by the stationary Josephson currents. Then, the implications of this coupling are considered. Specifically, in Sec.III, the effect of the conversion of the non-polar phonons into the phase oscillations are discussed. In Sec. IV, we consider the induced infra-red (IR) activity of the non-polar optical phonons in the JJ. Then, in Sec. V, the effect of the coherent generation of sound in the JJ by the incoming microwave radiation is analyzed, and the possibility of employing this effect for the imaging of the currents is addressed. The role of external magnetic field in enhancing the interconversion is discussed in Sec. VI. Finally, the discussion and conclusion are given.

## II  Coupling between the Josephson phase and non-polar phonons

The Josephson current density $`J(\phi )`$ as a function of the phase difference $`\phi `$ can be sensitive to atomic displacements in the barrier. Let us assume that $`\xi (𝐱,t)`$ is some phonon variable. It can be the strain tensor $`u_{ij}`$, or some other variable describing optical excitations. If this variable does not correspond to a polar (IR-active ) excitation, a direct coupling between $`\xi `$ and the phase oscillations is forbidden. In what follows, we will show how this non-polar phonon can become IR-active in the presence of the stationary Josephson currents, so that monitoring the IR absorption at the frequency of the crystal mode, which is known to be not IR-active in the absence of the static currents, would provide some information about these currents.

In our approach, the Josephson equation for the phase $`\phi (𝐱,t)`$ contains terms $`\xi (𝐱,t)`$. If $`\xi `$, which modifies somehow the tunneling matrix element between the sides of the JJ, is small, the Josephson coupling energy density (per unit area of the junction) $`E_J=E_J(\phi ,\xi )`$ can be expanded in $`\xi `$. The symmetry consideration may require that no linear term $`\xi `$ is present in the ideal lattice. This is exactly the case for, e.g., the non-polar vector and quadru-polar modes. If, however, $`\xi `$ is the strain, the scalar combination $`\xi =u_{jj}`$ (we employ the convention of the summation over the repeated indices) is allowed in the expansion. It should also be taken into account that the crystal structure close to the GB and at the GB can be highly distorted. For example, some stationary strain $`u_{ij}^{(0)}`$ is inevitably present in any GB junction just to ensure matching of the sides. This, relaxes the symmetry requirement, so that the linear term becomes allowed. Thus, the expansion has a form

$`E_J=E_J^{(0)}(\phi )[1+b\xi (𝐱,t)+o(\xi ^2)],`$ (1)
where $`E_J^{(0)}(\phi )`$ denotes the Josephson energy density as a function of the phase in the absence of $`\xi `$; the coefficient $`b`$ is taken as some constant. In fact, the observations  of the very strong sensitivity of the critical current to the misorientation angle, which could be due to the local deformations arising in order to insure matching of the sides, justify the values as large as $`|b|10^2`$. Indeed, it has been suggested that the deformations $`u_0`$ as small as 1% may cause the reduction of the current by almost an order of magnitude . Thus, we take $`|b|1/u_010^2`$. As we mentioned above, the optical deformations of the lattice may produce a similar effect. In this case, the estimate for $`b`$ can be obtained from the following considerations: optical deformation $`\xi `$ of $`1\%`$ of the lattice cell (of the size $`a0.4`$nm) may produce the same effect as the strain, thus $`|b|10^2/a`$. It should also be noted that the form (1) implies that the phonons do not modify the phase dependence of the JJ energy.

The Josephson current, then, follows from eq.(1) as

$`J(\phi ,\xi )={\displaystyle \frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{E_J}{\phi }}=J_0(\phi )[1+b\xi (𝐱,t)+o(\xi ^2)],`$ (2)
where $`J_0(\phi )=(2e/\mathrm{})E_J^{(0)}/\phi `$ is the Josephson current in the absence of $`\xi `$, with $`e>0`$ being the unit charge.

The total Josephson energy of the system is obtained as the integral $`H_J=d^2xE_J`$ over the area of the JJ. The energy $`H_\xi `$ of the field $`\xi `$ can be represented in the spirit of a general Landau expansion with respect to the smallness of $`\xi `$ as

$`H_\xi ={\displaystyle d^3x[\frac{\rho \dot{\xi }^2}{2}+\frac{\rho \omega _0^2}{2}\xi ^2+\frac{\rho v_g^2}{2}(\xi )^2+o(\xi ^4)]},`$ (3)
where $`\rho ,\omega _0,v_g`$ are phenomenological constants, so that $`\rho `$ carries the meaning of some effective mass density. Accordingly, $`\omega _0`$ and $`v_g`$ determine the dispersion law of small oscillations of $`\xi `$.

