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# Tunable local polariton modes in semiconductors*footnote **footnote *Submitted to PRB

## I Introduction

Capture of non-equilibrium charge carriers by a deep defect center provides an important channel of energy dissipation in wide-bandgap semiconductors and insulators. A significant amount of energy, at least equal to the binding energy, $`ϵ_T1eV`$, of the electron (or the hole) to the center, should be released in each capture event, is usually accompanied by a substantial lattice relaxation. Several mechanisms can be responsible for the electron transitions involving deep levels in semiconductors. The energy lost by the captured carrier can be transferred either to photon(s) in the radiative transition, or to nearby carrier in the Auger effect, or to a series of long-wavelength acoustic phonons when the carrier descends a staircase of the excited states in the cascade mechanism, or to the local vibration quanta when multi-phonon emission takes place. There are some indirect and direct evidence that capture or release of the charge carrier is associated not only with the lattice relaxation but, more importantly with the alteration of local vibrational modes (LVM’s), i.e. with changes in the local elastic constants.

The subject of the present paper is local excitations of a different type, local polariton modes (LPM’s), that are sensitive to the charge-state induced changes in local elastic constants. These modes arise in polar crystals in the vicinity of a polariton resonance, where a strong phonon-light interaction results in splitting of the longitudinal (LO) and transverse (TO) optic modes. If the spatial dispersion of the TO modes is negative in all crystallographic directions, there exists a frequency region where the density of polaritons states vanishes. Defects introduced in such a lattice may then lead to LPM’s inside the polariton bandgap.

LPM’s associated with substitutional defects were introduced in Refs. . They represent electromagnetic excitations coupled to phonons or excitons with both components, including the electromagnetic component, localized in the vicinity of the defect. Although LVM’s also interact with the external electromagnetic field, this interaction results mainly in resonance scattering of light and radiative decay of the states. Contrary to LVM’s, LPM’s arise in the polariton bandgap, where electromagnetic waves cannot propagate. Therefore, there is neither defect-induced scattering of light nor radiative damping of the local states. LPM’s lead to new optical effects, and strongly affect the properties of impure crystals.

In this paper, we show that electron transitions involving deep centers in semiconductors may lead to a reversible changes of the frequency of the existing LPM’s. We also discuss an even more interesting possibility of creating/eliminating LPM’s by changing the charge-state of a deep center. When the concentration of these centers is sufficiently high, LPM’s develop into an impurity polariton band (IPB). We show that in this case the alteration of the local elastic constants can lead to the creation of an IPB or to the shift of the existing band (and/or to alteration of its shape). We review materials where these effects may be observed experimentally.

## II Local polariton states

The system under consideration is a polar 3D crystal where dynamics of the atoms can be described by the classical Newton equations. Polaritons in the system arise as collective excitations of the polarization waves related to optical phonons of “right” symmetry, coupled to the electromagnetic field by means of a coupling parameter $`\alpha `$ proportional to the oscillator strength of the respective oscillations. The electromagnetic subsystem is described by Maxwell equations that include the polarization density related to phonons.

In a perfect crystal, the solution of the system of the Maxwell and atomic equations in the long-wave approximation yields the dispersion equation. The dispersion curves, of course, depend on the symmetry of the crystal. For our consideration, however, the particular form of the dispersion is not important as long as the polariton gap exists. Therefore, in the long-wave approximation we can present the upper, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_+(k)`$, and lower, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{}(k)`$, polariton branches in the following isotropic form  (see Fig. 1):

$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\pm ^2(k)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}(\sqrt{\left[\mathrm{\Omega }_{}(k)+ck\right]^2+d^2}`$ (1)
$`\pm `$ $`\sqrt{\left[\mathrm{\Omega }_{}(k)ck\right]^2+d^2})^2.`$ (2)
Here $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{}^2(k)`$ is the TO branch of the phonon spectrum, which in the long-wave limit can be approximated as $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0^2v_{}^2k^2`$, where $`v_{}`$ determines the spatial dispersion of TO phonons, $`c`$ is the speed of light in the crystal, and $`k`$ is the wave vector. The width of the polariton bandgap, $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_0,\sqrt{\mathrm{\Omega }_0^2+d^2})`$, is determined by a parameter $`d`$, related to the coupling constant $`\alpha `$.

In ideal crystals, LO phonons do not interact with transverse excitations. In the presence of defects, however, restrictions due to momentum conservation are relaxed, and the energy of LPM can leak via LO phonons, if the latter have a nonzero density of states at the frequency of LPM. In this case, the phonon component of LPM becomes delocalized, but its electromagnetic component remains localized. There are few crystals where the dispersion of the LO branch, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{||}^2(k)=\sqrt{\mathrm{\Omega }_0^2+d^2}v_{||}^2k^2`$, is not large enough to fill the entire bandgap and LPM can exist as truly localized states. In most cases, the LO modes have rather large dispersion with a non-zero density of the phonon states throughout the entire gap. However, the large dispersion leads to a relatively small density of the LO states, and the lifetimes of LPM’s in certain materials can be large enough for their survival.

The equation for the frequency of LPM, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{loc},`$ in the presence of a substitutional defect in a two-sublattice crystal was obtained in Ref.. Assuming that the defect replaces an ion in the negatively charged sublattice, one can write this equation in the following approximate form

$$\frac{4}{3\pi }\frac{(\mathrm{\Omega }_0a)^3}{v_{}^2c}\frac{d}{\sqrt{\mathrm{\Omega }_{loc}^2\mathrm{\Omega }_0^2}}\left[\frac{\delta \beta }{\beta }\left(\frac{m_+}{M}\right)^2\frac{\delta m}{\mu }\right]=1,$$
(3)
where $`\delta m`$ is the deviation of the mass of the defect from that of the host atoms, $`\delta \beta `$ is the local change in the elastic constant, $`M`$ is the total mass of the positive ($`m_+`$) and negative ($`m_{}`$) ions, $`\mu =m_+m_{}/(m_++m_{})`$ is their reduced mass, and $`a`$ denotes the lattice constant. This equation describes the LPM arising in the vicinity of the TO long-wavelength limiting frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$. Obviously, the real-value solution, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{loc}`$, of Eq. (3) exists when the expression in the braces is positive.

The effect of LPM’s on optical properties of crystals was studied in Refs. . The profile of electromagnetic-wave transmission is shown to have an asymmetric shape (Fano resonance) where the maximum is followed by a closely spaced zero. The maximum value of the transmission exponentially depends on the position of the defect in the crystal and, without absorption, it reaches unity for the defect placed at the center of the system. The width of the resonance decreases exponentially with an increase of the size of the system.

In spite of a general understanding that the local states should produce resonance tunneling, this result still seems surprising because transmission of light is affected by structural defects with microscopic dimensions much smaller than the wavelength of light. The physical explanation of this effect is based on the fact that the local polaritons emerge due to strong interaction between the electromagnetic field and local phonons. The latter have macroscopic dimensions comparable with the wavelength of IR light, thus making coupling with the external electromagnetic waves effective. As a result, the electromagnetic wave is carried through the sample by the phonons that tunnel resonantly due to the presence of the local state.

Because of the large spatial size of the local-polariton states, even at a very low impurity concentration, $`10^{12}`$ $`cm^3`$, they significantly overlap. As a result, an impurity polariton band (IPB) is formed inside the polariton band gap. This band has a number of interesting properties. For instance, the group velocity of electromagnetic excitations, propagating via such a band, has been found proportional to the concentration of the impurities, and it can be significantly smaller than the speed of light in vacuum. Also, for a large range of defect concentrations, the position of the boundaries of the IPB linearly depends on the frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{loc}`$ of the “seed” LPM. Therefore, one can expect that the charge-state induced changes in the local elastic constants of the deep centers, that generate the IPB, will affect its boundaries in the same way as they affect the frequency of LPM at smaller concentrations. In the next section, we will explore this idea in reference to the well studied substitutional oxygen defect in gallium phosphide.

