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# Rheological Behavior of Microemulsions

## I Introduction

The rheological behavior of complex fluids such as polymer solutions, polymer melts, emulsions is of considerable interest both in technology and in basic research . While the behavior of the stress response to applied flows is of fundamental importance in many applications, it also reflects the existence of mesoscopic structures in the fluid and is intimately related to its constitution. For example, when a shear flow is applied to a polymer solution, the stress first reaches a maximum and then relaxes to a constant value . This phenomenon, at small strain, is related to the entanglement of the polymer network which is distorted by the flow with a resulting increase of the stress. At larger values of the strain, however, the disentanglement of the system is favoured and the stress is observed to decrease. In general, non monotonic relaxational properties of the stress are typical of complex fluids which are also characterized, in stationary conditions, by non-newtonian behavior. The effective viscosity depends on the applied shear flow and different behaviors can be observed .

In this paper we consider the rheological behavior of the microemulsion phase both in stationary and transient conditions. In ternary self-assembling systems the surfactant forms interfaces between oil- and water-like domains. These interfaces, in the microemulsion phase, constitute an intertwined bicontinuous structure disordered on large scales but with mesoscopic order on distances of the order of 500 Angstroms . The observed structure factor is given by

$$I(q)\frac{1}{a+gq^2+cq^4}$$
(1)
which, for $`g<0`$, has a maximum at $`q=\sqrt{\frac{|g|}{2c}}`$. In real space, this corresponds to the two-point correlation function

$$G(r)=\frac{d}{2\pi r}e^{r/\xi }\mathrm{sin}(\frac{2\pi r}{d})$$
(2)
where $`\xi `$ plays the role of the usual correlation length in disordered phases, $`d`$ is related to the size of coherent regions of oil or water domains, and typical values of the ratio $`d/\xi `$ are in the interval $`24`$.

The behavior of the stress in the microemulsion phase was first considered in  and then in  where also the two-time correlation functions were studied. Here we complete the analysis of the steady state of  and consider also the transient behavior. Our approach is based on the use of a continuum free-energy functional and is similar to that of Onuki and Kawasaki , applied also to evaluate the effects of a shear flow on copolymer melts, on the disorder-lamellar transition , and on the phase separation of binary mixtures .

We consider a Cahn-Hilliard equation generalized by the presence of a convective term. Hydrodynamical effects are neglected; moreover, the surfactant is assumed to relaxe faster than the other components of the mixture so that its degrees of freedom are not explicitely considered. Non-linear terms, which become relevant close to transition lines, will be treated self-consistently. A renormalization procedure is introduced and the system is studied in terms of the physical variables $`\xi ,d`$ of the case without flow.

Our main result for the stationary regime is the behavior of the constitutive curve. Shear thinning, which is the decreasing of the effective viscosity when the shear rate is increased, is observed in two different ranges of the shear rate. It first occurs at a value of the shear rate of the order of the inverse of the relaxation time of microemulsions without shear. The morphological changes occurring when the shear rate is increased can be deduced by the patterns exhibited by the structure factor. In the transient behavior after the application of the flow, at sufficiently high shear rates, we observe a maximum in the shear stress followed by a relaxation to a constant value, analogously to what observed in other systems. We have also studied the behavior of the stress tensor when, starting from a stationary state with shear, the flow is switched off.

The paper is divided as follows. In Section 2 we specify the model and solve formally the dynamical equation for the structure factor. Results for the stationary regime and for the transients are respectively described in Sections 3 and 4. Section 5 contains some conclusions.

## II The model

Our study of rheological properties of microemulsions is based on a functional Landau-Ginzburg approach with one scalar order parameter $`\varphi (\stackrel{}{x})`$ representing the concentration difference between oil and water. We consider the hamiltonian

$`[\varphi ]`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle }d^3x\{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}[a_2\varphi ^2+(g_0+g_2\varphi ^2)\left(\stackrel{}{}\varphi \right)^2`$ (3)
$`+`$ $`c\left(^2\varphi \right)^2]+{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{4}}\varphi ^4\}`$ (4)
which has been largely demonstrated to well describe equilibrium properties of ternary mixtures . Here we briefly discuss the properties of this hamiltonian relevant for the microemulsion phase. The expression (4) differs in the gradient terms from the usual Landau-Ginzburg hamiltonian used to study binary mixtures. A negative value of the function $`g(\varphi )=g_0+g_2\phi ^2`$ ($`g_2>0`$) favors the appearing of interfaces. In particular the value of $`g_0`$ can be related to the amount of surfactant present in the system. The term proportional to $`c>0`$ assures stability at large momenta and weights the curvature of interfaces.

The presence of the quartic terms $`\varphi ^4`$ and $`\varphi ^2\left(\stackrel{}{}\varphi \right)^2`$, which also in a disordered phase could have a role in the proximity of a transition line, makes impossible an exact determination of the two point correlation functions. However, following , it is possible to use a renormalization procedure based on a self-consistent approximation to find an expression for the equilibrium scattering function and for the two-point correlation function in real space. For the first, defined $`\varphi (\stackrel{}{k})`$ the Fourier transform of $`\varphi (\stackrel{}{x})`$, it is found that

$$S(k)<\varphi (\stackrel{}{k})\varphi (\stackrel{}{k})>=\frac{T}{a_r+g_rk^2+ck^4}$$
(5)
where $`k|\stackrel{}{k}|`$, the renormalized parameters are given by

$`a_r`$ $`=`$ $`a_2+\lambda 𝒮_0+g_2𝒮_2`$ (6)
$`g_r`$ $`=`$ $`g_0+g_2𝒮_0`$ (7)
and the loop integrals are defined as

$$𝒮_p=_{|\stackrel{}{k}|<\mathrm{\Lambda }}\frac{d^3\stackrel{}{k}}{(2\pi )^3}k^pS(k)$$
(8)
($`p=0,2`$) with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ being a high momentum phenomenological cut-off. The region $`g_r<0`$ and $`4a_rcg_r^2>0`$, as discussed in the introduction, can be identified with the microemulsion phase with the function $`S(k)`$ having a peak at $`kk_M=\sqrt{\frac{|g_r|}{2c}}`$. Moreover, the characteristic lenghts $`\xi `$ and $`d`$ appearing in the real space two-point correlation function (2) are given by

$`\xi `$ $`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a_r}{c}}\right)^{1/2}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{g_r}{c}}\right)\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ (9)
$`d`$ $`=`$ $`2\pi \left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{a_r}{c}}\right)^{1/2}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{g_r}{c}}\right)\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}.`$ (10)
Therefore equilibrium properties can be expressed in terms of renormalized parameters and, by equations (9) and (10), through the physical lenghts $`\xi `$ and $`d`$ (once the parameters $`\lambda `$, $`c`$, $`g_2`$ and the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ are given). The dynamics of the order parameter in presence of convective motion  is described by the equation:

$$\frac{\varphi }{t}+\stackrel{}{v}\stackrel{}{}\varphi =\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\left(\frac{\delta }{\delta \varphi }\right)+\eta _\varphi $$
(11)
where $``$ is the hamiltonian of (4). The velocity field $`\stackrel{}{v}`$ is a planar Couette shear flow:

$$\stackrel{}{v}=\gamma y\stackrel{}{e}_x$$
(12)
where $`\gamma `$ is the shear rate and $`\stackrel{}{e}_x`$ the unit vector in the flow direction; $`\eta _\varphi `$ is a white gaussian noise representing thermal fluctuations with momenta given by

$`<\eta _\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t)>`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (13)
$`<\eta _\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t)\eta _\varphi (\stackrel{}{x}^{},t^{})>`$ $`=`$ $`2T\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\delta ^3(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{})\delta (tt^{})`$ (14)
($`<\mathrm{}>`$ means the ensemble average) as required by the Fluctuation-Dissipation theorem which holds in absence of flow. The functional derivative $`\delta /\delta \varphi `$ represents the difference in chemical potentials between oil and water; $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a mobility coefficient and $`T`$ is the temperature of the heat bath. By assuming equation (11) as the evolution equation for $`\varphi `$, we are neglecting hydrodynamics fluctuations as well as the motion of the surfactant.