The total energy $`H`$ is the sum of $`H_\xi +H_J`$ and of the electro-magnetic energy $`H_{EM}=d^2x[CV^2/2+\kappa (\phi )^2/2]`$ of the JJ , where $`C`$ stands for the electric capacitance of the JJ per unit area; $`\kappa =\mathrm{}^2c^2/(16\pi de^2)`$, with $`c,d`$ standing for the speed of light, and the magnetic thickness of the JJ (given as the sum of the geometrical thickness $`d_b`$ of the barrier and of the twice of the London penetration length ), respectively. We take into account the Josephson relation

$`V={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}}{2e}}\dot{\phi }`$ (4)
between $`\phi (𝐱,t)`$ and the voltage $`V=V(𝐱,t)`$ across the JJ, and find

$`H=H_\xi +H_{EM}+H_J={\displaystyle d^3x[\frac{\rho \dot{\xi }^2}{2}+\frac{\rho \omega _0^2}{2}\xi ^2+\frac{\rho v_g^2}{2}(\xi )^2]}+`$ (5)
(6)
$`+{\displaystyle d^2x[\frac{C}{2}\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{2e}\right)^2\dot{\phi }^2+\frac{\kappa }{2}(\phi )^2+E_J^{(0)}(\phi )(1+b\xi )]},`$ (7)
where the integrations $`d^3x`$ and $`d^2x\mathrm{}`$ are performed over the bulk and over the JJ barrier area, respectively. The above form yields equations of motion of the joint dynamics of $`\phi `$ and $`\xi `$. In this paper we will concentrate on the effect of small oscillations.

The Josephson equation following from eq.(6) is

$`\ddot{\phi }+\gamma \dot{\phi }\overline{c}^2^2\phi +\nu J_0(\phi )(1+b\xi )=0,\nu ={\displaystyle \frac{2e}{\mathrm{}C}},`$ (8)
where all the variables are taken at the JJ plane; $`\overline{c}=c/\sqrt{4\pi dC}`$ stands for the effective speed of light in the JJ; the term $`\gamma \dot{\phi }`$ describes the effect of dissipation in the resistively shunted JJ , and $`\gamma =1/(\rho _sC)`$, with $`\rho _s^1`$ being the shunt conductance per unit area of the JJ.

The equation for $`\xi `$ also follows from eq.(6) as

$`\ddot{\xi }+\omega _0^2\xi v_g^2^2\xi +{\displaystyle \frac{b}{\rho }}E_J^{(0)}(\phi )\delta (z)=0,`$ (9)
where we have specified the JJ barrier as the plane $`z=0`$. Note that, while the Laplace operator $`^2=\frac{^2}{x^2}+\frac{^2}{y^2}`$ in eq.(8) acts along the JJ plane, the Laplace operator $`^2=\frac{^2}{x^2}+\frac{^2}{y^2}+\frac{^2}{z^2}`$ in eq.(9) acts in the bulk.

Equilibrium currents correspond to a non-trivial static solution of eqs.(8), (9) which in the static case become

$`\overline{c}^2^2\phi _0+\nu J_0(\phi _0)(1+b\xi _0(z=0))=0,`$ (10)
(11)
$`\omega _0^2\xi _0v_g^2^2\xi _0+{\displaystyle \frac{b}{\rho }}E_J^{(0)}(\phi _0)\delta (z)=0,`$ (12)
where $`\xi _0(z=0)`$ stands for the solution of eq.(12) taken at the JJ plane $`z=0`$. In the long wave limit, the solution of eq.(12) can easily be found and substituted into eq.(10), so that it acquires the form

$`\overline{c}^2^2\phi _0+\nu J_0(\phi _0)[1gE_J^{(0)}(\phi _0)]=0,g={\displaystyle \frac{b^2}{2\rho |\omega _0v_g|}}.`$ (13)
It can now be seen that the interaction with phonons modifies the equilibrium Josephson current, so that the effective current becomes $`\stackrel{~}{J}(\phi )=J_0(\phi )[1gE_J^{(0)}(\phi )]`$. The resulting current may significantly deviate from $`J_0(\phi )`$, if the coefficient $`g`$ is large enough. This may occur if $`b`$ is anomalously large, or the phonon mode exhibits soft-mode behavior. In this paper we will not consider such possibilities, and therefore it should be clearly shown that the dynamical effect under consideration does not imply strong deviations of the current-phase relation (CPR) from the bare one $`J_0(\phi )`$, even though the values of $`b`$ are taken large as discussed above (see below eq.(1)). To this end, we assume, for a while, that the current obeys the standard CPR $`J_0=J_c\mathrm{sin}\phi `$ . Then, the effective current becomes $`J=J_c(1g\mathrm{}J_c/(2e))\mathrm{sin}\phi +(g\mathrm{}J_c^2/(4e))\mathrm{sin}2\phi `$. We require that the second term, which is $`\mathrm{sin}2\phi `$, is much smaller than the main one $`\mathrm{sin}\phi `$, that is,

$`\stackrel{~}{g}={\displaystyle \frac{g\mathrm{}J_c}{4e}}={\displaystyle \frac{b^2\mathrm{}J_c}{8e\rho |\omega _0v_g|}}1.`$ (14)
Later we will show that for typical values of the parameters, $`\stackrel{~}{g}10^210^3`$, so that eq.(12) as well as the term $`\xi _0`$ in eq.(10) can be safely ignored.

Here we do not specify mechanisms which may result in deviations of $`J_0(\phi )`$ from the standard CPR, and, as a possible consequence, in spontaneous Josephson currents (see, e.g., ). Our goal here is studying implications of the presence of such currents on the process under consideration. In fact, the equilibrium currents may occur due to some trapped integer vortices or external magnetic field as well.