## III Charge-state induced changes in local elastic constants: $`O_P`$ center in gallium phosphide

A striking alteration of the local elastic constants was established by Henry and Lang  in their detailed experimental studies of the charge states of the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$. This deep donor center has two bound states, 1 and 2, with one or two bound electrons, correspondingly. Henry and Lang concluded that a significant decrease in the local lattice frequency after capture of the first or second electron is needed in order to consistently explain a variety of experimental data on photoionization and thermal emission (deep level transient spectroscopy) involving the two states in question. For state 2, where the second electron is trapped by or released from the electrically neutral center with a short-range attraction potential, this effect can be understood in the framework of the so called “zero-radius potential” model. (Such a model can be justified if the depth of the impurity potential well for the second electron at the center is small compared to its binding energy, $`ϵ_{T2}`$.) It can be shown that for the “zero-radius potential” center the adiabatic potential curves $`U\left(q\right)`$, corresponding to bound and extended (continuum) electron states, would rather contact than intersect each other at the point $`q_c`$ (Fig. 2) where the electron binding energy goes to zero. (Here $`q`$ represents the configurational coordinate corresponding to a single mode of local vibrations that is coupled to the localized carrier(s).) Let us demonstrate that this rather general requirement accounts for the alteration of LVM of the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$ introduced ad hoc  in Ref. .

In the adiabatic harmonic single-mode approximation, the potential energy of the heavy ion, which itself is an eigenvalue of the light-electron Hamiltonian, can be presented as

$$U_N\left(q\right)=\frac{\beta _0q^2}{2}+Nϵ\left(q\right)+U_cn_{}n_{}+\left(2N\right)E_c.$$
(4)
The first term in this equation describes the elastic energy in the absence of the localized electrons with $`\beta _0`$ being the elastic constant, and

$$ϵ\left(q\right)=ϵ_0\lambda q\frac{\gamma q^2}{2}$$
(5)
is the localized-electron energy with electron-phonon coupling taken into account by expanding the electron energy in powers of $`q`$ about the equilibrium point in the absence of electrons. $`U_c`$ is the Hubbard repulsion energy for two electrons localized at the center, and the last term in Eq. (4) is the energy of the electron in the conduction band. $`n_\sigma =0,1`$ is the occupation number of a one-electron localized state with a spin $`\sigma `$, and $`N=_\sigma n_\sigma =0,1,2`$ is the number of electrons trapped by the center. (In Eq. (5), we have chosen the negative sign at the quadratic term to assure the internal contact of terms $`U_1\left(q\right)`$and $`U_2\left(q\right)`$; the sign of $`\lambda `$ is irrelevant.)

By using the contact condition at the point $`q_c`$,

$$U_1\left(q_c\right)=U_2\left(q_c\right),\left(\frac{dU_1}{dq}\right)_{q_c}=\left(\frac{dU_2}{dq}\right)_{q_c},$$
(6)
it is easy to show that $`E_cϵ_0U_c=`$ $`\lambda ^2/2\gamma `$ and therefore the binding (thermal ionization) energy of state 2 is

$$ϵ_{T2}=U_1\left(q_1\right)U_2\left(q_2\right)=\frac{\lambda ^2}{2\gamma \left(1x\right)\left(12x\right)}.$$
(7)
Here $`q_N`$ is the equilibrium configuration coordinate of the center with $`N`$ trapped electrons, and $`x=\gamma /\beta _0`$. By the same token, the optical ionization energy of state 2 is

$$ϵ_{opt2}=U_1\left(q_2\right)U_2\left(q_2\right)=\frac{\lambda ^2}{2\gamma \left(12x\right)^2}.$$
(8)
Then with experimentally measured values of $`ϵ_{T2}=0.89eV`$ and $`ϵ_{opt2}=2.03eV`$ for the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$, Eqs. (7) and (8) yield $`x=\gamma /\beta _0=0.36`$. This allows us to immediately evaluate the ratios of the LVM frequencies for different charge states of the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$:

$$\frac{\omega _2}{\omega _1}=\sqrt{\frac{12x}{1x}}0.66;\frac{\omega _1}{\omega _0}=\sqrt{1x}0.80$$
(9)
in fairly good agreement with ratios $`\omega _2/\omega _1=0.65`$ and $`\omega _1/\omega _0=0.78`$ extracted by Henry and Lang  from numerous experimental data.

The goal of the above simple exercise is to show that if a multi-charge deep center in one of its states ($`N=2`$) can be described by the “zero-radius potential” model, then non-linear electron-phonon coupling may result in a substantial change in the local elastic constants associated with this center when it captures or releases charge carriers. If the second electron is captured by the neutral center as a result of the radiative transition, the energy of the emitted photon is

$$ϵ_{l2}=U_1\left(q_1\right)U_2\left(q_1\right)=\frac{\lambda ^2}{2\gamma \left(1x\right)^2}.$$
(10)
From Eqs. (7), (8), and (10), the following criterion of applicability of the “zero-radius potential” model can be derived (see also Ref. ):

$$ϵ_{T2}=\sqrt{ϵ_{opt2}ϵ_{l2}},$$
(11)
as opposed to the standard relation

$$ϵ_{T2}=\left(ϵ_{opt2}+ϵ_{l2}\right)/2,$$
(12)
held for deep centers with linear electron-phonon coupling when no change in the local frequencies is expected.

If the parameters of a deep center satisfy relation (11), as it happens for the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$, the capture (release) of the first or second electron will diminish (increase) the local elastic constants in the vicinity of this center. To evaluate the effectiveness of such a rearrangement of the LVM’s, let us consider a simple case of the $`p`$-type semiconductor doped by shallow acceptors with the concentration $`N_A`$ and partially compensated by the deep multi-charge donors of the type considered above with a concentration $`N_DN_A`$. At equilibrium, all the deep donors will be free of electrons (state $`0`$), i.e. positively charged. Then, incident light with photon energy close to $`E_gϵ_{opt1}`$ will transfer electrons from the valence band to the states with $`N=0`$, thus recharging the deep centers ($`+0`$). (Here $`E_g`$ is the electron bandgap and $`ϵ_{opt1}`$ is the optical ionization energy of state $`1`$.) Further evolution of the system depends on the sign of the effective two-electron correlation energy

$$U_{eff}=U_0\left(q_0\right)+U_2\left(q_2\right)2U_1\left(q_1\right)=ϵ_{T1}ϵ_{T2},$$
(13)
where $`ϵ_{T1}=U_0\left(q_0\right)U_1\left(q_1\right)`$ is the thermal ionization energy of state $`1.`$

By using experimental values  of $`ϵ_{T1}=1.14eV`$ and $`ϵ_{T2}=0.89eV`$, it is easy to find that $`U_{eff}0.26eV>0`$ for the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$. This means that, in this case, the electrically neutral state $`1`$ generated by photons with energy ($`E_gϵ_{opt1}`$), which is close to $`1.5eV`$, remains metastable under constant illumination conditions and will not be further converted into negatively charged state $`2`$. Then the electro-neutrality condition,

$$p+N_D^+=N_A^{},$$
(14)
combined with the standard rate equations for the concentration $`N_D^0N_DN_D^+`$ of the deep neutral donors

$$N_D^0/t=\sigma _{p1}^{opt}JN_D^+pv_p\sigma _{p1}^{th}N_D^0$$
(15)
and for the concentration $`N_A^0=N_AN_A^{}`$ of shallow neutral acceptors,

$$N_A^0/t=pv_p\sigma _{pA}^{th}N_A^{}e_{pA}N_A^0,$$
(16)
allow one to evaluate the percentage of recharged deep centers. Here $`p`$ is the concentration of free holes, $`v_p`$ is their mean thermal speed; $`\sigma _{p1}^{th}`$ ($`\sigma _{pA}^{th}`$) is the non-radiative capture cross-section of the free holes by the deep neutral donors (shallow negative acceptors); $`\sigma _{p1}^{opt}`$ is the cross-section of the optical photo-neutralization of state $`0`$; $`J`$ is the flux of incident photons; $`e_{pA}=N_vv_p\sigma _{pA}^{th}\mathrm{exp}\left(I_A/k_BT\right)`$ is the rate of thermal emission of the holes by the shallow acceptors with the ionization energy $`I_A`$; $`N_v`$ is the valence-band density of states; $`k_B`$ is the Boltzmann constant.

