text:
# Galaxy Flow in the Canes Venatici I Cloud Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS 5–26555.

## 1 Introduction

About 1/7 of the 240 known galaxies with radial velocities $`V_{LG}<400`$ km s-1 are concentrated in a small area in the Canes Venatici (CVn) constellation \[$`\alpha =11^h30^m`$ to $`13^h40^m`$, $`\delta =+25\mathrm{°}`$ to $`+55\mathrm{°}`$\] which occupies only 1/50 of the sky. Therefore, the apparent overdensity of the number of galaxies seen in the CVn direction exceeds $`\delta N/N7`$. This scattered complex of nearby galaxies has been noted by many authors (Karachentsev 1966; de Vaucouleurs 1975; Vennik 1988). In the Nearby Galaxies Catalog (Tully 1988) the group is indicated by “14—7” (CVn I) as a part of the more extended Coma-Sculptor cloud, containing the Local Group (LG) and also the M81, Cen A, and Sculptor galaxy groups. In contrast to the groups mentioned, the CVn I cloud is populated mostly by late-type galaxies of low luminosity.

At present the structure and kinematics of the CVn I complex are still poorly understood because of the lack of reliable data on the galaxy distances. Sandage & Tammann (1982) determined the distance to IC 4182 (4.70 Mpc) from the luminosity of Cepheids. Distance estimates from the luminosity of the brightest stars were derived for DDO 154 (Carignan & Beaulieu 1989), DDO 168 (Bresolin et al. 1993) and UGC 8508 (Karachentsev et al. 1994). Using this method, Georgiev et al. (1997), Makarova et al. (1997, 1998), Karachentsev & Drozdovsky (1998), and Sharina et al. (1999) determined distance moduli for 35 spiral and irregular galaxies in CVn I. The median distance to the cloud was found to be 4.3 Mpc, which is in good agreement with the single Cepheid distance estimate. However, considerable distance modulus errors ($``$ 0.5 mag) have hampered the study of structure and kinematics of the CVn I complex. That is why the CVn I objects were included in the program of our snapshot survey of nearby galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope (Seitzer et al. 1999; Grebel et al. 2000), where galaxy distances are determined on the basis of a much more precise method, via the luminosity of red giant branch tip stars. In the framework of this study of galaxies in the Local Volume we earlier investigated the Centaurus A group (Karachentsev et al. 2002a) and the M81 group (Karachentsev et al. 2000, 2001, 2002b). The first distance measurements for five members of the Cloud based on the HST data have already been published (Karachentsev et al. 2002c). Here, we present new distances for 18 galaxies in the CVn I area.

## 2  WFPC2 photometry

The galaxy images were obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) between July 23, 1999 and June 20, 2001 as part of our HST snapshot survey (proposals GO 8192, 8601) of nearby galaxy candidates (Seitzer et al. 1999). Each galaxy was observed in the F606W and F814W filters (one 600 s exposure in each filter). Digital Sky Survey images of the galaxies are shown in Figure 1 with the HST WFPC2 footprints superimposed. Small galaxies were usually centered on the WF3 chip. For some bright objects the WFPC2 position was shifted towards the galaxy periphery to decrease stellar crowding. The WFPC2 images of the galaxies are presented in the upper panels of Figure 2, where both filters are combined. The compass in each field indicates the North and East directions.

For photometric measurements we used the HSTphot stellar photometry package developed by Dolphin (2000a). The package has been optimized for the undersampled conditions present in the WFPC2 to work in crowded fields. After removing cosmic rays, simultaneous photometry was performed on the F606W and F814W frames using multiphot procedure. Resulting instrumental magnitudes of radius $`0\stackrel{}{.}5`$ were corrected for charge-transfer inefficiency and converted to standart V and I magnitudes using the relations (11) and (12) of Dolphin (2000b). This calibration equations are analogous to equations of Holtzman et al. (1995), but incorporate the pixel area corrections. Additionally, stars with a signal-to-noise ratio $`S/N<3`$, $`\chi >2.0`$, or $``$ sharpness $`>0.4`$ in either exposure were eliminated from the final photometry list. The uncertainty of the photometric zero point is estimated to be within $`0\stackrel{m}{.}05`$ (Dolphin 2000b).

## 3  CMDs and galaxy distances

During the last decade the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method has become an efficient tool for measuring galaxy distances. The TRGB distances agree with the distances derived from the Cepheid period-luminosity relation within a 5% error. As was shown by Lee et al. (1993), Salaris & Cassisi (1997), and Udalski et al. (2001), in the $`I`$ band the TRGB position is relatively independent of age and metallicity within $`0.1`$ mag for old stellar population with \[Fe/H\] $`<0.7`$ dex. According to Da Costa & Armandroff (1990), for metal-poor systems the TRGB is located at $`M_I=4.05`$ mag. Ferrarese et al. (2000) calibrated the zero point of the TRGB from galaxies with Cepheid distances and yielded $`M_I=4.06\pm 0.07`$. A new TRGB calibration $`M_I=4.04\pm 0.12`$ mag was determined by Bellazzini et al. (2001) based on photometry and distance estimation from a detached eclipsing binary in the Galactic globular cluster $`\omega `$ Centauri. In the present paper we adopt $`M_I=4.05`$ mag. The bottom left panels of Figure 2 show $`I`$ versus $`(VI)`$ color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for the eighteen observed galaxies.

We determined the TRGB location using a Gaussian-smoothed $`I`$-band luminosity function (LF) for red stars with colors $`(VI)`$ within $`\pm 0\stackrel{m}{.}5`$ of the mean $`<VI>`$ for expected red giant branch stars. Following Sakai et al. (1996), we applied a Sobel edge-detection filter. The position of the TRGB was identified with the peak in the filter response function. The resulting LFs and the Sobel-filtered LFs are shown in the bottom right corners of Figure 2. The results are summarized in Table 1. This table contains the following columns: (1) galaxy name; (2) equatorial coordinates corresponding to the galaxy center; (3,4) angular size in arcmin and apparent total magnitude from the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED), uncorrected for internal and external extinction;(5) Galactic extinction in the $`B,I`$\- bands from Schlegel et al. 1998; (6) integrated or effective color of the galaxy, corrected for Galactic extinction; the data on colors are taken from Makarova et al. (1998), Makarova (1999), and Prugniel & Heraudeau (1998); for the galaxies NGC 3741, KK 109, and KK 166 we present $`VI`$ colors of their core from our measurements; (7) morphological type in de Vaucouleurs notation; (7) radial velocity with respect to the LG centroid; for some galaxies we used new accurate velocities measured recently by Huchtmeier et al. (2002); (9) position of the TRGB and its uncertainty derived with the Sobel filter; (10) true distance modulus with its uncertainty, which takes into account the uncertainty in the TRGB detection as well as uncertainties of the HST photometry zero point ($`0\stackrel{m}{.}05`$), the aperture corrections ($`0\stackrel{m}{.}05`$), and crowding effects ($`0\stackrel{m}{.}06`$) added in quadrature; uncertainties in extinction and reddening are assumed to be $`10\%`$ of their values from Schlegel et al.(1998); and (11) linear distance in Mpc and its uncertainty.

Given the distance moduli of the galaxies, we can estimate their mean metallicity, \[Fe/H\], from the mean color of the TRGB measured at an absolute magnitude $`M_I=3.5`$, as recommended by Da Costa & Armandroff (1990). Based on a Gaussian fit to the color distribution of the giant stars in a corresponding $`I`$\- magnitude interval $`(3.5\pm 0.3)`$, we derived their mean colors, $`(VI)_{3.5}`$, which lie in a range of \[1.15 - 1.68\] after correction for Galactic reddening. Following the relation of Lee et al. (1993), this provides us with mean metallicities, \[Fe/H\] = \[ -0.8, -2.5\] dex, listed in the last column of Table 1. With a typical statistical scatter of the mean color ($`0\stackrel{m}{.}05`$), and uncertainties of the HST photometry zero point we expect an uncertainty in metallicity to be about 0.3 dex. Therefore within the measurement accuracy the metallicity of the galaxies satisfy the required limitation, \[Fe/H\] $`<0.7`$ dex.

Below, some individual properties of the galaxies are briefly discussed.

UGC 6541 = Mkn 178. A blue compact galaxy from Markarian’s lists is located on the NW edge of the CVn I cloud. It was resolved into stars for the first time by Georgiev et al.(1997), who derived a distance of 3.5$`\pm 0.7`$ Mpc via the brightest blue stars. The distance to UGC 6541 from the luminosity of TRGB is D = 3.89$`\pm 0.47`$ Mpc, which is in reasonable agreement with the previous estimate.

NGC 3738 = UGC 6565 = Arp 234. This dwarf irregular galaxy appears to be semi- resolved into brightest stars on the reproduction given in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies (Arp 1966). Georgiev et al.(1997) estimated its distance as 3.5$`\pm 0.7`$ Mpc from the magnitudes of the brightest blue stars. The images obtained with WFPC2 reveal about 17700 stars seen in both filters. The CM diagram for NGC 3738 shows a large number of blue stars, as well as AGB stars. From the TRGB position we derive a distance of 4.90$`\pm 0.54`$ Mpc.

NGC 3741 = UGC 6572. Like two previous objects, NGC 3741 lies at the NW periphery of the CVn I cloud. The galaxy has an asymmetric “cometary” shape. Its size in H i exceeds its optical diameter significantly (Haynes & Giovanelli 1991). Georgiev at al. (1997) derived its distance to be 3.5$`\pm 0.7`$ Mpc from the brightest blue stars, while the TRGB distance from our measurements is 3.03$`\pm 0.33`$ Mpc.

KK 109. This dwarf irregular galaxy of low surface brightness was found by Karachentseva & Karachentsev (1998). Huchtmeier et al. (2000) detected it in the H i line and determined its radial velocity, $`V_{LG}=241`$ km s-1, which is typical for CVn I members. The CM diagram of KK 109 shows the TRGB magnitude to be 24.26$`\pm 0.15`$ mag, which yields a distance of 4.51$`\pm 0.34`$ Mpc. Based on the WFPC2 images, we carried out surface photometry of KK 109, obtaining total magnitudes $`V_t=18.14\pm 0.2`$ mag, $`(VI)_t=0.8\pm 0.1`$ mag, and a central surface brightness of $`23.6\pm 0.2`$ mag arcsec-2 in the $`V`$ band. With the derived apparent magnitude and distance, KK 109 has an absolute magnitude of $`M_V=10.19`$ mag, placing it among the faintest known dIrr galaxies such as LGS 3 and Antlia.

NGC 4150. The core of this lenticular galaxy is crossed by a curved dusty furrow (see insert in Fig. 2). In spite of its low radial velocity, $`V_{LG}=198`$ km s-1, NGC 4150 appears unresolved into stars on the WFPC2 images. Its TRGB magnitude appears to exceed $`I_{lim}=25`$ mag (beyond our detection limit), yielding a lower limit of 6.3 Mpc for its distance. We suggest that NGC 4150 belongs to the Virgo cluster outskirts, and not to the CVn I cloud. Most of the objects seen in the galaxy body seem to be slightly extended and diffuse with integrated colors of $`VI`$ = 0.8 - 1.6, which raises the possibility that they are globular clusters. If they are indeed globular clusters, we can use the turnover magnitude of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF), $`V24`$ mag, as a distance indicator (Ferrarese et al. 2000). With this assumption we derive a rough distance estimate of $`20`$ Mpc consistent with the Virgo cluster distance.

UGC 7298. This is a dIrr galaxy of low surface brightness. UGC 7298 has been resolved into stars by Tikhonov & Karachentsev (1998), who estimated its distance to be 8.6$`\pm 1.5`$ Mpc via the brightest stars. The CM diagram (Fig. 2) shows populations of blue stars and AGB stars. We determine the TRGB magnitude to be $`I`$(TRGB) = 24.12 $`\pm 0.15`$ mag, which gives a distance of 4.21$`\pm 0.32`$ Mpc. The TRGB distance is approximately two times smaller than the distance from the brightest stars. A possible cause of this difference is a lack of very luminous blue stars in this galaxy, i.e., no very recent massive star formation.