Below we will consider coupling between small oscillations of $`\phi `$, which constitute small deviations from the equilibrium, and $`\xi `$. We introduce small deviations $`\psi (𝐱,t)`$ of $`\phi `$ from $`\phi _0`$ as

$`\phi (𝐱,t)=\phi _0(𝐱)+\psi (𝐱,t).`$ (15)
The variable $`\xi `$ should also be represented as the sum of the static solution $`\xi _0`$ of eq.(12) and the oscillatory part. We will, however, ignore the static part, provided eq.(14) holds.

The form (15) can be employed in eq.(8) in order to obtain a linearized equation for $`\psi `$. Before, however, we will show explicitly that, as long as the spontaneous currents are present, the variables $`\psi `$ and $`\xi `$ are coupled linearly. Indeed, substituting (15) into eq.(6) and selecting the lowest order terms describing the interaction between $`\psi `$ and $`\xi `$, we find the interaction energy as

$`H_{int}={\displaystyle d^2x\frac{\mathrm{}b}{2e}J_0(\phi _0)\psi \xi },`$ (16)
where $`\xi `$ is taken at the JJ plane, and the definition of $`J_0(\phi )`$ (see below eq.(2)) has been employed. Eq.(16) indicates that the spontaneous (equilibrium) currents $`J_0(\phi _0)`$ induce the first order coupling between small oscillations $`\psi `$ and $`\xi `$.

It is worth noting that, the form (16) of the coupling between the Josephson phase oscillations $`\psi `$ and a phonon variable $`\xi `$ is the lowest possible coupling as long as $`\xi `$ describes a non-polar (IR-inactive) mode. The situation is very much different in the case of the IR-active mode. Indeed, the IR-active phonons induce electric fields which interact with the Josephson phase directly as indicated by the Josephson relation (4). Such a coupling will lead to the dissipation of the Josephson plasma oscillations due to transferring its energy to the IR-active phonons. This effect has been studied quite well , and it may serve as a reference for assessing a significance of the IR-absorption in the case of the non-polar phonons. In order to make a proper comparison, we introduce some polar mode. It is a vector displacement field $`\xi ^{}(𝐱,t)`$ in the barrier, which corresponds to the electric polarization density $`ea^3\xi ^{}`$ (taken per unit cell of the volume $`a^3`$). Then, the interaction energy between the a.c. voltage $`V`$ and $`\xi ^{}(𝐱,t)`$ is simply the polarization energy

$`H_{int}^{}={\displaystyle \frac{e}{a^3}}{\displaystyle d^3xE_z(x,y,t)\xi _z^{}(x,y,z,t)},`$ (17)
where $`E_z`$ is the electric field in the barrier, which is taken to have only one component along the normal to the barrier and is assumed to be uniform along this direction. Then, one finds $`E_z=V/d_b`$ , and $`E_z`$ can be related to the phase oscillations by means of the Josephson relation (4). The integration is carried out inside the insulating barrier of the width $`d_b`$. Thus, assuming that the barrier is thin, so that $`\xi _z^{}`$ can be taken uniform along the $`z`$-axis inside the barrier, we find eq.(17) as

$`H_{int}^{}={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}}{2a^3}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x𝑑y\dot{\psi }(x,y,t)\xi _z^{}(x,y,t)}.`$ (18)
Thus, the polar mode interacts directly with the phase oscillations regardless of the presence of the stationary currents. Later we will employ the form (18) as a reference for assessing the strength of the IR-absorption arising in the case of the non-polar mode described by eq.(16).

We consider two types of processes initiated by the term (16): i) oscillations $`\xi `$ can excite the JJ plasma waves $`\psi `$ at the same frequency, in accordance with the spatial profile of $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$; ii) the incoming electromagnetic radiation excites the phase oscillations which convert into the oscillations $`\xi `$ directly at the same frequency. This constitutes the IR-absorption by the originally IR-inactive mode. The intensity of such an absorption is determined by $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$. Accordingly, the stationary current distribution $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$ can be inferred.

## III Direct conversion of non-polar phonons into the Josephson plasma oscillations

In this section, we consider the process i). To be specific, we choose $`\xi (x,y,z,t)`$ as the plane wave $`A_\omega \mathrm{exp}[i(\omega t\mathrm{𝐤𝐱})]+c.c.`$, characterized by the frequency $`\omega `$ and by the wave vector $`𝐤=(k_x,k_y,k_z)`$ as well as by some constant amplitude $`A_\omega `$. The junction plane is taken at $`z=0`$, and the insulating layer (the barrier) is taken as being of zero thickness. This approximation can be justified, if the actual barrier thickness $`d_b`$ (which is about few nm) is much smaller than $`1/k_z`$, so that $`\xi `$ does not vary significantly inside the barrier along the normal. Hence, in what follows we will employ the form

$`\xi =A_\omega \mathrm{exp}[i(\omega tk_xxk_yy)]+c.c.`$ (19)
at the location of the barrier in eqs.(8),(16). Performing, then, the linearization of eq.(8), we obtain

$`(\mathrm{\Omega }^2+\omega _J^2(𝐱))\psi _\omega (𝐱)\overline{c}^2^2\psi _\omega (𝐱)+b\nu J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))A_\omega \mathrm{e}^{i(k_xx+k_yy)}=0,`$ (20)
where we have introduced the notation $`\psi _\omega (𝐱)`$ for the time independent amplitude of $`\psi (𝐱,t)=\psi _\omega (𝐱)\mathrm{e}^{i\omega t}+c.c.`$; $`\mathrm{\Omega }^2=\omega ^2i\gamma \omega `$; and

$`\omega _J^2(𝐱)=\nu {\displaystyle \frac{J_0(\phi _0)}{\phi _0}}`$ (21)
is the square of the local Josephson plasma frequency.