From Eq. (16) it follows that at not very low temperatures such that $`T>I_A\left[k_B\mathrm{ln}(N_v/N_A)\right]^1`$, all the shallow acceptors are ionized, i.e. the concentration of the free holes \[see Eq. (14)\] $`p`$ is approximately $`N_A`$ ($`N_AN_D`$). Then for the steady-state illumination conditions, Eq. (15) yields

$$\frac{N_D^0}{N_D}\left[1+\frac{N_Av_p\sigma _{p1}^{th}}{J\sigma _{p1}^{opt}}\right]^1.$$
(17)
This means that the deep donors will be almost completely photo-neutralized ($`+0`$), if the flux of the incident sub-bandgap photons, $`J10^{19}cm^2s^1`$. (For this estimate, we take $`\sigma _{p1}^{th}=5\times 10^{21}`$ $`cm^2`$, $`\sigma _{p1}^{opt}=1.3\times 10^{16}`$ $`cm^2`$, $`N_A=10^{17}cm^3`$, $`v_p=10^7`$ $`cm/s`$.) Such a photon flux can be easily generated by a $`1W`$-source for a spot area of the order of 1 $`cm^2`$. In a $`p`$-type semiconductor with positive-$`U_{eff}`$ centers, this will convert a high-frequency LVM associated with these centers into a low-frequency one ($`\omega _0\omega _1`$). However, for a $`n`$-type material the photo-neutralization of the deep positive-$`U_{eff}`$ centers will have the opposite effect: it converts the low-frequency LVM into the high-frequency one ($`\omega _2\omega _1`$). If the concentration of the deep centers is high enough ($`N_DN_A`$), then the light from the sub-bandgap or fundamental regions will convert the intermediate-frequency LVM into the high and low-frequency LVM’s: $`\omega _1\omega _0`$, $`\omega _1\omega _2`$ \[see Fig. 3a and Eq. (9)\].

For materials with negative-$`U_{eff}`$ centers, the continuous sub-bandgap (impurity) illumination should, in principle, have more a profound effect on LVM due to the so called disproportionation, i.e. thermodynamically driven spontaneous decay of the metastable electron state $`1`$ into the states with the next higher, state $`2`$, and the next lower, state $`0`$, number of electrons. In $`p`$-type materials, it will initially convert the high-frequency LVM, $`\omega _0`$, into the low-frequency one, $`\omega _1`$, associated with the neutral donors, which later on due to $`U_{eff}<0`$ will be further spontaneously converted into the lower one, $`\omega _2`$. For $`n`$-type materials, as in the previous case of positive $`U_{eff}`$, the effect will be opposite: $`\omega _2\omega _1\omega _0`$ (Fig. 3b). And, finally, in semi-insulating material, when the Fermi level is pinned by the negative-$`U_{eff}`$ defects,  the illumination should convert the lowest and highest energy LVM into the intermediate one: $`\omega _2\omega _1`$, $`\omega _0\omega _1`$ (Fig. 3b).

## IV Centers and materials perspective for alteration of LPM’s

It is interesting to compare predictions based on our simple model with the observed optically induced conversion of the charge-state dependent LVM bands in the oxygen doped $`GaAs`$. It has been proven that the off-center substitutional $`O_{As}`$ in $`GaAs`$ represents one of the few negative-$`U_{eff}`$ systems in compound semiconductors. And indeed, during illumination with sub-bandgap light with photon energy around $`1.37eV`$, the high-energy $`730.7cm^1`$ band $`A`$ is almost completely converted into the low-energy $`714.9cm^1`$ band $`B`$ through the other low-energy $`714.2cm^1`$ band $`B^{}`$. These bands were attributed, correspondingly, to the unoccupied, singly, and doubly occupied electron states of the $`O_{As}`$ center in certain semi-insulating samples of $`GaAs`$, where the Fermi level was pinned below the lowest, doubly occupied, state $`2`$ of $`O_{As}`$. The material in question is analogous to $`p`$-type semiconductors with the negative-$`U_{eff}`$ centers in our classification. We conclude that, though in accordance with our model $`\omega _0>\omega _2,`$ the frequency of the singly occupied state, $`\omega _1`$, is almost the same as that of the doubly occupied one, $`\omega _2`$, as opposed to the case of the $`O_P`$ center in $`GaP`$ for which $`\omega _0^2\omega _1^2=\omega _1^2\omega _2^2>0`$. An extensive discussion of the electronic structure of $`O_{As}`$ in $`GaAs`$ can be found in Ref. . According to Skowronski, oxygen in $`GaAs`$ creates a complex off-center defect with dangling gallium hybrids involved, whose coupling strongly depends on the charge state of the center. The adiabatic potentials of the coupled dangling bonds in tetrahedrally bonded and amorphous semiconductors are shown to have a complex multi-well structure that is extremely sensitive to parameters of the structural defects in question. For instance, a stretched bond of the type, participating in the formation of $`O_{As}`$ in $`GaAs,`$ with one or three electrons, will be strongly coupled to at least two LVM’s with charge-state dependent frequencies. Though such a defect is not described by the above single-mode model, it can be responsible for photo-induced changes in the local elastic constants.

Let us now return to $`O_P`$ in $`GaP`$. The elastic constants for the three different charge states, $`\beta _N`$ ($`N=0,1,2`$ enumerates the charge states of the center), of this center are directly related to the frequency of the correspondent LVM’s given by Eq. (9):

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\beta _2}{\beta _1}}=\left({\displaystyle \frac{\omega _2}{\omega _1}}\right)^2;{\displaystyle \frac{\beta _1}{\beta _0}}=\left({\displaystyle \frac{\omega _1}{\omega _0}}\right)^2.`$

We want to check if this defect can give rise to LPM’s in any of its charge states. According to Eq. (3), the criterion for the appearance of LPM’s is set by

$$\frac{\delta \beta _N}{\beta }\left(\frac{m_+}{M}\right)^2\frac{\delta m}{\mu }>0,$$
(18)
where $`\delta \beta _N=\beta _N\beta `$ with $`\beta `$ being the elastic constant of the host atom. Therefore, it is not sufficient just to know the ratios of the local elastic constants, we need to establish their values. It is equivalent to finding the frequencies of LVM’s since $`\beta _Nm_O\omega _N^2`$, where $`m_O`$ is the mass of the oxygen atom. Direct experimental measurements of these frequencies are not available to us; however, it is possible to determine them from the configuration coordinate diagram of this center (Fig. 2). Calculated by means of the “zero-radius potential” model, the multi-phonon emission electron-capture cross-sections were compared in Ref.  with the experimental data from deep level transient spectroscopy. It gave $`\omega _1195cm^1`$ for the $`O_P`$ defect in $`GaP`$. This value differs from the one ($`\omega _1155cm^1`$) obtained in the original paper (Ref. ), where fitting is believed to be somewhat inconsistent. Later, in Ref.  it was argued that because of a strong field dependence of the thermal emission energy, $`ϵ_{T1}`$, of the electron from the singly occupied state, the deep level transient spectroscopy data should be re-evaluated. This led to a modified value of the local-phonon energy $`\omega _1290cm^1`$. We believe that the above re-evaluation of $`\omega _1`$ should not affect the ratios of the frequencies given by Eq. (9), for in the framework of the model developed, it is based on the value of parameter $`x=\gamma /\beta _0=0.36`$. The latter, in turn, was obtained by means of the ratio $`ϵ_{opt2}/ϵ_{T2}`$ involving experimentally measured ionization energies of the state $`N=2`$ with a short-range potential that can hardly be affected by the electric field in the area of the p-n junction.

Examining criterion (18) for LPM’s to occur, one can see that in the most favorable case $`\delta \beta _N`$ should be positive while $`\delta m`$ should be negative. This has a simple physical explanation. As the frequency of the TO mode is defined by $`\omega _{TO}=\left(\beta /\mu \right)^{1/2}`$, in order to make the defect frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{loc}^{(N)}`$ advance into the polariton bandgap (above the TO frequency) one should either make $`\beta _N`$ larger than $`\beta `$ ($`175N/m`$ in gallium phosphide) of the host atoms, or decrease the mass of the defect.

For the case of the oxygen center in gallium phosphide where $`\delta m<0`$, we examined three values of $`\beta _1`$ obtained by means of all three values of $`\omega _1`$ from Refs. . Then we used ratios (9) between the rest of the LVM frequencies to determine the local elastic constants $`\beta _N`$ of the defect in three charge states. We find that using the data from Refs. , it is not possible to satisfy our condition Eq. (18). On the other hand, $`\omega _1290cm^1`$, obtained in Ref., results in $`\beta _0160N/m,\beta _195N/m,`$ and $`\beta _240N/m`$. Even though for all three charge states $`\delta \beta _N<0`$, $`\beta _{N=0}`$ still satisfies Eq. (18). Thus, we predict that in the p-type (semi-insulating) $`GaP:O`$, the LPM associated with $`N=0`$ charge-state will be eliminated (created) by illuminating the sample with the light with a photon energy close to $`1.48eV`$ ($`0.96eV`$) (see Ref.  for details), and as it was shown for the charge-state dependent LVM’s, this process is reversible. We also stress that the LPM’s arise/disappear between TO ($`365cm^1`$) and LO ($`405cm^1`$) frequencies, in contrast to the LVM’s that occur either below or above this region.