NGC 4244. A large edge-on Sc galaxy extends far beyond the WFPC2 field. Its periphery was resolved into stars by Karachentsev & Drozdovsky (1998), who estimated the galaxy distance to be 4.5 $`\pm 0.9`$ Mpc from the photometry of the brightest stars. The CM diagram (Fig. 2) shows $`15000`$ stars, in particular pronounced populations of blue stars and AGB stars. The TRGB position, 24.25$`\pm 0.22`$ mag, corresponds to a distance of 4.49$`\pm 0.47`$ Mpc in close agreement with the distance estimate via the brightest stars.

NGC 4395. This face-on Sd galaxy with a Seyfert 1 type nucleus also extends beyond the WFPC2 field. According to Karachentsev & Drozdovsky (1998), its distance via the brightest blue stars is 4.2$`\pm 0.8`$ Mpc. The CM diagram in Fig. 2 reveals about 21800 stars seen both in the $`V`$ and $`I`$ bands. The majority of the detected stars are likely RGB stars. ¿From the TRGB position we derive a distance of 4.61$`\pm 0.57`$ Mpc, which agrees well with the previous distance estimate.

UGC 7559 = DDO 126. This irregular dwarf galaxy has been resolved into stars by Hopp & Schulte-Ladbeck (1995), Georgiev et al. (1997), and Makarova et al. (1998), who derived distance estimates of 4.8 Mpc, 3.9 Mpc, and 5.1 Mpc, respectively. Our distance for UGC 7559 based on the TRGB (4.87$`\pm 0.55`$ Mpc) is in the middle of the range previously obtained by other authors.

NGC 4449. This boxy-shaped Magellanic irregular galaxy of high surface brightness is a second ranked member of the CVn I cloud according to its luminosity. NGC 4449 is enveloped in a huge H i “fur coat,” whose angular size ($`75^{}`$) exceeds the Moon’s diameter (Bajaja et al. 1994). Based on photometry of the brightest stars, Karachentsev & Drozdovsky (1998) estimated its distance to be 2.9$`\pm 0.6`$ Mpc. The WFPC2 photometry reveals about 27000 stars seen in both images. The CM diagram in Fig. 2 shows stellar populations of different kinds including RGB stars. From the TRGB magnitude, 24.11$`\pm 0.26`$ mag, we derive a distance of 4.21$`\pm 0.50`$ Mpc.

UGC 7605. This is a blue irregular galaxy shaped like a horseshoe. The brightest blue stars in UGC 7605 are concentrated towards the core, and the outlying galaxy parts are redder and smooth. From the luminosity of the brightest stars Makarova et al. (1998) derived a galaxy distance of 4.4$`\pm 0.9`$ Mpc. The CM diagram of UGC 7605 (Fig. 2) shows the RGB population giving a distance of 4.43$`\pm 0.53`$ Mpc, which is in close agreement with the previous estimate.

IC 3687 = DDO 141 = UGC 7866. IC 3687 is an irregular dwarf galaxy with several regions of current star formation activity. Its CM diagram shows a mixed stellar population with a pronounced RGB with $`I`$(TRGB) = 24.29$`\pm 0.22`$ mag, which corresponds to a distance of 4.57$`\pm 0.48`$ Mpc. Our distance for IC 3687 differs from the previous distance, 3.0$`\pm 0.6`$ Mpc, obtained by Makarova et al. (1998) via the brightest stars.

KK 166. This galaxy is unique in terms of being the only dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy of very low surface brightness identified so far in the CVn I region. (Another possible dSph in CVn I is DDO 113 = KDG 90). The galaxy has been observed but not detected in the H i line by Huchtmeier et al. (2000). The CM diagram shows a dominant RGB population with $`I`$(TRGB) = 24.36$`\pm 0.34`$ mag, yielding a distance of 4.74$`\pm 0.69`$ Mpc, which confirms KK 166 as a likely member of the CVn I cloud. Apart from stellar photometry, we also carried out surface photometry in circular apertures. From our measurements KK 166 has a total magnitude $`V_t=16.8\pm 0.2`$ mag, $`(VI)_t=1.2\pm 0.1`$ mag, and a central surface brightness of 25.0$`\pm 0.2^m/\mathit{}\mathrm{}`$ in the $`V`$ band.

NGC 4736 = M 94. NGC 4736 is the brightest galaxy of type Sa in CVn I. We resolve it into stars for the first time. The WFPC2 was pointed at the galaxy periphery to avoid stellar crowding. In the galaxy halo the CM diagram (Fig. 2) shows numerous of RGB stars with $`I`$(TRGB) = 24.33$`\pm 0.28`$ mag, which yields distance of 4.66$`\pm 0.59`$ Mpc. Karachentseva & Karachentsev (1998) carried out a proper search for dwarf companions to NGC 4736 based on the POSS-II plates. Surprisingly, they found no companions with a central surface brightness brighter than 25 $`{}_{}{}^{m}/\mathit{}\mathrm{}`$ in the $`B`$ band within a radius of $`3`$ degrees or 230 kpc around this giant galaxy. Such a pronounced degree of isolation of an Sa galaxy situated in the middle of the CVn I cloud seems rather unusual.

UGC 8308 = DDO 167. This is an asymmetric irregular galaxy of low surface brightness, becoming redder from its core to the periphery. It has been resolved into stars by Tikhonov & Karachentsev (1998), who derived a distance of 3.7$`\pm 0.7`$ Mpc from the brightest star photometry. The CMD (Fig. 2) shows blue and red stellar populations with the TRGB position yielding a distance of 4.19$`\pm 0.47`$, which is in close agreement with the previous estimate.

UGC 8320 = DDO 168. This irregular galaxy is located $`14\mathrm{}`$ away from UGC 8308, forming a probable pair of dwarf galaxies. Bresolin et al. (1993), Hopp & Schulte-Ladbeck (1995), and Tikhonov & Karachentsev (1998) have resolved it into stars and estimated it distance to be 3.3 Mpc, 3.9 Mpc, and 4.0 Mpc, respectively. The WFPC2 photometry gives a TRGB magnitude corresponding to a distance of 4.33$`\pm 0.49`$ Mpc. The derived TRGB distances of UGC 8320 and UGC 8308 agree with each other within the uncertainties.

NGC 5204. NGC 5204 is an irregular galaxy of Magellanic type, which is located at the northern edge of the CVn I cloud. Its distance, 4.9$`\pm 1.0`$ Mpc, was estimated by Karachentsev et al.(1994) via the brightest blue and red stars. The CM diagram (Fig. 2) shows a mixed stellar population with a prominent RGB. The derived TRGB distance, 4.65$`\pm 0.53`$ Mpc, is in good agreement with the previous estimate.

UGC 8833. This blue irregular galaxy looks like a binary system because of several regions with ongoing intense star formation. UGC 8833 is situated at the eastern edge of the CVn I cloud. According to Makarova et al. (1998) its distance derived from its brightest stars is 3.2$`\pm 0.6`$ Mpc. Our photometry of the WFPC2 images yields a TRGB distance of 3.19$`\pm 0.21`$ Mpc, which confirms the previous distance estimate.

## 4  Properties of the Canes Venatici I cloud

Figure 3 presents the distribution of 223 galaxies within an area of $`\alpha =11^h30^m`$ to $`13^h40^m`$, $`\delta =25\mathrm{°}`$ to $`55\mathrm{°}`$ according to their radial velocities with respect to the LG centroid. The data are taken from the latest version of the Lyon Extragalactic Database (LEDA) prepared by Paturel et al. (1996). The histogram shows a rather isolated peak at $`V_{LG}=200350`$ km s-1, which is caused by galaxies in the CVn I cloud. Another peak is seen in the range of 500 - 650 km s-1 and may correspond to a more distant galaxy group aligned along the Supergalactic equator (data on distances of these galaxies are yet unknown). The distribution of 72 galaxies with $`V_{LG}<550`$ km s-1 is given in equatorial coordinates in Figure 4. The galaxies with $`V_{LG}<400`$ km s-1 are shown by filled circles. Two brightest members of the CVn I cloud, NGC 4736 and NGC 4449, are indicated by filled squares. Probable background galaxies with $`400<V_{LG}<550`$ km s-1 are shown by crosses. The complete list of the galaxies is given in Table 2. Its columns contain: (1) galaxy name, (2) equatorial coordinates (1950.0), (3) apparent blue magnitude from the NED (uncorrected for Galactic extinction),(4) morphological type, (5) radial velocity with respect to the LG centroid, (6) distance to the galaxy with indication of the used method: “Cep” – via cepheids, “RGB” – via the tip of red giant branch stars, “SBF” – via surface brightness fluctuations, “BS” – from the luminosity of the brightest stars, and “GCLF” – via the globular cluster luminosity function. The last column presents the source of data on the distance. In addition, we included in Table 2 an interacting galaxy pair NGC 5194/5195 with an accurate distance estimate and three nearby dwarf galaxies: DDO 187, DDO 190, and KK 230, situated slightly to the east of the above indicated boundary of the cloud. The data given in Fig. 3, Fig. 4, and Table 2 permit us to infer properties of the structure and kinematics of the CVn I cloud.

Judging from their distances and radial velocities, 34 galaxies may be CVn I members. We distinguish their names in Table 2 with bold print. Among them there are 24 galaxies whose distances have been measured with an accuracy of $`(1015)`$%. For the other 10 probable members of CVn I only rough distance estimates via the brightest stars are known so far. Karachentsev & Tikhonov (1994) claimed the typical error of distance modulus for the “BS”- method to be 0.4 mag. However, Rozanski & Rowan-Robinson (1994) and some others considered the uncertainties of this method to be greater than 0.5 mag. In Table 2 there are 19 galaxies whose distances have been measured at first via the brightest stars and then via TRGB. Their distance moduli are given in Table 3. Apart from three cases (UGC 7298, UGC 7577, and UGCA 290) with $`\mathrm{\Delta }(mM)`$ larger than 1.0 mag, the mean difference of distance moduli for the remaining 16 galaxies is $`<(mM)_{BS}(mM)_{RGB}>=0.08\pm 0.12`$ mag, and the rms difference is 0.48 mag. As can be seen from Table 2, apart from galaxies with rough distance estimates there are also many galaxies whose distances have not yet been measured at all. For some objects (PGC 38277, PGC 38685, PGC 91228 ) their unreliable velocity estimates need to be checked. Due to the incompleteness of the present set of observational data, our conclusions about the structure of the CVn I cloud will have a preliminary character.

Unlike the Local Group and the nearest groups around M81 and Cen A, the galaxy complex in CVn I has no distinct dynamical center usually designated by a giant early-type galaxy. We assume that the dynamical center of CVn I lies between the two brightest cloud members, NGC 4736 and NGC 4449. Their absolute magnitudes, $`19.69`$ and $`18.37`$ mag, are substantially fainter than those of the Milky Way, M 31, M 81, and Centaurus A. As was mentioned above, around the Sa galaxy NGC 4736 there is not any known dwarf galaxy within 230 kpc. Such isolateness of NGC 4736 distinguishes it from the brightest members of other groups. If the luminosity of the brightest member of any group depends on the merging process of surrounding dwarf galaxies, then the rate of the merging process in the CVn I cloud was slow.

The amorphous cloud CVn I differs essentially from more compact nearby groups by its very sparse population of dSph galaxies. Only one CVn I member, KK 166, may currently be considered to be a definitive dSph galaxy. Another reddish LSB dwarf galaxy of regular shape, KDG 90, shows a strong H i flux, not typical of the dSphs. However, KDG 90 is situated near the bright irregular galaxy NGC 4214, which may lead to H i flux confusion. Anyhow, the relative number of dSphs in CVn I does not exceed 6%, which also gives evidence of low rate of interaction between the cloud galaxies if dSphs are primarily the result of stripping in interactions.

Comparing the luminosity function (LF) for field galaxies with the LF for members of three nearest groups (LG + M 81 + Cen A), Karachentsev et al. (2002c) noted an excess of very faint ($`M_B>12`$ mag), as well as giant ($`M_B<20`$ mag) galaxies in the groups. The excess of galaxies of extreme luminosities may be understood if the primordial LF grows on its bright and faint ends owing to “cannibalism” and “debris” left by galaxy interactions. In Fig. 5 we present the LF for 34 members of the CVn I cloud together with the LFs for 38 field galaxies and 96 members of the three groups. As it follows from Fig. 5, the LF of the CVn I seems to resemble the field LF more closely than the group LF. This feature indicates once again that galaxy interactions do not necessarily exercise significant influence on the dynamical evolution of galaxies in the CVn I cloud.