Eq.(20) describes the electromagnetic linear response of the Josephson phase on the phonon field (19) . It is important to realize that the resulting a.c. Josephson voltage (4) turns out to be given by the equilibrium Josephson currents $`J_0(\phi _0)`$. This feature can be employed for the imaging of such currents. It should, however, be noted that the non-uniformity of $`\omega _J^2(𝐱)`$ (21) complicates solving eq.(20). In order to avoid this problem, we will consider the case

$`|\mathrm{\Omega }^2|=|\omega ^2i\gamma \omega |\omega _J^2.`$ (22)
Taking such a limit, on one hand, allows omitting the term $`\omega _J^2`$ from eq.(20), which simplifies the solution significantly. On the other hand, eq.(22) implies that the magnitude of the produced voltage is suppressed. A solution of eq.(20) for the uniform a.c. voltage $`V(t)=V_\omega \mathrm{exp}(i\omega t)+c.c.`$, where $`V(t)=\mathrm{}/(2eS)d^2x\dot{\psi }`$ and the integration is performed over the whole area $`S=LW`$ of the junction, with $`L`$ and $`W`$ standing for the length (along $`x`$) and the width (along $`y`$) of the junction, respectively, is

$`V_\omega =Z_\xi (\omega )J_{0𝐤},J_{0𝐤}={\displaystyle d^2xJ_0(\phi _0(𝐱))\mathrm{e}^{i(k_xx+k_yy)}},Z_\xi (\omega )={\displaystyle \frac{ib\omega A_\omega }{LWC\mathrm{\Omega }^2}},`$ (23)
where $`J_{0𝐤}`$ stands for the 2D Fourier component of $`J_0(\phi _0)`$ along the GB; an explicit expression for $`\nu `$ (see eq.(8)) has been employed. The solution (23) shows that the uniform a.c. voltage induced by the non-polar phonons incident on the JJ is proportional to the spatial Fourier component of the static Josephson current $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$ at the wave vector ($`k_x,k_y`$) (along the junction plane) of the incident phonon field.

Let us estimate magnitude of the voltage (23) in the non-resonant regime, that is, when the condition (22) is satisfied. A typical extension of the current structure in the JJ is given by the Josephson penetration length $`L_J=\sqrt{\mathrm{}c^2/(8\pi edJ_c)}1\mu `$m for the critical currents $`J_c10^5\mathrm{A}/\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and $`d310^5`$cm. Thus, the projection of the phonon wave vector along the junction plane (the $`k_{x,y}`$ components) should be $`k_{||}L_J^110^4`$cm<sup>-1</sup> in order to produce the most efficient imaging. In this case, $`J_{0𝐤}J_cL_JW`$ for $`WL_J`$ and $`LL_J`$. Then, we choose $`bA_\omega =10^2`$ which corresponds to the maximum relative displacement (deformation) about $`10^4`$. We also employ the values $`\overline{c}/c10^2`$ , yielding $`\omega _J=\overline{c}/L_J10^{12}`$s<sup>-1</sup>. In order to satisfy the condition (22), we choose $`\mathrm{\Omega }^210\omega _J^2`$ which corresponds to

$`|\mathrm{\Omega }|=\sqrt{|\omega ^2i\gamma \omega |}3\omega _J.`$ (24)
When dissipation is negligible (large shunt resistance, so that $`\gamma \omega _J`$ in eq.(8)), the condition (24) can be satisfied by $`\omega 10^{13}`$Hz. While being in the range of the optical frequencies, so high $`\omega `$ is hardly achievable for sound. If, however, $`J_c`$ is in the range $`110`$A/cm<sup>2</sup>, the plasma frequency becomes $`\omega _J10^910^{10}`$s<sup>-1</sup>, and the condition (24) can easily be fulfilled for sound. It should also be noted that a less demanding requirement for the sound can be imposed for the over-damped JJ, where $`\gamma \omega _J`$ in eq.(8). In this case, already $`\omega _J^2/\gamma \omega \omega _J`$ fulfills the condition (24). This allows one to choose $`\omega `$ which is much less than the above values. For example, for $`\gamma =10^{14}`$s<sup>-1</sup> and $`\omega _J=10^{12}`$s<sup>-1</sup>, the condition (24) is satisfied by $`\omega =100`$GHz, which is on the upper limit for the hypersound techniques . Finally, setting the length of the junction $`L10L_J`$, we obtain the value $`V_\omega 10^8`$V in eq.(23) .

Let us also justify the validity of the approximation neglecting eq.(12). As discussed above, taking eq.(12) into account may result in significant deviations of the CPR from the standard one. This, however, does not occur if the condition (14) holds. Employing the above values in eq.(14) and choosing $`\omega _0\omega =10^{12}`$s<sup>-1</sup> and $`v_g=10^5`$cm/s, $`\rho 6`$g/cm<sup>3</sup>, we find $`\stackrel{~}{g}310^31`$ as mentioned above.