The oxygen defect in $`GaP`$ cannot, by any means, be considered as a single candidate for tunable LPM’s to be observed. Semiconductors and insulators that possess a complete (omnidirectional) polariton gap include well known materials such as $`GaP,SiC,ZnS,ZnTe,CuI,CaF_2,SrF_2,BaF_2,PbF_2`$, as well as extensively studied nitrides $`AlN,GaN,InN`$. In these materials many impurities form deep centers. The charge-state dependent LVM’s, which can be considered as precursors of tunable LPM’s, remain relatively unstudied. In a recent paper by Wetzel et al, the charge-state dependent triplet of LVM’s generated by oxygen in $`GaN`$ has been reported, which is similar to the $`GaP:O`$ deep center. Even though this defect does not satisfy our condition for LPM’s, Eq. (18), ($`\delta \beta <0`$ and $`\delta m>0`$ for this defect), it gives us confidence that some defects can give rise to LPM’s in crystals with the complete polariton bandgap. Our optimism is also supported by the fact that there are many defects that satisfy this criterion but occur in materials without a polariton gap, namely: $`GaAs:O`$,  $`EL2`$ center in $`GaAs`$,  $`GaAs:Si`$,  $`Si:H`$, and $`AlAs:Be`$, $`Si:C`$.

To summarize, we have shown that a possibility exists to effectively control the optical properties, in particular, light transmission, of polar crystals in the far IR region in the vicinity of the polariton bandgap, by modifying the charge state of the deep center by means of light from the visible or near IR region. To obtain more specific results, further experimental and theoretical studies are needed.

## Acknowledgments

We are indebted to S. Schwarz for reading and commenting on the manuscript. This work was partially supported by the NATO Linkage Grant N974573, CUNY Collaborative Grant, and PSC-CUNY Research Award, as well as by the NSF grant DMR-0071823 and the Nelson grant (SDSMT).


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# 1 Introduction.

## 1 Introduction.

There is some evidence  that the $`D3`$ pure Yang-Mills systems ($`YM_D`$), including the conventional one with the action

$$\begin{array}{c}S=\frac{1}{4g^2}d^Dxtr\left(F_{\mu \nu }(x)F_{\mu \nu }(x)\right),\end{array}$$
(1.1)
might be reformulated as a sort of string theory. Recently, synthesizing the nonabelian duality transformation  with the Gross-Taylor stringy reformulation  of the $`D=2`$ $`YM_2`$ theory, a concrete proposal  has been made for the stringy representation of the $`1/N`$ strong coupling ($`SC`$) expansion in a generic continuous $`D3`$ $`YM_D`$ system with a fixed ultraviolet ($`UV`$) cut off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The construction is built on the key-observation revealing the exact $`WC/SC`$ correspondence which takes place (prior to the $`UV`$ regularization) between the two alternative $`1/N`$ series. Certain conglomerates of the Feynman diagrams, comprising the $`1/N`$ weak-coupling ($`WC`$) series in a given continuous gauge system, via a formal resummation can be traded for the judiciously associated variety of the appropriately weighted (piecewise) smooth worldsheets of the color-electric flux, facilitating the $`1/N`$ $`SC`$ expansion in the same $`YM_D`$ system.

Given the proper regularization (that introduces a nonzero width of the $`YM`$ vortex), a particular variant of the latter $`SC`$ expansion is supposed to faithfully represent, at least for sufficiently large $`N`$, the regularized $`U(N)`$ gauge theory (1.1) provided that the dimensionless and $`N`$-independent bare coupling constant

$$\begin{array}{c}\lambda =(g^2N)\mathrm{\Lambda }^{D4}>\lambda _{cr}(D)\end{array}$$
(1.2)
is larger than certain critical value $`\lambda _{cr}(D)`$ presumably associated to the large $`N`$ phase transition. For the final justification of the asserted $`YM_D/String`$ duality, in the present paper I follow the somewhat complementary root. Given the $`U(N)`$ theory (1.1), our aim is to solve the Dyson-Schwinger chain of the loop equations  which, in the $`N\mathrm{}`$ limit, reduces to the single Loop equation

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱(s))<W_C>_{\mathrm{}}=\stackrel{~}{g}^2\underset{C}{}𝑑y_\nu (s^{})\delta _D(𝐲(s^{})𝐱(s))<W_{C_{xy}}>_{\mathrm{}}<W_{C_{yx}}>_{\mathrm{}},\end{array}$$
(1.3)
where $`\stackrel{~}{g}^2=g^2N=\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^{4D}`$, $`\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱)`$ is the Loop operator specified by eq. (2.5) below, while $`<W_C>_{\mathrm{}}`$ denotes the $`N\mathrm{}`$ limit of the correlator of the Wilson loop111Owing to the constraint imposed by the $`D`$-dimensional $`\delta _D(..)`$-function, the r.h. side of eq. (1.3) vanishes unless $`C`$ has a selfintersection at a point $`𝐱(s)=𝐲(s^{})`$ so that $`CC_{xx}=C_{xy}C_{yx}`$ is decomposable into the two subloops $`C_{xy}`$ and $`C_{yx}`$.

$$\begin{array}{c}W_C=\frac{1}{N}Tr\left[𝒫exp\left(i_Cdx_\mu A_\mu (x)\right)\right],A_\mu (x)A_\mu ^a(x)T_{ij}^a.\end{array}$$
(1.4)
It can be then demonstrated, see , that the derived $`D3`$ confining solution (of the loop equations) matches, to all orders of the $`1/N`$ expansion, the appropriately regularized implementation of the Gauge String proposed in .

The subtlety is that, in the $`SC`$ phase (1.2), the transverse profile of the microscopic flux-tubes does depend on a particular choice of the prescription to implement the $`UV`$ regularization. Therefore, to attack the loop equations in the economic way, it is vital to reduce the regularization-dependence of the $`YM_D`$ loop-average $`<W_C>`$ as much as possible. Upon a reflection, there are two limiting regimes (formalized by eqs. (1.5) and (1.6) below) where the dependence of $`<W_C>`$ on the choice of the regularization indeed can be reduced to the dependence of a few relevant coupling constants, entering the corresponding formulation of the Gauge String representation, on the bare coupling (1.2). In both cases, we are dealing with the dominance of the infrared phenomena: the contours $`C`$, being constrained to possess the radius of curvature $`(s)>>\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$ (for $`s`$), should be associated to sufficiently large values of the minimal area $`A_{min}(C)`$ of the saddle-point worldsheet $`\stackrel{~}{M}_{min}(C)`$ spanned by $`C`$. Given the latter conditions, the required reduction is shown to be maintained when the characteristic amplitude $`\sqrt{<𝐡^\mathrm{𝟐}>}`$ of the worldsheet’s fluctuations is either much larger

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{<𝐡^\mathrm{𝟐}>}{<𝐫^\mathrm{𝟐}>}\frac{D2}{\lambda }ln[A_{min}(C)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2]\mathrm{},(s)\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{},\end{array}$$
(1.5)
or much smaller

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{<𝐡^\mathrm{𝟐}>}{<𝐫^\mathrm{𝟐}>}\frac{ln[A_{min}(C)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2]}{\lambda }0,[A_{min}(C)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2]\mathrm{},(s)\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{},\end{array}$$
(1.6)
than the flux-tube’s width $`\sqrt{<𝐫^\mathrm{𝟐}>}\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$.

In both of the above regimes, the corresponding solution of the Dyson-Schwinger chain allows to reconstruct the associated regularization of Gauge String representation  (of the Wilson’s loop-averages). The prescription is that the ’bare’ worldsheet’s weight (assigned to the infinitely thin flux-tubes) of  is substituted by its smeared counterpart, visualized through the fat $`YM`$ vortices, so that the nonuniversality of the smearing is essentially unobservable under the considered conditions (1.5) or (1.6). The discussed solution is expected to describe stable stringy excitations only in the $`SC`$ phase (1.2). At least for sufficiently large $`N`$, this is predetermined by the fact that, within the $`1/N`$ $`SC`$ expansion, the physical string tension $`\sigma _{ph}`$ mandatory exhibits the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$-scaling (2.11). Nevertheless, combining the present results with the outcome of , we suggest the stringy pattern of the low-energy theory associated to the $`D=4`$ $`U(\mathrm{})SU(\mathrm{})`$ gauge theory (1.1) in the conventional $`WC`$ phase $`\lambda 0`$.