As was mentioned above, the boundary and the center position of the CVn I cloud still remain uncertain. Based on the data of Fig. 4 and Table 2, one can speculate that the cloud is a superposition of several groups populated by almost entirely irregular dwarf galaxies. In that sense, the CVn I complex resembles another loose cluster of late-type galaxies in Cancer (Bicay & Giovanelli 1987) and nearby cloud of dIrr galaxies in Ursa Major (Tully et al. 1996). Some groups in CVn I, for instance, \[NGC 4244, NGC 4395, UGC 7559, UGC 7605, IC 3687\], \[UGC 8215, UGC 8308, UGC 8320, UGC 8331\], and \[UGC 8651, UGC 8760, UGC 8833\] fit the definition of groups of “squelched” galaxies introduced by Tully et al. (2002). Luminous matter in such groups plays a negligible role in their dynamical evolution.

## 5  Kinematics of the CVn I cloud

The sample of 34 possible members of the CVn I cloud, which are marked in Table 2 in bold print, are characterized by a mean distance $`<D>=4.1\pm 0.2`$ Mpc and a mean radial velocity $`<V_{LG}>=286\pm 9`$ km s-1. The ratio of these quantities yields $`H(CVnI)=70\pm 4`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 as the local value of the Hubble constant, which agrees well with its global value, $`H_0=69\pm 4`$ (random) $`\pm 6`$ (systematic) km s-1 Mpc-1 (Ferrarese et al. 2000). In other words, within the uncertainties the CVn I cloud as a whole is at rest with respect to the global cosmic flow within random errors.

As a dynamical system, the CVn I cloud has the following integrated parameters: a radial velocity dispersion $`\sigma _v=50`$ km s-1, a mean projected linear radius $`<R_p>`$ = 760 kpc, a mean harmonic projected radius $`<R_H>`$ = 635 kpc, and an integrated luminosity of $`L_B=2.1510^{10}L_{\mathrm{}}`$. Considering the CVn I cloud to be in dynamical equilibrium and applying the virial relation (Limber & Mathews 1960)

$$M_{vir}=3\pi N(N1)^1G^1\sigma _v^2R_H,$$

where G is the gravitational constant and N is the number of group members, we obtain the virial mass estimate

$$M_{vir}=3.610^{12}M_{\mathrm{}}$$

and the virial mass-to-total luminosity ratio of 167 $`M_{\mathrm{}}/L_{\mathrm{}}`$. Because half of the total luminosity of the CVn I cloud is emitted by its brightest galaxy, NGC 4736, we may consider formally the remaining cloud members as companions to NGC 4736. Under these assumptions, the orbital mass estimator is

$$M_{orb}=(32/3\pi )G^1(12e^2/3)^1<R_p\mathrm{\Delta }V_r^2>,$$

where $`e`$ is the eccentricity of the Keplerian orbit, and $`R_i`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }V_i`$ are the projected linear distance and radial velocity of a companion with respect to NGC 4736. Adopting a mean eccentricity $`e`$=0.7, we derive $`M_{orb}=1.910^{12}M_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`M_{orb}/L_B=88`$ $`M_{\mathrm{}}/L_{\mathrm{}}`$. Both estimates are in satisfactory agreement with the mass-to-luminosity ratio, $`M_{vir}/L_B=93`$ $`M_{\mathrm{}}/L_{\mathrm{}}`$ obtained by Tully (1987) for 22 members of the CVn I cloud.

Based on the present (incomplete) data on galaxy distances, we may establish that the CVn I cloud extends in depth some 2.5 – 3.5 Mpc, namely, from $`D_{min}=2.5`$ Mpc to $`D_{max}=5`$ Mpc (via the TRGB method) or even to 6 Mpc via the less reliable distance estimates from the brightest stars. In the projection onto the sky the most distant CVn I members are situated at $`R_p1.4`$ Mpc from the center. Hence, the CVn I cloud is a system slightly elongated in space along the line of sight.

It should be emphasized that such an extended complex of galaxies with a low velocity dispersion (only 50 km s-1!) has not yet reached the virialized state. The “crossing time” of the CVn I cloud defined as $`T_{cross}=<R_p>/\sigma _v`$ is 15 Gyr, comparable to the cosmic expansion time. Consequently, the derived estimates of the virial/orbital mass should be used with great caution.

What is the dynamical state of the CVn I cloud? Is it a semi-virialized system or a structure taking part in the free Hubble flow? Figure 6 presents the distribution of galaxies in the CVn I region according to their distances and radial velocities. Here the galaxies with accurate distance estimates are shown by filled circles, and the galaxies with distances known only via the brightest stars are indicated by crosses. Four luminous galaxies with $`M_B<18`$ mag are shown by filled squares. The straight line that passes the foreground objects KK 230, DDO 187, and UGC 8508, and the background galaxies UGCA 290, NGC 4258, and NGC 5194/95, fits a Hubble constant H = 71 km s-1 Mpc-1. The CVn I centroid position is indicated by an open box whose sides correspond to the 1-$`\sigma `$ errors of the mean distance and velocity. From the data we conclude that the peculiar velocity of the centroid of the CVn I cloud does not exceed the error of its determination, $`20`$ km s-1. This result seems to be not trivial, because of the existence of the Virgo-centric flow (Kraan-Korteweg, 1986) can generate significant deviations from the pure Hubble flow on a scale of $`5`$ Mpc.

The behavior of the members of the CVn I cloud in Fig. 6 reveals an interesting feature: all the galaxies at the front of the cloud are situated above the Hubble regression line. That may be caused by the differential motion of the peripheral galaxies towards the cloud center at a velocity of $`65`$ km s-1. In the case of spherical symmetry, a similar motion of more distant cloud members towards its center (i.e., towards us) is expected (Tonry et al. 2000). Unfortunately, the distances to galaxies at the back of the cloud are known so far only with large errors, and the suspected “back-flow” effect turns out to be very noisy. But we believe that more accurate distance measurements for a dozen galaxies on the back of the cloud can easily clarify whether the backflow effect exists or not.

Thus, returning to the question about the dynamical state of the CVn I cloud, we suggest that the complex of predominantly irregular galaxies shows some signs of deviation from the free Hubble expansion. But it seems to be very far from the virialized state. Presumably evolving systems like the CVn I cloud, UMa cloud, and the Cancer cluster are a common feature of the large scale structure of the universe.

It should also be noted that in the CVn I region there are some galaxies (UGC 7131, NGC 4150, KK 127, and UGC 7949) with radial velocities of 100 - 350 km s-1, but with distance estimates in the range of (10 - 20) Mpc. These objects tend to be concentrated on the southern side of the cloud, closer to the Virgo cluster. These galaxies may belong to the Virgo cluster outskirts, and their low radial velocities may be caused by large peculiar motions with respect to the Virgo core.

## 6 Concluding remarks

As was noted above, the CVn I cloud is a scattered system elongated towards the Local Group. Together with the LG and the loose group in Sculptor, aligned along the line of sight, the CVn I cloud consists of an amorphous filament of $`10`$ Mpc in length. We estimated the excess of the number of galaxies in the CVn I cloud to be $`(NN)/N7`$. Because the complex is populated predominantly by dwarf galaxies, the overdensity of the CVn I in its luminosity turns out to be lower, $`(\rho _{lum}\rho _{lum})/\rho _{lum}4`$. Here we adopted that the space volume of the CVn I is 21 Mpc3, and the mean luminosity of 1 Mpc3 is $`210^8L_{\mathrm{}}`$ (Bahcall et al. 1995).

Remarkably, the mass estimates for the cloud, derived via orbital and virial motions and being distributed over the 21 Mpc3 volume, yield an average density of dark matter $`0.62\rho _c`$ and $`1.17\rho _c`$, respectively, where $`\rho _c=1.010^{29}`$ g/cm3 is the critical density with $`H_o=70`$ km s-1 Mpc-1.

The large crossing time for the CVn I cloud (15 Gyr), the low content of dSphs, the almost primordial shape of the LF indicate that the CVn I complex is in a transient state not so far from the pure Hubble flow. We hope that future accurate distance measurements of about 20-30 members of the cloud in a fast snapshot survey with the Advanced Camera will give a complete and reliable basis of studying the dynamical evolution of the Canes Venatici complex.

###### Acknowledgements.

Support for this work was provided by NASA through grant GO–08601.01–A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5–26555. This work was partially supported by RFBR grant 01–02–16001 and DFG-RFBR grant 02–02–04012. D.G. gratefully acknowledges support from the Chile Centro de Astrofísica FONDAP No. 15010003. D.G. kindly acknowledges support from ESO as a Visiting Astronomer which allowed him to work on this paper. The Digitized Sky Surveys were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W–2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on the Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with permission of these institutions. This project made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


format: text

text:
# Anti-deSitter gravitational collapse

## Abstract

We describe a formalism for studying spherically symmetric collapse of the massless scalar field in any spacetime dimension, and for any value of the cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The formalism is used for numerical simulations of gravitational collapse in four spacetime dimensions with negative $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. We observe critical behaviour at the onset of black hole formation, and find that the critical exponent is independent of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

It is now well established that gravitational collapse in spherical symmetry exhibits a phase transition-like critical behaviour, accompanied by self-similar behaviour of the matter field choptuik ; gund ; lehn . The basic formula determined numerically for the black hole radius near the threshold of black hole formation is choptuik .

$$R_{BH}(aa_{})^\gamma ,$$
(1)
where $`a`$ is an initial data parameter, and $`a_{}<a`$ is its critical value. The critical value $`a=a_{}`$ gives a naked singularity, and illustrates a violation of the cosmic censorship conjecture. The exponent $`\gamma `$ is found to be “universal” for a fixed matter type in the sense that it is independent of the functional form and parameter values of the initial matter profile. However it varies with the type of matter field. For perfect fluids for example, $`\gamma `$ depends on the parameter(s) in the equation of statemaison .

A wide class of matter types yield two similar general features near criticality: the black hole radius scaling law (without a mass gap), and discrete or continuous self-similarity of the matter fields. (These are called Type II transitions. There are also transitions with a mass gap, refered to as Type I, where the field is either periodic or static, rather than self-similar.)

One of the questions that has not been studied to date is that of the dependence of the critical exponent on the cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. We study this question in four spacetime dimensions. (The case of three dimensions is rather special in that there are no static black hole solutions unless the cosmological constant is negative; the constant may be scaled to unity without loss of generality so there is no need to study such dependence in this case pc ; ho ). Our main result is that $`\gamma `$ is independent of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

A useful by-product of our analysis is confirmation of the utility of a new formalism for studying the collapse problem, in which the $`d`$dimensional, spherically symmetric Einstein-scalar equations are rewritten as an effective $`2`$dimensional dilaton gravity theorydil\_grav . All spacetime and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ information in this approach is stored in the resulting dilaton potential. This feature permits writing a “universal” numerical code in which spacetime dimension and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ appear as input parameters. In fact the formalism is general enough to permit simulations of mass and potential terms for the scalar field, with minimal changes to the code.

The reduced equations are written in double null coordinates, and a numerical method first used by Goldwirth and PiranGP , and refined by GarfinkleDG  is implemented on the resulting equations. The code is in principle capable of handling any spacetime dimension and cosmological constant value, although there are practical constraints. We describe below the main features of the formalism and numerical method. Further details appear in Ref. nd .

Einstein gravity with cosmological constant and minimally coupled scalar field in $`d`$ spacetime dimensions is given by the action

$`S^{(d)}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi G^{(d)}}}{\displaystyle d^dx\sqrt{g^{(d)}}\left[R(g^{(d)})\mathrm{\Lambda }\right]}`$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle d^dx\sqrt{g^{(d)}}|\chi |^2}.`$
Spherical symmetry is imposed by writing the metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ as

$$ds_{(d)}^2=\overline{g}_{\alpha \beta }dx^\alpha dx^\beta +r^2(x^\alpha )d\mathrm{\Omega }_{(d2)},$$
(3)
where $`d\mathrm{\Omega }_{(d2)}`$ is the metric on $`S^{d2}`$ and $`\alpha ,\beta =1,2`$.