We will study the evolution equation for the dynamical structure factor

$$S(\stackrel{}{k},t)<\varphi (\stackrel{}{k},t)\varphi (\stackrel{}{k},t)>$$
(15)
in the same self-consistent approximation used in equilibrium to write Eqs. (6,7). The convection-diffusion equation can be formally linearized as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\varphi }{t}}+\stackrel{}{v}\stackrel{}{}\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\{(a_2+\lambda 𝒮_0(t)+g_2𝒮_2(t))\varphi `$ (16)
$``$ $`(g_0+g_2𝒮_0(t))^2\varphi +c\mathrm{\Delta }^2\varphi \}+\eta _\varphi `$ (17)
where the quantities $`𝒮_p(t)`$ are given by expressions analogue to those of Eq. (8) but now with $`S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$ of Eq. (15) self-consistently calculated with Eq. (17). A standard procedure gives from Eq. (17) the dynamical equation for $`S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$:

$$\left\{\frac{}{t}\gamma k_x\frac{}{k_y}+2\mathrm{\Gamma }k^2K_R(k)\right\}S(\stackrel{}{k},t)=2T\mathrm{\Gamma }k^2$$
(18)
where $`K_R(k)a_r+g_rk^2+ck^4`$ is the renormalized vertex function and the parameters $`a_r`$ and $`g_r`$ can be obtained as in Eqs. (6,7) using $`𝒮_p(t)`$.

A formal solution of Eq. (18) may be obtained by the method of characteristics:

$$S(\stackrel{}{k},t)=\mathrm{\Delta }_0(\stackrel{}{𝒦}(t))_1(t)+2T\mathrm{\Gamma }_2(t)$$
(19)
where we have defined the functions

$`_1(t)`$ $`=`$ $`e^{2\mathrm{\Gamma }_0^t𝑑s𝒦^2(s)[a_r+g_r𝒦^2(s)+c𝒦^4(s)]}`$ (20)
$`_2(t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^t}𝑑u𝒦^2(u)_1(u)`$ (21)
and $`\stackrel{}{𝒦}(u)\stackrel{}{k}+\gamma k_xu\stackrel{}{e}_y`$; $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0(\stackrel{}{k})`$ is the structure factor at the initial time $`t=0`$. Since the quantities $`a_r`$ and $`g_r`$ contains the momenta of $`S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$, Equation (19) is actually a nonlinear integral equation for $`S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$. This equation can be solved numerically at each time by iterative methods.

Our results will first concern steady state properties. The stationary solution can be readily obtained from the $`t+\mathrm{}`$ limit of Eq. (19), observing that in this limit the first term of the solution tends to zero (except for the $`\stackrel{}{k}=0`$ mode). Therefore we write the stationary structure factor as:

$$S(\stackrel{}{k};\gamma )_{\mathrm{}}=2T\mathrm{\Gamma }_2(\mathrm{})$$
(22)
where

$`_2(\mathrm{})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑z𝒦^2(z)e^{2\mathrm{\Gamma }_0^z𝑑s𝒦^2(s)[a_r+g_r𝒦^2(s)+c𝒦^4(s)]}`$ (23)
We will also study transient behaviors with the fluid evolving from a quiescent state towards the stationary state with shear, or with the system relaxing, after interruption of the flow, from the sheared stationary state into the quiescent state. For the latter case we use the solution of equation (18) with $`\gamma =0`$:

$`S(\stackrel{}{k};\gamma ;t)_{relax}`$ $`=`$ $`S(\stackrel{}{k};\gamma )_{\mathrm{}}e^{2\mathrm{\Gamma }k^2K_R(k)}`$ (24)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{T}{K_R(k)}}\left(1e^{\frac{t}{2\mathrm{\Gamma }k^2K_R(k)}}\right)`$ (25)
Finally, once the structure factor is known, we may evaluate the stresses which can be obtained as momenta of the structure factor . The shear, first and second normal stresses are respectively given by

$`\sigma _{xy}(t)={\displaystyle _{|\stackrel{}{k}|<\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{\displaystyle \frac{d^3\stackrel{}{k}}{(2\pi )^3}}k_xk_y(g_r+2ck^2)S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$ (26)
$`N_1(t)={\displaystyle _{|\stackrel{}{k}|<\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{\displaystyle \frac{d^3\stackrel{}{k}}{(2\pi )^3}}(k_x^2k_y^2)(g_r+2ck^2)S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$ (27)
$`N_2(t)={\displaystyle _{|\stackrel{}{k}|<\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{\displaystyle \frac{d^3\stackrel{}{k}}{(2\pi )^3}}(k_y^2k_z^2)(g_r+2ck^2)S(\stackrel{}{k},t)`$ (28)
In addition, the excess viscosity is defined as:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\eta (t)=\frac{\sigma _{xy}}{\gamma }$$
(29)
which represents the contribution of interfaces to the full viscosity of the fluid (that is, evaluating the viscosity of the fluid by means of equation (29) we are neglecting the hydrodynamical contribution to the viscosity itself).

## III Stationary regime

In this section we present results for the steady states reached under the action of the shear flow with the structure factor given by Eq. (22). We have studied numerically this expression for several values of $`\xi ,d`$ and $`\gamma `$. The other parameters have been fixed as $`g_2=1,c=1,\lambda =0.5,\mathrm{\Lambda }=3`$.

The effects of the flow on the structure factor can be seen in Fig. 1 where the projections on the planes $`k_y=0`$ and $`k_z=0`$ are shown for different $`\gamma `$ and $`\xi =2,d=6`$. Similar results have been obtained for other choices of $`\xi `$ and $`d`$ . (At $`k_x=0`$ the shape of the structure factor is the same of the case without flow, see Eq. (18)). At $`\gamma =0.5`$ the structure factor remains almost isotropic and its pattern for each cartesian plane is close to that of a circular volcano. The patterns are progressively distorted when the shear rate is increased. On the plane $`k_z=0`$, at $`\gamma =2`$, the edge of the volcano has assumed an elliptical shape and four peaks are visible. These peaks initially appear on the coordinate axes; then, when $`\gamma `$ is increased, the ones located at $`k_x0`$ become comparatively more important while the two others rotate clockwise and decrease their amplitude linearly with $`\gamma `$ until they disappear. Indeed, in the limit $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$, since terms proportional to powers of $`\gamma k_x`$ damp the exponential term on the r.h.s. of Eq. (22), only the maxima of $`C(\stackrel{}{k})`$ with $`k_x=0`$ and $`k_y=\pm k_M`$ survive. On the other plane $`k_y=0`$ two peaks at $`k_x=0,k_z=\pm k_M`$, are also observed to become sharper and sharper as $`\gamma `$ is increased.

The above results can be related to the orientation of the interfaces in the mixture, as also observed in . A peak of $`C(k)`$ defines a characteristic length proportional to the inverse of its position and, since the system is not isotropic, to each maximum one associates three lengths, one for each space direction. Due to the symmetry $`\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{k}`$ only the peaks not related by reflection around the origin can be considered. At very large shear rate the existence of a single couple of maxima at $`k_x=0`$ signals that interfaces are preferentially aligned along the flow with symmetry recovered in the transverse directions and the characteristic lengths being the same as without shear. For intermediate values of $`\gamma `$ the additional peaks at $`(\stackrel{~}{k}_x,\stackrel{~}{k}_y,\stackrel{~}{k}_z)`$ reveal the presence of interfaces oriented with an angle $`\alpha =\mathrm{arctan}(\stackrel{~}{k}_x/\stackrel{~}{k}_y)`$ with respect to the flow, besides those aligned along the $`x`$ direction. These additional peaks are better seen in a region of parameters closer to the microemulsion-lamellar transition line corresponding to a larger value of $`\xi `$ . As $`\gamma `$ is increased the tilt angle $`\alpha `$ and the relative abundance of lamellae orienteted at this angle diminish as suggested by the behavior of the maxima with $`k_x0`$ previously discussed.

The behavior of the stress tensor as a function of the shear rate is reported in Figs. 2-4. At small values of $`\gamma `$ the shear stress is a linear function of $`\gamma `$ so that the viscosity is constant and the fluid is newtonian. Shear thinning occurs for $`\gamma `$ between 1 and 2, when the slope of the curve of the stress changes significantly. At this point the original volcano shape of the structure factor has also appreciably changed. In terms of interfaces we expect that, when shear thinning is observed, the bicontinuos network of interfaces which is only distorted in the newtonian regime, is affected by many ruptures with a significant dicrease of connectivity. We can say that a strong shear regime is entered. Indeed, we can compare the shear temporal scale $`\gamma ^1`$ with the relaxation time $`\tau _M`$ of microemulsions in equilibrium. The relaxation time of a mode with wavevector $`k`$ is given by

$$\tau (\stackrel{}{k})=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }k^2(a_r+g_rk^2+ck^4)}$$
(30)
Following  we choose $`k=k_M`$ corresponding to the peak of microemulsions, so that

$$\tau _M=\frac{1}{8\mathrm{\Gamma }c}\frac{\xi ^2d^2}{4\pi ^2[(2\pi ^2/d)^21/\xi ^2]}.$$
(31)
The corresponding Deborah number is given by

$$De=\frac{\tau _M}{\tau _S}$$
(32)
where $`\tau _S=1/\gamma `$. If we take $`\gamma =2`$ we get $`De1.9`$ for the case of Fig. 2. This indicates that shear thinning becomes evident when the shear rate is of the order of the inverse of typical structural times of the system without shear. We checked for other values of $`\xi ,d`$ that the Deborah number at shear thinning is always of order 1.