## 2 The regime (1.5) of the large fluctuations.

The complexity of eq. (1.3) is foreshadowed by its nonlinearity that takes place when the loop $`C`$ nontrivially selfintersects. Complementary, one may expect that, in eq. (1.3), not any ’natural’ (from the $`\lambda 0`$ phase viewpoint) regularization of the $`\delta _D(𝐱𝐲)`$-function can be translated into a tractable regularization of the presumable stringy solution of the Loop equation in the $`SC`$ phase. On the contrary, in the sector $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$ (of the full loop space $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$) comprised of the contours $`C`$ without nontrivial selfintersections, eq. (1.3) considerably simplifies so that a simple gauge-invariant regularization results in the transparent pattern of the regularized stringy solution. To take advantage of the latter simplification, the idea is to handle the Loop equation (1.3) in the two steps. First, one is to find a subclass of the regularized solutions of the considered $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$-reduction of the Loop equation. Then, we find out under what circumstances thus obtained solutions correctly reproduce the loop-averages for nontrivially selfintersecting contours.

### 2.1 The solutions of the Loop Equation on $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$.

For any nonintersecting loop $`C\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$, the r.h. side of eq. (1.3) receives a nonzero contribution only from the trivial selfintersection point $`𝐱(s)=𝐲(s^{})`$ with $`s^{}=s`$ so that one can put $`<W_{C_{xy}}>=<W_{C_{xx}}>`$ while $`<W_{C_{yx}}>=1`$. Actually, the same simplification takes place for the finite $`N`$ extension of eq. (1.3) so that the latter finite $`N`$ equation is reduced on $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$ to the linear one

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱(s))<W_C>=\stackrel{~}{g}^2<W_C>\underset{C}{}dy_\nu (s^{})\delta _D(𝐲(s^{})𝐱(s)),C\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0,\end{array}$$
(2.1)
where $`\stackrel{~}{g}^2=g^2NN^0`$, and one can implement (consistently with the manifest gauge invariance) the smearing prescription

$$\begin{array}{c}\delta _D(𝐱𝐲)\mathrm{\Lambda }^D𝒢(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2(𝐱𝐲)^2);d^Dz𝒢(𝐳^2)=1,\end{array}$$
(2.2)
where $`𝒢(𝐳^2)`$ is a sufficiently smooth function (so that all its moments are well-defined) which satisifies the natural normalization-condition.

Next, a priori, one can search for the solution of the reduced eq. (2.1) in the form of the regularized sum

$$\begin{array}{c}<W_C>=_{\stackrel{~}{M}}^{}{}_{}{}^{(r)}w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]\end{array}$$
(2.3)
over the worldsheets $`\stackrel{~}{M}(C)`$ weighted by a factor $`w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]`$. Akin to the conventional Nambu-Goto theory, the surfaces $`\stackrel{~}{M}(C)`$ are supposed to result from the smooth immersions into the Euclidean base-space $`𝐑^𝐃`$, and the sum’s superscript $`(r)`$ recalls about the $`UV`$ cut off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ for the transverse fluctuations of the string. Then, plunging the stringy Ansatz (2.3) into eq. (2.1), the latter equation can be transformed into the one (to be regularized according to eq. (2.2))

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱(s))ln\left(w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]\right)=\stackrel{~}{g}^2\underset{C}{}𝑑y_\nu (s^{})\delta _D(𝐲(s^{})𝐱(s))\end{array}$$
(2.4)
which operates directly with the worldsheet’s weight $`w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]`$. In going over from eq. (2.1) to eq. (2.4), we have taken into account that the Loop operator222 In eq. (2.4), $`\delta /\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))`$ and $`_\mu ^{𝐱(s)}`$ denote respectively the Mandelstam area-derivative and the path-derivative .

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱(s))=_\mu ^{𝐱(s)}\frac{\delta }{\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))}\end{array}$$
(2.5)
complies with the Leibnitz rule. Due to the first-order nature of $`\widehat{}_\nu `$, the general solution $`w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]`$ of eq. (2.4) assumes the form

$$\begin{array}{c}w_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]=\stackrel{~}{w}_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]w_2^{(0)}[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)];\widehat{}_\nu (𝐱(s))ln(w_2^{(0)}[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)])=0,\end{array}$$
(2.6)
where $`\stackrel{~}{w}_2[..]`$ is any particular solution of eq. (2.4), while $`w_2^{(0)}[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]`$ is formally allowed to be an arbitrary $`N`$-independent zero mode (of the Loop operator) fulfilling some natural cluster decomposition requirement.

As it is demonstrated in  (where the general solution of the zero-mode equation (2.6) is found), the zero-mode factor does not alter the picture arising when one puts $`w_2^{(0)}[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]=1`$ retaining only the appropriate particular solution $`\stackrel{~}{w}_2[..]`$. To derive the latter, it is helpful to utilize the abelian Stokes theorem and rewrite the r.h. side of eq. (2.4) as the surface integral over $`\stackrel{~}{M}(C)`$. Then, after some simple manipulations, one can reduce (see  for the details) eq. (2.4) to the transparent equation

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{2\delta ^2ln\left(\stackrel{~}{w}_2[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]\right)}{\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))\delta \sigma _{\rho \chi }(𝐲(s^{}))}=(\delta _{\mu \rho }\delta _{\nu \chi }\delta _{\mu \chi }\delta _{\nu \rho })\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^4𝒢(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2(𝐱𝐲)^2),\end{array}$$
(2.7)
Finally, the structure of eq. (2.7) is suggestive that the Mandelstam area-derivatives might be traded, $`\delta /\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))\delta _f/\delta p_{\mu \nu }(𝐱(\gamma ))|_{𝐱(\gamma )=𝐱(s)C}`$, for the ordinary functional area-derivatives (preliminary restricted to the boundary $`C`$) with respect to the standard infinitesimal area-element $`d\sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱(\gamma ))=p_{\mu \nu }(\gamma )d^2\gamma ,p_{\mu \nu }(\gamma )=\epsilon ^{ab}_ax_\mu (\gamma )_bx_\nu (\gamma )`$, where the coordinates $`x_\mu (\gamma )x_\mu (\gamma _1,\gamma _2)`$ define the position of a given worldsheet $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ in the base-space $`𝐑^𝐃`$. The considered substitution is supported by the pattern of the resulting solution333In fact, the pattern (2.8) is reminiscent of (but not equivalent to) the ad hoc smearing  of the $`m_0=0`$ option of the Nambu-Goto weight (2.9). Complementary, the weight (2.8) can be viewed as a specific implementation of the general confining string Ansatz  which, in turn, is routed in the abelian Kalb-Ramond pattern .

$$\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{w}_2[\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi ]=N^\chi exp\left(\frac{\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{4}\underset{\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi }{}\underset{\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi }{}𝑑\sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱)𝑑\sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐲)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2𝒢(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2(𝐱𝐲)^2)\right),\end{array}$$
(2.8)
where, advancing ahead, we have included the ’t Hooft topological factor (with $`\chi `$ being the total Euler character of $`\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi `$) which justification requires to deal with the full chain of the loop equations.

Actually, the quasi-local pattern (2.8) can be linked, despite its somewhat bizzare appearence, to the realm of the conventional stringy models. For this purpose, we employ the following infrared universality taking place in the regime (1.5) as far as macroscopic contours without zig-zag backtrackings444 The prescription, to implement the mandatory backtracking invariance of the $`YM_D`$ loop-averages $`<W_C>`$, is given in . are concerned. The key-observation  is that, in this case, the above solution of the Loop equation is supposed to be in the one infrared universality class with the unconventional (owing to eq. (2.11) below) implementation of the Nambu-Goto string which, in turn, is supposed to be reformulated in the spirit of the ’low-energy’ noncritical Polyakov’s theory. Thus associated Nambu-Goto theory, presumed to possess the same UV cut off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, is endowed with the weight

$$\begin{array}{c}w_1[\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi ]=N^\chi exp\left(\frac{\overline{\lambda }(\lambda )\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{2}A[\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi ]m_0(\lambda )L[\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi ]\right),\end{array}$$
(2.9)
where $`L[\stackrel{~}{M}]`$ is the length of the boundary $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ of $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$, while $`\overline{\lambda }(\lambda )`$ and $`m_0(\lambda )`$ are certain functions of $`\lambda `$ which depend on the choice of both the flux-tube’s transverse profile and the prescription for the regularization of the string fluctuations. (More refined analysis  demonstrates that the simple $`L[\stackrel{~}{M}_\chi ]`$-dependence of the subleading boundary-contribution is valid for $`<W_C>`$ only provided that all the loop’s selfintersections, if present, are point-like from the low-energy viewpoint.) Let us also remark that the validity of the considered infrared equivalence implies that the contour $`C`$ is macroscopic in the concrete sense of the following twofold constraint. Firstly, except for the $`1/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-vicinity of the nontrivial (point-like) selfintersections of $`C`$, the distance $`|𝐱(s)𝐱(s^{})|`$ is much larger than the flux-tube’s width $`\sqrt{<𝐫^\mathrm{𝟐}>}\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$, provided that the length of the corresponding segment of the boundary $`C=\stackrel{~}{M}`$ is much larger than $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$:

$$\begin{array}{c}_s^{}^s𝑑t\sqrt{\dot{x}_\mu ^2(t)}>>\mathrm{\Lambda }^1|𝐱(s)𝐱(s^{})|>>\mathrm{\Lambda }^1.\end{array}$$
(2.10)
Secondly, we always presume that, once $`C_{xx}=C_{xy}C_{yx}`$ (where $`𝐱(s)=𝐲(s^{}),ss^{}`$) satisfies the above condition, then both $`C_{xy}`$ and $`C_{yx}`$ comply with this condition as well. It is also noteworthy that the pattern (2.9) allows to make a direct contact  with the proposal of .