A useful form for the reduced action with this form of the metric is obtained by defining $`l=(G^{(d)})^{n/2}`$ and

$`\varphi `$ $`:=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{n}{8(n1)}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{r}{l}}\right)^n,`$ (4)
$`g_{\alpha \beta }`$ $`:=`$ $`\varphi ^{2(n1)/n}\overline{g}_{\alpha \beta },`$ (5)
where $`nd2`$. Note that the $`\varphi `$ is proportional to the area of an $`n`$-sphere at fixed radius $`r`$. With these definitions the reduced action becomes

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2G}}{\displaystyle d^2x\sqrt{g}\left[\varphi R(g)+V^{(n)}(\varphi ,\mathrm{\Lambda })\right]}`$ (6)
$`{\displaystyle d^2x\sqrt{g}H^{(n)}(\varphi )|\chi |^2}`$
where $`G2\pi n/(n1)`$, the scalar field has been rescaled ($`\chi \chi /\sqrt{G^{(d)}})`$ in order to make it dimensionless, and the overall factor of the $`n`$sphere volume has been dropped from the action. In addition we have defined

$`H^{(n)}(\varphi )`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{8(n1)}{n}}\varphi ,`$ (7)
$`V^{(n)}(\varphi ,\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{8(n1)}{n}}\right]^{\frac{1}{n}}\varphi ^{\frac{1}{n}}`$ (8)
$`\times \left[{\displaystyle \frac{n^2}{8}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{8(n1)}{n}}\right)^{\frac{n2}{n}}\varphi ^{\frac{2}{n}}l^2\mathrm{\Lambda }\right]`$
Now with the metric parametrized as

$$ds^2=2lg(u,v)\varphi ^{}(u,v)dudv$$
(9)
the field equations are

$`\dot{\varphi }^{}={\displaystyle \frac{l}{2}}V^{(n)}(\varphi )g\varphi ^{}`$ (10)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{g^{}\varphi ^{}}{gH^{(n)}(\varphi )}}=2G(\chi ^{})^2`$ (11)
$`(H^{(n)}(\varphi )\chi ^{})^{}+(H^{(n)}(\varphi )\dot{\chi })^{}=0,`$ (12)
where prime and dot denote the $`v`$ and $`u`$ derivatives respectively.

The evolution equations may be put in a form more useful for numerical solution by defining the variable

$$h=\chi +\frac{2\varphi \chi ^{}}{\varphi ^{}},$$
(13)
which replaces the scalar field $`\chi `$ by $`h`$. The evolution equations become

$`\dot{\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{g}/2`$ (14)
$`\dot{h}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\varphi }}(h\chi )\left(g\varphi V^{(n)}{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}\stackrel{~}{g}\right),`$ (15)
where

$`g`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[4\pi {\displaystyle _u^v}𝑑v{\displaystyle \frac{\varphi ^{}}{\varphi }}(h\chi )^2\right],`$ (16)
$`\stackrel{~}{g}`$ $`=`$ $`l{\displaystyle _u^v}(g\varphi ^{}V^{(n)})𝑑v,`$ (17)
$$\chi =\frac{1}{2\sqrt{\varphi }}_u^v𝑑v\left[\frac{h\varphi ^{}}{\sqrt{\varphi }}\right].$$
(18)
This is the final form of the equations used for numerical evolution. The spacetime parameters $`n`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ appear only in the dilaton potential $`V^{(n)}`$ (8).

The numerical scheme uses a $`v`$ discretization to obtain a set of coupled ODEs:

$$h(u,v)h_i(u),\varphi (u,v)\varphi _i(u).$$
(19)
where $`i=0,\mathrm{},N`$ specifies the $`v`$ grid. Initial data for these two functions is prescribed on a constant $`v`$ slice, from which $`g(u,v),\stackrel{~}{g}(u,v)`$ are constructed. Evolution in $`u`$ (‘time’) is performed using the 4th. order Runge-Kutta method. The general scheme is similar to that used in GP , with some refinements used in DG . This procedure was also used for the $`3`$dimensional collapse calculations in ho .

The initial scalar field configuration $`\chi (\varphi ,u=0)`$ is most conveniently specified as a function of $`\varphi `$ rather than $`r`$. (Recall that $`\varphi r^n`$.) This together with the initial arrangement of the radial points $`\varphi (v,u=0)`$ fixes all other functions. We used the initial specification $`\varphi (0,v)=v`$.

Most of the computations are for the initial scalar field of the Gaussian form

$$\chi _G(u=0,\varphi )=a\varphi \mathrm{exp}\left[\left(\frac{\varphi \varphi _0}{\sigma }\right)^2\right],$$
(20)
with attention restricted to variations of the amplitude $`a`$. However we also used the “cosh” initial data

$$\chi _G(u=0,\varphi )=a\mathrm{cosh}[b(\varphi \varphi _0)]^2,$$
(21)
to study convergence of our code and to test universality with non-zero $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

The initial values of the other functions are determined in terms of the above by computing the integrals for $`g_n`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{g}_n`$ using Simpson’s rule.

The boundary conditions at fixed $`u`$ are

$$\varphi _k=0,\stackrel{~}{g}_k=0,g_k=1.$$
(22)
where $`k`$ is the index corresponding to the position of the origin $`\varphi =0`$. (In the algorithm used, all grid points $`0ik1`$ correspond to ingoing rays that have reached the origin and are dropped from the grid). These conditions are equivalent to $`r(u,u)=0`$, $`g|_{r=0}=g(u,u)=1`$, and guarantee regularity of the metric at $`r=0`$. For our initial data, $`\varphi _k`$ and hence $`h_k`$ are initially zero, and therefore remain zero at the origin because of Eqn. (15).

At each $`u`$ step, the function

$$ahg^{\alpha \beta }_\alpha \varphi _\beta \varphi =\frac{\dot{\varphi }}{lg},$$
(23)
is observed. Its vanishing signals the formation of an apparent horizon. For each run of the code with fixed amplitude $`a`$, this function is scanned from larger to smaller radial values after each Runge-Kutta iteration, and evolution is terminated if the value of this function reaches $`10^4`$. (The code cannot continue much beyond this value.) The corresponding radial coordinate value is recorded as $`R_{ah}`$. In the subcritical case, it is expected that all the radial grid points reach zero without detection of an apparent horizon. This is the signal of pulse reflection. The results $`(a,R_{ah})`$ are collated by seeking a relationship of the form

$$R_{ah}(aa_{})^\gamma .$$
(24)
The code was tested for grid sizes ranging from 2000 to 20000 points, and with the $`u`$ and $`v`$ step sizes ranging from $`10^2`$ to $`10^6`$, for the two types of initial data used, as well as the vacuum case $`\chi =0`$. These tests established that the code converges.

For most of the runs we used $`\varphi _0=1`$ and $`\sigma =0.3`$ for the Gaussian initial data, and $`b=5.0`$, $`\varphi _0=0.5`$ for the cosh data. We varied $`\varphi _0`$ in the Gaussian data from 0.1 to 20 (which also varies pulse width in the $`r`$-coordinate), to see if there was $`\gamma `$ dependence. This is important to study because $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ sets a scale in the problem.

Our results for the two types of data (for $`n=2`$) appear in Tables 1 and 2, which list the computed $`\gamma `$ values for the corresponding (negative) values of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The trend is clear: $`\gamma `$ does not depend on $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The first value provides a crucial test of our formalism and code since it reproduces the known $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ value of the exponent choptuik .

| $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ |  | $`\gamma `$ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| -0.001 |  | 0.370-0.375 |
| -5 |  | 0.37-0.38 |
| -10 |  | 0.37-0.39 |
| -20 |  | 0.36-0.38 |

Table 1. Computed ranges of $`\gamma `$ for Gaussian data ($`n=2`$).

| $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ |  | $`\gamma `$ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| -5 |  | 0.37-0.38 |
| -20 |  | 0.36-0.38 |
| -50 |  | 0.37-0.40 |

Table 2. Computed ranges of $`\gamma `$ for cosh data ($`n=2`$).

The ranges of $`\gamma `$ in Tables 1 and 2 are arrived at by assessing our uncertainty in the determination of the critical amplitudes $`a`$: the $`a`$ values are determined to lie within certain domains, and the end points of these domains are used to determine the range of $`\gamma `$ values. For example, for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=20`$ and cosh data, we find a\* lies in the range $`6.00344\times 10^3`$$`6.00360\times 10^3`$, which gives $`\gamma `$ in the range indicated in Table 2. Our determination of the $`a`$ window gets coarser with increasing $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, which leads to the larger error bars on the $`\gamma `$ values, as indicated in the tables.

Figure 1 is the ln-ln graph of the apparent horizon radius vs initial data amplitude, for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=5`$. This is representative of the type of results from which the critical exponent ranges in Tables 1 and 2 are deduced.

Figure 2 shows plots of the apparent horizon function (23) and the scalar field $`h`$. This is typical of the type of data used to extract horizon radius information at the supercritical onset of black hole formation. These graphs show impending black hole formation at $`\varphi 6.3\times 10^6`$ ($`r5\times 10^3)`$ for a supercritical amplitude with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=5`$.

The dip in the apparent horizon function (Fig. 2) oscillates toward and away from the origin as it approaches the $`\varphi `$axis, and appears to be the cause of the small oscillations about the least squares fit line in Figure 1. Although these latter oscillations have been noted in earlier work, it appears that they are the manifestation of the dip oscillations in the apparent horizon function (23) near criticality. This in turn is connected with the discrete self-similarity of the scalar field, which not surprisingly, is also manifested in the apparent horizon function. Figure 1 contains two complete oscillations, and may be used to obtain a rough estimate of the echoing period: it gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }3.5`$. This value is close to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ value $`\mathrm{\Delta }=3.44`$ computed in earlier workchoptuik ; gund ; lehn . Thus, both the numbers $`\gamma `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ associated with critical behaviour appear to be independent of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

It is known, and verified again here, that $`\gamma `$ is independent of initial data profiles and parameter values. We also find that for fixed $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, critical exponents are independent of characteristic pulse width and starting location in relation to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ scale.

It is worth noting that in our equations $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ appears only in the potential term (8), where for sufficiently small $`\varphi `$, the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ term is insignificant. This provides some analytical support of our results, since it suggests that the entire near critical part of the evolution, with typical $`\varphi `$ range $`010^5`$ (Fig. 2), is $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ independent. In four dimensions, $`n=d2=2`$, the first term in brackets in (8) is of order $`10^5`$, which dominates the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ term for all cases we consider. An extrapolation of this observation, beyond numerical reach, suggests that $`\gamma `$ is $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ independent because sufficiently close to criticality, the $`\varphi `$ term dominates the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ term for any $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (in an $`ϵ\delta `$ sense).

It is interesting to contrast this with the minimally coupled scalar field of mass $`\mu `$, which also has a scale. Here two types of critical behaviour are observed at the threshold of black hole formation, depending on initial pulse width $`\sigma `$ in comparison with $`\mu ^1`$ brady : for $`\sigma >>\mu ^1`$ there is a mass gap, whereas for $`\sigma <<\mu ^1`$ there is no mass gap and the exponent $`\gamma 0.378`$ is computedbrady .

There are some differences here worth emphasizing. The first is specific to our results, and the second is general: (i) We find no evidence of a mass gap for a range of values of pulse width and initial position in relation to the scale $`1/\sqrt{\mathrm{\Lambda }}`$. With no mass gap, the critical exponent is measured in the limit of small horizon values. In our simulations, the typical horizon size range at the onset of black hole formation is $`10^210^4`$. By contrast, the smallest $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ scale the code can handle is $`1/\sqrt{50}0.14`$. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ has no effect. (ii) Unlike $`\mu `$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ appears in the stress-energy tensor independent of the scalar field. Therefore it is not unreasonable that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`\mu `$ give qualitatively different results.

For postive $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ we are not able to obtain accurate results for $`\gamma `$ because of two competing effects in our procedure: since the grid is evolving, we observe an outward deSitter expansion of the grid, which confines the interesting features of the ingoing collapse to an ever shrinking region near the origin. Perhaps this case can better studied by the method of replacing lost grid points used in DG , and using the subcritical method of computing $`\gamma `$ using the curvature scalar, introduced in DG2 . Nevertheless, on the intuitive grounds mentioned, we expect that the sign of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ will not change our results.