Shear thinning is observed again at $`\gamma 10^3`$ when, as we have seen, peaks with $`k_x=0`$ largely prevail. We expect that at these values of the shear rate the original bicontinuous interface network has changed significantly its topology becoming more similar to a stack of lamellae. At very large $`\gamma `$ the excess viscosity is found to decrease as $`1/\gamma ^s`$ with $`s=1.87`$ which is close to the analytical limit $`s=2`$ . In this final stress regime the lamellae are expected to become more and more aligned with the flow with fluctuations very inhibited. We observe that the shear stress corresponding to a completely ordered lamellar phase is zero.

The other stress components $`N_1,N_2`$ behave similarly. At small $`\gamma `$, $`N_1,N_2\gamma ^2`$ while they decrease as $`\gamma ^1`$ when $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ (see Figs. 3-4).

## IV Transients

We have studied the evolution of the system under the action of the shear flow from the initial equilibrium configuration of Eq.(5) towards the steady state of the previous section, as described by Eq. (19). The behavior of the stress components for different values of $`\gamma `$ is shown in Figs. 5-7. When $`\gamma `$ is large enough that $`De1`$, a non monotonic behavior of the stress is observed with $`\sigma _{xy},N_1,|N_2|`$ exhibiting a maximum before relaxing to a constant value. A similar behavior has been measured in polymer solutions. In our case we can think that at initial times the surfactant interfaces are stretched by the flow with a consequent increase of the stress. When the maximum of the stress is reached, the interface structure starts to be broken and the stress relaxes to a lower value. The temporal evolution of the structure factor for $`\gamma =100`$ is shown in Fig. 8. The largest observed distortion corresponds to the maximum of the stress. In the case $`\gamma =2`$, when the relaxation of the stress is monotonic, a prolate pattern like that in the middle of Fig.8 at $`k_z=0`$ is not observed.

We have also considered the opposite situation with the system, initially in a stationary state with shear, evolving without flow as described by Eq. (25). In this case the behavior is exponentially monotonic after an initial faster decay, as it can be seen in Fig. 9. The time constant $`\tau `$ of the exponential part of the relaxation decreases with $`\gamma `$, as shown in Fig. 10.

## V Conclusions

We have used a generalized Cahn-Hilliard equation with a convective term to study the rheological behavior of the microemulsion phase. The steady state constitutive curve shows shear thinning first occurring at a shear rate of the order of the inverse of the equilibrium relaxation time. We have also obtained for the first time analytical expressions for the temporal behavior of the structure factor. From this we derive a non monotonic evolution of the stress. This is similar to what is observed in other systems that relaxe into the steady state with a shear flow. We hope that these predictions are useful for future experiments. From the theoretical point of view this analysis can be completed studying how the equilibrium phase diagram, including the disorder and the Lifshitz lines , is changed by the presence of the flow. Moreover, hydrodynamic fluctuations should be taken into account for a full description of the system.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Antonio Lamura and Federico Corberi for helpful discussions. G.G acknowledges support by PRA-HOP 1999 INFM.

FIGURES


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# SEARCH FOR SUPERSYMMETRY, EXTRA DIMENSIONS AND EXOTIC PHENOMENA AT LEP

## 1 Introduction

The Standard Model (SM) accurately describes the observed phenomena but leaves several fundamental questions unanswered. Many extensions of the SM have been developed to solve these puzzles. The LEP collider with its multi-purpose detectors ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL provided an excellent environment to explore possibilities beyond the SM both through direct searches for new processes and through precise measurements of electroweak (EW) parameters. Since 1996 when the centre-of-mass energy first reached the WW production threshold, 700 pb-1 of data per experiment were collected at $`\sqrt{s}=161210`$ GeV, of which 130 pb-1 were recorded at $`\sqrt{s}>206`$ GeV.

In the following the latest LEP results are summarised on the various flavours of supersymmetric models, theories with extra dimensions and a few selected topics from the rich field of exotic phenomena. For each model the phenomenological framework, the search strategy and the achieved results (constraints at the 95% confidence level) are briefly discussed.

In most cases the experiments provide limits on the production cross-section of the studied processes with minimal model assumptions, which are then interpreted within the framework of a given model to derive constraints on the model parameters, particle masses. Where available, the combined results of the four LEP experiments, labelled by ADLO, are presented.

## 2 Supersymmetry

Supersymmetry (SUSY) is a particularly promising extension of the SM being theoretically well-motivated and also very successful from the phenomenological point of view.

For each SM particle chirality state SUSY predicts a superpartner differing in spin by half a unit. If SUSY were an exact symmetry the particles and their superpartners would be degenerate in mass, thus SUSY must be broken. Traditionally two theoretical scenarios are examined111Recently a third scenario, anomaly-mediation, also gains popularity.: gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated SUSY breaking. Both mechanisms assume that SUSY is broken in a hidden sector and SUSY breaking is transmitted from there to the visible sector where the SM and SUSY particles (sparticles) live. In models with gravity mediated SUSY breaking (supergravity) the visible and hidden sectors are coupled via gravitational interaction, while in models with gauge mediated SUSY breaking (GMSB) the hidden sector couples to a messenger sector which in turn couples to the visible sector via gauge interactions.

SUSY fields can mix, thus the interaction eigenstates can differ from the mass eigenstates. The mixing of left- and right-handed scalar fermions (L-, R-sfermions, $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{f}}_\mathrm{L},\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{f}}_\mathrm{R}`$) is proportional to the corresponding fermion mass and is negligible for the first two generations. The fermionic partners of the weakly interacting gauge and Higgs222The Higgs sector of the SM needs to be expanded to accommodate SUSY; in the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the SM (MSSM) two complex scalar Higgs doublets are required leading to five Higgs bosons (h, H, A, H±). bosons form six mass eigenstates: the charged higgsino and wino states give two charginos ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_i^\pm `$), and the neutral bino, wino and higgsino states give four neutralinos ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_j^0`$), where the indices $`i,j`$ are ordered by increasing mass. The fermionic partners of the strongly interacting gluons called gluinos ($`\stackrel{~}{g}`$) do not mix with other states.

### 2.1 Supergravity

In the most general case, MSSM has more than a hundred parameters in addition to the SM ones. They include the couplings in the superpotential and the masses and couplings in the soft SUSY breaking terms.

In a constrained framework of MSSM (CMSSM), also called minimal supergravity, the soft SUSY breaking parameters take a simple form at the Planck scale: the scalar squared masses and the scalar couplings are flavour diagonal and universal. Taking also the more general prediction of the unification of gaugino masses, the number of parameters in the soft SUSY breaking term can be reduced to four: the common scalar mass ($`m_0`$), scalar trilinear coupling ($`A_0`$), gaugino mass ($`m_{1/2}`$) and the bilinear coupling of Higgs fields ($`B_0`$). $`B_0`$ can be exchanged to the ratio of the vacuum expectation values (v.e.v.’s) of the Higgs fields ($`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$) and $`m_{1/2}`$ to the SU(2) gaugino mass parameter at the EW scale ($`M_2`$).333The assumption of gaugino mass unification at the GUT scale leads to $`M_1=5/3\mathrm{tan}^2\theta _WM_2`$ for the U(1) gaugino mass parameter. The mass parameters should not exceed $`𝒪`$(TeV) so that SUSY remains a solution to the naturalness problem.

In addition to the coupling $`\mu `$ of the Higgs fields, the superpotential can also contain $`R`$-parity violating couplings $`\lambda _{ijk},\lambda _{ijk}^{},\lambda _{ijk}^{\prime \prime }`$ and $`\mu _i^{}`$, where $`i,j,k`$ are generation indices. $`R`$-parity is a multiplicative quantum number which takes the value of +1 for SM particles and $``$1 for their superpartners. If $`R`$-parity is conserved the constrained model can be described by only five extra parameters.

#### 2.1.1 $`R`$-parity conserving MSSM

The assumption of $`R`$-parity conservation has a crucial impact on supersymmetric phenomenology. It implies that sparticles are always produced in pairs and decay through cascade processes to SM particles and to the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), which is stable. If the LSP is neutral and weakly interacting, as favoured by cosmological considerations, it escapes detection, resulting in sizable missing energy.

All sparticles are expected to be pair-produced at LEP via $`s`$-channel $`\gamma `$ or Z exchange. For third generation sfermions the production cross-section depends on the mixing between the left- and right-handed fields. $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}},\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mathrm{e},\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^\pm `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_i^0`$ pair-production has $`t`$-channel contribution, as well, and their cross-section strongly depends on the model parameters.

SUSY phenomenology is largely determined by the nature of the LSP and the next-to-LSP (NLSP). The LSP is usually considered to be the lightest neutralino (or the sneutrino). Accordingly, the following processes are searched for:

* Chargino: $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{f}\overline{f}^{})(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\overline{}ff^{})`$ with $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^\pm `$ decaying via $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$W± or $`\stackrel{~}{}f\overline{f}^{}`$;
$`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }\mathrm{}^+\overline{\stackrel{~}{\nu }}\mathrm{}^{}`$;
* Neutralino: $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$ff̄) and $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{f}\overline{f})(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{f}\overline{f})`$ with $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0`$ decaying via $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$Z, $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$h/A or $`\stackrel{~}{}f\overline{f}`$;
* Sleptons: $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^{}(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^+)(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^{})`$;
* Light squarks and sbottom: $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{q}}\overline{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{q}}}(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$q) $`(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$q̄);
* Stop: $`\stackrel{~}{}t_1\overline{\stackrel{~}{t}}_1(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0q)(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\overline{q})`$ via loop diagram with q=c,u;
$`\stackrel{~}{}t_1\overline{\stackrel{~}{t}}_1(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+b)(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}\overline{b})(\stackrel{~}{\nu }\mathrm{}^+b)(\overline{\stackrel{~}{\nu }}\mathrm{}^{}\overline{b})`$.

The chargino production cross-section is large except if $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mathrm{e}`$ is light and the destructive interference between $`s`$\- and $`t`$-channel processes becomes important. In this case the search for neutralino production improves our sensitivity for SUSY. If sfermions are heavy ($`m_0>500`$ GeV), $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^\pm `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0`$ decay dominantly via a W and a Z boson, respectively.

The event properties depend significantly on the mass difference ($`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$) between the pair-produced sparticle and the LSP. In the chargino search, for example, the case of 200 MeV $`<\mathrm{\Delta }M<3`$ GeV is treated separately using a dedicated analysis of events with initial state radiation, and for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M<`$ 200 MeV events with tracks displaying kinks or impact parameter offsets and events with heavy stable charged particles are studied. In CMSSM low $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ is expected in the Higgsino region ($`|\mu |<<M_2`$); a lower limit on the chargino mass of 92.4 GeV is obtained independent of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ by the ADLO combination.

The cross-section for $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}_\mathrm{R}`$ is smaller than for $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}_\mathrm{L}`$, therefore $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}_\mathrm{L}`$ is usually assumed to be out of the reach for the experiments and results for $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}_\mathrm{R}`$ are given. For staus mixing may be sizable: the mass limits shown on fig.1 worsen by a few GeV when the Z boson is decoupled ($`\theta _{\stackrel{~}{\tau }}=52^{}`$).

Using the standard searches for chargino and slepton production, and developing dedicated analyses for $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}_\mathrm{L}^+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}_\mathrm{R}^{}`$ to cover the small $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ region and for $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_3^0`$ in the so-called corridor where the chargino and the sneutrino are degenerate in mass, the ALEPH collaboration set absolute lower limits on the $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}_\mathrm{R},\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}_\mathrm{L}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mathrm{e}`$ masses of 73, 107 and 84 GeV, respectively, assuming sfermion and gaugino mass unification and no sfermion mixing. Including the constraints from neutral Higgs boson searches, the results on the selectron masses can be improved to 77 and 115 GeV for a top mass of 175 GeV. Within CMSSM for $`A_0=0`$ the obtained bounds are 95, 152 and 130 GeV, respectively.

If kinematically allowed, the $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{t}}_1\stackrel{~}{\nu }\mathrm{}^+`$b decay mode is dominant over $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$c. The combined LEP results exclude stop and sbottom masses up to 94$``$100 GeV for $`\mathrm{\Delta }M>10`$ GeV depending on the search channel and the mixing angle. If charginos and sleptons are light, four-body stop decays $`\stackrel{~}{}t_1\overline{\stackrel{~}{t}}_1(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+b)(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}\overline{b})`$ $`(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0f\overline{f}^{}b)(\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\overline{f}f^{}\overline{b})`$ can be enhanced, leading to less stringent limits on the stop mass than those on fig.1.

ALEPH performed a search for stop production with small $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ looking for charged particle tracks with significant lifetime. The obtained absolute mass limit is 63 GeV independent of the values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }M,\mu `$ and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ explored in the scan.

The searches for acoplanar jets can be translated into constraints shown in fig.1 on mass degenerate squarks (left- and right-handed $`\stackrel{~}{}u,\stackrel{~}{d},\stackrel{~}{s},\stackrel{~}{c},\stackrel{~}{b}`$) within the MSSM with lowest order GUT relations between the soft SUSY-breaking gaugino mass terms.

When combining the negative results of chargino, neutralino, slepton and Higgs boson searches, limits on the $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$ LSP mass can be obtained as shown in fig.2 assuming gaugino and sfermion mass unification at the GUT scale and negligible mixing in the stau sector. Stau mixing may lead to scenarios with mass degenerate stau and LSP and weaken the derived limits at large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$. Dedicated searches for $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^\pm \stackrel{~}{\tau }\nu `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0\stackrel{~}{\tau }\tau `$ cover this region.

Within CMSSM, using also the constraints from the measurement of the Z width and the searches for heavy stable stau production, the obtained bounds on the parameters, see fig.2, can be translated into 52.0$``$59.0 GeV lower limits on the LSP mass depending on sign $`\mu `$ and the top mass for $`A_0=0`$ and $`m_0<1`$ TeV.

#### 2.1.2 $`R`$-parity violating MSSM

There are no theoretical or experimental arguments excluding $`R`$-parity violation (RPV), moreover, the branching ratios of $`R`$-parity violating decay modes of sparticles can be comparable or even larger than the $`R`$-parity conserving ones. If $`R`$-parity is violated, sparticles can be singly produced and can decay directly to SM particles. Therefore, the predicted signatures differ from the characteristic missing energy signature of $`R`$-parity conserving processes.

With the MSSM particle content, $`R`$-parity violating interactions are described with a gauge-invariant superpotential that includes the following Yukawa terms444 $`R`$-parity could be spontaneously broken through a $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }`$ acquiring a non-zero v.e.v. This can be described by a bilinear term $`\mu _i^{}L_iH_2`$.:

$$W_{RPV}=\lambda _{ijk}L_iL_j\overline{E}_k+\lambda _{ijk}^{^{}}L_iQ_j\overline{D}_k+\lambda _{ijk}^{^{\prime \prime }}\overline{U}_i\overline{D}_j\overline{D}_k,$$

where $`L`$ and $`Q`$ are lepton and quark left-handed doublet superfields, $`\overline{E}`$, $`\overline{D}`$ and $`\overline{U}`$ are right-handed singlet charge-conjugate superfields for the charged leptons, down- and up-type quarks, respectively, and $`i,j,k`$ are the generation indices of the superfields. $`\lambda _{ijk}`$ is non-vanishing only if $`i<j`$, and $`\lambda _{ijk}^{^{\prime \prime }}`$ is non-vanishing only for $`j<k`$, therefore there are a total of 45 $`R`$-parity violating Yukawa couplings.

It is usually assumed that the sparticles are pair-produced via $`R`$-parity conserving processes described in sec.2.1.1. Two different scenarios are then probed. In the first scenario, called indirect decays, the decays of sfermions via the lightest neutralino, $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$, are considered, where $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$ is treated as the LSP and assumed to decay via an $`R`$-parity violating Yukawa coupling. In the second scenario, direct decays of sparticles to SM particles are investigated. In this case, the sparticle is assumed to be the LSP, such that $`R`$-parity conserving decay modes do not contribute. In both scenarios, it is assumed that only one of the 45 Yukawa couplings is non-zero at a time, motivated by constraints from low energy experiments. It is also assumed that the LSP decays promptly, implying a very short lifetime, and therefore a mass larger than 10 GeV for the lightest neutralino.

The topologies resulting from RPV decays of pair-produced sparticles are numerous and extremely varied: direct decays of sfermions lead to 4-fermion, direct decays of charginos and neutralinos to 6-fermion, indirect decays of sfermions to 8-fermion and finally indirect decays of charginos to 10-fermion final states with almost any combination of species and flavours of final state particles.

The first LEP combined results are shown in fig.3 for indirect decays of sleptons via $`\lambda `$ couplings. In general the limits for $`\lambda ^{}`$ and $`\lambda ^{\prime \prime }`$ couplings are less stringent due to the presence of more final state quark jets.