### 2.2 The consistency with the full Dyson-Schwinger chain.

Let us now turn to the restrictions which are necessary to impose, for the (multiloop generalization of the) solution (2.3)/(2.6) to be consistent with large $`N`$ Loop equation (1.3) (and, more generally, with the full chain of the $`U(N)`$ loop equations). We refer the reder to  for the details and here simply present the outcome.

To begin with, one observes that in the $`N=1`$ case the reduced eq. (2.1) becomes the exact $`U(1)`$ Loop equation valid for an arbitrary selfintersecting contour $`C`$. Furthermore, one can easily verify that the $`N=1`$ Ansatz (2.3)/(2.6) is the exact solution of the entire abelian Dyson-Schwinger chain. The subtle point is that the considered stringy system describes, for $`g^2>g_{cr}^2`$, the electrodynamics enriched with the monopoles (similarly to the abelian systems discussed in ) in the $`SC`$ phase where the latter are supposed to condense. Another nontrivial point is that the choice of a particular zero-mode solution $`w_2^{(0)}[\stackrel{~}{M}(C)]`$ is tantamount to the particular choice of the monopole’s action.

Next, consider the case of sufficiently large $`N`$ when the Loop equation (1.3) is the adequate leading approximation. Then, there are three major constraints to ensure that there is such a judicious regularization of the full eq. (1.3) (and of the entire chain) which makes the latter equation consistent with the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_0`$-solution (2.3)/(2.6). First of all, one has to impose the conditions (1.5) which maintain that the characteristic amplitude of the string’s fluctuations (estimated by the same token as in ) is much larger than the vortex width $`\sqrt{<𝐫^\mathrm{𝟐}>}\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$. In this way, we render unobservable the quasi-contact interactions (additional to the flux-tube’s selfenergy) between the elementary $`YM`$ vortices. In turn, the necessity of this suppression is foreshadowed by the abelian nature of the latter interactions as it is clear from the above discussion of the $`N=1`$ case. Secondly, in the regime (1.5), the consistency with the Dyson-Schwinger chain unambiguously fixes the $`N`$-dependence of the $`U(N)`$ solution in the form of the ’t Hooft factor $`N^{22hb}`$ (remaining undetermined from eq. (2.1) alone). Actually, for the number of the boundary loops $`b2`$ and large $`N\mathrm{}`$, one is to impose the stricter condition to suppress as $`e^{\beta N}`$ (with some $`\beta >0`$) all kinds of the quasi-contact interactions. Both the characteristic size (understood in the sense of eq. (2.10)) of each loop, presumed to be devoid of $`1d`$ selfintersections, and the minimal distance, between any two different contours, should be of order of $`N^\alpha `$ with some $`\alpha >0`$.

The third condition implies that, despite its familiar appearence, the system (2.3)/(2.9) is not entirely conventional at least for sufficiently large $`N2`$. Within the $`1/N`$ $`SC`$ expansion, for the consistent regularization of the Loop equation (1.3) to exist, the confining solution should mandatory result in the physical string tension $`\sigma _{ph}`$ which is of order of (or, when $`\lambda \mathrm{}`$, much larger than) the UV cut off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ squared,

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2=O(\sigma _{ph});\sigma _{ph}^{(sc)}=(\frac{\overline{\lambda }(\lambda )}{2}\zeta _D)\mathrm{\Lambda }^2.\end{array}$$
(2.11)
Similarly to , in the $`N\mathrm{}`$ semiclassical approximation $`\sigma _{ph}^{(sc)}`$ for $`\sigma _{ph}`$, the $`D3`$ entropy contribution $`\delta \sigma _{ent}=\zeta _D\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$ (due to the regularized transverse string fluctuations) is represented by the $`\lambda `$-independent constant $`\xi _D`$ computed in . In particular, eq. (2.11) implies that, motivating the constraint (1.2), the coupling $`\overline{\lambda }(\lambda )`$ in eq. (2.9) is constrained to be sufficiently large.

At first glance, the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$-scaling555It is this scaling that hinders the direct application of the considered construction to the $`\lambda 0`$ regime. (2.11) looks like a rather unnatural condition. On the second thought, one could expect this constraint beforehand: the strongly coupled $`D=4`$ $`YM_4`$ system (1.1) can be reinterpreted as a local prototype  of the effective low-energy theory for the gauge system (1.1) in the $`\lambda 0`$ regime with the asymptotic freedom in the $`UV`$ domain. In this perspective, in eq. (2.11) the cut off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is to be identified with the confinement-scale which (in the $`D=4`$ system (1.1) with $`\lambda 0`$ and the new $`UV`$ cut off $`\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}>>\mathrm{\Lambda }`$) is supposed to be of order of the lowest glueball mass. From the results obtained, the considered confinement-scale can be complementary viewed as the scale where the logarithmic renormgroup flow (of the running coupling constant) freezes.

Furthermore, according to the arguments of , the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$-scaling (2.11) is sufficient for the system (2.3)/(2.9) to suppress the outgrowth of the microscopic baby-universes so that the Gauge String avoids the branched polymer phase. This matches the observation that the full-fledged quantum analysis of the stringy system (2.3)/(2.9) requires to reformulate the latter as a somewhat unconventional string theory as it suggested by the concept of the Pauli-Villars regularization. Possessing the $`UV`$ cut off $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}>>\sqrt{\sigma _{ph}}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, this theory should not exhibit propagating degrees of freedom at the ’short distance’ scales $`<<1/\sqrt{\sigma _{ph}}`$, while approaching the proposed implementation (2.11) of the Nambu-Goto pattern (2.3)/(2.9) at the scales larger than $`1/\sqrt{\sigma _{ph}}`$.

## 3 The regime (1.6) of the quasi-static $`YM`$ vortex.

The land-mark of the so far considered regime (1.5) is that the quasi-contact interactions between the elementary $`YM`$ vortices, being discarded by the sheer Nambu-Goto pattern (2.9), are unobservable. In fact, it is tantamount  to the unobservability of the choice of the particular action and nonabelian group defining a given dual gauge theory. The latter choice can be traced back most transparently in the extreme $`SC`$ limit (1.6) where the $`YM_DYM_2`$ dimensional reduction (see eq. (3.3) below), anticipated in , takes place. To reveal this phenomenon in the simplest setting, one is to take advantage of the fact that the $`N=1`$ option of the Ansatz (2.3)/(2.8) correctly reproduces the $`SC`$ expansion in the $`D2`$ $`U(1)`$ gauge theory (1.1) modified by the presence of the monopoles in $`D3`$. In particular, the latter $`N=1`$ Ansatz is applicable not only to the regime (1.5) but also to the extreme $`SC`$ limit (1.6). As a result, the abelian analysis provides with the following general motivations presumably valid for $`N1`$.