## IV  IR-absorption induced by the static Josephson currents

Now let us consider the case ii), that is, the possibility of the coherent phonon field generation as a result of applying a uniform a.c. voltage $`V_\omega \mathrm{exp}(i\omega t)+c.c.`$ across the barrier. This voltage corresponds to the phase oscillations

$`\psi (t)={\displaystyle \frac{2eV_\omega }{i\mathrm{}\omega }}\mathrm{e}^{i\omega t}+c.c.,`$ (25)
following from eq.(4). These phase oscillations serve as a source (in eq.(9)) for the oscillations of $`\xi `$ in the barrier, which are subsequently emitted into the bulk. In order to describe this effect, we employ eqs.(9),(15), and retain only the part $`\psi `$ in the last term of eq.(9). Accordingly, eq.(9) becomes

$`\ddot{\xi }+\omega _0^2\xi v_g^2^2\xi +({\displaystyle \frac{bV_\omega J_0(\phi _0)}{i\rho \omega }}\mathrm{e}^{i\omega t}+c.c.)\delta (z)=0,`$ (26)
where eq.(25) has been employed. Eq.(26) describes the linear response of $`\xi `$ on the external a.c. voltage. This can be interpreted as though the displacement field $`\xi `$ has become polar, so that it exhibits the IR-activity inside the JJ barrier. As a result, an additional dissipation of the external radiation occurs. The total power $`P(\omega )`$ carried away by the phonons, which are generated in the barrier and, then, are emitted into the bulk, can be calculated by means of solving eq.(26) and substituting the result into the expression for the phonon energy flux density $`\rho v_g^2\dot{\xi }\xi `$. Averaging this flux over time and integrating over the JJ area, we find

$`P(\omega )=R^1(\omega )|V_\omega |^2,R^1(\omega )={\displaystyle \frac{b^2}{|\omega |\rho v_g^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{d^2q}{(2\pi )^2}\frac{|d^2x\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{𝐪𝐱}}J_0(\phi _0)|^2}{\sqrt{v_g^2(\omega ^2\omega _0^2)q^2}}},`$ (27)
where $`\omega >\omega _0`$ (for $`v_g^2>0`$ ); and the integration is performed over the range $`|q|<\sqrt{v_g^2(\omega ^2\omega _0^2)}`$. The above result indicates that the frequency dependence of the absorbed power is determined by the spatial profile of the stationary current distribution. Thus, measuring the IR-absorption can be employed for obtaining information about $`J_0(\phi _0)`$. The quantity $`R^1(\omega )`$ carries an obvious meaning of the a.c. conductance due to the phonons.

It is useful to compare the absorption intensity (27), caused by the emission of the non-polar phonons, with the intensity in the case when the phonons are polar, and the coupling is represented by eq.(18). Such a comparison helps evaluating a significance of the effect under consideration. This is especially important because the technique of the IR-absorption in the JJ is well established , and therefore can be employed for detecting the effect described above. Thus, we assume that the displacement fields in the both cases are the same ( $`\xi =\xi _z^{}`$). In the case (18), the last term in eq.(26) should be replaced by $`eV/(\rho a^3)\delta (z)`$. The corresponding emission intensity $`P^{}(\omega )`$ can be calculated similarly to how eq.(27) has been obtained. Comparing it with (27), we find

$`{\displaystyle \frac{P(\omega )}{P^{}(\omega )}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{bJ_ca^3}{e\omega }}\right)^2,`$ (28)
where we have estimated the integrals in eq.(27) as $`d^2q|d^2xJ_0\mathrm{exp}(i\mathrm{𝐪𝐱})|^2L_JW|J_c|^2`$, and has selected the emission area, from which $`P^{}(\omega )`$ is collected, as $`L_JW`$. Obviously, in the case represented by eq.(27), $`L_JW`$ is the effective area occupied by $`J_0(\phi _0)`$. Taking $`\omega =10^{12}`$s<sup>-1</sup>, $`a=0.4`$nm, $`b=10^2/a`$ and $`J_c=10^5`$A/cm<sup>2</sup>, we find the ratio (28) as $`10^2`$. For $`\omega =10^{11}`$s<sup>-1</sup> this ratio becomes close to 1. Thus, the IR absorption per unit area occupied by the equilibrium Josephson currents can be comparable to the absorption due to the IR-active mode. This conclusion makes detecting the effect described above by means of employing the technique  quite feasible.

## V Imaging of the stationary Josephson currents by sound

The effect discussed in Sec.III gives a principal possibility of imaging the currents $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$ by means of detecting uniform component of the a.c. voltage produced as a result of subjecting the barrier to a coherent time dependent field $`\xi `$. In this case, eq.(23) relates such a voltage to a $`single`$ spatial Fourier component of $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$. The drawback of this is that, in order to keep such a relation valid, the frequency of the incoming phonon field should be high enough. As we will discuss below, this limitation can be circumvented by employing the reverse effect discussed in Sec.IV, that is, a coherent emission of the non-polar phonons induced by external electro-magnetic radiation. In this case, measuring the phonon field $`\xi `$ (in, e.g., far zone) which obeys eq.(26) would allow to achieve the same goal. We will discuss this in detail for sound, so that detecting a dynamical mechanical stress in the far zone could be employed for the imaging of $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$.