It is known that critical exponents may be computed via linear perturbation analysis of the critical solution maison ; kha . This has so far been done only for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$. For $`\mathrm{\Lambda }0`$, it is reasonable to expect that both the critical solution and its perturbation equation depend on $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, which after all is a parameter in the equations of motion. It would be useful to see how $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ drops out of this type of calculation, yielding a $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ independent exponent.

In summary, our numerical simulations of massless scalar field collapse in spherical symmetry in four dimensions, show that the critical exponent associated with the collapse is independent of (negative) $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ values. This result extends the scope of universality to include the cosmological constant, and suggests that including $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ with other matter types, such as the perfect fluid or the Yang-Mills field, will also not change the critical exponent.

This work was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We thank Rob Myers and Eric Poisson for a discussion.


text:
# Precession and interference in the Aharonov-Casher and scalar Aharonov-Bohm effect

## I Introduction

### I.1 Key discoveries

In the electric and magnetic Aharonov-Bohm (AB) aharonov59  effect a charged particle exhibits a physical effect due to an electromagnetic potential although the electromagnetic field and force vanish along the path of the particle. To each of these, a dual effect exists, the so-called scalar Aharonov-Bohm (SAB) effect and Aharonov-Casher (AC) effect, respectively. In the dual set ups, an electrically neutral particle carrying a nonvanishing magnetic dipole moment exhibits a physical effect due to an electromagnetic field although no force is acting on the particle. Despite this similarity, the physics behind SAB and AC differs crucially from that of the electric and magnetic AB effect. To discuss these differences and to enlighten the extra richness of the dual effects is the major aim of this paper.

In the electric Aharonov-Bohm (EAB) effect (see Fig. 1a), a wave packet carrying electric charge $`q`$ is split coherently by a beam splitter, each beam passing through a cylindrical metal tube at vanishing electric potential. When the wave packets are well inside the tubes, the beam pair is exposed to a potential difference that varies as a pure function of time. Well before the wave packets leave the tubes, the potential vanishes again. The beams are brought together to interfere coherently at a second beam splitter. This process is essentially captured by the Hamiltonian

$$H=q\phi (t),$$
(1)
where $`\phi `$ is a function of time inside each tube. The interference of the wave packets depends on the phase difference between the two beams

$$\varphi _{\text{EAB}}=\frac{q}{\mathrm{}}_0^\tau \mathrm{\Delta }\phi (t)𝑑t,$$
(2)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\phi `$ is the potential difference between the metal tubes and $`\tau `$ is the time interval during which the electric potential is nonvanishing. Thus, there may be a physical effect on the particle although the electric field vanishes and no force is induced on its path by the time dependent potential. The effect is nondispersive, i.e. independent of the particle’s velocity, as long as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\phi (t)`$ vanishes before the tail of the wave packets reaches the edges of the tubes.

In the magnetic Aharonov-Bohm (MAB) effect (see Fig. 1b), there is a long thin shielded solenoid perpendicular to the plane of motion and with a current flowing through it so as to produce a magnetic flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. A beam of particles with charge $`q`$ is split coherently into two beams that pass the solenoid on opposite sides and are brought together again to interfere. The solenoid has to be very long to make sure that the magnetic field $`𝐁`$ vanishes outside it. The vector potential $`𝐀`$, however, cannot vanish everywhere outside the solenoid, because the line integral of $`𝐀`$ along any closed circuit $`C`$ that contains the solenoid equals the magnetic flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. The Hamiltonian relevant for the MAB case is

$$H=\frac{1}{2m}(𝐩q𝐀)^2,$$
(3)
where $`m`$ is the mass of the particle. In this set up the phase difference is given by

$$\varphi _{\text{MAB}}=\frac{q}{\mathrm{}}_C𝐀𝑑𝐫=\frac{q\mathrm{\Phi }}{\mathrm{}},$$
(4)
so there may be a physical effect on the particle although the magnetic field vanishes and thus no force is induced along its path. Furthermore, the MAB phase difference is nondispersive as it is independent of the particle’s velocity.

To each of the described above, a dual effect exists: the scalar Aharonov-Bohm (SAB) effect for EAB and the Aharonov-Casher (AC) effect for MAB. Instead of charged particles, the dual effects involve electrically neutral particles carrying a magnetic moment $`\mu `$, e.g. neutrons, and the gauge potentials are replaced by magnetic and electric fields. By choosing certain configurations a complete mathematical analogy can be achieved in both cases.

The ideal SAB set up (see Fig. 1c), first suggested by Zeilinger zeilinger86 , is similar to that of EAB. Instead of the electric potential, there is a spatially uniform magnetic field $`B(t)`$ in the $`+z`$ direction generated by a solenoid in each arm of the interferometer. The electrically neutral magnetic dipole points in the $`+z`$ direction and is split coherently. When the resulting wave packets are well inside the solenoids, the beam pair is exposed to a magnetic field difference that varies as a pure function of time. Well before the wave packets leave the solenoids, the magnetic field falls back to vanish. This process is described by the Hamiltonian

$$H=\mu B(t),$$
(5)
where $`B(t)`$ is a pure function of time inside each solenoid and $`\mu `$ is the magnetic dipole moment. The phase difference between the upper and the lower beam is given by

$$\varphi _{\text{SAB}}=\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_0^\tau \mathrm{\Delta }B(t)𝑑t,$$
(6)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }B(t)`$ is the magnetic field difference between the two solenoids and $`\tau `$ is the time interval during which the magnetic fields are nonvanishing. Again there may be a physical effect although no force is exerted on the particle. The effect is nondispersive as long as the applied particle velocity is such that $`\mathrm{\Delta }B(t)`$ vanishes before the tail of the wave packets reaches the edges of the solenoids.

Consider again the magnetic AB effect. A solenoid in the $`+z`$ direction can be viewed as a line of magnetic dipoles pointing in the $`+z`$ direction. In the AC effect aharonov84 , the role of the magnetic dipoles and the charged particle is interchanged (see Fig. 1d). The set up is the same as that of the magnetic AB effect, but the solenoid is replaced by a line of charge in the $`+z`$ direction and the charged particle is replaced by a particle that carries a magnetic dipole moment $`\mu `$. The charged line gives rise to a static $`z`$ independent electric field in the $`xy`$ plane. The dipole points in the $`+z`$ direction. For this set up, we obtain the Hamiltonian in the $`xy`$ plane as

$$H=\frac{1}{2m}(𝐩\mu 𝐀)_{xy}^2,$$
(7)
where $`𝐀=c^2(E_y,E_x)`$ and $`𝐄=(E_x,E_y)`$ is the electric field of the line of charge and $`c`$ is the speed of light. The phase difference is given by

$$\varphi _{\text{AC}}=\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_C𝐀𝑑𝐫=\frac{\mu \lambda }{\mathrm{}ϵ_0c^2},$$
(8)
where $`\lambda `$ is charge per unit length and $`C`$ is the interferometer loop. Again, there may be a physical effect although no force is exerted on the particle, and the AC phase difference is nondispersive.

Both SAB and AC phase differences have been verified experimentally. Experiments regarding the phase difference for a fixed particle velocity of SAB have been carried out by Allman et al. allman92 ; allman93 ; allman99  and regarding AC by Cimmino et al. cimmino89 , both using neutrons. Badurek et al. badurek93  examined the nondispersivity of SAB, also with neutrons. Sangster et al. sangster93 ; sangster95  and Görlitz et al. gorlitz95  examined the nondispersivity and dependence on the electric field of AC using atom interferometry.

Dowling et al. dowling99  elaborated two further effects connected to the magnetic AB and the AC effects, related to them by the Maxwell electromagnetic duality relations. The Maxwell dual of MAB is a magnetic monopole in the field of a line of electric dipoles and that of AC is an electric dipole in the field of a line of magnetic monopoles, where the latter is also known as the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect he93 ; wilkens94 .

### I.2 Nonlocality, topology, and nondispersiveness

The deep physical differences of the AB effects and their duals can be illustrated by the debate about nonlocality and topology in this context. Zeilinger zeilinger86  observed that a main feature of the AB effects and their duals is that the phase differences are nondispersive, i.e. independent of the particle’s velocity. Allman et al. allman92 ; allman93 ; allman99  defined a topological effect as one in which a nonvanishing phase difference occurs although no force is exerted on the particle. Peshkin peshkin99  showed that force free motion is a necessary condition for a nondispersive effect.

Peshkin and Lipkin peshkin95  pointed out that a definition of topological effects related only to nondispersivity and force free motion is problematic. To illustrate their point, they suggested that the magnetic field in SAB could be replaced by an optical phase shifter whose uniform index of refraction depends on time while the particle is inside some box in one arm of the interferometer. They claimed that the phase difference in such a set up could in principle be made independent of the particle’s velocity over the experimental range. Thus, a force free effect due to an optical device, which has no deep physical significance, would then be topological regarding the criterion stated in allman92 ; allman93 ; allman99 .

They analysed the above described effects and came to the conclusion that both the electric and the magnetic AB effect are nonlocal in the sense that there exist no electromagnetic fields along the path of the charged particle and no exchange of physical quantities takes place. They called the AB effects topological in that they require the charged particle to be confined to a multiply connected space-time region and in that there is no objective way to relate a phase shift to any particular place or arm of the interferometer. This is due to the fact that only the differences in phase shifts between different paths is gauge invariant, but no measurable phase shift can be assigned to any place because the integral of an electromagnetic potential along any open space-time path is gauge dependent.

They remarked that in the dual effects there exist electromagnetic fields along the paths of the beams. They claimed that the particle interacts with these fields via angular momentum fluctuations although no force is exerted on it. They concluded that both the SAB and the AC effect are local because there are local interactions and nontopological because the phase shifts depend on the local fields along the paths and can thus be related to a particular place.

To conclude, using the criteria in peshkin95 , the AB effects are both nonlocal and topological while the dual effects are local and nontopological. All the effects have in common that they are force free and thus nondispersive. All effects require a closed path to measure the phase difference.

### I.3 Nonideal version of the dual effects

The dual effects have one extra degree of freedom that makes them interesting: the direction of the magnetic dipole goldhaber89 . Nevertheless, a thorough analysis of the precession angles and phase differences occurring in the nonideal set ups, where this direction may be arbitrary, is still missing.

Some work have been devoted to the precession of the magnetic moment in the nonideal set ups, but not from this perspective. Han and Koh han92  analysed the AC effect in the rest frame of the magnetic dipole and derived the AC phase from the precession of a magnetic dipole in a magnetic field, but they did not treat the nonideal AC case. Peshkin and Lipkin peshkin95  used a similar point of view to conclude that the dual effects are local and nontopological as mentioned above. They also analyzed SAB in terms of a spin autocorrelation effect related to the dipole precession, and one of the present Authors sjoqvist00  has recently discussed an analogous correlation effect between the spin and spatial degrees of freedom that arises in the nonideal AC set up.

To discuss and enlighten the extra richness related to the direction of the magnetic dipole in SAB and AC is the major aim of this paper. In particular, we shall examine in detail the conditions under which nondispersive dynamics occur in the generalized set ups. Analyses of both a classical magnetic dipole and a quantal spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle with magnetic moment are carried out.

## II Classical magnetic dipole

### II.1 Hamiltonian

Aharonov and Casher aharonov84  analyzed a situation where an electrically neutral particle exhibits a magnetic AB type effect in the presence of a fixed distribution of charge. In this section we extend their analysis to moving point charges, in order to have a common physical basis for the classical treatment of the AC and SAB effect. We start from the AC Lagrangian describing a system of charged particles, all with charge $`q`$, interacting with magnetic dipoles, all with magnetic dipole moment $`\mu `$, (leaving out purely electric-electric terms)

$`L`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}\stackrel{~}{m}_k\stackrel{~}{v}_k^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}m_lv_l^2`$ (9)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{k,l}{}}q𝐀(\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k𝐫_l)(\stackrel{~}{𝐯}_k𝐯_l).`$
Here $`\stackrel{~}{m}_k,\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k,\stackrel{~}{𝐯}_k`$ denote the mass, position, and velocity, respectively, of the charged particle $`k`$, and $`m_l,𝐫_l,𝐯_l`$ denote the corresponding quantities for dipole $`l`$. Because of the dependence of $`𝐀`$ on $`(\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k𝐫_l)`$, the system possesses a symmetry when the role of $`\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k`$ and $`𝐫_l`$ is reversed.