We proceed by noticing that, in the limit (1.6), the leading asymptotics of the average $`<W_C>`$ is supposed to be given by the contribution of the saddle-point $`YM`$ vortex corresponding to the minumal area worldsheet(s) $`\stackrel{~}{M}_{min}(C)`$ with the characteristic radius of curvature

$$\begin{array}{c}(\gamma )\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{},\end{array}$$
(3.1)
i.e. being (at any point $`\gamma (\gamma _1,\gamma _2)`$ of the surface) much larger than the flux-tube’s width $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$. Let the saddle-point (minimal area) worldsheet(s) $`\stackrel{~}{M}_{min}(C)`$ possess in $`𝐑^𝐃`$ the support $`T_{min}=T_{min}(C)`$ which, for simplicity, is presumed to be unique for any given $`C`$ in question. Also, to avoid certain technical complications, we will presume that $`T_{min}(C)`$ can be embedded into a $`2d`$ manifold $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ diffeomorphic to $`𝐑^\mathrm{𝟐}`$. Then, the $`SC`$ asymptotics (1.6) of the $`N=1`$ Ansatz (2.3)/(2.8) can be written as the $`N=1`$ option of the general pattern

$$\begin{array}{c}<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}=_{\{R_q\}}F(\{R_q\})exp\left(\frac{\xi \lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{2}_qC_2(R_q)\overline{A}_q\right)\end{array}$$
(3.2)
where the parameter $`\xi `$ is defined by eq. (3.5) below, $`C_2(R)`$ is the eigenvalue of the second $`U(N)`$ Casimir operator associated to the representations $`R`$ (so that $`C_2(n)=n^2`$ in the $`U(1)`$ case), while $`\overline{A}_q`$ is the area $`A[T_q]`$ of the $`q`$th window $`T_q`$ of the support $`T_{min}(C)`$. As for the origin of $`T_q`$, the support $`T_{min}(C)`$ is devided into the union $`\{T_q;_q\overline{A}_q=A[T_{min}(C)]\}`$ of the disjoint windows $`T_q`$ after cutting along the loop $`C`$. Remark that each domain $`T_q(\{C_k\})`$ is assigned with some representation $`R_q`$ (entering $`C_2(R_q)`$) of the Lie group in question, and the sum in eq. (3.2) runs over all admissible $`\{R_q\}`$-assignements satisfying the (nonabelian) fusion-rule algebra. The latter is imposed by the $`\{\overline{A}_q\}`$-independent function $`F(\{R_q\})`$.

Upon a reflection, eq. (3.2) yields the average $`<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}`$ evaluated in the continuous $`D=2`$ $`YM_2`$ theory (1.1) conventionally defined on $`T_{min}(C)`$ as on the base-space. Altogether, it motivates the following statement (substantiated in  in the alternative way). Keeping the conditions (1.6) fulfilled, let both the coupling constant $`\lambda `$ and $`((s)\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ be much larger than $`N^2`$. Given the above conditions and summing666When both $`\lambda `$ and $`((s)\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ are large but $`N^2`$, in the r.h. side of eq. (3.3) one is to retain only the leading $`O(N)`$ order of the $`1/N`$ expansion of the $`YM_2(T_{min})`$ average. up the leading (with respect to the $`1/\lambda `$\- and $`1/(<(\gamma )>\mathrm{\Lambda })`$expansions) subseries in $`1/N^2`$, the pattern of the $`D3`$ $`YM_D`$ averages $`<W_C>|_{YM_D}`$ is supposed to exhibit the reduction

$$\begin{array}{c}<W_C>|_{YM_D}<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}if\lambda ,((s)\mathrm{\Lambda })>>N^2,\end{array}$$
(3.3)
where the $`YM_2`$ coupling constant $`g_{YM_2}`$ is related to the original $`D3`$ $`YM_D`$ constant $`g_{YM_D}`$ via the rescaling

$$\begin{array}{c}g_{YM_2}^2=\xi g_{YM_D}^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^{D2}=\xi \frac{\lambda }{N}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2\end{array}$$
(3.4)
that can be interpreted as the $`YM_DYM_2`$ dimensional reduction implemented modulo the auxiliary $`\xi `$-factor. In turn, the parameter777Furthermore, one can argue that (at least when $`\lambda 1`$) the factor $`\xi `$, reflecting the $`D3`$ regularization ambiguity, is of order of unity once the solution (2.8) describes stable, rather than metastable, stringy excitations. $`\xi `$, reflecting the ambiguity of the $`UV`$ regularization, is related to the smearing function (2.2),

$$\begin{array}{c}\xi =d^2z𝒢(𝐳^2)1;\sigma _0=\frac{\xi \lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{2}.\end{array}$$
(3.5)
that defines the corresponding bare string tension $`\sigma _0`$. Below, we will prove the large $`N`$ variant of the $`SC`$ asymptotics (3.3) directly from the Loop equation (1.3), while now it is appropriate to discuss some implications of eq. (3.3).

To begin with, the $`YM_2`$-average in the r.h. side of eq. (3.3) can be reformulated in the manifestly stringy terms employing the construction of . To draw a particularly transparent consequence of the $`SC`$ asymptotics (3.3), consider the average $`<W_C^{}^R>`$ of the Wilson loop in any (anti)chiral representation $`RY_n^{(N)}`$ of the $`U(N)`$ group. Then, eq. (3.3) implies that the leading asymptotics of the physical string tension (associated to $`<W_C^{}^R>`$) is proportional,

$$\begin{array}{c}\sigma _{ph}(R)\frac{C_2(R)}{N}\sigma _0;RY_n^{(N)},\end{array}$$
(3.6)
to the eigenvalue $`C_2(R)`$ of the second $`U(N)`$ Casimir operator. Then, to compare this pattern with the classification of the (dual) abelian superconductors, we observe that $`C_2(R)|n(R)|`$, where $`n(R)=_{i=1}^Nn_i`$ measures the total amount of the elementary $`U(N)`$ fluxes. (Conventionally, $`N`$ nondecreasing integers $`n_i`$ parametrize a generic $`U(N)`$ representation $`R`$ so that $`C_2(R)N`$ once $`|n(R)|N^0`$.) As a result, the averaged force between the collinear elementary $`YM`$ vortices is repulsion. The Gauge String, associated to the gauge theory (1.1), corresponds therefore to the type-II superconductor.

To make contact with the $`N2`$ Ansatz (2.3)/(2.8), remark first that one obtains $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{ph}(R)|n(R)|\sigma _0`$, when $`\lambda \mathrm{}`$ in the regime (1.5). Complementary, the $`SC`$ asymptotics (1.6) of the $`N2`$ system (2.3)/(2.8) complies with eq. (3.3) once the saddle-point flux-tube is essentially nonselfoverlapping. In turn, it ensures that the quasi-contact interactions (between the elementary $`YM`$ vortices) are unobservable in this case which, in the leading order, leaves the sheer $`m_0=0,\chi =1`$ Nambu-Goto pattern (2.9) applied to the minimal area surface $`\stackrel{~}{M}_{min}(C)`$.

### 3.1 Sketching the derivation of the $`SC`$ asymptotics (3.3).

For simplicity, we restrict our discussion to the $`N\mathrm{}`$ case imposing, as previously, that the support $`T_{min}(C)`$ of the ’minimal area’ flux-tube (spanned by $`C`$) can be embedded into a curved two-dimensional space $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ diffeomorphic to the $`2d`$ plane $`𝐑^\mathrm{𝟐}`$. In this case, the generally covariant extension of the $`2d`$ $`YM_2`$ theory (1.1) can be introduced on $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ in the standard way so that the pattern of the r.h. side of eq. (3.3) can be borrowed from the $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}=𝐑^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ computations . Let a judicious smearing $`<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}^{(reg)}`$,

$$\begin{array}{c}<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}^{(reg)}/<W_C>|_{YM_2(T_{min})}=1+O\left((<(s)>\mathrm{\Lambda })^\alpha \right),\alpha >0,\end{array}$$
(3.7)
is unobservable in the regime (1.6). The statement is that thus regularized r.h. side of eq. (3.3) satisfies the (regularized) $`D`$-dimensional Loop equation (1.3). The key-point of the proof is that, when the considered pattern is plunged (in the regime (1.6)) into eq. (1.3), the latter equation is reduced to the two-dimensional Loop equation conventionally associated to the $`D=2`$ $`YM_2`$ theory (1.1)/(3.4) on $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$. In turn, the resulting $`D=2`$ Loop equation is fulfilled by the very construction (3.7) of the smearing for the $`SC`$ asymptotics (3.3).