In what follows the role of $`\xi `$ is played by the strain tensor $`u_{ij}`$. We employ a simplest model of the dilatation interaction between $`u_{ij}`$ and the Josephson currents, so that we take $`\xi =u_{ii}`$, and describe the dynamics in the bulk within the isotropic medium approximation. Thus, the energy explicitly dependent on $`u_{ij}`$ is

$`H_d={\displaystyle d^3x[\frac{\rho \dot{u}_i^2}{2}+\frac{\lambda }{2}u_{ii}^2+\mu u_{ij}^2+\eta \psi u_{ii}]},\eta ={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}bJ_0(\phi _0)}{2e}}\delta (z),`$ (29)
where $`\lambda ,\mu `$ are the Lame coefficients; $`\rho `$ stands for the total density; the source term $`\eta `$ is due to $`H_{int}`$ (16).

Let us assume that small uniform phase oscillations $`\psi (t)`$ (25) are imposed externally by the incoming microwave radiation . We represent the deformation field as $`u_i=_iu`$, which determines $`u_{ij}=(_iu_j+_ju_i)/2`$, with $`u`$ being some scalar field. We note that the transverse part of the deformations is decoupled in this simplified approach. Then, the equation for $`u`$ , following from eq. (29), is

$`\ddot{u}v_s^2^2u={\displaystyle \frac{2e\eta }{i\mathrm{}\omega \rho }}V_\omega \mathrm{e}^{i\omega t}+c.c.,`$ (30)
where $`v_s=\sqrt{(\lambda +2\mu )/\rho }`$ stands for the speed of the longitudinal sound; eq.(25) has been employed; and no dissipation of sound is considered. Solution of eq.(30) can easily be found in terms of the Fourier harmonics $`u=u_𝐪\mathrm{e}^{i\omega ti\mathrm{𝐪𝐱}}+c.c.`$ as

$`u_𝐪={\displaystyle \frac{2eV_\omega }{i\mathrm{}\omega \rho (v_s^2q^2\omega ^2)}}\eta _𝐪,`$ (31)
where $`\eta _𝐪=d^3x\mathrm{exp}(i\mathrm{𝐪𝐱})\eta (𝐱)`$ denotes the 3D Fourier harmonic of $`\eta `$ in eq.(29), and $`V_\omega `$ is taken uniform along the junction. As represented, eq.(31) is valid for an arbitrary configuration of the source $`\eta `$. Thus, it is not limited by the specific form (29) corresponding to the plane junction.

Let us find the $`\omega `$-harmonic of the pressure field $`\sigma =\rho v_s^2u_{ii}=\rho v_s^2^2u`$ far from the junction in the effective 2D geometry. That is, we assume uniformity of all the quantities in the $`y`$ direction corresponding to the thickness $`W`$ of a slab containing the JJ plane $`z=0`$. The other two directions $`x,z`$ are unlimited. The location of the spontaneous currents determined by the solution of eq.(10) is restricted to some region of a typical size $`L_J`$ (along $`x`$ ) and $`W`$ (along $`y`$). The distance $`r`$ (along $`x,z`$ directions) at which the stress is detected is considered to be much larger than $`L_J`$ and $`W`$. Performing the inverse Fourier transform of eq.(31) in the far zone, we find the $`\omega `$-harmonic of the pressure $`\sigma (x,z,t)=\sigma _\omega (r,\theta )\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t)+c.c.`$ as

$`\sigma _\omega (r,\theta )={\displaystyle \frac{eq_\omega ^{3/2}V_\omega }{\sqrt{2\pi }\mathrm{}\omega }}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{i}\mathrm{e}^{iqr}}{\sqrt{r}}}\eta _𝐪,`$ (32)
where the notation $`q_\omega =\omega /v_s`$ has been introduced, and $`𝐪=q_\omega 𝐧`$, with $`𝐧`$ standing for the unit vector in the direction of observation from the location of the currents, that is, $`𝐫=(x,z)`$ and $`𝐫=r𝐧`$, with $`n_x=\mathrm{sin}\theta ,n_z=\mathrm{cos}\theta `$ given by the angle of observation $`\theta `$ with respect to the axis $`z`$. Eq.(32) can be employed for imaging of the spontaneous currents by means of detecting the mechanical pressure (stress) at the frequency of the external a.c. voltage far from the junction.

For the purpose of estimating the magnitude of the stress, we assume that the equilibrium Josephson current is uniform in the $`y`$-direction. Then, after employing the explicit expression for $`\eta `$ (29) in eq.(32), we find

$`\sigma _\omega (r,\theta )={\displaystyle \frac{bq_\omega ^{3/2}V_\omega }{2\sqrt{2\pi }\omega }}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{i}\mathrm{e}^{iqr}}{\sqrt{r}}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x\mathrm{e}^{i(q_\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta )x}J_0(\phi _0(x))}.`$ (33)
This expression shows that, if the stress amplitude in the far zone is known for a sufficient range of the angles of observation $`\theta `$ and frequencies $`\omega `$, the stationary (spontaneous) Josephson current distribution can be restored by means of the spatial inverse Fourier transform. Later we will estimate the expected values of $`\sigma `$.

Now let us obtain an expression for the total electric power dissipated due to the emission of sound (see eq.(27) for optical phonons). As we will see, this power demonstrates a universal behavior $`\omega ^3`$ as $`\omega 0`$ as long as the current distribution $`J_0`$ is characterized by some finite vorticity.

The dissipated power $`P(\omega )`$ equals to the total flux of energy

$`P(\omega )=rW{\displaystyle 𝑑𝐧\sigma \dot{u}}`$ (34)
carried away by the sound. Here the surface integral of the energy flux density is taken over the cylinder surface of the radius $`rL_J`$ and of the height $`W`$. A substitution of eqs.(31), (33) yields

$`P(\omega )=R^1(\omega )|V_\omega |^2,R^1(\omega )={\displaystyle \frac{Wb^2\omega }{4\pi \rho v_s^4}}{\displaystyle 𝑑\theta \left|𝑑x\mathrm{e}^{i(q_\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta )x}J_0(\phi _0(x))\right|^2}.`$ (35)
It is important to note that the frequency dependence of $`R^1(\omega )`$ turns out to be sensitive to the net vorticity. Indeed, let us consider the case when the JJ contains some vortex characterized by the phase variation $`\phi _0(x)`$ along the junction, so that the phase difference on $`x=\pm \mathrm{}`$ is $`\delta \phi _00`$. Then, taking into account eq.(10) in eq.(35), we obtain

$`R^1(\omega )=R_0^1\omega ^3,R_0^1={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}^2c^4b^2W|\delta \phi _0|^2}{256\pi ^2e^2v_s^6d^2\rho }},`$ (36)
where the wavelength $`2\pi /q`$ of the emitted sound is taken longer than the Josephson length $`L_J`$ ( along which the variation of the phase typically takes place), so that the Fourier transform of $`J_0`$ was taken as

$`J_{0q}={\displaystyle \frac{\overline{c}^2}{\nu }}iq_\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta {\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑x\mathrm{e}^{i(q_\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta )x}{\displaystyle \frac{\phi _0(x)}{x}}{\displaystyle \frac{\overline{c}^2}{\nu }}iq_\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta \delta \phi _0`$ (37)
in eq.(35), and we have employed the explicit expression for $`\nu `$ in eq.(8). Thus, the emission of sound induces the specific contribution $`R^1(\omega )\omega ^3(\delta \phi _0)^2`$ to the a.c. conductance of the JJ in the limit $`\omega 0`$. We note that in the absence of the vorticity ( $`\delta \phi =0`$), eq.(37) yields $`J_{0q}q^2`$, and eq.(36) will change to become $`R^1(\omega )\omega ^5`$. This result indicates that a presence of the spontaneous JJ currents characterized by finite vorticity could be revealed in the frequency dependence (36), unless, of course, the low frequency quasiparticle effects dominate the JJ a.c. conductance.

Let us estimate a possible magnitude of the effect (36). For this purpose we choose the following parameters: $`\delta \phi _0=2\pi `$; $`W=10^3`$cm; $`v_s410^5\mathrm{cm}/\mathrm{s}`$; $`\rho =6\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{cm}^3`$$`d=310^5`$cm; $`b=10^2`$. This yields $`R^1=310^5\mathrm{\Omega }^1(\omega /\mathrm{GHz})^3`$. It is important to note that the dependence (36) saturates at some value $`R_{max}^1`$ at frequencies larger than a frequency $`\omega _{max}`$ corresponding to the wavelength of sound comparable to the Josephson length $`L_J`$. For $`L_J=1\mu `$m, we find $`\omega _{max}v_s/L_J=410^9`$Hz. Accordingly, $`R_{max}^1210^3\mathrm{\Omega }^1`$. This corresponds to $`R_{max}^1/(WL_J)210^4\mathrm{\Omega }^1\mathrm{cm}^2`$ of the inverse effective shunt resistance per unit area of the JJ.

It is worth noting that measurements of $`R^1(\omega )`$ do not allow restoring completely a spatial profile of the currents. As eq.(35) indicates, $`R^1(\omega )`$ is the quantity which is the average over the directions. Furthermore, the quasiparticle effects may dominate the a.c. conductance. In order to be able to restore $`J_0(\phi _0(𝐱))`$, the mechanical stress amplitude (33) should be determined as a function of $`\theta `$ and $`\omega `$. Let us estimate its magnitude at distances $`r=10^3L_J`$ far from the location of the currents and for $`qL_J^1`$. The voltage amplitude in eq.(33) should be chosen in such a way that the linearized approach is valid. Thus, $`eV_\omega \mathrm{}\omega `$. Then, the Fourier component of the current $`J_{0q}`$ in eq.(33) can be evaluated as $`J_cL_J`$, where a typical value of the critical current can be taken as $`J_c10^5\mathrm{A}/\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Then, eq.(33) yields $`|\sigma _\omega |0.1(\omega /\mathrm{GHz})^{3/2}`$Pa for $`L_J=1\mu `$m.

## VI Enhancement of the interconversion by external magnetic field

It is worth noting that the discussed effects can exhibit a resonant-like behavior with respect to applied external magnetic field $`H_y`$ (along the JJ width $`W`$ ). Indeed, an external field greater than the lower critical field $`H_{c1}\mathrm{\Phi }_0/(L_Jd)`$ , where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0=hc/2e`$ is the magnetic flux quantum, leads to the periodic (along the junction length) structure of the Josephson currents due to the Josephson vortices. This periodic structure can contribute constructively to the induced voltage (23) and to the stress field (33), if the matching conditions are fulfilled. As a result, a significant enhancement of the corresponding values should be anticipated. Let discuss this.

In the presence of $`H_y>H_{c1}`$ , the Josephson current will change its sign on the length $`L_H\mathrm{\Phi }_0/(H_yd)<L_J`$ . Thus, $`L_H`$ describes the spatial period of the main harmonic of the current. Accordingly, as follows from eqs.(23), the induced voltage will exhibit the resonant increase when the wave vector $`k_{||}`$ (along the JJ barrier ) of the incoming deformation field becomes equal to $`2\pi /L_H`$, that is, for

$`H_y{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0k_{||}}{2\pi d}}.`$ (38)
In this case, provided the vortex lattice is ideal, the Fourier component of the current becomes $`J_{0𝐤}J_cWL`$ in eq.(23). This implies the factor of $`L/L_J1`$ increase of the voltage magnitude if compared with the case of a single vortex considered in Sec.III.

A similar situation occurs for the mechanical stress (33) generated by the incoming a.c. voltage. This stress will exhibit a resonant increase at certain angle of observation $`\theta `$ given by the matching condition $`2\pi /L_H=(\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta )/v_s`$. Thus, for given frequency $`\omega `$ of the external radiation and the angle $`\theta `$, the stress amplitude will resonantly increase at the value

$`H_y{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0\omega \mathrm{sin}\theta }{2\pi v_sd}}.`$ (39)
For long JJ , we find from eq.(33) that $`\sigma _\omega `$ will increase in proportion to the total length $`L`$ of the JJ. This also constitutes the factors of $`L/L_J1`$ increase of the stress amplitude (33) in the given direction, if compared with the above estimates for the case of a single Josephson vortex.

## VII Discussion and conclusion

The interconversion effect discussed above can, in principle, be expected to occur in traditional superconductors as well. Deformations should modulate the width $`d_b`$ of the JJ barrier. Accordingly, the tunneling matrix element will change. In the superconducting state, this leads to the term (16), where the coefficient $`b`$ is determined by the kinematics of the one electron tunneling. Assuming the exponential form $`\mathrm{exp}(d_b/\lambda )`$ for the matrix element, where $`\lambda `$ stands for a typical overlap length of the electronic states on the both sides of the JJ, the estimate $`bd_b/\lambda `$ follows, if the dominant effect of the strain is the change $`d_bd_b(1+u_{zz})`$. Obviously, in order to have $`b`$ as large as chosen above $`b10^2`$, the critical current $`J_c\mathrm{exp}(d_b/\lambda )`$ should be practically zero. Thus, in the traditional JJ, $`b110`$, which lowers the above estimates of (23) and (33) significantly. On the contrary, in the JJ made of the high-$`T_c`$ materials, the nature of the term (16) is expected to be completely different. The proximity of the barrier to the superconducting state should result in anomalously strong sensitivity of the barrier to any external factor which shifts its equilibrium. In our estimates of $`b`$ for the high-$`T_c`$ JJ, we have relied on the indirect evidence - the extremely strong sensitivity of the Josephson critical current to the misorientation angle in the GB JJ. As suggested in Ref. , the mechanical strain is the most plausible cause of this.

As discussed in Introduction, the mechanical strain (stress) may have no significant direct effect on the barrier transport properties, if its role is reduced to only controlling the depletion of oxygen at the GB during the preparation of the JJ at high temperatures. If so, in the superconducting state, the external stress will produce no substantial modulations of the critical current, and the value of $`b`$ will not be much different from the estimate for the traditional JJ. Thus, no the strong interconversion discussed in this paper is to be observed under such circumstances. Accordingly, either observing or not observing the discussed effect will help elucidate the role of the mechanical strain in suppressing the Josephson current. If the effect is observed, this will be a very strong indication favoring the concept of proximity of the barrier to the superconducting state .

If being strong enough, the dynamical effect proposed above, opens up a possibility for the high resolution imaging of the equilibrium Josephson currents in the high-$`T_c`$ materials. This is especially important for revealing the nature of the superconducting OP at the GB, and the mechanisms of the TRSB. The resolution is limited by the wavelength of the sound. Thus, for the frequencies higher than 10GHz, the resolution becomes better than 1$`\mu `$m.

In summary, we have suggested that in the Josephson junction, in which the critical current is sensitive to the mechanical (optical) deformations, a direct conversion of the non-polar phonons into the electromagnetic Josephson oscillations as well as the reverse process can occur, if this JJ contains spontaneous currents. We conjecture that these effects should be especially strong in the high $`T_c`$-materials due to the proximity of the insulating layer of the JJ to the superconducting state. We propose that the effect of the interconversion can be employed as a crucial test for the role of deformations in the superconducting properties of the GB JJ made of the high-$`T_c`$ materials. This effect can be used for imaging of the Josephson current spatial distributions.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was partially supported by the CUNY Research Program Grant.