The results of the chargino and neutralino searches are used to constrain the $`\mu M_2`$ plane for a given $`m_0`$ and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ as shown in fig.4. When combining all RPV searches absolute lower limits are also derived on the sparticle masses from a scan of the CMSSM parameter space.

By studying single $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }`$ production in the e$`\gamma \stackrel{~}{\nu }\mathrm{}`$ process the ALEPH collaboration set upper limits on $`\lambda _{1jk}`$ couplings assuming that the sneutrinos are degenerate in mass. These results improve existing limits from charged current universality for masses $`M_{\stackrel{~}{\nu }}<190`$ GeV. From the search for resonant $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }`$ production the DELPHI collaboration derived limits on $`\lambda _{1j1}`$ couplings most stringent (few times 10-3) for $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }`$ masses close to the LEP centre-of-mass energies.

### 2.2 GMSB

In the minimal version of GMSB, six new parameters are introduced in addition to the SM parameters: the SUSY breaking scale ($`\sqrt{F}`$), the messenger scale ($`M`$), the messenger index giving the number of messenger particle sets ($`N`$), the mass scale which determines the SUSY particle masses at the messenger scale ($`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$), the ratio of the v.e.v.’s of the two Higgs doublets ($`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$) and the sign of the Higgs sector mixing parameter (sign $`\mu `$).

In GMSB, the SUSY partner of the graviton, the gravitino ($`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{G}}`$), is expected to be the LSP with a mass, typically less than 1 GeV, determined by $`\sqrt{F}`$. The NLSP is either the lightest neutralino or a slepton. In the latter case two possibilities are considered: a stau NLSP or slepton co-NLSPs when all sleptons are light and degenerate in mass. The experimental signatures crucially depend on the NLSP decay length which can take basically any value.

In the neutralino NLSP scenario neutralinos are either produced in pairs directly or indirectly via slepton ($`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^+`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^{}`$) and chargino ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{W}^+`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{W}^{}`$) pair-production or neutralino cascade decay ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0Z^{}`$), if the corresponding sparticles are light. The lightest neutralino will decay into a gravitino and a photon, giving topologies with photon pairs and missing energy. Depending on its lifetime the photons are either originating from the interaction point or have a large impact parameter. Indirect production of neutralinos plays an important role if the neutralino lifetime is long, and therefore the direct pair-production is invisible. In fig.5 the upper limit on the cross-section of neutralino production is shown for prompt decays, together with the excluded regions on the $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}`$ mass plane. Combining searches for all lifetimes the ALEPH collaboration reports a neutralino LSP mass limit of 54 GeV.

In the case of slepton NLSP, which is expected to decay into a lepton and a gravitino, the events are characterised by leptons and missing energy. In the slepton co-NLSP case the sleptons are either pair-produced directly, or through chargino ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^{}\overline{\nu }_{\mathrm{}}`$) and neutralino production ($`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^\pm \mathrm{}^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^\pm \mathrm{}^{}`$). The picture is slightly different in the stau-NLSP scenario, where stau production can also happen through $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{e}}`$ or $`\stackrel{~}{\mu }`$ pair-production ($`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^+\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{}}^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^+`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\mathrm{}^{}`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }^\pm \mathrm{}^{}\mathrm{}^+`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }^\pm \mathrm{}^{}\mathrm{}^{}`$). On fig.5 the excluded regions are shown in the $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ mass – lifetime plane from the searches for slepton pair-production with different lifetimes.

By scanning the GMSB parameter space constraints on the parameters and absolute limits on the sparticle masses can be derived. The excluded regions on the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ plane are shown in fig.6 together with the obtained mass limits.

## 3 Extra dimensions

Models with extra dimensions have been introduced to solve the hierarchy problem of the SM through geometrical considerations. The original model of Arkani-Hamed–Dimopoulos–Dvali (ADD) of large extra dimensions appeared in 1998 and triggered the development of a vast number of new models.

Most LEP results are derived in the ADD framework, which assumes $`n`$ compact extra dimensions of size $`R`$, with the Planck scale, $`M_D`$, in $`D=4+n`$ dimensions set close to the EW scale. SM particles propagate in the usual four, while gravity in $`D`$ dimensions. The 4-dimensional Planck scale, $`M_{\mathrm{P}lanck}`$, satisfies $`M_{\mathrm{P}lanck}^2R^nM_D^{n+2}`$.

The Klauza-Klein (KK) excitations of the graviton ($`\mathrm{G}_{\mathrm{KK}}`$) couple to the momentum tensor and contribute to most SM processes. The fermion- and boson-pair cross-sections are modified

$$\sigma =\sigma _{\mathrm{S}M}+\alpha _\mathrm{G}\sigma _{\mathrm{i}nt}+\alpha _\mathrm{G}^2\sigma _{\mathrm{g}rav}$$

with $`\alpha _\mathrm{G}=\frac{2\lambda }{\pi }M_\mathrm{S}^4`$. $`\lambda `$ depends on the details of the model and it is usually set either to $`+1`$ or $`1`$ to allow for both positive and negative interference. $`M_\mathrm{S}`$ is the ultraviolet cut-off scale close to $`M_\mathrm{D}`$. The most stringent constraint, $`M_\mathrm{S}>1.18/1.17`$ TeV for $`\lambda =+1/1`$, comes from Bhabha scattering. The combination of the results of the LEP experiments is expected to only slightly improve the limits. The combined result from photon pair-production gives $`M_\mathrm{S}>0.93/1.01`$ TeV for $`\lambda =+1/1`$, whereas the individual experiments placed lower bounds between 0.80 and 0.96 TeV.

The search for direct graviton production in the process e+e- $``$ $`\gamma G_{\mathrm{K}K}`$ or Z$`G_{\mathrm{K}K}`$ is sensitive to the $`D`$-dimensional Planck scale itself. The results for different numbers of extra dimensions are shown in fig.7.

## 4 Exotic phenomena

### 4.1 Single top production

At LEP single top production can be searched for in several theoretical frameworks, such as flavour changing neutral currents (FCNC), 4-fermion contact interactions or R-parity violating SUSY.

In the SM FCNC is forbidden at tree level in good agreement with the observed low rates of such processes, thus all extensions of the SM must face the challenge to sufficiently suppress FCNC. On the other hand FCNC processes are ideal to look for new physics due to the small SM background.

The amplitude of e+e- $``$ t̄c(u) via FCNC is parametrised in terms of anomalous vertices with strength $`\kappa _\mathrm{Z}`$ and $`\kappa _\gamma `$. The top quark decay t̄ $``$ b̄W- would then lead to 4-fermion final states of b̄$`\mathrm{}^{}\overline{\nu }_{\mathrm{}}`$c(u) and b̄qq̄c(u). The combined LEP results set a strong bound on $`\kappa _\mathrm{Z}`$ and $`\kappa _\gamma `$ which can also be expressed as branching ratio limits as shown in fig.8.

### 4.2 Exited leptons

Models in which fermions have substructure at a scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ attempt to explain the pattern of fermion generations. The existence of exited states of the SM fermions would be natural in such models.

Exited leptons can be produced in pairs or in association with a SM lepton, both proceeding through $`s`$-channel $`\gamma `$ or Z exchange. There is also a $`t`$-channel contribution for the first generation. Exited leptons are expected to decay via the emission of an EW gauge boson ($`\gamma `$, Z or W).

Searches for the pair-production process yield mass limits very close to the kinematic limit. Single production provides a tool to extend the mass reach. The search channels include

* $`\nu ^{}\nu \gamma \nu \nu ,\mathrm{W}\mathrm{}\nu ,\mathrm{Z}\nu \nu `$
* $`\mathrm{}^{}\mathrm{}\gamma \mathrm{}\mathrm{},\mathrm{W}\nu \mathrm{},\mathrm{Z}\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$

leading to widely different event topologies.

In the phenomenological models used at LEP the couplings V$`\mathrm{}^{}\mathrm{}`$ associated to the two gauge groups SU(2) $`\times `$ U(1) are proportional to the factors $`f/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`f^{^{}}/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, respectively. It is usual to set $`|f|=|f^{}|`$ when deriving limits.

For exited electrons, if $`ff^{}`$, the experimental reach can be further increased by measuring the process e+e- $`\gamma \gamma (\gamma )`$ which can have a contribution from $`t`$-channel e production. The latest results of the LEP collaborations are shown in fig.9.

### 4.3 Technicolor

Technicolor (TC) solves the naturalness and hierarchy problems of the SM by predicting new strong interactions which break dynamically the EW symmetry without the presence of an elementary Higgs scalar. Simple versions of TC disagree with the observations, thus more and more refined proposals were born. The LEP searches are guided by the Walking Extended TC (Straw Man Model). It predicts TC scalar and vector mesons, $`\pi _\mathrm{T}`$ and $`\rho _\mathrm{T}`$, which can be light enough to be observed at LEP.

OPAL looked for the process $`\rho _\mathrm{T}^0\pi _\mathrm{T}^+\pi _\mathrm{T}^{},\pi _\mathrm{T}^0\gamma `$, while DELPHI also considered $`\rho _\mathrm{T}^0\pi _\mathrm{T}^+\mathrm{W}_\mathrm{L}^{},\mathrm{W}_\mathrm{L}^+\mathrm{W}_\mathrm{L}^{}`$ and $`\rho _\mathrm{T}^0`$ qq̄. Lower limits on the techni-rho mass above 200 GeV have been set.

## 5 Conclusion

The LEP experiments explored all main areas and many corners for new physics during the last years, but no significant deviation from the SM has been found. In particular, the LEP constraints on SUSY are rather robust for variations of the model. We should therefore continue to look for the signs of a more fundamental theory at the TeV scales beyond LEP reach at the next generation of colliders.

## 6 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the four LEP collaborations for providing their latest results. I am grateful to Á. Csilling for carefully reading the manuscript.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

A non-vanishing value of the electric dipole moment ($`EDM`$) of the neutron is a direct manifestation of the breakdown of both parity and time reversal symmetries. Within the Standard Model and its possible extensions parity and time reversal can be violated both in the electroweak and strong sectors. In this study we focus on the neutron $`EDM`$ induced by the so-called $`\theta `$-term of the $`QCD`$ Lagrangian , given in the Euclidean space by

$`_\theta =i\theta {\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}G\stackrel{~}{G}=i\theta {\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{64\pi ^2}}\epsilon _{\alpha \beta \mu \nu }G_{\alpha \beta }^cG_{\mu \nu }^c,`$ (1)
where $`G_{\mu \nu }^c`$ is the gluon field strength, $`c`$ the color octet index ($`c=1,\mathrm{},8`$) and $`\theta `$ a dimensionless parameter.

The present experimental upper limit on the neutron $`EDM`$, $`d_N|\stackrel{}{d}_N|<6.310^{26}(ecm)`$ at $`90\%`$ confidence level , which corresponds to a severe bound on the magnitude of $`\theta `$. Indeed, using the available theoretical estimates from Refs. , one has $`d_N310^{16}|\theta |(ecm)`$ leading to $`|\theta |\text{ }<210^{10}`$. The smallness of the parameter $`\theta `$ is usually referred to as the strong $`CP`$ problem.

Available estimates of the relevant matrix element however are based on phenomenological models, as the $`MIT`$ bag model of Ref.  or as the effective $`\pi N`$ chiral Lagrangian of Ref. . Estimates relying on non-perturbative methods based on the fundamental theory, like lattice $`QCD`$, are still missing to date. A first attempt to calculate $`d_N`$ with lattice $`QCD`$ was done in Ref.  long time ago. There, using the axial anomaly (as suggested in Ref. ), the $`\theta `$-term (1) was replaced by the flavor-singlet pseudoscalar density $`P_S`$, obtaining

$`_{}^{}{}_{\theta }{}^{}={\displaystyle \frac{i}{N_f}}\theta \overline{m}P_S{\displaystyle \frac{i}{3}}\theta \overline{m}\left[\overline{u}\gamma _5u+\overline{d}\gamma _5d+\overline{s}\gamma _5s\right],`$ (2)
where $`\overline{m}^1(m_u^1+m_d^1+m_s^1)/3`$ in case of three flavors with non-degenerate masses. Then, $`d_N`$ was evaluated by extracting the spin-up and spin-down neutron masses from the two-point functions obtained by adding to the action both $`_{}^{}{}_{\theta }{}^{}`$ and a term corresponding to a constant-background electric field oriented in a fixed spatial direction. Since $`\theta `$ is expected to be quite small, it is enough to consider a single insertion of $`_{}^{}{}_{\theta }{}^{}`$ in the two-point functions. The latter can be divided into connected and disconnected insertions, when the operator (2) is contracted in a valence-quark line and in a virtual quark loop, respectively, as pictorially represented in Fig. 1.

In Ref.  a lattice calculation using Wilson fermions and including only connected diagrams was attempted and a non-vanishing result for $`d_N`$ was found. In Ref.  it was shown however that the connected diagrams cannot contribute to the neutron $`EDM`$ and therefore the non-zero result of Ref.  arises from lattice artifacts of $`O(a)`$. Thus a lattice $`QCD`$ estimate of the neutron $`EDM`$ is not yet available.

It should be pointed out that the approach of Refs.  is based on the technique of introducing an external constant-background field. This approach has been abandoned since modern lattice $`QCD`$ simulations allow to evaluate directly the relevant matrix elements of the electromagnetic ($`e.m.`$) current operator. Moreover, in the proof of Ref.  it is assumed that the connected insertions of the singlet and non-singlet pseudoscalar densities are the same. Since this is not the case as we have explicitly checked, a more careful diagrammatic analysis of the insertions of the pseudoscalar operators appears to be worthwhile.

In this Letter we present an alternative way to compute the neutron $`EDM`$ on the lattice, which avoids the introduction of the background electric field thanks to the use of the standard definition of the neutron $`EDM`$

$`\stackrel{}{d}_N{\displaystyle }d^3y\stackrel{}{y}{}_{\theta }{}^{}N|J_0(y)|N_{\theta }^{},`$ (3)
where $`J_0`$ is the time component of the $`e.m.`$ current operator. If the $`\theta `$-term (1) is neglected in the $`QCD`$ Lagrangian, then the moment $`\stackrel{}{d}_N`$ identically vanishes. Treating $`_\theta `$ as a perturbation at first order, one has

$`\stackrel{}{d}_Ni\theta {\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle }d^3y\stackrel{}{y}{}_{0}{}^{}N|J_0(y)\left[{\displaystyle }d^4xG\stackrel{~}{G}(x)\right]|N_{0}^{},`$ (4)
where $`|N_0`$ is a shorthand for $`|N_{\theta =0}`$.

As well known , the direct calculation of Eq. (4) is a difficult task due to the presence of the topological charge operator. Therefore it is of interest to investigate the possibility of replacing the insertion of the topological charge with the disconnected insertions of the flavor-singlet pseudoscalar density in the presence of the charge density operator $`J_0`$. Since the insertions of the latter can generate disconnected diagrams, our analysis represents also an extension of the previous one made in Ref. .

The plan of the paper is as follows. In Section 2 we briefly recall the non-singlet and singlet continuum axial Ward Identities ($`WI`$’s) which are relevant in this work. In Section 3 we present a complete diagrammatic analysis, showing that the topological charge can be replaced by the flavor-singlet pseudoscalar density in Eq. (4). Our final result is characterized only by disconnected diagrams, where the disconnected part can be either the single insertion of $`P_S`$ or the separate insertions of both $`P_S`$ and $`J_0`$. The applicability of our strategy to the case of lattice formulations that explicitly break chiral symmetry, like the Wilson and Clover actions, is discussed. Our conclusions are summarized in Section 4.

## 2 Axial Ward identities

Axial $`WI`$’s can be obtained in the usual way starting from the vacuum expectation value of a generic operator $`𝒪`$. In Euclidean space one has

$`𝒪(x_1,\mathrm{},x_n)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{Z_0}}{\displaystyle d[G]d[\psi ]d[\overline{\psi }]𝒪(x_1,\mathrm{},x_n)e^S}`$ (5)
where $`S`$ is the $`QCD`$ action without the $`\theta `$-term and $`Z_0d[G]d[\psi ]d[\overline{\psi }]e^S`$. From now on the notation $`\mathrm{}`$ refers to vacuum expectation values evaluated without the $`\theta `$-term (1) in the action. Performing the non-singlet axial rotations of the quark fields $`\psi (x)`$ and $`\overline{\psi }(x)`$

$`\psi (x)\left[1+i\alpha ^a(x)\lambda ^a\gamma _5\right]\psi (x),`$
$`\overline{\psi }(x)\overline{\psi }(x)\left[1+i\alpha ^a(x)\lambda ^a\gamma _5\right],`$ (6)
where $`\lambda ^a`$ are the usual $`SU(3)`$ flavor matrices ($`a=1,\mathrm{},8`$), one gets

$`𝒪{\displaystyle \frac{\delta S}{\delta (i\alpha ^a(x))}}={\displaystyle \frac{\delta 𝒪}{\delta (i\alpha ^a(x))}}`$ (7)
with

$`𝒪{\displaystyle \frac{\delta S}{\delta (i\alpha ^a(x))}}=_\mu 𝒪A_\mu ^a(x)+𝒪\overline{\psi }(x)\{M,{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^a}{2}}\}\gamma _5\psi (x).`$ (8)
where $`M`$ is the $`SU(3)`$ mass matrix and $`A_\mu ^a(x)`$ the non-singlet axial current. From now on all the relevant operators and fields should be considered as renormalized quantities in the continuum. The case of the lattice regularization will be addressed at the end of Section 3.