To more explicit, in eq. (3.2), the suitable smearing prescription is to substitute each particular $`2A_q`$ by the $`\stackrel{~}{M}T_q`$ option of the bilocal integral (2.8). Being understood in the stronger sense of eq. (3.3) (complemented by the constraint $`\overline{A}_q\mathrm{\Lambda }^2>>N^4`$, for $`q`$, together with the two more requirements formulated below), the condition (3.1) justifies the formal substitution

$$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{\Lambda }^2𝒢(\mathrm{\Lambda }^2(𝐱𝐲)^2)\xi \delta _2^w(𝐱(\gamma )𝐲(\gamma ^{})),\end{array}$$
(3.8)
where $`\delta _2^w(𝐱𝐲)`$ is the 2-dimensional delta-function on $`T_{min}(C)`$, and $`\xi `$ is defined in eq. (3.5). One is to require also that (at any point of $`T_{min}(C)`$) the line in the normal direction either does not have the second intersection with $`T_{min}(C)`$ or the second intersection takes place at a distance $`>>\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$. Additionally, for the validity of eq. (3.7), we have to ensure the stricter suppression of the next-to-leading boundary contribution, proportional to the effective perimeter-mass $`m_0(\lambda )`$ (which dependence on the smearing function (2.2) is evaluated in ), that introduces an extra constraint on $`𝒢(𝐳^2)`$. Altogether, the imposed conditions allow to substantiate eq. (3.7).

Next, to justify the asserted dimensional reduction of the Loop equation (1.3), one is to synthesize the following two observations. Firstly, the above smearing prescription together with the condition (3.1) ensure that, acting on the smeared pattern (3.2), the $`D`$-dimensional Loop operator $`\widehat{}^\nu (𝐱(s))`$ reduces to the two-dimensional one

$$\begin{array}{c}\widehat{}^\alpha (𝐱(s))=\frac{1}{\sqrt{\widehat{g}(𝐱)}}_\beta ^{𝐱(s)}\sqrt{\widehat{g}(𝐱)}\widehat{g}^{\beta \gamma }(𝐱)\widehat{g}^{\alpha \lambda }(𝐱)\frac{\delta }{\delta \sigma ^{\gamma \lambda }(𝐱(s))}\end{array}$$
(3.9)
where $`\widehat{g}_{\alpha \beta }(𝐱)`$ is the $`2d`$ metric on $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$, and $`\widehat{g}(𝐱)det_{\{\alpha \beta \}}[\widehat{g}_{\alpha \beta }(𝐱)]`$. The asserted reduction888Similar reduction, but in the context of the $`\lambda 0`$ $`YM_D`$ theory (2.8) considered prior to the $`UV`$ regularization, is discussed in . takes place due to the evident property of the 2-tensor $`𝒦_{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))`$, resulting after the action of the ’$`D`$-dimensional’ Mandelstam derivative $`\delta /\delta \sigma ^{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))`$ onto the smeared exponent of eq. (3.2). The constraint (3.1) implies that the tensor $`𝒦_{\mu \nu }(𝐱(s))`$ has nonvanishing components only in the subspace spanned by the two Zweibein $`D`$-vectors $`𝐞^\beta (𝐱)𝐭_𝐱𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ beloning to the tangent space $`𝐭_𝐱𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ of $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ at a given point $`𝐱=𝐱(s)`$ so that $`(𝐞^\alpha (𝐱)|𝐞^\beta (𝐱))_\mu e_\mu ^\alpha (𝐱)e_\mu ^\beta (𝐱)=\widehat{g}^{\alpha \beta }(𝐱)`$.

The second observation is that, being devided by $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{D2}`$, the regularization (2.2) of the $`D`$-dimensional $`\delta _D`$-function (in the r.h. side of the properly regularized eq. (1.3)) simultaneously can be reinterpreted as the smearing (3.8) of the $`2`$-dimensional $`\xi \delta _2(..)`$-function on $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$, where $`\xi `$ is defined by eq. (3.5). (Complementary, the value of $`\xi \stackrel{~}{g}^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^{D2}`$ is equal to the coupling constant (3.4) in the $`YM_2`$ theory entering the asymptotics (3.3).) In turn, the regularized $`\delta _2(..)`$-function refers to the r.h. side of the Loop equation conventionally associated to the generally covariant extension of the $`2d`$ $`YM_2`$ theory (1.1)/(3.4) defined on the $`2d`$ manifold $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ into which the support $`T_{min}(C)`$ is embedded. As for the economic regularization of the r.h. side of eq. (1.3), the following simple prescription is sufficient in the regime (1.6) provided the relevant contours are presumed to be macroscopic (according to the definition given prior to eq. (2.10)). In this case, one can introduce the regularization separately for the $`1/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-vicinities of the nontrivial (point-like) selfintersections of $`C`$ (i.e. when $`s^{}s`$) and for the remaining trivial selfintersections (i.e. when $`s^{}=s`$). Namely, consider for simplicity a macroscopic contour $`C`$ with a single nontrivial selfintersection at $`𝐱(s_1)=𝐲(s_2)`$. For $`𝐱(s)=𝐱(s_1)`$, the r.h. side of eq. (1.3) is given by the weighted sum $`a_1<W_{C_{xx}}>_{\mathrm{}}+a_2<W_{C_{xy}}>_{\mathrm{}}<W_{C_{yx}}>_{\mathrm{}}`$ where the weights $`a_1,a_2`$ can be represented by the judiciously selected portions  of the contour integral along $`C`$. Then, the regularization prescription is to perform the substitution (2.2) separately within $`a_1`$ and $`a_2`$.

Summarizing, after the proper smearing (3.7), the Ansatz (3.3) indeed reduces thus regularized $`D`$-dimensional eq. (1.3) to the regularized two-dimensional Loop equation defined on $`𝐁^\mathrm{𝟐}`$. To finally put all the pieces together, one can show that, for the macroscopic loops in the considered regime (1.6), the regularization of the latter $`2d`$ equation is unobservable that happily matches the complementary unobservability (3.7). This matching implies that thus regularized $`2d`$ Loop equation merges999The only subtlety is due to certain extra ’anomaly term’ arising when the original variant of area-derivative (with the area-variation $`|\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱)|<<\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$) is to be transformed into the one with $`|\delta \sigma _{\mu \nu }(𝐱)|>>\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}^1`$. In our computation, this perimeter-dependent anomaly can be independently recovered comparing the action of the area-derivative on the bilocal pattern (2.8) in both of the relevant limiting cases. with the equation  derived for the $`YM_2`$ theory (1.1)/(3.4) with the infinite (in the units of $`(g_{YM_2}^2N)^{1/2}`$) $`UV`$ cut off $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}\mathrm{}`$ which, in turn, justifies the properly smeared asymptotics (3.3) as the solution of eq. (1.3).

## 4 Conclusions.

Hopefully, the present analysis can be included, as a building block, to a larger scheme which would make accessible the solution of the $`D=4`$ Loop equation (1.3) in the most interesting $`\lambda 0`$ phase of the $`YM_4`$ theory (1.1) (with the asymptotic freedom in the $`UV`$ domain). The promising sign is that the derived $`YM_DYM_2`$ dimensional reduction (3.3) is reminiscent of the one in the model  which is rather popular for the approximation of the lattice results presumably associated to the gauge theory (1.1). Complementary, consider the low-energy dynamics of the $`U(\mathrm{})`$ or $`SU(\mathrm{})`$ $`YM_4`$ theory (1.1) (with $`\lambda 0`$ and the new $`UV`$ cut off $`\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}>>\mathrm{\Lambda }`$) at the confinement-scale where the logarithmic renormgroup flow, valid in the $`UV`$ domain, is presumably freezed. Then, the latter infrared dynamics is supposed to be correctly described by the $`N\mathrm{}`$ limit of the proposed implementation (2.11) of the Nambu-Goto system (2.3)/(2.9), provided we are dealing with such correlators where the quasi-contact interactions of the fat $`YM`$ vortices are unobservable. This statement is supported by the observation  that the large $`N`$ limit of the considered Nambu-Goto sum is expected to be common for the infrared description of any $`D3`$ $`U(\mathrm{})`$ or $`SU(\mathrm{})`$ pure gauge system with an arbitrary polynomial (in terms of $`F_{\mu \nu }`$) lagrangian  providing with the $`N^2`$-scaling of the free energy.

Finally, it is noteworthy that the regime (1.6) is reminiscent of the one which independently appeared within the alternative stringy description  (see also ) of the pure gauge theories which is based on the conjecture  about the so-called AdS/CFT correspondence. Given any macroscopic nonselfintersecting contour, in the extreme $`D=4`$ SC regime $`\lambda >>1`$, the purported $`\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$-scaling  of the physical string tension is consistent with the prediction  of our formalism. For an arbitrarily selfintersecting loop, the predictions of  are still missing. The pattern of the $`SC`$ asymptotics (3.3), being actually valid for a generic $`YM_D`$ system with the lagrangian polynomial in term of $`F_{\mu \nu }`$, imposes the concrete test (to be compared with the arguments of ) on the applicability of .

Acknowledgements.

The author is grateful to Yu.Makeenko for comments at the final stage of the work. This project is partially supported by CRDF grant RP1-2108.