The vector potential at $`\stackrel{~}{𝐫}`$ due to a classical magnetic dipole $`𝝁`$ situated at $`𝐫`$ may be written as (see, e.g., jackson75 , p. 182)

$$𝐀(\stackrel{~}{𝐫}𝐫)=\frac{1}{4\pi ϵ_0c^2}\frac{𝝁\times (\stackrel{~}{𝐫}𝐫)}{|\stackrel{~}{𝐫}𝐫|^3}.$$
(10)
The electric field at $`𝐫`$ due to a particle situated at $`\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k`$ carrying the charge $`q`$ is

$$𝐄_k𝐄(𝐫\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k)=\frac{q}{4\pi ϵ_0}\frac{(𝐫\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k)}{|𝐫\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k|^3}.$$
(11)
Thus, the Lagrangian of a single magnetic dipole moving in the field of moving charges may be written as

$`L`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}mv^2+{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}q{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi ϵ_0c^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{𝝁\times (\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k𝐫)}{|\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_k𝐫|^3}}(\stackrel{~}{𝐯}_k𝐯)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}mv^2+𝝁{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{𝐯}_k}{c^2}}\times 𝐄_k+\left({\displaystyle \frac{𝝁}{c^2}}\times {\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}𝐄_k\right)𝐯.`$
This may be further simplified by noting that the dipole is exposed to a magnetic field (see, e.g., jackson75 , p. 542)

$$𝐁(𝐫)=\underset{k}{}\frac{\stackrel{~}{𝐯}_k}{c^2}\times 𝐄_k$$
(13)
due to the moving point charges. Thus, the Lagrangian (LABEL:eq:Lagrangian3) finally becomes

$$L=\frac{1}{2}mv^2+𝝁𝐁+\left(\frac{𝝁}{c^2}\times 𝐄\right)𝐯,$$
(14)
where we have introduced the total electric field $`𝐄=_k𝐄_k`$.

The corresponding Hamiltonian is obtained by Legendre transforming the variables of the dipole, but treating the velocities of the charged particles as parameters. This yields

$$H=\frac{1}{2m}\left(𝐩\frac{𝝁}{c^2}\times 𝐄\right)^2𝝁𝐁,$$
(15)
where

$$𝐩=\mathbf{}_𝐯L=m𝐯+\frac{𝝁}{c^2}\times 𝐄.$$
(16)
Note that the only visible classical SAB and AC effects will be the precession of the magnetic dipole, for which any spatial Lorentz force is irrelevant. Therefore the particle must not necessarily be electrically neutral. The path of such a charged dipole can in principle be controlled by the experimental set up, compensating the occurring forces.

### II.2 Scalar Aharonov-Bohm

From Eq. (15) we see that the Hamiltonian of an electrically neutral magnetic dipole $`𝝁`$ in a pure magnetic field $`𝐁`$ is given by

$$H=\frac{𝐩^2}{2m}𝝁𝐁.$$
(17)
In the nonideal SAB set up, there is a spatially uniform magnetic field $`𝐁=B(t)\widehat{𝐳}`$ and the magnetic dipole can point in any direction. The condition for force free motion in the ideal case is that the magnetic field is nonvanishing only when the particle is well inside the solenoid. This leads to force free motion also in the nonideal case: $`\mathbf{}_𝐱\left(\mu _zB(t)\right)=0`$. However, there can be force pairs generating a torque on the magnetic dipole. It can be assumed that $`𝝁=\mathrm{\Gamma }𝐒`$ goldstein80 , where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\overline{q}/2\overline{m}`$. Here $`\overline{q}`$ is the charge and $`\overline{m}`$ the mass of the particles of the current that is associated with the magnetic dipole moment $`\mu `$ and the intrinsic angular momentum $`𝐒`$. The Poisson bracket relations $`\{S_k,S_l\}=ϵ_{klm}S_m`$ yield

$$\dot{𝝁}=\mathrm{\Gamma }𝝁\times 𝐁,$$
(18)
which reduces to

$$\dot{𝝁}=\mathrm{\Gamma }B(t)(\mu _y,\mu _x,0)$$
(19)
in the SAB set up. With the initial conditions $`𝝁(0)=\mu (\mathrm{sin}\theta ,0,\mathrm{cos}\theta )`$ we obtain

$`𝝁`$ $`=`$ $`\mu (\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{cos}\gamma (t),\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\gamma (t),\mathrm{cos}\theta ),`$
$`\gamma (t)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }{\displaystyle _0^t}B(t^{})𝑑t^{}.`$ (20)
The main point here is that the precession angle $`\gamma (t)`$ is independent of the particle’s velocity as the particle does not feel a field gradient under the SAB conditions. This also assures that the angle $`\theta `$ with respect to the $`z`$ axis remains constant.

### II.3 Aharonov-Casher

From Eq. (15) we see that the Hamiltonian of a magnetic dipole $`𝝁`$ in a pure electric field $`𝐄`$ is given by

$$H=\frac{1}{2m}\left(𝐩\frac{𝝁}{c^2}\times 𝐄\right)^2,$$
(21)
where $`m`$ is the mass of the dipole. Assuming again $`𝝁=\mathrm{\Gamma }𝐒`$, the precession and the net force acting on the magnetic dipole can be derived using Hamilton’s equations

$`\dot{𝝁}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{c^2}}𝝁\times \left(𝐯\times 𝐄\right)`$ (22)
$`m\dot{𝐯}`$ $`=`$ $`𝐯\times \left(\mathbf{}\times \left({\displaystyle \frac{𝝁}{c^2}}\times 𝐄\right)\right)={\displaystyle \frac{𝐯\times (𝝁\mathbf{})𝐄}{c^2}},`$ (23)
where $`𝐯`$ denotes the velocity of the particle. The dipole sees in its own rest frame the magnetic field $`(1/c^2)(𝐯\times 𝐄)`$, which causes the precession described by Eq. (22). In Eq. (23) we used that $`\mathbf{}𝐄`$ vanishes where the particle moves. The conditions for the ideal AC effect to be force free and nondispersive are that the particle moves in the $`xy`$ plane and that there is an electric field of the form

$$𝐄=E_x(x,y)\widehat{𝐱}+E_y(x,y)\widehat{𝐲},$$
(24)
which can be generated by a charge distribution $`\rho (x,y)`$ that is independent of $`z`$ and that is shielded from the dipole’s path. In the nonideal case, we allow for arbitrary direction of the magnetic dipole. With these conditions we obtain a nonvanishing force only in the $`z`$ direction. In the classical case, $`v_z=0`$ is a constraint that has to be fulfilled for a nondispersive effect, thus making it necessary to compensate this force by the experimental set up. Under this constraint, the expression for the precession reduces to

$$\dot{𝝁}=\mathrm{\Gamma }𝐀d𝐯(\mu _y,\mu _x,0),$$
(25)
where we defined $`𝐀=c^2(E_y,E_x,0)`$. These equations are solved by

$`𝝁`$ $`=`$ $`\mu (\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{cos}\gamma (𝐱),\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\gamma (𝐱),\mathrm{cos}\theta ),`$
$`\gamma (𝐱)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }{\displaystyle _{𝐱_0}^𝐱}𝐀𝑑𝐫`$ (26)
with $`𝝁(𝐱_0)=\mu (\mathrm{sin}\theta ,0,\mathrm{cos}\theta )`$ at the reference point $`𝐱_0`$ in the $`xy`$ plane. Thus, the precession is velocity independent, while the angle $`\theta `$ with respect to the $`z`$ axis remains constant. The precession is independent of the details of the path since $`\mathbf{}\times 𝐀\mathbf{}𝐄`$ vanishes where the particle moves. For a closed loop Stokes’ theorem yields the precession angle

$$\gamma _{\text{AC}}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{C=\delta S}𝐀𝑑𝐫=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{c^2}_S(\mathbf{}𝐄)𝑑S=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\lambda }{ϵ_0c^2},$$
(27)
independent of the velocity or the details of the spatial path of the particle. Here $`\lambda `$ denotes the linear charge density enclosed by the path $`C`$.

## III Spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$

### III.1 Hamiltonian

Consider an electrically neutral spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle of rest mass $`m`$ carrying a magnetic moment $`\mu `$ and moving in an electromagnetic field described by the field tensor $`F^{\kappa \delta }=^\kappa A^\delta ^\delta A^\kappa `$, $`A^\kappa `$ being the corresponding four-potential. This system obeys the Dirac equation pauli41 ; foldy52

$$\left(i\mathrm{}\gamma ^\rho _\rho mc\frac{\mu }{2c^2}F_{\kappa \delta }\sigma ^{\kappa \delta }\right)\psi =0,$$
(28)
which takes the form

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{}{t}\psi =\left(c𝜶𝐩+\beta mc^2\beta \mu 𝝈𝐁+i\frac{\mu }{c}𝜸𝐄\right)\psi $$
(29)
by rewriting the Dirac matrices as $`(\gamma ^0,\gamma ^k)=(\beta ,\beta \alpha _k)`$ and choosing the representation bjorken64

$$\alpha _k=\left[\begin{array}{cc}0& \sigma _k\\ \sigma _k& 0\end{array}\right],\beta =\left[\begin{array}{cc}I& 0\\ 0& I\end{array}\right].$$
(30)
Here, $`\sigma _k`$ are the standard Pauli matrices defining $`𝝈=(\sigma _x,\sigma _y,\sigma _z)`$, $`I`$ is the $`2\times 2`$ unit matrix, $`𝐄`$ and $`𝐁`$ denote the electric and the magnetic field, respectively, and we have used that $`\sigma ^{\mu \nu }=\frac{i}{2}[\gamma ^\mu ,\gamma ^\nu ]`$.

In order to take the nonrelativistic limit it is convenient to express the four-spinor $`\psi `$ in terms of the two-spinors $`\phi `$ and $`\chi `$

$$\psi =e^{i(mc^2/\mathrm{})t}\left(\begin{array}{c}\phi \\ \chi \end{array}\right)$$
(31)
yielding the coupled equations

$`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\left(\begin{array}{c}\phi \\ \chi \end{array}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`c𝝈\mathbf{}𝒑\left(\begin{array}{c}\chi \\ \phi \end{array}\right)2mc^2\left(\begin{array}{c}0\\ \chi \end{array}\right)`$ (43)
$`𝝁𝐁\left(\begin{array}{c}\hfill \phi \\ \hfill \chi \end{array}\right)+i{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c}}𝝁𝐄\left(\begin{array}{c}\hfill \chi \\ \hfill \phi \end{array}\right),`$
where we have defined $`𝝁=\mu 𝝈`$. The lower of these equations is

$$\left(i\mathrm{}\frac{}{t}𝝁𝐁+2mc^2\right)\chi =c𝝈\left(𝐩i\frac{\mu }{c^2}𝐄\right)\phi .$$
(44)
In the nonrelativistic regime, the terms $`i\mathrm{}(\chi /t)`$ and $`𝝁𝐁\chi `$ are negligible compared to the rest energy term $`mc^2\chi `$. Thus, we obtain the approximate expression

$$\chi =\frac{1}{2mc}𝝈(𝐩i\frac{\mu }{c^2}𝐄)\phi .$$
(45)
Note that $`\chi `$ is reduced by $`v/c1`$ compared to $`\phi `$ in the nonrelativistic regime and can therefore be neglected. We insert Eq. (45) into the upper of Eqs. (43) and obtain the two-spinor equation

$`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\phi `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2m}}\left(𝝈(𝐩+i{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{c^2}}𝐄)𝝈(𝐩i{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{c^2}}𝐄)\right)\phi `$ (46)
$`𝝁𝐁\phi .`$
Using the identity $`(𝝈𝐚)(𝝈𝐛)=𝐚𝐛+i𝝈(𝐚\times 𝐛)`$ we finally obtain anandan89 ; he91

$`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\phi `$ $`=`$ $`[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2m}}(𝐩{\displaystyle \frac{𝝁}{c^2}}\times 𝐄)^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mu \mathrm{}}{2mc^2}}\mathbf{}𝐄`$ (47)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mu ^2E^2}{2mc^4}}𝝁𝐁]\phi ,`$
which is the Schrödinger equation responsible for the SAB and AC effect. In the following, we use the standard nonrelativistic notation and put $`\phi |\mathrm{\Psi }`$.