Performing the flavor-singlet rotations

$`\psi (x)`$ $``$ $`\left[1+i\alpha ^0(x)\gamma _5\right]\psi (x),`$
$`\overline{\psi }(x)`$ $``$ $`\overline{\psi }(x)\left[1+i\alpha ^0(x)\gamma _5\right],`$ (9)
one gets

$`𝒪{\displaystyle \frac{\delta S}{\delta (i\alpha ^0(x))}}={\displaystyle \frac{\delta 𝒪}{\delta (i\alpha ^0(x))}}`$ (10)
where

$`𝒪{\displaystyle \frac{\delta S}{\delta (i\alpha ^0(x))}}=_\mu 𝒪A_\mu ^S(x)+𝒪\overline{\psi }(x)\{M,\lambda _0\}\gamma _5\psi (x)+2N_f{\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}𝒪G\stackrel{~}{G}(x),`$ (11)
with $`\lambda _0`$ being the $`SU(3)`$ identity matrix and $`A_\mu ^S(x)`$ the (renormalized) flavor-singlet axial current. In Eq. (11) the anomalous term proportional to the (renormalized) $`G\stackrel{~}{G}`$ operator has been taken into account and $`g`$ is the renormalized strong coupling. Note that in the non-singlet channel all the terms appearing in the r.h.s of Eqs. (8) are separately renormalization-group invariant, while in the singlet case \[Eq. (11)\] a divergent mixing between $`_\mu A_\mu ^S`$ and $`g^2G\stackrel{~}{G}`$ appears.

Following the trick suggested in Ref. , Eqs. (10) and (11) can be used to replace $`G\stackrel{~}{G}(x)`$ in Eq. (4) with the pseudoscalar density $`P_S(x)`$. By integrating the $`WI`$ over the whole space-time, the divergence of the axial current $`_\mu A_\mu ^S`$, appearing in the r.h.s. of Eq. (11), vanishes identicallyaaaThis is true in absence of massless Goldstone-boson poles, which certainly occurs away from the chiral limit. In case of the singlet channel the space-time integration of $`_\mu A_\mu ^S`$ vanishes also in the chiral limit of full $`QCD`$, when the $`\eta ^{}`$-meson remains massive because of the gluon anomaly. Let us remind however that in the chiral limit the $`\theta `$-term (1) can be eliminated by a chiral rotation of the quark fields and therefore in that limit $`d_N`$ must vanish., whereas the flavor-singlet contact terms given by the variation of $`𝒪`$ in the r.h.s. of Eq. (10), may give a non-null contribution.

Without loss of generality we can limit ourselves to the simple $`SU(2)`$-symmetric case, where $`m_u=m_d=m`$, and $`m_sm`$. Since

$`\{M,\lambda _0\}=2m\left[\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{\eta _s}{3}}\right)\lambda _0{\displaystyle \frac{\eta _s}{\sqrt{3}}}\lambda ^8\right]`$ (12)
where $`\eta _s=(m_sm)/m`$, the singlet $`WI`$ (11) involves both the flavor-singlet pseudoscalar density $`P_S`$ and the non-singlet operator $`P^8`$. To eliminate the latter we have to combine the singlet $`WI`$ (11) and the non-singlet $`WI`$ (8) with $`a=8`$. By exploiting the relation

$`\{M,{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^8}{2}}\}=2m\left[\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{2\eta _s}{3}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^8}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\eta _s}{3\sqrt{3}}}\lambda _0\right],`$ (13)
one finds

$`\{M,\lambda _0\}+{\displaystyle \frac{2\eta _s}{\sqrt{3}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+2\eta _s/3}}\{M,{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^8}{2}}\}=2\overline{m}\lambda _0,`$ (14)
with $`\overline{m}^1=(m^1+m^1+m_s^1)/3`$. Equation (14) implies

$`2N_f{\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x𝒪G\stackrel{~}{G}(x)}=\delta [𝒪]2\overline{m}{\displaystyle d^4x𝒪P_S(x)}`$ (15)
with

$`\delta [𝒪]=\delta _S[𝒪]+{\displaystyle \frac{2\eta _s}{\sqrt{3}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+2\eta _s/3}}\delta _8[𝒪],`$ (16)
where $`\delta _S[𝒪]`$ and $`\delta _8[𝒪]`$ stand for the variations of $`𝒪`$ integrated over the whole space-time and corresponding to the singlet and octet chiral rotations \[see Eqs. (9) and (6)\], respectively. In the next Section we present a complete diagrammatic analysis of the r.h.s. of Eq. (15).

## 3 Neutron $`EDM`$ and the disconnected insertions of the pseudoscalar density

In the flavor-singlet channel the operator $`𝒪`$ of interest for Eq. (4) is given by

$`𝒪=N_\alpha (z)J_0(y)\overline{N}_\beta (0)`$ (17)
where $`J_0(y)`$ is the $`e.m.`$ charge density

$`J_0(y)=e_u\overline{u}(y)\gamma _0u(y)+e_d\overline{d}(y)\gamma _0d(y)+e_s\overline{s}(y)\gamma _0s(y),`$ (18)
and $`N_{\alpha (\beta )}`$ are the interpolating fields of the neutron

$`N_\alpha ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{6}}}\epsilon ^{ijk}d_\alpha ^i\left(d^{Tj}𝒞\gamma _5u^k\right)`$ (19)
with $`i,j,k`$ being color indexes, $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ Dirac spinor indexes, and $`𝒞`$ the charge conjugation operator. As well known, standard procedures in lattice $`QCD`$ calculations allow to extract the relevant matrix element using the interpolating fields (19) at enough large values of the source (sink) time distances.

Let us now consider the chiral variations $`\delta _S[𝒪]`$ and $`\delta _8[𝒪]`$ of the operator (17), which can be concisely written in the form

$`\delta _j[𝒪]=\delta _j[N_\alpha ](z)J_0(y)\overline{N}_\beta (0)+N_\alpha (z)\delta _j[J_0](y)\overline{N}_\beta (0)+N_\alpha (z)J_0(y)\delta _j[\overline{N}_\beta ](0)`$ (20)
where $`j`$ stands for $`j=S`$ or $`j=8`$. Through the package $`FORM`$  we have carried out all the Wick contractions involved in the variations (20) as well as in the quantity $`𝒪P_S(x)`$. The Feynman diagrams corresponding to the chiral variations $`\delta _S[𝒪]`$ and $`\delta _8[𝒪]`$ cannot be directly compared with those corresponding to $`𝒪P_S(x)`$, because the former contain one quark propagator less than the latter. In order to make the comparison possible we make use of the non-singlet axial $`WI`$’s (7) and (8) with the operator $`𝒪`$ given by $`𝒪=\psi (w)\overline{\psi }(w^{})`$. After integration over the whole space-time one obtains

$`S_i(w,w^{})\gamma _5+\gamma _5S_i(w,w^{})=2m_i{\displaystyle d^4xS_i(w,x)\gamma _5S_i(x,w^{})}`$ (21)
where $`S_i`$ is the propagator of the $`i`$-th quark. The systematic use of Eq. (21) in the Feynman diagrams generated by the chiral variations of the operator $`𝒪`$ allows to gain one more propagator and one more integration in a such a way that the diagrams arising from the chiral variations can be now directly compared with the Feynman diagrams generated by the operator $`𝒪P_S(x)`$. The latter can be divided into connected and disconnected diagrams, whose possible typologies are sketched in Fig. 2. The chiral variations cancel out all the connected diagrams \[see Fig. 2(e)\], and therefore we confirm the final result of Ref.  that connected diagrams do not contribute to the neutron $`EDM`$. However, the chiral variations contain also disconnected diagrams of the type $`(c)`$ and $`(d)`$ which cancel out the corresponding diagrams present in $`𝒪P_S(x)`$. While diagrams of the type $`(c)`$ vanish identically, as it can be checked using Eq. (21) and the relation $`\{\gamma _5,\gamma _0\}=0`$, the diagrams of the type $`(d)`$ are non-vanishing in case of $`SU(3)`$-symmetry breaking. Therefore, our general result is

$`2N_f{\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x𝒪G\stackrel{~}{G}(x)}=2\overline{m}{\displaystyle d^4x\left\{\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(a)}+\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(b)}\right\}},`$ (22)
which allows to replace in Eq. (4) the topological charge with disconnected insertions of the pseudoscalar density. A pictorial representation of all the explicit diagrams contributing to $`\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(a)}`$ and $`\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(b)}`$ is shown in Fig. 3.

Note that: i) in the $`SU(3)`$ symmetric limit the diagrams of type $`(d)`$ vanish, because the disconnected insertions of the charge density $`J_0`$ are zero due to the relation $`e_u+e_d+e_s=0`$; ii) the r.h.s. of Eq. (22) is proportional to $`\overline{m}`$. Since $`\overline{m}=0`$ when at least one of the quark masses is zero, the insertion of the topological charge has no effect in such a limit and the neutron $`EDM`$ is vanishing; iii) the only insertions of the singlet pseudoscalar density, which are left in the final result (22), are those disconnected diagrams which are related to the operator $`G\stackrel{~}{G}`$ via the anomaly. This is why the diagrams of the types $`(c)`$ and $`(d)`$ of Fig. 2 do not contribute to the neutron $`EDM`$.

The final result of Ref.  can be recovered from Eq. (22) simply by considering the $`SU(3)`$ symmetric limit and by dropping the charge density $`J_0`$ in the operator $`𝒪`$ \[see Eq. (17)\]. In this case $`\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(b)}=0`$ and the disconnected contributions $`\left[𝒪P_S(x)\right]_{disc.(a)}`$ are those illustrated in Fig. 4.

Before closing this Section, we show the applicability of our results to the case of lattice formulations, that break explicitly chiral symmetry, as the Wilson or Clover actions. To do that we consider the works of Refs. , whose central result is that even within the above-mentioned formulations the continuum limit can be reached in such a way that the continuum $`WI`$’s are respected.

When the functional integral is regularized on the lattice using Wilson fermions , the effect of a non-singlet axial rotation leads to the following identity:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 𝒪\widehat{A}_\mu ^a(x)+𝒪\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{M_0,{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^a}{2}}\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)+𝒪X^a(x)={\displaystyle \frac{\delta [𝒪]}{\delta (i\alpha ^a(x))}}`$ (23)
where $`\widehat{A}_\mu ^a`$ and $`\widehat{\psi }`$ are a lattice version of the (non-singlet) bare axial current and quark field, respectively, and $`M_0`$ is the bare $`SU(3)`$ quark mass matrix. In Eq. (23) $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu `$ is the backward derivative on the lattice, while the operator $`X^a(x)`$ is the chiral variation of the Wilson term. The latter is known  to mix with operators of the same and lower dimensionality, namely

$`𝒪X^a(x)=\left[1Z_A^{(NS)}\right]\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 𝒪\widehat{A}_\mu ^a(x)𝒪\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{\overline{M}^{(NS)},{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^a}{2}}\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)𝒪\overline{X}^a(x)`$ (24)
where $`Z_A^{(NS)}`$ and $`\overline{M}^{(NS)}`$ are mixing coefficients, and $`\overline{X}^a(x)`$ is an operator whose matrix elements vanish in the continuum limit. Substituting Eq. (24) into Eq. (23) one gets

$`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 𝒪\left[Z_A^{(NS)}\widehat{A}_\mu ^a(x)\right]+𝒪[Z_P^{(NS)}\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{M^{(NS)},{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^a}{2}}\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)]={\displaystyle \frac{\delta [𝒪]}{\delta (i\alpha ^a(x))}}+O(a)`$ (25)
where $`M^{(NS)}[M_0\overline{M}^{(NS)}]/Z_P^{(NS)}`$ with $`Z_P^{(NS)}`$ being the renormalization constant of the non-singlet pseudoscalar density. Therefore, one can identify the continuum limit of $`Z_A^{(NS)}\widehat{A}_\mu ^a(x)`$ and $`Z_P^{(NS)}\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{M^{(NS)},\lambda ^a/2\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)`$ with the renormalized axial current $`A_\mu ^a(x)`$ and $`\overline{\psi }(x)\{M^{(NS)},\lambda ^a/2\}\gamma _5\psi (x)`$, respectively, appearing in Eq. (8). In this way the non-singlet continuum $`WI`$ is recovered with a renormalized quark mass matrix given by $`M^{(NS)}`$.

In the singlet case the chiral variation of the Wilson term, $`X^S`$, obeys the relation

$`𝒪X^S(x)`$ $`=`$ $`\left[1Z_A^{(S)}\right]\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 𝒪\widehat{A}_\mu ^S(x)+counterterms𝒪\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{\overline{M}^{(S)},\lambda _0\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)`$ (26)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2N_f}{32\pi ^2}}Z_{(g_0^2G\stackrel{~}{G})}g_0^2𝒪\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}(x)counterterms𝒪\overline{X}^S(x)`$
where $`Z_A^{(S)}`$ and $`Z_{(g_0^2G\stackrel{~}{G})}`$ are mixing coefficients, $`\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}(x)`$ is a lattice version of the corresponding classical operator and the counterterms make separately finite the operators $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu \widehat{A}_\mu ^S(x)`$ and $`g_0^2\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}(x)`$. A complete one-loop analysis of the renormalization constants appearing in Eqs. (24) and (26) for both the Wilson and Clover actions will be reported elsewhere . The main difference between the singlet and non-singlet channels is that beyond one loop the divergence of the axial current $`Z_A^{(S)}\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu \widehat{A}_\mu ^S(x)`$ and the anomaly $`Z_{(g_0^2G\stackrel{~}{G})}g_0^2\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}(x)`$ are not yet finite operators, and a logarithmically divergent mixing, represented by the counterterms in Eq. (26), is required in order to end up with finite operators (see, e.g., Ref. ). Denoting such operators by $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu \widehat{A}_\mu ^{(S,ren.)}(x)`$ and $`g^2\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}^{(ren.)}(x)`$, respectively, one gets

$``$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu 𝒪\left[\widehat{A}_\mu ^{(S,ren.)}(x)\right]+𝒪\left[Z_P^{(S)}\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{M^{(S)},\lambda _0\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)\right]`$ (27)
$`+`$ $`2N_f{\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}𝒪\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}^{(ren.)}(x)={\displaystyle \frac{\delta [𝒪]}{\delta (i\alpha ^0(x))}}+O(a)`$
where $`M^{(S)}[M_0\overline{M}^{(S)}]/Z_P^{(S)}`$ with $`Z_P^{(S)}`$ being the renormalization constant of the singlet pseudoscalar density. Therefore, in analogy with the non-singlet case one can identify the continuum limit of the operators $`\widehat{A}_\mu ^{(S,ren.)}(x)`$, $`Z_P^{(S)}\widehat{\overline{\psi }}(x)\{M^{(S)},\lambda _0\}\gamma _5\widehat{\psi }(x)`$ and $`\widehat{G\stackrel{~}{G}}^{(ren.)}(x)`$ with the renormalized axial current $`A_\mu ^S(x)`$, $`\overline{\psi }(x)\{M^{(S)},\lambda _0\}\gamma _5\psi (x)`$ and gluon anomaly $`G\stackrel{~}{G}(x)`$, respectively. In this way the singlet continuum $`WI`$ is recovered with a mass $`M^{(S)}`$. Although one has $`Z_P^{(S)}Z_P^{(NS)}`$ and $`\overline{M}^{(S)}\overline{M}^{(NS)}`$, it has been shown  that $`[M_0\overline{M}^{(S)}]/Z_P^{(S)}=[M_0\overline{M}^{(NS)}]/Z_P^{(NS)}`$, which means $`M^{(S)}=M^{(NS)}=M`$. In this way the continuum $`WI`$’s are preserved. In case of $`SU(3)`$-symmetry breaking the equivalence between $`M^{(S)}`$ and $`M^{(NS)}`$ is essential for the applicability of our strategy leading to Eq. (22).

## 4 Conclusions

In this paper we have presented a strategy for evaluating the neutron $`EDM`$ on the lattice induced by the strong $`CP`$ violating term of the $`QCD`$ Lagrangian. Our strategy is based on the definition of the neutron $`EDM`$ given by Eq. (4), which involves the insertion of the topological charge in the presence of the charge density operator $`J_0`$. In case of three flavors with non-degenerate masses we have presented a complete diagrammatic analysis showing how the axial chiral Ward identities can be used to replace the topological charge operator with the flavor-singlet pseudoscalar density $`P_S`$. Our final result (22) is characterized only by disconnected diagrams, where the disconnected part can be either the single insertion of $`P_S`$ or the separate insertions of both $`P_S`$ and $`J_0`$. In this way we confirm the final outcome of Ref.  that connected insertions of the pseudoscalar density do not contribute to the neutron $`EDM`$. Finally we have discussed the applicability of our strategy to the case of lattice formulations that break explicitly chiral symmetry, like the Wilson and Clover actions.

## Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge M. Testa for many useful discussions. This work is partially supported by the European Network “Hadron Phenomenology and Lattice $`QCD`$”, HPRN-CT-2000-00145.