### III.2 Scalar Aharonov-Bohm

In the SAB set up, Eq. (47) reduces to

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{}{t}|\mathrm{\Psi }=\left[\widehat{I}\frac{\widehat{𝐩}^2}{2m}\mu \widehat{\sigma }_zB(\widehat{𝐱},t)\right]|\mathrm{\Psi }.$$
(48)
Here and in the following, tensorial product distinguishes the spatial and the spin degrees of freedom, and hats distinguish operators from their expectation values. The conditions for the ideal SAB effect to be force free are that the magnetic field is nonvanishing only in a certain spatial region and during a certain time interval $`\tau `$, when the particle is well inside that region. The time development of $`|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ is given by

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }(t)=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{i}{\mathrm{}}\widehat{I}\widehat{H}_0t+\frac{i}{\mathrm{}}\widehat{\sigma }_z_0^tB(\widehat{𝐱},t^{})𝑑t\right]|\mathrm{\Psi }_0,$$
(49)
where $`\widehat{H}_0=\widehat{𝐩}^2/2m`$. In general, $`\mathbf{}_{\widehat{𝐱}}B(\widehat{𝐱},t)`$ does not vanish since there is a gradient at the edge points of the magnetic field region. The SAB conditions ensure that the particle does not feel that gradient. Thus, although the quantum force $`\mu \widehat{\sigma }_z\mathbf{}_{\widehat{𝐱}}B(\widehat{𝐱},t)`$ does not vanish everywhere, its expectation value vanishes due to the SAB conditions. Therefore, the particle moves force free and we may effectively write $`B(\widehat{𝐱},t)=B(t)\widehat{I}`$. This holds for arbitrary direction of the magnetic dipole.

Initially, the state is represented by the product vector $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_0=|s_0|\psi _0`$, where $`|s_0`$ is the spin vector and $`|\psi _0`$ is the spatial vector. At a later instant of time, the wave function in position representation reads

$`𝐱|\mathrm{\Psi }(t)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}\widehat{\sigma }_z\gamma (t)\right]|s_0\psi (𝐱,t),`$ (50)
where the spatial part $`\psi (𝐱,t)=𝐱|\mathrm{exp}\left[(i/\mathrm{})\widehat{H}_0t\right]|\psi _0`$ is a scalar (spin independent) free particle wave packet that is independent of the magnetic field under the SAB conditions. The operator $`\mathrm{exp}[i\widehat{\sigma }_z\gamma /2]`$ rotates the spin around the $`z`$ axis with the angle

$$\gamma (t)=2\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_0^tB(t^{})𝑑t^{}$$
(51)
when the particle moves in the magnetic field.

The precession angle $`\gamma `$ could be related to the ideal phase difference given by Eq. (6) in the following way: First let the magnetic dipole pass the upper solenoid forward in time and take it back to its starting point through the lower solenoid backward in time, which yields the precession

$`\gamma _{\text{SAB}}`$ $`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}}\left({\displaystyle _0^\tau }B_u(t)𝑑t+{\displaystyle _\tau ^0}B_l(t)𝑑t\right)`$ (52)
$`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle _0^\tau }\mathrm{\Delta }B(t)𝑑t=2\varphi _{\text{SAB}},`$
where $`\tau `$ is the time interval in which the magnetic field is nonvanishing and the factor $`2`$ is the usual rotation factor for spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$. The spin precession effect is nondispersive as the precession angle takes the value $`2\varphi _{\text{SAB}}`$ for all velocities, as long as the SAB conditions are fulfilled. In the ideal SAB case, where $`|s_0`$ is an eigenstate of $`\widehat{\sigma }_z`$, there is no precession effect, but the interference pattern is shifted by $`\varphi _{\text{SAB}}`$.

### III.3 Aharonov-Casher

In the AC set up a neutral spin-$`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle with a magnetic dipole moment $`\mu `$ is moving in a plane, say the $`xy`$ plane, where a nonvanishing external static electric field $`\widehat{𝐄}=𝐄(\widehat{𝐱})`$ that fulfills $`\mathbf{}_{\widehat{𝐱}}\widehat{𝐄}=0`$ exists and where the magnetic field vanishes. Thus, Eq. (47) reduces to

$`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ $`=`$ $`[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2m}}(\widehat{I}\widehat{𝐩}{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{c^2}}\widehat{𝝈}\times \widehat{𝐄})^2`$ (53)
$`\widehat{I}{\displaystyle \frac{\mu ^2\widehat{E}^2}{2mc^4}}]|\mathrm{\Psi },`$
where again the tensorial product distinguishes the spin and spatial degrees of freedom. The ideal AC set up becomes force free and nondispersive if $`\widehat{E}_z=0,_{\widehat{z}}\widehat{𝐄}=0\text{, and }\widehat{p}_z|\mathrm{\Psi }=0`$, where $`|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ is the total state vector. Under these conditions, Eq. (53) reduces to the Schrödinger equation in the $`xy`$ plane hagen90 ; he91

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{}{t}|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{2m}\left(\widehat{I}\widehat{𝐩}\mu \widehat{\sigma }_z\widehat{𝐀}\right)^2|\mathrm{\Psi },$$
(54)
where from now on $`\widehat{𝐩}=(\widehat{p}_x,\widehat{p}_y)`$ and $`\widehat{𝐀}=c^2(\widehat{E}_y,\widehat{E}_x)`$. Note that these conditions are independent of the spin state and the resulting Schrödinger equation in the $`xy`$ plane should also be valid in the nonideal case. As a result, the motion of the particle under this Hamiltonian is force free, contrary to the classical treatment of the nonideal AC set up. This can be seen by writing $`|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ as

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\widehat{𝒰}|\mathrm{\Psi }^{},\widehat{𝒰}=e^{\frac{i}{2}\widehat{\sigma }_z\widehat{\gamma }},\widehat{\gamma }=\gamma (\widehat{𝐱}),$$
(55)
identifying $`\widehat{𝒰}`$ as the spin rotation operator around the $`z`$ axis with the local operator $`\widehat{\gamma }`$ that rotates the spin state the angle $`\gamma (\widehat{𝐱})`$. Now, the vector $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$ evolves according to the Schrödinger-like equation

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{}{t}|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}=\widehat{H}^{}|\mathrm{\Psi }^{},$$
(56)
where the transformed Hamiltonian operator $`\widehat{H}^{}=\widehat{𝒰}^{}\widehat{H}\widehat{𝒰}`$ is given by

$$\widehat{H}^{}=\frac{1}{2m}\left(\widehat{I}\widehat{𝐩}\widehat{\sigma }_z\left[\frac{\mathrm{}}{2}\mathbf{}\widehat{\gamma }+\mu \widehat{𝐀}\right]\right)^2.$$
(57)
This reduces to the free particle Hamiltonian $`\widehat{H}_0=\widehat{𝐩}^2/2m`$ in the $`xy`$ plane if we set

$$\gamma (\widehat{𝐱})=\frac{2\mu }{\mathrm{}}^{\widehat{𝐱}}𝐀𝑑𝐫,$$
(58)
which can be done because $`_xA_y_yA_x=(1/c^2)\mathbf{}𝐄`$ vanishes along the path of the particle. Let us further assume initially that $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_0^{}=|s_0|\psi _0`$, where $`|s_0`$ is the spin and $`|\psi _0`$ is the spatial state vector. The subsequent AC wave function in position representation is given by

$`𝐱|\mathrm{\Psi }(t)`$ $`=`$ $`𝐱|\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}\widehat{\sigma }_z\gamma (\widehat{𝐱})\right]|s_0`$ (59)
$`\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{i}{\mathrm{}}}\widehat{H}^{}t\right]|\psi _0`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}\widehat{\sigma }_z\gamma (𝐱)\right]|s_0\psi (𝐱,t)`$
where $`\psi (𝐱,t)=𝐱|\mathrm{exp}\left[(i/\mathrm{})\widehat{H}^{}t\right]|\psi _0`$ is a scalar (spin independent) free particle wave packet and we have used that $`\widehat{\gamma }`$ is a local operator so that $`𝐱|f[\widehat{\gamma }]|𝐱^{}=f[\gamma (𝐱)]\delta (𝐱^{}𝐱)`$ for any sufficiently well-behaved function $`f`$. Thus, the spin part is precessing the angle $`\gamma (𝐱)`$ independent of the path or the velocity of the particle. After the wave packet $`\psi (𝐱,t)`$ has traversed a loop enclosing the line charge $`\lambda `$, Stokes’ theorem yields the precession angle

$$\gamma _{\text{AC}}=\frac{2\mu }{\mathrm{}}_{C=S}𝐀𝑑𝐫=\frac{2\mu \lambda }{\mathrm{}c^2ϵ_0}=2\varphi _{\text{AC}},$$
(60)
where again the factor $`2`$ is the rotation factor for spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$. In the ideal AC case, where $`s_0|\widehat{\sigma }_z|s_0=+1`$, there is no precession effect, but the interference pattern is shifted by $`\varphi _{\text{AC}}`$.

In the AC set up, the region outside the charge is multiply connected. Under the condition that at any instant of time the wave function does not enclose this charge, the wave function (59) is still single-valued. In interferometry cimmino89 , it is reasonable to assume that this condition is fulfilled if the particle’s spatial wave function is a quantal wave packet, given the macroscopic size of the interferometer.

### III.4 Phase difference

In the interferometer set up, both beams are influenced by magnetic fields for SAB and by an electric field in the $`xy`$ plane for AC (see Fig. 2). The resulting phase difference between the state vector $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_u`$ that went the upper path and $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_d`$ that went the lower path for arbitrary polarization is given by the Pancharatnam connection pancharatnam56

$$\varphi =\mathrm{arg}\mathrm{\Psi }_d|\mathrm{\Psi }_u.$$
(61)
This phase and the corresponding visibility $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_d|\mathrm{\Psi }_u|`$ can be measured by adding an additional phase $`\chi `$ to one of the beams wagh95 ; wagh98 .

Now, let us assume that the outgoing pair of spatial wave packets both have the same shape after leaving each 50-50 beam splitter and that the free particle spreading is the same in both paths due to symmetry. Under these conditions it follows from Eqs. (50) and (59) that the wave function after the final beam splitter can be written as

$`𝐱|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(|s_u+e^{i\chi }|s_d\right)\psi _{D_1}`$ (62)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(|s_ue^{i\chi }|s_d\right)\psi _{D_2},`$
where $`\psi _{D_{1,2}}`$ correspond to the spatial wave functions at the detectors $`1`$ and $`2`$, respectively, and the phase $`\chi `$ was applied to the lower ($`d`$) beam. The spin parts are given by

$$|s_{u,d}=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{i}{2}\widehat{\sigma }_z\gamma _{u,d}\right]|s_0,$$
(63)
where the angle $`\gamma `$ is given by Eq. (51) for SAB and by Eq. (58) for AC. Thus, Eq. (61) reduces to

$$\varphi =\mathrm{arg}s_d|s_u=\mathrm{arg}s_0|\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{i}{2}\widehat{\sigma }_z(\gamma _d\gamma _u)\right]s_0$$
(64)
and we obtain the following detection probabilities for the detectors $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$:

$`P_1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[1+\nu \mathrm{cos}(\varphi +\chi )\right],`$
$`P_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[1\nu \mathrm{cos}(\varphi +\chi )\right].`$ (65)
The visibility $`\nu |s_d|s_u|`$ and the phase difference $`\varphi `$ can be obtained experimentally by varying $`\chi `$. Without loss of generality, the initial spin state vector can be written as

$$|s_0=\mathrm{cos}\frac{\theta }{2}|++\mathrm{sin}\frac{\theta }{2}|,$$
(66)
where the spin direction makes an angle $`\theta `$ with the $`z`$ axis and its angle relative to the $`x`$ axis vanishes. For $`\theta \pi /2`$, we obtain the phase difference and visibility

$`\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{arctan}\left(\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{tan}\varphi _D\right),`$ (67)
$`\nu `$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{1\mathrm{sin}{}_{}{}^{2}\theta \mathrm{sin}{}_{}{}^{2}\varphi _{D}^{}},`$ (68)
being nonlinearly related to the ideal phase differences

$$\varphi _D=(\gamma _d\gamma _u)/2=\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_0^\tau \mathrm{\Delta }B𝑑t=\varphi _{\text{SAB}}$$
(69)
in the SAB case and

$$\varphi _D=\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_u^𝐱𝐀𝑑𝐫\frac{\mu }{\mathrm{}}_d^𝐱𝐀𝑑𝐫=\varphi _{\text{AC}}$$
(70)
in the AC case. Similarly, for $`\theta =\pi /2`$ the phase shift and visibility become

$`\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`\{\begin{array}{cc}0\hfill & \text{for}0\varphi _D<\pi /2\hfill \\ \text{undefined}\hfill & \text{for}\varphi _D=\pi /2\hfill \\ \pi \hfill & \text{for}\pi /2<\varphi _D\pi \hfill \end{array},`$ (74)
$`\nu `$ $`=`$ $`|\mathrm{cos}\varphi _D|.`$ (75)
Conversely, it should be noted that by observing the phase difference and visibility in the nonideal case, one may infer the spin precession effect. This can be seen by inverting Eqs. (67) and (68) yielding

$`\mathrm{tan}^2\varphi _D={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\nu ^2\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi }}1`$
$`\mathrm{cos}^2\theta =\nu ^2{\displaystyle \frac{1\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi }{1\nu ^2\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi }},`$ (76)
which is also consistent with Eqs. (74) and (75). Thus, measuring the interference pattern in fact determines the precession and thereby confirms the total accumulation of local torque around the interferometer loop. This makes it natural to regard also the ideal phase differences $`\varphi _{\text{SAB}/\text{AC}}`$ as essentially local quantities originated by the local torque and in turn the dual effects as nontopological. This is in contrast to the view of Aharonov and Reznik aharonov00 , who regard the phase shifts accumulated along the beam paths of SAB and AC as nonlocal quantities and suggest a complementarity between these phase shifts and the precession of the dipole moment, and led to further discussion in Refs. hyllus02 ; aharonov02 .

The phase differences in Eqs. (67) and (74) between the beam pair comprise a dynamical contribution

$$\gamma _d=\varphi _D\mathrm{cos}\theta $$
(77)
that is directly proportional to the projection of the dipole moment onto the direction of the magnetic field in SAB and the axis of the enclosed line charge in AC. In addition, there is a geometrical contribution to the phase shift given by

$$\gamma _g=\varphi \varphi _D\mathrm{cos}\theta =\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }_{gc},$$
(78)
which is proportional to the geodesically closed solid angle $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{gc}`$ defined by the spin path and the shortest geodesic on the Bloch sphere. The phase difference between the upper and the lower beam is directly proportional to the ideal phase shifts under the condition that the geometric phase vanishes, which happens if $`\theta `$ is a multiple of $`\pi `$, i.e. the ideal case, where the spin state is an eigenstate of $`\widehat{\sigma }_z`$ and no precession occurs. Thus, from this point of view the ideal phase shifts $`\varphi _{\text{SAB}/\text{AC}}`$ are dynamical in nature and their nonlinear relation to the observed phase shift $`\varphi `$ in the nonideal case may be understood from the occurrence of a geometric phase associated with the nontrivial line bundle $`SU(2)/U(1)`$ of spin$`\frac{1}{2}`$.

## IV Conclusions

We have extended the scalar Aharonov-Bohm (SAB) effect and the Aharonov-Casher (AC) effect to arbitrary directions of the magnetic dipole. The precise conditions for having nondispersive precession and interference effects in these generalized set ups have been delineated both classically and quantally. Under these conditions the dipole is affected by a nonvanishing torque that rotates its direction on a cone with an angle $`\gamma `$ around the directions defined by the ideal set ups. For a closed clockwise space-time interferometer loop, this angle is in the quantal case related to the ideal phase differences as $`\gamma =2\varphi _{\text{SAB/AC}}`$. The force vanishes in all cases except in the classical treatment of the nonideal AC set up, where the occurring force has to be compensated by the experimental arrangement.

In both SAB and AC, the phase difference that occurs in interferometry is directly proportional to that of the ideal cases only if the initial spin state vector is an eigenstate of $`\widehat{\sigma }_z`$. For arbitrary direction of the dipole, the phase differences are nonlinearly related to the ideal phase shifts as $`\varphi =\mathrm{arctan}(\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{tan}\varphi _{\text{SAB/AC}})`$ due to the appearance of a geometric phase associated with the nontrivial spin path.

We end by noting that the precession of the dipole in SAB and AC is a local effect that could be obtained classically. In particular, it does not require a closed loop and can therefore be tested in a polarization measurement. Furthermore, for a closed space-time loop as obtained in interferometry, the precession effects can be inferred from the interference pattern characterized by the nonideal phase differences and the visibilities, thereby confirming the local torque. Extending interferometry experiments to spin-polarized particles in nonideal configurations would therefore be pertinent as they would verify SAB and AC as essentially local and nontopological effects.

## V Acknowledgments

This work was financed by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (P.H.) and by the Swedish Research Council (E.S.).


text:
# ADP-02-86/T525 JLAB-THY-02-45 Excited baryons from the FLIC fermion action

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The study of baryon excitations provides valuable insight into the forces of confinement and the nature of QCD in the nonperturbative regime. This is one of the motivations for the experimental effort currently under way at Jefferson Lab which is accumulating data of unprecedented quality and quantity on $`NN^{}`$ transitions.

One of the long-standing puzzles in baryon spectroscopy has been the low mass of the first positive parity excitation of the nucleon (the $`N^{}(1440)`$ Roper resonance) compared with the lightest odd parity state. Without fine tuning of parameters, valence quark models tend to leave the mass of the Roper too high. Another challenge is presented by the odd parity $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1405)`$, whose anomalously small mass has been interpreted as an indication of strong coupled channel effects, and a weak overlap with a three-valence quark state. While model studies have provided some understanding of the level orderings and mass splittings in the baryons spectrum, it is hoped that lattice QCD  will provide a definitive resolution of some of the outstanding issues.

Recently a new approach to nonperturbative $`𝒪(a)`$ fermion action improvement has been developed based on the Fat-Link Irrelevant Clover (FLIC) fermion action . First results for the spin-1/2 excited nucleon and hyperon, and spin-3/2 $`N^{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$, spectra were presented in Refs.  and , respectively. Here we update the earlier analyses  by including more configurations, and using correlation matrix techniques to better resolve individual excited states of the nucleon and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

## 2 INTERPOLATING FIELDS

Following standard procedure, we calculate two-point correlation functions from baryon interpolating fields constructed to maximize overlap with states with specific quantum numbers. In this analysis two interpolating fields are considered. For the positive parity proton these are given by,

$`\chi _1^{p+}(x)`$ $`=`$ $`ϵ_{abc}\left(u_a^T(x)C\gamma _5d_b(x)\right)u_c(x),`$ (1)
$`\chi _2^{p+}(x)`$ $`=`$ $`ϵ_{abc}\left(u_a^T(x)Cd_b(x)\right)\gamma _5u_c(x),`$ (2)
where the fields $`u`$, $`d`$ are evaluated at Euclidean space-time point $`x`$, and $`a,b`$ and $`c`$ are color labels.

As explained in Refs. , because of the Dirac structure of the “diquark” in the parentheses in Eqs. (1) and (2), one expects correlation functions constructed from $`\chi _2^{p+}`$ to be dominated by larger mass states than those arising from $`\chi _1^{p+}`$. Moreover, the $`\chi _2^{p+}`$ interpolating field is known to have little overlap with the nucleon ground state .

For the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ states, we consider several interpolating fields with different SU(3) properties. To test the extent to which SU(3) flavor symmetry is valid in the baryon spectrum, we construct an interpolating field (“$`\mathrm{\Lambda }^c`$”) composed of terms common to both the singlet and octet $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ interpolating fields ,

$`\chi _1^{\mathrm{\Lambda }^c}(x)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}ϵ_{abc}\{\left(u_a^T(x)C\gamma _5s_b(x)\right)d_c(x)`$ (3)
$`\left(d_a^T(x)C\gamma _5s_b(x)\right)u_c(x)\},`$
and similarly for $`\chi _2^{\mathrm{\Lambda }^c}`$. Such interpolating fields allow for mixing between singlet and octet states induced by SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking, and may be useful in determining the nature of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1405)`$ resonance.

## 3 RESULTS & DISCUSSION

The simulations are performed on a $`16^3\times 32`$ lattice at $`\beta =4.60`$, with a lattice spacing of $`a=0.122(2)`$ fm, based on a sample of 392 configurations. For the gauge fields, a mean-field improved plaquette plus rectangle action is used, while for the quark fields, the FLIC action  is implemented with $`n=4`$ sweeps of APE smearing at $`\alpha =0.7`$. Further details of the simulations are given in Ref. .

In Fig. 1 we show the $`N`$ and $`N^{}(\frac{1}{2}^{})`$ masses as a function of $`m_\pi ^2`$ for the new simulations with the FLIC action. For comparison, we also show results from earlier simulations with Wilson  and domain wall fermions (DWF) , and a nonperturbatively improved clover action  with different source smearing and volumes.

There is excellent agreement between the different improved actions for the nucleon mass. The Wilson results lie systematically low in comparison to these due to large $`𝒪(a)`$ errors in this action . A similar pattern is repeated for the $`N^{}(\frac{1}{2}^{})`$ masses. A mass splitting of around 400 MeV is clearly visible between the $`N`$ and $`N^{}`$ for all actions, including the Wilson. The trend of the $`N^{}(\frac{1}{2}^{})`$ data with decreasing $`m_\pi `$ is also consistent with the mass of the lowest physical negative parity $`N^{}`$ state.

The mass of the $`J^P=\frac{1}{2}^+`$ state obtained from the $`\chi _2^{p^+}`$ interpolating field is shown in Fig. 2. In addition to the FLIC and Wilson results from the present analysis, also shown are the DWF results , and results from an earlier analysis with Wilson fermions together with the operator product expansion . The most striking feature of the data is the relatively large excitation energy of the $`N^{}`$, some 1 GeV above the nucleon. It has been speculated that the $`\chi _2^{p^+}`$ field may have overlap with the lowest $`\frac{1}{2}^+`$ excited state , however, there is little evidence that this state is the $`N^{}(1440)`$. It is likely that the $`\chi _2`$ interpolating field simply does not have good overlap with either the nucleon or the $`N^{}(1440)`$, but rather a (combination of) excited $`\frac{1}{2}^+`$ state(s).

The spectrum of positive and negative parity $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ states is shown in Fig. 3. The positive (negative) parity states labeled $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_1`$ ($`\mathrm{\Lambda }_1^{}`$) and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_2`$ ($`\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^{}`$) are constructed from the $`\chi _1^{\mathrm{\Lambda }^c}`$ and $`\chi _2^{\mathrm{\Lambda }^c}`$ interpolating fields, respectively. The pattern of mass splittings is similar to that observed for the $`N^{}`$’s in Figs. 1 and 2. The importance of the correlator matrix analysis (filled symbols) is evident from a comparison with the naive results (open symbols), where the states have not been diagonalized. In particular, using the naive fitting scheme, it is difficult to obtain a mass splitting between $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_1^{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_2^{}`$. Once the correlation matrix analysis is performed it is possible to resolve two separate mass states. There is little evidence that the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_2`$ has any significant overlap with the first positive parity excited state, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1600)`$.

While it seems plausible that nonanalyticities in a chiral extrapolation  of $`N_1`$ and $`N_1^{}`$ results could eventually lead to agreement with experiment, the situation for the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1405)`$ is not as compelling. Whereas a 150 MeV pion-induced self energy is required for the $`N_1,N_1^{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_1`$ states, 400 MeV is required to approach the empirical mass of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1405)`$. This large discrepancy suggests that relevant physics may be absent from simulations in the quenched approximation. The study of more exotic interpolating fields may indicate the the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{}(1405)`$ does not couple strongly to $`\chi _1^\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ or $`\chi _2^\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. Investigations at lighter quark masses involving quenched chiral perturbation theory will assist in resolving these issues.

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council. W.M. is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-84ER40150, under which the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab).