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# Transfer of nonclassical features in quantum teleportation via a mixed quantum channel

## I Introduction

Quantum teleportation is one of the important manifestations of quantum mechanics. By quantum teleportation an unknown quantum state is destroyed at a sending station while its replica state appears at a remote receiving station via dual quantum and classical channels. The key to quantum teleportation is the entanglement of the quantum channel. Quantum teleportation has been studied for various systems including two-level systems , $`N`$-dimensional systems , and continuous variables . In particular, quantum teleportation of continuous variable states has been at a focus because of a high detection efficiency and handy manipulation of continuous variable states .

Quantum teleportation of a continuous-variable state was first suggested by Vaidman employing the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) state  for the quantum channel in the framework of nonlocal measurements . Braunstein and Kimble made a use of quadrature-phase entanglement in a two-mode squeezed vacuum to teleport the quadrature-phase variables. With the high detection efficiency of the homodyne measurement and highly squeezed light, Ralph and Lam  and Furusawa et al.  realized quantum teleportation of continuous variable states by experiments. Ralph and Lam produced the required entangled state using two bright squeezed sources. A two-mode squeezed vacuum is entangled with respect not only to quadrature phases but also to photon-number difference and phase sum. Based on this number-phase entanglement, Milburn and Braunstein suggested another protocol to teleport a continuous variable state .

There are a few problems in the quantum teleportation of quadrature-phase variables using the two-mode squeezed vacuum. The perfect quantum teleportation is possible only with a maximally entangled state which means infinite squeezing in the squeezed state. The mean energy of a two-mode squeezed state increases exponentially as the squeezing increases so that the maximally entangled squeezed state is unphysical. As the quantum channel is exposed to the real world, it is influenced by the environment, which turns the pure squeezed state into a mixture and deteriorates the entanglement property. The environmental effect is unavoidable for any type of teleportation and there have been suggestions to purify mixed entangled state into a maximally entangled singlet state for a discrete two-level system . Duan et al. suggested a way to purify a Gaussian continuous variable state . However, their purification protocol may concentrate entanglement only to a finite dimensional Hilbert space. In fact, it is impossible to purify a two-mode squeezed state into a maximally entangled state as it is unphysical. Opartny et al. showed that the problem of not having the maximally entangled squeezed vacuum can be overcome by conditional measurements . Entanglement quantification and purification for continuous-variable states has been studied by Parker et al. . The imperfect detection efficiency and the imperfect realization of unitary transformation at the receiving station can also lower the efficiency of teleportation.

In this paper, we are interested in the efficiency of quantum teleportation in the real world. Nonclassical properties such as sub-Poissonicity and squeezing of the original state can be very useful for communication purposes. As the quantum channel is not maximally entangled, some or all of the nonclassical properties can be lost during the teleportation. Braunstein and Kimble found that when the quantum channel is not squeezed, i.e., when the channel is merely a two-mode vacuum, no quantum features can be observed in the teleported state . This is due to quantum tariffs of vacuum noise, which arises at the sending and receiving stations. The tariff was coined as quduty by Braunstein and Kimble. The pure two-mode squeezed state becomes mixed as the quantum channel is embedded in the environment. Quantum teleportation via the mixed channel can bear a different nature. For example, one may ask “Does the classical correlation play any role to transfer the nonclassical features?” It is not clear so far under which condition any nonclassical features implicit in an original unknown state cannot be transferred by teleportation via a mixed channel. We also consider the fidelity of teleportation to measure how close the teleported state is to the original state when the quantum channel is mixed. Popescu studied quantum teleportation of a discrete two-level system for a mixed quantum channel and found that even when the quantum channel is not maximally entangled, it has the fidelity better than any classical teleportation protocol . In this paper, we restrict ourselves to the situation that the decoherence effect is the same on each mode of the two-mode squeezed vacuum.

The continuous variable state can be easily analyzed using the quasiprobability functions . The description of a quantum-mechanical state in phase space is not unique due to the uncertainty principle; hence there are a family of quasiprobability functions of which the $`P`$, $`Q`$, and Wigner functions are widely used . In particular, it is well-known that the $`P`$ function can be used as a measure of the nonclassicality of a given field because the $`P`$ function is positive well-defined only for a classical state . The nonclassical depth is defined based on how much noise to put into the nonclassical state to have a positive well-defined $`P`$ function.

When teleportation is imperfect, a noise-added replica state is produced at the receiving station. By analyzing the added noise, we find the critical point for the quantum channel not to transfer any nonclassical features which may be imposed in an original unknown state. We examine the coincidence of the critical point with the moment when the quantum channel becomes separable. To do that we find the necessary and sufficient condition of separability for any two-mode Gaussian state , one of which is the mixed two-mode squeezed state. The fidelity, which is defined as the inner product of the original and teleported states, can be represented by the overlap of their Wigner functions . We show that the fidelity is a function of the added noise.

The added noise by teleportation is compared with that by direct transmission of the original state. It is found that the nonclassical nature of the original state can be more easily lost by teleportation than by direct transmission. This is because teleportation relies on the entanglement of the quantum channel, which is very fragile.

## II Quasiprobability functions

Before considering quantum teleportation, we briefly introduce the quasiprobability functions. The family of quasiprobability functions are obtained by the following convolution relation

$$R_\sigma (\alpha )=d^2\beta \left[\frac{2}{\pi (1\sigma )}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{2\left|\alpha \beta \right|^2}{1\sigma }\right)\right]P(\beta )$$
(1)
where the $`\sigma `$-parameterized $`R_\sigma (\alpha )`$ function becomes $`Q`$ function for $`\sigma =1`$, Wigner ($`W`$) function for $`\sigma =0`$, and $`P`$ function for $`\sigma =1`$. By the Fourier transform, we find the relation between their characteristic functions

$$C_\sigma ^R(\xi )=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{(1\sigma )|\xi |^2}{2}\right]C^P(\xi )$$
(2)
where $`C_\sigma ^R(\xi )`$ and $`C_\sigma ^P(\xi )`$ are the characteristic functions for the $`R`$ and $`P`$ functions, respectively. The family of two-mode quasiprobability functions can be analogously defined as

$`R_\sigma (\alpha ,\beta )=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4}{\pi ^2(1\sigma )^2}}{\displaystyle d^2\varphi d^2\eta }`$ (4)
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\left|\alpha \varphi \right|^2}{1\sigma }}{\displaystyle \frac{2\left|\beta \eta \right|^2}{1\sigma }}\right)P(\varphi ,\eta ).`$
## III Teleportation for continuous variables in thermal environments

A continuous variable state $`\widehat{\rho }_o`$ can be teleported with use of a two-mode squeezed vacuum for a quantum channel . Two modes $`b`$ and $`c`$ of the squeezed vacuum are distributed separately to a sending and a receiving stations. The protocol comprises two operations at the sending station and one operation at the receiving station. At the sending station, the original unknown state of mode $`a`$ is mixed with a mode $`b`$ of the quantum channel by a 50/50 beam splitter. Two conjugate quadrature variables are measured respectively for the two output fields of the beam splitter. The measurement results are sent to the receiving station through the classical channel. The other mode $`c`$ of the squeezed vacuum is then displaced at the receiving station according to the measurement results. It is important to displace the photon of mode $`c`$ entangled with the photon measured at the sending station. Braunstein and Kimble considered the teleportation protocol for the pure state of the quantum channel . In this paper we investigate the teleportation via the mixed quantum channel to consider the influence of a thermal environment. We assume that the thermal environment gives the same effect on each mode of the quantum channel and the original state is prepared in a pure state.

The two-mode squeezed vacuum of the quantum channel is entangled and represented by the Wigner function

$`W_{qc}(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4}{\pi ^2}}\mathrm{exp}[2(|\alpha _b|^2+|\alpha _c|^2)\mathrm{cosh}2s_{qc}`$ (6)
$`+2(\alpha _b\alpha _c+\alpha _b^{}\alpha _c^{})\mathrm{sinh}2s_{qc}],`$
where $`s_{qc}`$ is the degree of squeezing and the complex quadrature phase variable $`\alpha _{b,c}=\alpha _{b,c}^r+i\alpha _{b,c}^i`$. When $`s_{qc}\mathrm{}`$ the state (6) manifests the maximum entanglement and becomes an EPR state. However, the mean photon number, which is $`2\mathrm{sinh}^2s_{sq}`$, becomes infinity in this limit.

Before the action of the beam splitter, the total state is a product of the original state and the state of the quantum channel, which is represented by the total Wigner function $`W_t(\alpha _a,\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=W_o(\alpha _a)W_{qc}(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$ where $`W_o(\alpha _a)`$ is the Wigner function of the original state $`\widehat{\rho }_o`$. The product state of the original field and quantum channel becomes entangled at the beam splitter. Considering the unitary action of the beam splitter, the quadrature variables $`\alpha _{d,e}`$ of the output fields are related to those of the input fields: $`\alpha _{d,e}=(\alpha _b\pm \alpha _a)/\sqrt{2}`$. The Wigner function $`W_t^B(\alpha _d,\alpha _e,\alpha _c)`$ for the total field after the beam splitter is

$$W_t^B(\alpha _d,\alpha _e,\alpha _c)=W_t(\frac{\alpha _e+\alpha _d}{\sqrt{2}},\frac{\alpha _e\alpha _d}{\sqrt{2}},\alpha _c)$$
(7)
which exhibits entanglement between the modes $`a`$ and $`b`$.

Setting homodyne detectors at the output ports of the beam splitter, the imaginary part of $`\alpha _d`$ and the real part of $`\alpha _e`$ are simultaneously measured by appropriately choosing the phases of reference fields for the homodyne detectors. Each measurement result is transmitted to the receiving station to displace the quadrature variables of the field mode $`c`$. We have to make it sure that the displacement operation is done on the photon of mode $`c`$ entangled with the photon measured at the sending station. After the displacement $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)`$ the field of mode $`c`$ becomes to be represented by the Wigner function $`W_r(\alpha _c)`$;

$$W_r(\alpha _c)=d^2\alpha _dd^2\alpha _eW_t^B(\alpha _d,\alpha _e,\alpha _c\mathrm{\Delta }(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)).$$
(8)
Braunstein and Kimble  found that the displacement of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)=\sqrt{2}(\alpha _e^ri\alpha _d^i)`$ maximizes the fidelity when the channel is a pure two-mode squeezed state. The probability $`P(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)`$ of measuring $`\alpha _d^i`$ and $`\alpha _e^r`$ at the sending station is the same as the marginal Wigner function

$`P(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝑑\alpha _d^r𝑑\alpha _e^id^2\alpha _cW_t^B(\alpha _d,\alpha _e,\alpha _c)}.`$ (9)
### A two-mode squeezed vacuum in thermal environments

The quantum channel initially in the two-mode squeezed vacuum results in a mixed state by the interaction with the thermal environment. Assuming that two thermal modes are independently coupled with the quantum channel the dynamics of the squeezed field is described by a Fokker-Planck equation in the interaction picture

$`{\displaystyle \frac{W_{qc}(\alpha _b,\alpha _c;t)}{t}}=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma }{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=b,c}{}}[{\displaystyle \frac{}{\alpha _i}}\alpha _i+{\displaystyle \frac{}{\alpha _i^{}}}\alpha _i^{}`$ (11)
$`+(1+2\overline{n}){\displaystyle \frac{^2}{\alpha _i\alpha _i^{}}}]W_{qc}(\alpha _b,\alpha _c;t),`$
where $`\overline{n}`$ is the average photon number of the thermal environment. The two thermal modes are assumed to have the same average energy and coupled with the channel in the same strength. This assumption is reasonable as the two modes of the squeezed state are in the same frequency and the temperature of the environment is normally the same. By solving the Fokker-Planck equation (11), the time-dependent Wigner function is obtained as

$`W_{qc}(\alpha _b,\alpha _c;T)=𝒩\mathrm{exp}`$ $`[{\displaystyle \frac{2\mathrm{\Gamma }}{\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}}(|\alpha _b|^2+|\alpha _c|^2)`$ (13)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{2\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}}(\alpha _b\alpha _c+\alpha _b^{}\alpha _c^{})]`$
where $`𝒩`$ is the normalization factor and two parameters, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=T(1+2\overline{n})+(1T)\mathrm{cosh}2s_{qc}`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=(1T)\mathrm{sinh}2s_{qc}`$. The renormalized time $`T(t)=1\mathrm{exp}(\gamma t)`$. The relative strength of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ determines how much the mixed channel is entangled. When $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is zero for $`T1`$, the channel loses any correlation so to have neither classical nor quantum correlation. At $`T=0`$ the mixed squeezed state (13) is simply the squeezed vacuum (6).

When the quantum channel is embedded in thermal environments, the teleported state is still represented by the Wigner function (8) with the quantum channel (13). However, a question remains in the unitary operation at the receiving station when the channel is a mixed state. According to the philosophy of the faithful teleportation, the displacement has to be determined to maximize the fidelity of teleportation. The fidelity $``$, which measures how close the teleported state is to the original state, is the projection of the original pure state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_o`$ onto the teleported state of the density operator $`\widehat{\rho }_r`$: $`=\mathrm{\Psi }_o|\widehat{\rho }_r|\mathrm{\Psi }_o`$. The fidelity is also represented by the overlap between the Wigner functions for the original and teleported states ;

$$=\pi d^2\alpha W_o(\alpha )W_r(\alpha ).$$
(14)
For a maximally entangled quantum channel, the original pure state is reproduced at the receiving station and the fidelity is unity. For an impure or partially entangled channel, the unitary operation at the receiving station may depend on original states to maximize the fidelity, which has been shown for the teleportation of a two-level state . For the infinite dimensional Hilbert space, a formal study is very much complicated. However, we have found that even when the channel is mixed, the displacement of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\alpha _d^i,\alpha _e^r)=\sqrt{2}(\alpha _e^ri\alpha _d^i)`$ maximizes the fidelity for a coherent projector $`|\mu \nu ^{}|`$, where $`|\mu `$ and $`|\nu ^{}`$ are coherent-state bases. An unknown state can be written as a weighted integral of the coherent projection operators

$$\widehat{\rho }_o=d^2\mu d^2\nu P_o(\mu ,\nu )|\mu \nu ^{}|$$
(15)
where $`P(\mu ,\nu )`$ is proportional to the positive-$`P`$ function . The unitary operation, which maximizes the fidelity, at the receiving station is thus independent of the original state.

### B separability of the quantum channel

A discrete bipartite system of modes $`b`$ and $`c`$ is separable when its density operator is represented by $`\widehat{\rho }=_rP_r\widehat{\rho }_{b,r}\widehat{\rho }_{c,r}`$. Separability and measures of entanglement for continuous variable states has been studied . In particular, Duan et al. found a criterion to determine separability of a two-mode Gaussian state. Here, we have a somewhat different approach to find when a two-mode squeezed vacuum in thermal environments is separable and not quantum-mechanically entangled. Our analysis of separability for the mixed squeezed vacuum is extended and fully described for any two-mode Gaussian state in Appendix.

As shown in Appendix, the mixed two-mode squeezed vacuum in the thermal environment is separable when a positive definite $`P`$ function can be assigned to it. The mixed two-mode squeezed vacuum serving the quantum channel can then be written by a statistical mixture of the direct-product states;

$$\widehat{\rho }_{qc}=d^2\beta 𝒫(\beta )\widehat{\rho }_b(\beta )\widehat{\rho }_c(\beta )$$
(16)
where $`𝒫(\beta )`$ is a probability density function.

With use of Eqs. (4) and (13), we find that the mixed two-mode squeezed vacuum is separable when $`n_\tau =1`$ where $`n_\tau `$ is defined as

$`n_\tau (\overline{n},s_{qc},T)`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (17)
$`=`$ $`\left(2\overline{n}+1\right)T+(1T)\mathrm{exp}(2s_{qc})`$ (18)
according to the condition (52). This is in agreement with Duan et al.’s separation criterion . The pure two-mode squeezed vacuum for $`T=0`$, is never separable unless $`s_{qc}=0`$. For the zero temperature environment, i.e., $`\overline{n}=0`$, the two-mode squeezed state stays quantum-mechanically entangled at any time. For the reasons given in Sec. IV, we call $`n_\tau `$ as the noise factor.

If $`n_\tau <1`$, the quantum channel state is entangled and the teleportation is performed at the quantum level. When $`n_\tau 1`$, the quantum channel is no longer quantum-mechanically entangled. However the inter-mode correlation is still there as $`\mathrm{\Lambda }0`$ in Eq. (13). Questions then arise: Does this classical correlation influence the teleportation? Can any nonclassical properties imposed in an original state be teleported by the classically-correlated channel? Braunstein and Kimble found that when a pure two-mode squeezed state is separable, i.e., $`s_{sq}=0`$, observation of any nonclassical features in the teleported state is precluded. However, when a pure state is separable there is no classical correlation either.

## IV Transfer of Nonclassical Features

An imperfect replica state is reproduced at the receiving station when the quantum channel is not maximally entangled. It is well known that any linear noise-addition process, for example linear dissipation and amplification, can be described by the convolution relation of the quasiprobability functions. With use of the Wigner functions for an arbitrary original state (15) and for an impure quantum channel (13), we find that the equation (8) leads to the following convolution relation

$$W_r(\alpha )=d^2\beta P_\tau (\alpha \beta )W_o(\beta )$$
(19)
where the function $`P_\tau `$ characterizes the teleportation process;

$$P_\tau (\alpha \beta )=\frac{1}{\pi n_\tau }\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{n_\tau }\left|\alpha \beta \right|^2\right)$$
(20)
and the noise factor $`n_\tau `$, defined in Eq. (17), is completely determined by the characteristics of the quantum channel. The noise factor increases monotonously as the interaction time $`T`$ increases. The larger the initial squeezing, the less vulnerable the quantum channel is.

The noise factor $`n_\tau `$ is related to the fidelity. With use of Eqs. (14) and (19) the fidelity can be written as

$$=\pi d^2\alpha d^2\beta W_o(\alpha )P_\tau (\alpha \beta )W_o(\beta ).$$
(21)
In the limit of $`n_\tau 0`$, the function $`P_\tau (\alpha \beta )`$ in Eq. (20) becomes a delta function and the fidelity becomes unity. The teleportation loses the original information completely with $`=0`$ in the limit of $`n_\tau \mathrm{}`$.

The properties of the nonclassical states have been calculated and illustrated by quasiprobability functions. The nonclassical features are associated especially with negative values and singularity of the quasiprobability $`P`$ function . Suppose an original state whose $`P`$ function is not positive everywhere in phase space. When this state is teleported, its nonclassical features are certainly transferred to the teleported state if the teleportation is perfect. If the teleportation is poor, the teleported state may have its $`P`$ function positive definite and lose the nonclassical features.

By the Fourier transform of Eq. (19), the convolution relation is represented in terms of the characteristic functions as

$$C_r^W(\xi )=\mathrm{exp}(\overline{n}_\tau |\xi |^2)C_o^W(\xi ).$$
(22)
Using the relation (2) between characteristic functions, Eq.(22) is written as

$$C_r^P(\xi )=\mathrm{exp}[(n_\tau 1)|\xi |^2]C_o^Q(\xi ),$$
(23)
where $`C_o^Q(\xi )`$ is the characteristic function for $`R_{\sigma =1}(\alpha )`$ of the original state. The $`P`$ function is not semi-positive definite if its characteristic function $`C_r^P(\xi )`$ is not inverse-Fourier-transformable. Even when it is inverse-Fourier-transformable, there is a chance for the $`P`$ function to become negative at some points of phase space. Lütkenhaus and Barnett found that only when $`\sigma 1`$ the quasiprobability $`R_\sigma (\alpha )`$ for any state is semi-positive definite. We are sure that, for any original state, the left-hand side of Eq. (23) is inverse-Fourier transformed to a $`P`$ function semi-positive definite only when $`n_\tau 1`$. This condition is the same as the separability condition (17) for the quantum channel. We conclude that when a quantum channel is separable, i.e., not quantum-mechanically entangled, no nonclassical features implicit in an original state is transferred by teleportation. In other words, nonclassical features are not teleported via a classically-correlated channel.

There are two well-known nonclassical properties which a continuous-variable state may have: Sub-Poissonian photon statistics and quadrature squeezing. The two nonclassical properties have been studied for noiseless communication. We analyze the transfer of these properties by teleportation in the following subsections.

### A sub-Poissonian statistics and Fock state

A state is defined to be sub-Poissonian when its photon-number variance $`(\mathrm{\Delta }N)^2`$ is smaller than its mean photon number $`\overline{N}`$. The expectation value of an observable for a state can be obtained by use of the characteristic function $`C^P(\xi )`$ for its $`P`$ function ;

$$(\widehat{a}^{})^m\widehat{a}^n=\frac{^m}{\xi ^m}\frac{^n}{(\xi ^{})^n}C^P(\xi )|_{\xi =\xi ^{}=0}.$$
(24)
Substituting Eq. (23) into Eq. (24), we find that the teleported state is sub-Poissonian when the noise factor,

$$n_\tau <\sqrt{\overline{N}_o^2+\overline{N}_o(\mathrm{\Delta }N_o)^2}\overline{N}_o.$$
(25)
where $`\overline{N}_o`$ and $`(\mathrm{\Delta }N_o)^2`$ are the mean photon number and photon-number variance for the original state. If the original state is Poissonian or super-Poissonian, the right-hand side of the inequality is either negative or imaginary so the teleported state is never sub-Poissonian.

Assuming the largest sub-Poissonicity, $`(\mathrm{\Delta }N_o)^2=0`$, for the original state, it is found that when the noise factor $`n_\tau <\sqrt{\overline{N}_o^2+\overline{N}_o}\overline{N}1/2`$, some sub-Poissonian property is found in the teleported state. Thus, if the noise factor of the quantum channel is larger than or equal to 1/2, the transfer of any sub-Poissonian property is precluded.

A Fock state $`|m`$ has a definite energy and its photon-number variance is zero. When this extreme sub-Poissonian field is teleported, the mean photon number and mean variance are $`\overline{N}_r=m+n_\tau `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }N_r^2=(2m+1)n_\tau +n_\tau ^2`$ at the receiving station. The Fock state $`|m`$ is written in the Wigner representation as

$`W_o(\alpha ,m)={\displaystyle \frac{2}{\pi }}(1)^m\mathrm{exp}\left(2|\alpha |^2\right)L_m\left(4|\alpha |^2\right).`$ (26)
where $`L_m`$ is a Laguerre polynomial. From the convolution relation (19), the teleported state is obtained as

$`W_r(\alpha )=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{(2n_\tau 1)^m}{(2n_\tau +1)^{m+1}}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2|\alpha |^2}{2n_\tau +1}}\right)`$ (28)
$`\times L_m\left({\displaystyle \frac{4|\alpha |^2}{(2n_\tau )^21}}\right).`$
The fidelity for the Fock state is given by Eq. (21);

$`_m={\displaystyle \frac{(1n_\tau )^m}{(1+n_\tau )^{m+1}}}P_m\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+n_\tau ^2}{1n_\tau ^2}}\right)`$ (29)
where $`P_m`$ is a Legendre polynomial. When $`n_\tau =0`$, $`_m=1`$. In the limit of $`n_\tau =1`$, where the teleportation is classical, the fidelity $`_m=(1/4)^m`$ for $`m0`$. The vacuum state has the fidelity $`_0=1/2`$ in the limit.

### B quadrature squeezing and squeezed state

We examine the transfer of quadrature squeezing which an unknown original state may have. The quadrature-phase operator is defined as

$$\widehat{X}(\varphi )=e^{i\varphi }\widehat{a}+e^{i\varphi }\widehat{a}^{}$$
(30)
where $`\widehat{a}`$ ($`\widehat{a}^{}`$) is an annihilation (creation) operator and $`\varphi `$ related to the angle in phase space. A state is said to be squeezed if the quadrature-phase variance $`[\mathrm{\Delta }X(\varphi )]^2<1`$ for an angle $`\varphi `$. Substituting Eq. (23) into Eq. (24), the mean quadrature phase $`\overline{X}(\varphi )`$ and variance $`[\mathrm{\Delta }X(\varphi )]^2`$ can be calculated

$$\overline{X}_r(\varphi )=\overline{X}_o(\varphi );[\mathrm{\Delta }X_r(\varphi )]^2=[\mathrm{\Delta }X_o(\varphi )]^2+2n_\tau ,$$
(31)
where $`\overline{X}_o(\varphi )`$ and $`[\mathrm{\Delta }X_o(\varphi )]^2`$ are the mean quadrature phase and variance for the original state. It is interesting to realize that the mean quadrature phase does not change at all during teleportation. This property holds regardless of the channel entanglement.

The teleported state exhibits quadrature squeezing if

$$n_\tau <\frac{1}{2}\left\{1[\mathrm{\Delta }X_u^2(\varphi )]^2\right\}\frac{1}{2}.$$
(32)
Suppose that the original state has the absolute minimum variance $`[\mathrm{\Delta }X_o(\varphi ^{})]^2=0`$ at $`\varphi =\varphi ^{}`$. Then its teleported state is also squeezed if the quantum channel is entangled enough to be represented by the noise factor $`n_\tau <1/2`$. We note that the condition $`n_\tau <1/2`$ applies to the survival of both quadrature squeezing and sub-Poissonian statistics.

A squeezed vacuum with the degree of squeezing $`s_o`$ is written in the Wigner representation as

$$W_o(\alpha )=\frac{2}{\pi }\mathrm{exp}\left[2\mathrm{exp}(2s_o)\alpha _r^22\mathrm{exp}(2s_o)\alpha _i^2\right]$$
(33)
where $`\alpha _r`$ and $`\alpha _i`$ are real and imaginary parts of $`\alpha `$. Its teleported state is represented by the Wigner function

$$W_r(\alpha )=\frac{2}{\pi \sqrt{A(s_o)A(s_o)}}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{2}{A(s_o)}\alpha _r^2\frac{2}{A(s_o)}\alpha _i^2\right]$$
(34)
where the parameter $`A(s_o)=2n_\tau +\mathrm{exp}(2s_o)`$. The fidelity is given by

$$(s_o)=\left(n_\tau ^2+2n_\tau \mathrm{cosh}2s_o+1\right)^{1/2}.$$
(35)
When the teleportation is classical with $`n_\tau =1`$, $`(s_o)=(2+2\mathrm{cosh}2s_o)^{1/2}`$.

## V Remarks

Quantum teleportation can be made more reliable by sophisticated schemes such as purification of the impure or partially entangled quantum channel , detection with perfect efficiency, and well-defined unitary operation. However, in the real world, the influence of noise cannot easily be disregarded. We have been interested in the influence of noise on the transfer of nonclassicalities which may be imposed in an original unknown state. To make the problem simple while honoring the real experimental situation, we assumed that the same amount of noise affects the two modes of the quantum channel. We found that when the quantum channel is separable the transfer of any nonclassicality is impossible: Nonclassical features can not be teleported via a classically-correlated channel. The separability of a two-mode Gaussian state is considered using the possibility of assigning a positive well-defined $`P`$ function to the state after some local unitary operations. We have analyzed the transfer of well-known nonclassical features such as sub-Poissonicity and quadrature squeezing. The teleportation of the two nonclassical features is ruled out under the same noise level. The faithfulness of the teleportation has also been discussed and the fidelities have been found for the initial Fock state and squeezed state. Because one of the important ingredients of teleportation is that the original state is unknown at the sending station. Thus our measure of noise factor $`n_\tau `$, which depends only on the quality of the channel, is important. Of course, to represent the quality of the teleportation by a fidelity we have to know the average fidelity for the teleportation, which is under investigation.

One question still arises: Is the teleportation better than the direct transmission to transfer a nonclassical field? A field may be deteriorated by the thermal environment during the direct transmission. Solving a similar Fokker-Planck equation to Eq. (11) for a single-mode field, we find that, by the direct transmission, the Wigner function at the receiving station can be represented by the same equation as Eq. (19) with the different noise factor $`n_d`$ :

$$n_d=\overline{n}T.$$
(36)
Assuming that the imperfect teleportation is caused only by the impure quantum channel embedded in the thermal environment, we compare the two noise factors $`n_\tau `$ in Eq. (17) and $`n_d`$ in Eq. (36). We have implicitly assumed in this paper that the two-mode squeezed state (quantum channel) generator is located in the middle point between the sending and receiving stations. The squeezed photons in the quantum channel, thus, travel only a half distance between the sending and receiving stations. Bearing it in mind, we find that

$`n_\tau (`$ $`\text{for time}t/2)n_d(\text{for time}t)=`$ (38)
$`\overline{n}[1\sqrt{1T}]^2+1\sqrt{1T}[1\mathrm{exp}(2s_{qc})].`$
The right-hand side is semi-positive so that the noise given by teleportation is more than that by direct transmission. If we consider that this result is obtained for the case when the other operations including detection and unitary transformation in the teleportation protocol is perfect, we conclude that the nonclassical field is more robust in direct transmission than in teleportation. The reason is that the teleportation relies on quantum entanglement of the quantum channel. The quantum entanglement based on inter-mode coherence is much more fragile than the single-mode coherence. However, the quantum teleportation can be made more faithful by purification of the quantum channel while the direct transmission does not have that possibility.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported in part by the Brain Korea 21 grant (D-0055) of the Korean Ministry of Education.

## positivity of $`P`$ function and separability for a Gaussian state

A two-mode Gaussian state $`\widehat{\rho }`$ of mode $`b`$ and $`c`$ is separable when it is represented by a statistical mixture of the direct-product states;

$$\widehat{\rho }=d^2\beta 𝒫(\beta )\widehat{\rho }_b(\beta )\widehat{\rho }_c(\beta )$$
(39)
where $`\widehat{\rho }_{b,c}(\beta )`$ are density matrices, respectively, for modes $`b`$ and $`c`$, and $`𝒫(\beta )`$ is a probability density function with $`𝒫(\beta )0`$. The states of $`\widehat{\rho }_b(\beta )`$ and $`\widehat{\rho }_c(\beta )`$ can be nonclassical and do not have to have their $`P`$ functions positive well-defined. However, because they are Gaussian, it is possible to transform them to assign positive well-defined $`P`$ functions by local unitary transformations . The separable condition, (39), can then be written as

$`\widehat{\rho }^{}=`$ $`{\displaystyle d^2\alpha _bd^2\alpha _cd^2\beta 𝒫(\beta )P(\alpha _b;\beta )P(\alpha _c;\beta )}`$ (41)
$`\times |\alpha _b\alpha _b||\alpha _c\alpha _c|`$
where $`P_b(\alpha _b;\beta )`$ and $`P_c(\alpha _c;\beta )`$ are the $`P`$ functions, respectively, for the fields of modes $`b`$ and $`c`$ after some local unitary operations. $`\widehat{\rho }^{}`$ is for the two-mode Gaussian state after the local operations.

We want to prove in this appendix that if and only if when a two-mode Gaussian state is separable, a positive well-defined $`P`$ function $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$ is assigned to it after some local unitary transformations.

consider the sufficient condition. If a two-mode Gaussian state $`\widehat{\rho }`$ is separable, it can be written as Eq. (41) after some local operations. Both $`P_b(\alpha _b;\beta )`$ and $`P_c(\alpha _c;\beta )`$ are positive well-defined and $`𝒫(\beta )`$ is a probability density function so

$$d^2\beta 𝒫(\beta )P(\alpha _b;\beta )P(\alpha _c;\beta )$$
(42)
is a normalized positive function, which we can take as the positive well-defined $`P`$ function $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$. We have proved that if a two-mode Gaussian state is separable, it has a positive well-defined $`P`$ function after some local unitary operations.

Now let us prove the necessary condition. If the locally-transformed two-mode Gaussian state is represented by a positive well-defined $`P`$ function $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$, the separable condition (41) becomes

$$P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=d^2\beta 𝒫(\beta )P_b(\alpha _b;\beta )P_c(\alpha _c;\beta ).$$
(43)
Further by some additional squeezing and rotation it is always possible to have the rotationally-symmetric variance $`[\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha _i(\varphi )]^2`$ for any angle $`\varphi `$. After these transformations, the positive well-defined $`P`$ function $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$ can be written as

$`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=`$ $`𝒩\mathrm{exp}[{\displaystyle \underset{i,j=b,c}{}}\alpha _iN_{ij}\alpha _j^{}`$ (45)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i=b,c}{}}(\alpha _i\lambda _i^{}+\alpha _i^{}\lambda _i)]`$
where $`𝒩`$ is the normalization constant, $`N_{ij}`$ a Hermitian matrix, and $`\lambda _i`$ a complex number. The linear terms of $`\alpha _i`$ are not considered because they do not affect the proof. In fact, they can always be removed by some local displacement operations. Eq. (45) can be written as

$$P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=\frac{\mathrm{Det}N_{ij}}{\pi ^2}\mathrm{exp}\left(\underset{i,j=b,c}{}\alpha _iN_{ij}\alpha _j^{}\right)$$
(46)
where $`\mathrm{Det}N_{ij}`$ is the determinant of the Hermitian matrix $`N_{ij}`$. To find an expression in the form of Eq. (43), let us introduce an auxiliary field ($`\beta `$, $`\beta ^{}`$) enabling the function $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$ to be represented by a Gaussian integral;

$`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{Det}N_{ij}}{\pi ^3}}{\displaystyle }d^2\beta \mathrm{exp}(|\beta |^2E_b(\alpha _b,\beta )`$ (48)
$`E_c(\alpha _c,\beta ))`$
where

$`E_b(\alpha _b,\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`\left(N_{bb}+|N_{bc}|^2\right)|\alpha _b|^2\alpha _bN_{bc}\beta ^{}`$ (50)
$`\alpha _b^{}N_{bc}^{}\beta `$
$`E_c(\alpha _c,\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`\left(N_{cc}+1\right)|\alpha _c|^2+\alpha _c\beta ^{}+\alpha _c^{}\beta `$ (51)
The integrand in Eq. (48) can now be decomposed into three Gaussian functions each of which satisfies the normalization condition because

$$N_{ii}>0\mathrm{and}\mathrm{Det}N_{ij}>0$$
(52)
for positive well-defined $`P(\alpha _b,\alpha _c)`$ in Eq. (45). Taking

$`P_b(\alpha _b;\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{M_b}{\pi }}\mathrm{exp}(M_b|\alpha _b|^2+\alpha _bN_{bc}\beta ^{}`$ (54)
$`+\alpha _b^{}N_{bc}^{}\beta {\displaystyle \frac{|N_{bc}|^2}{M_b}}|\beta |^2)`$
$`P_c(\alpha _c;\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{M_c}{\pi }}\mathrm{exp}(M_c|\alpha _c|^2\alpha _c\beta ^{}\alpha _c^{}\beta `$ (56)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{M_c}}|\beta |^2)`$
$`𝒫(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{M_s}{\pi }}\mathrm{exp}\left(M_s|\beta |^2\right)`$ (57)
where $`M_b=N_{bb}+|N_{bc}|^2`$, $`M_c=N_{cc}+1`$, and $`M_s=\mathrm{Det}N_{ij}/(M_bM_c)`$, the $`P`$ function is finally obtained in the form of Eq. (43). It is clear that $`𝒫(\beta )`$ is the positive probability density function and the two-mode Gaussian state is separable if it can be transformed to have a positive well-defined $`P`$ function by some local unitary operations.


text:
# Testing SDLCQ in 2+1 dimensions

## 1 Introduction

The motivations to consider $`𝒩=1`$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories in 2+1 dimensions are manifold. For one, there is recent progress in understanding the properties of strongly coupled gauge theories with supersymmetry $`^\mathrm{?}`$, some of which are believed to be interconnected through a web of strong-weak coupling dualities. There is a need to study these issues at a fundamental level. Ideally, we would like to solve for the bound states of these theories directly, and at any coupling. However, solving a field theory from first principles is typically an intractable task. Nevertheless, it has been known for some time that $`1+1`$ dimensional field theories can be solved from first principles via a straightforward application of DLCQ $`^\mathrm{?}`$. Recently, a large class of supersymmetric gauge theories in two dimensions was studied using a supersymmetric form of DLCQ (SDLCQ), which is known to preserve supersymmetry at every stage of the calculation $`^{\mathrm{?},\mathrm{?}}`$. It turns out that this formalism can be applied to higher-dimensional theories $`^\mathrm{?}`$. This is interesting, because in higher dimensions, due to the additional scale, theories have the potential of exhibiting a complex phase structure, which may include a strong-weak coupling duality.

## 2 SDLCQ

We consider a three dimensional SU($`N_c`$) $`𝒩=1`$ super-Yang-Mills theory compactified on the space-time $`𝐑\times S^1\times S^1`$. The calculations are performed in the large $`N_c`$ limit. In particular, we use light-cone coordinates $`x^\pm =\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(x^0\pm x^1)`$, compactify $`x^{}`$ on a light-like circle a la DLCQ, and wrap the remaining transverse coordinate $`x^{}`$ on a spatial circle. We are able to solve for bound state wave functions and masses numerically by diagonalizing the discretized light-cone supercharge. This procedure preserves supersymmetry at every step. The action of $`𝒩=1`$ SYM(2+1) is

$$S=d^2x_0^L𝑑x_{}\text{tr}(\frac{1}{4}F^{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }+\mathrm{i}\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}\gamma ^\mu D_\mu \mathrm{\Psi }).$$

We decompose the spinor $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ in terms of chiral projections $`\psi ,\chi `$ and choose the light-cone gauge $`A^+=0`$. We solve for the non-dynamical fields $`A^{}`$ and $`\chi `$ and formulate the momentum operators in the physical degrees of freedom ($`\varphi A^2`$)

$`P^+`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝑑x^{}_0^L𝑑x_{}\text{tr}\left[(_{}\varphi )^2+\mathrm{i}\psi _{}\psi \right]},`$
$`P^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝑑x^{}_0^L𝑑x_{}\text{tr}\left[\frac{1}{2}J\frac{1}{_{}^2}J\frac{\mathrm{i}}{2}D_{}\psi \frac{1}{_{}}D_{}\psi \right]}.`$
The canonical commutation relations yield the supersymmetry algebra

$$\{Q^+,Q^+\}=2\sqrt{2}P^+,\{Q^{},Q^{}\}=2\sqrt{2}P^{},\{Q^+,Q^{}\}=4P_{}.$$

We use the standard decomposition of the fields $`\varphi _{ij}(x^{},x^{})`$ and $`\psi _{ij}(x^{},x^{})`$ into momentum modes $`a_{ij}^{}(\underset{¯}{k})`$ and $`b_{ij}^{}(\underset{¯}{k})`$, respectively. We defined $`\underset{¯}{k}(k^+,n^{})`$ for convenience. The (anti-)commutation relations

$`[a_{ij}(\underset{¯}{k}),a_{lk}^{}(\underset{¯}{k}^{})]=\{b_{ij}(\underset{¯}{k}),b_{lk}^{}(\underset{¯}{k}^{})\}=\delta (k^+k^{}_{}{}^{}+)\delta _{n^{},n^{{}_{}{}^{}}}\delta _{il}\delta _{jk}.`$
yield the explicit form of the supercharges, which are listed in Ref. $`^\mathrm{?}`$. For the present discussion it suffices to know that the structure of $`Q^{}`$ is

$`Q^{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2^{3/4}\pi \mathrm{i}}{L}}{\displaystyle \underset{n^{}𝐙}{}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑k^+{\displaystyle \frac{n^{}}{\sqrt{k^+}}}\left[a_{ij}^{}(\underset{¯}{k})b_{ij}(\underset{¯}{k})b_{ij}^{}(\underset{¯}{k})a_{ij}(\underset{¯}{k})\right]+g\stackrel{~}{Q}^{},`$
where $`\stackrel{~}{Q}^{}`$ contains the terms with three operators. We note also that the supercharge $`Q^{}`$ is linear in the coupling $`g`$, and thus the Hamiltonian $`P^{}`$ is quadratic in $`g`$.

We now perform the truncation procedure. The harmonic resolution $`K`$ plays the role of a longitudinal cutoff as usual, and longitudinal momentum fractions take values $`\frac{k_i^+}{P^+}=\frac{n_i}{K},n_i=1,2,\mathrm{},K`$. The transverse cutoff $`T`$ allows for momenta $`k_i^{}=2\pi n_i^{}/L`$ with $`n_i^{}=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}\pm T`$. This prescription preserves parity symmetry in transverse directions. How does such a truncation affect the supersymmetry properties of the theory? Note first that an operator relation $`[A,B]=C`$ in the full theory is not expected to hold in the truncated formulation. However, if A is quadratic in terms of fields (or in terms of creation and annihilation operators), one can show that the relation $`[A,B]=C`$ implies $`[A_{tr},B_{tr}]=C_{tr}`$ for the truncated operators $`A_{tr}`$,$`B_{tr}`$, and $`C_{tr}`$. In our case, $`Q^+`$ is quadratic, and so the relations $`\{Q_{tr}^+,Q_{tr}^+\}=2\sqrt{2}P_{tr}^+`$ and $`\{Q_{tr}^+,Q_{tr}^{}\}=0`$ are true in the $`P_{}=0`$ sector of the truncated theory. The anticommutator $`\{Q_{tr}^{},Q_{tr}^{}\}`$, however, is not equal to $`2\sqrt{2}P_{tr}^{}`$. So the diagonalization of $`\{Q_{tr}^{},Q_{tr}^{}\}`$ will yield a different bound-state spectrum than the one obtained after diagonalizing $`2\sqrt{2}P_{tr}^{}`$. Of course, the two spectra should agree in the limit $`T\mathrm{}`$. At any finite truncation, however, we have the liberty to diagonalize either of these operators. The choice of $`\{Q_{tr}^{},Q_{tr}^{}\}`$ specifies our regularization scheme. Choosing to diagonalize the light-cone supercharge $`Q_{tr}^{}`$ has an important advantage: the spectrum is exactly supersymmetric for any truncation. In contrast, the spectrum of the Hamiltonian $`P_{tr}^{}`$ becomes supersymmetric only in the infinite resolution limit.

Let us take a look at the discrete symmetries of $`Q^{}`$. The three commuting symmetries $`Z_2`$ are parity in the transverse direction

$$P:a_{ij}(k,n^{})a_{ij}(k,n^{}),b_{ij}(k,n^{})b_{ij}(k,n^{}),$$

which anti-commutes with $`Q^+`$ and $`P_{}`$, and a generalized $`T`$ symmetry

$$S:a_{ij}(k,n^{})a_{ji}(k,n^{}),b_{ij}(k,n^{})b_{ji}(k,n^{}).$$

To close the group, we need a third symmetry, namely $`R=PS`$. An interesting detail of the symmetry considerations is the fact that the $`P`$ symmetry leads to exactly degenerate eigenvalues. This means in turn that all massive eigenvalues are four-fold degenerate. The argument goes as follows. Start with a massive state with positive parity $`|M+`$ which obeys

$$(Q^{})^2|M+=M^2|M+,P|M+=+|M+.$$

Then $`Q^+Q^{}|M+`$ is a state with same mass but opposite parity

$$PQ^+Q^{}|M+=Q^+Q^{}P|M+=Q^+Q^{}|M+.$$

## 3 Numerical Results

With the truncation prescription described above, we can solve the discretized eigenvalue problem

$$2P^+P^{}|\psi =M^2|\psi ,$$

characterized by the cutoffs $`K`$ and $`T`$, on the computer. This is equivalent to constructing the supercharge $`Q^{}`$ in the usual Fock basis, and then diagonalizing it. If the resulting mass (squared) eigenvalues $`M^2`$ are plotted as a function of the dimensionless coupling $`g^{}=g\sqrt{NL/4\pi ^3}`$, several striking features emerge. Namely, as was noted in Ref. $`^\mathrm{?}`$, one finds a very stable strong-coupling spectrum. Secondly, we find states which fall off fast to zero mass with increasing coupling. Since the previous work $`^\mathrm{?}`$ was a calculation of the spectrum at $`T1`$, it is natural to ask whether the well defined large $`g^{}`$ spectrum survives at $`T\mathrm{}`$, and to study the properties of the states with masses decreasing at large $`g^{}`$. A further question is if the number of massless states is independent of the transverse cutoff $`T`$.

Our previous SDLCQ calculations were done using a code written in Mathematica and performed on a PC. This code has now been rewritten in C++ and some of the present work was done on supercomputers. We were able to perform numerical diagonalizations for $`K=2`$ through 7 and for values of $`T`$ up to $`T=9`$ at $`K=4`$ and $`T=1`$ at $`K=7`$.

Massive spectrum: Little is known about the large coupling spectrum of quantum field theories, with the exception of theories in 1+1 dimensions. There, however, the concept of large coupling has no meaning, since the coupling is only a multiplicative constant in the Hamiltonian. In particular, there is no weak/strong duality known in $`𝒩=1`$ SYM(2+1), which could give some clue how the spectrum looks like. We performed therefore a non-perturbative calculation in SDLCQ to directly access the spectrum.

In Fig. 1 we plot the bound state masses squared $`M^2`$ as a function of the transverse resolution $`T`$ for $`K=4`$ and $`K=5`$. We see that the curves are very flat, thus exhibiting fast convergence in transverse cutoff $`T`$. The continuum result can be obtained by extrapolating the curves to $`1/T0`$. Let us look at the bound states as a function of the coupling $`g^{}`$, focusing on the large coupling regime. We see, Fig. 2, that the states are extremely stable in $`g^{}`$, i.e. they are quasi independent of coupling. We find this behavior at every value of $`K`$, and even irrespective of the value of the transverse cutoff $`T`$.

We show the bound state mass as a function of $`1/K`$ in Fig. 3(a). These results are the first calculation of the strong-coupling bound states of $`𝒩=1`$ SYM in $`2+1`$ dimensions. As we increase the resolution we are able to see states that have, as their primary component, more and more partons, and, as we have seen in other supersymmetric theories, many of these states appear at low energies. This accumulation of high-multiplicity low-mass states appears to be a unique property of SUSY theories. In non-SUSY theories the new states appear at increasing energies. In the dimensionally reduced version of this theory we saw that the accumulation point of these low-mass states appeared to be at zero mass $`^{\mathrm{?},\mathrm{?}}`$. Here again we see clear evidence of an accumulation of low mass states, however we don’t have sufficient information to say whether an accumulation point exists.

Massless states: There are two kinds of massless states in the spectrum. Firstly, the states massless for $`g^{}0`$. They are massless because at small coupling, only first term of the supercharge, Eq. (2), gives a contribution. Then all partons with $`n^{}=0`$ (anti-)commute with $`Q^{}`$. Thus all states made out of these partons are massless, and massless states contain just these partons. The set of massless states at $`g^{}=0`$ therefore coincides with a Hilbert space of the theory dimensionally reduced to $`1+1`$. Moreover, the whole infrared spectrum of SYM$`2+1`$ at small coupling is governed by the dimensionally reduced theory (see $`^\mathrm{?}`$ for details) Secondly, we see states that are exactly massless at any coupling. These are $`2(K1)`$ BPS states, fulfilling $`Q^{}|m=0=0`$, $`Q^+|m=00.`$ It is therefore easy to construct the massless states of (2+1) theories, at least at large $`N_c`$.

Unphysical states: Finally, we can unambiguously detect unphysical states due to their special properties. Namely, these states vary strongly with coupling $`g^{}`$ and they appear (predominantly) for $`K`$ odd and decouple for $`T\mathrm{}`$, see Fig. 3. It is thus easy to classify and to remove the unphysical states from the spectrum.

## 4 Conclusions

We have shown that the SDLCQ formalism naturally extends to higher dimensions. Rapid convergence in transverse direction is found. Concerning the specific theory, we obtained the strong coupling spectrum of $`𝒩=1`$ SYM(2+1). The bound states are extremely stable for $`g^{}\mathrm{}`$. The unphysical states in the spectrum can be identified and removed. We found no new massless states at strong coupling compared to previous work $`^\mathrm{?}`$. The massless sector of the theory is completely determined by the dimensional reduced model. The light states turn out to be string-like and might contain physics of dual theories. Also, the theory might be conformal at decompactification limit. We are currently working on analytical and numerical improvements of the approach. We expect to be able to address problems like the very interesting $`𝒩=4`$ SYM in 3+1 and $`𝒩=1`$ SYM(2+1) including a Chern-Simons term conjectured to break supersymmetry, in the near future.

## Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to thank the workshop organizers for hospitality and support.

## References


text:
# The first radius-expansion X-ray burst from GX 3+1

## 1 Introduction

The overall X-ray intensity of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) GX 3+1 varies slowly on time scales of months to years (Makishima et al. 1983; Asai et al. 1993, see also Fig. 1). X-ray bursts in GX 3+1 were discovered by Hakucho, at a time when the persistent X-ray flux was about half of that seen previously (Makishima et al. 1983). During that time roughly one burst per day was observed. The bursts from this source were shown to be thermonuclear flashes on the neutron star surface, i.e. being of type I (Makishima et al. 1983; Asai et al. 1993: Ginga; Molkov et al. 1999: GRANAT/ART-P), but none of them showed evidence for photospheric radius expansion.

GX 3+1 is one of the four brightest so-called “atoll” sources (Hasinger & van der Klis 1989). The sources in this group (including GX 13+1, GX 9+1 and GX 9+9) hardly show any X-ray bursts (if at all), and display properties like those of other atoll sources when these are in their high accretion rate state: their tracks in X-ray colour-colour diagrams are long, diagonal and slightly curved, while their fast timing properties are at all times dominated by a relatively weak (1–4% rms) power-law shaped noise component. Detailed X-ray spectral modeling seems to suggest that they accrete with rates near 10% of the Eddington mass accretion rate, i.e. intermediate between the more frequently bursting atoll sources and that of the so-called “Z” sources (Psaltis & Lamb 1998). At low accretion rates (and therefore probably low intensities) such sources are predicted to display the properties characteristic of the more frequently bursting atoll sources, which in view of the Hakucho result (see above) at least GX 3+1 seems to satisfy.

During one of our series of target of opportunity observations with RXTE aimed at observing GX 3+1 at low intensities, we observed a strong ($``$2.3 Crab \[2–10 keV\] at maximum) and short (15–20 s) X-ray burst. The burst onset occurred on 1999 August 10, 18:35:53.5 UTC. In this paper we discuss its properties.

## 2 Observations and Analysis

Data were acquired with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA; Bradt et al. 1993) in various observation modes. During our observation from 1999 August 10, 17:15 to August 11, 00:00 UTC, only three units were active, i.e. PCU0, PCU2 and PCU3. For the spectral analysis of the persistent emission we used data collected in 16 s intervals with 129 spectral channels. We accumulated data stretches of 96 s just before and after the burst, combining the three PCU’s. In order to study the burst properties we used a mode which provides 64 spectral channels at a time resolution of 16 $`\mu `$s; this mode combines information from all PCU’s. Spectra during the burst were determined every 0.25 sec during the first 10 s, and every 0.5 s for the remainder. All spectra were corrected for background and dead-time using the procedures supplied by the RXTE Guest Observer Facility. A systematic uncertainty of 1% was taken into account. For our spectral fits we confined the energy range to 2.9–20 keV. The hydrogen column density, NH, towards GX 3+1 was fixed to that found by the Einstein SSS and MPC measurements (1.7$``$1022 atoms cm-2, Christian & Swank 1997).

Large amplitude, high coherence brightness oscillations have been observed during various X-ray bursts in other LMXBs (see Strohmayer 1998, 2000). In our search for possible burst oscillations we made fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) of data segments ranging from 0.25 s to 2 s long during the burst, with time steps of 0.125 s (so-called sliding FFTs). We used the 64 spectral channel and 16 $`\mu `$sec data set, and limited our search to the 50 to 2048 Hz frequency range. We performed the search in the whole PCA energy range (2–60 keV), as well as in a relatively high energy range (8–60 keV).

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Temporal behaviour

The light curve of the burst at low energies is single-peaked, whereas at high energies it is double-peaked (Fig. 2a,b). The corresponding hardness curve (Fig. 2c) shows that the burst first hardens, softens, hardens again, and then gradually softens again. Our search for burst oscillations yielded negative results. Previous burst oscillations were found mainly during the rise to burst maximum and after the radius-expansion phase (see Strohmayer 1998, 2000). Using the 0.25 s long FFTs in the full energy range, we derive upper limits on the modulation amplitude of burst oscillations of $``$45% at the start of the rise, $``$15% at the maximum of the burst, and $``$20% just after the radius expansion phase. The upper limits in the 8–60 keV energy band are $``$60%, $``$20%, and $``$25%, respectively. The 2 s long FFTs give more stringent upper limits of $``$16%, $``$6%, and $``$9%, respectively, for the full energy range, whereas we derive $``$24%, $``$7%, and $``$10%, respectively, in the 8–60 keV energy band.

### 3.2 Spectral behaviour

The net burst spectra (i.e. total burst spectrum minus persistent spectrum) were satisfactorily ($`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$ less than $``$2) modeled by black-body emission. The results are shown in Fig. 3. A dip in the black-body temperature, Tbb, $``$2 s after the burst onset is apparent, simultaneous with an increase of a factor of $``$2 in the black-body radius, Rbb. The total increase/decrease phase of Rbb lasts only $``$1.5 sec.

We note that the X-ray spectral analysis during bursts can be significantly hampered when the persistent emission contains a black-body contribution from the same surface of the neutron star that emits the burst emission (van Paradijs & Lewin 1985). In that case our spectral fits to the net burst spectra may contain systematic errors in the black-body temperature and radius, especially near the end of the burst. We therefore repeated our spectral analysis to the total burst spectra, fixing the non black-body component in the persistent emission (see Table 1). The black-body component, which now includes all emission from the neutron star surface, is left free. This procedure only slightly alters our estimated black-body flux. The absence of significant differences between the two methods is mainly due the fact that the burst is sufficiently stronger than the persistent emission (which is reflected by the burst parameter $`\gamma `$, see below), as also noted by Asai et al. (1993).

The persistent emission just before and after the burst can be satisfactorily modeled by a black-body plus a cut-off power-law component (Table 1). Using the X-ray spectral fits we can determine the peak flux (i.e. including persistent emission), Fpeak, and the total burst fluence (i.e. the integrated net burst flux), Eb, and hence the burst parameters $`\gamma `$ (=Fpers/\[Fpeak-Fpers\]) and $`\tau `$ (=Eb/Fpeak). For the burst parameter $`\alpha `$ (=Fpers/(Eb/$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$t)), where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$t is the time since the previous burst) we can only give a lower limit, since the source is not observed during South Atlantic Anomaly passages and earth occultations. However, for a crude estimate we also used the mean burst rate of $``$2 per day, as observed during the 1999 August to October BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera campaign (Muller et al. 2000, in preparation). All burst parameters are also shown in Table 1.

## 4 Discussion

The light curve and X-ray spectral behaviour of the X-ray burst in GX 3+1 observed with RXTE show clear evidence for radius expansion of the neutron star photosphere due to near-Eddington luminosities during a themonuclear runaway on the neutron star surface (for a review see e.g. Lewin et al. 1993). The total time for the expansion and contraction phase is only $``$1.5 s, during which the radius expanded only by a factor of $``$2. Such short bursts with small expansion phases have been seen in other bright X-ray sources, such as Cyg X-2 (Smale 1998). The gradual softening at the end of the burst is attributed to cooling of the neutron star surface, which is characteristic for type-I bursts (Hoffman et al. 1978).

During the burst our derived black-body temperatures are smaller, whereas our inferred black-body radii (all at the same assumed distance) are larger, than reported for previous GX 3+1 bursts (Makishima et al. 1983, see also Inoue et al. 1981; Asai et al. 1993; Molkov et al. 1999). The burst parameter values for $`\gamma `$ ($``$0.10–0.20) and $`\tau `$ (4–8 s) quoted by Asai et al. (1993), and inferred from the observations presented by Makishima et al. (1983) and Molkov et al. (1999), are similar to our findings. We note (see also Asai et al. 1993) that $`\gamma `$, $`\tau `$ and our estimate of $`\alpha `$ fall on the extreme end of relations between $`\tau `$ vs. $`\gamma `$ and $`\alpha `$ vs. $`\gamma `$ as presented by Van Paradijs et al. (1988) for typical type I bursters. This shows that if bright sources burst, the burst duration tends to be short (order of 10 s; note however, that some bursts in the bright “Z” source GX 17+2 have a duration of the order of minutes, see e.g. Kuulkers et al. 1997 and references therein). It is interesting to note that our X-ray burst from GX 3+1 is very similar to the radius expansion burst seen in Cyg X-2 with RXTE in most of its facets, except notably for the $`\gamma `$ being a factor 4.3 larger for Cyg X-2 (Smale 1998). Note also that during the burst from Cyg X-2 no evidence for pulsations was reported, similar to what we conclude for GX 3+1, both with upper limits on the modulation strength which are significantly lower than for bursts during which oscillations were seen (see Strohmayer 1998, 2000).

A convenient way to display the burst properties as they vary in time, is a flux-temperature diagram, see Fig. 4. In such a diagram the phases of expansion/contraction and subsequent cooling of the neutron star photosphere are distinguished by two separate tracks (see e.g. Lewin et al. 1993). GX 3+1 moves from the middle bottom to top left (rising phase), top middle (expansion phase), back towards top left (contraction phase), and finally to the lower right part of the diagram (cooling phase). We can adequately fit ($`\chi _{\mathrm{red}}^2`$/dof = 0.9/34) $`\mathrm{log}\mathrm{F}_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ versus $`\mathrm{log}\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{bb}}`$ during the cooling phase of the burst by a straight line with a slope of 3.97$`\pm `$0.15 (dotted line in Fig. 4). This means that Fbol is consistent with being proportional to T$`{}_{}{}^{4}{}_{\mathrm{bb}}{}^{}`$, which indicates that the neutron star photosphere radiates as a black-body during the cooling phase, at a constant radius Rbb. We note that burst spectra are generally not described by pure black-body radiation, especially near the Eddington limit (see Lewin et al. 1993, and references therein). Instead the black-body radiation is modified mainly at energies below $``$3 keV and above $``$10 keV. Since our burst spectra are analysed in the 2.9–20 keV energy range, we are, therefore, not greatly affected by modified black-body radiation. Note that we then probably underestimate our bolometric fluxes.

At the start of the expansion phase the black-body bolometric flux and temperature values do not match those at the end of the contraction phase. Our estimated emission areas are the same at these instants; the above then means that the photosphere is cooler at the end of the contraction phase with respect to the start of the expansion phase. From Fig. 4 we see that Fbol drops below the constant peak flux before the end of the contraction phase. We infer that the cooling phase therefore already started before the end of the contraction phase.

Using the fact that during the expansion and contraction phase of the neutron star photosphere the burst luminosity equals the Eddington luminosity one can get an estimate of the distance (see e.g. Lewin et al. 1993). Assuming standard burst paramaters (isotropy, cosmic abundances and a canonical neutron star mass of 1.4 M) and taking into account gravitational redshift effects we find $`d=4.5\pm 0.1`$ kpc. If we assume a neutron star mass of 2.0 M we instead find $`d=5.1\pm 0.1`$ kpc. For bright sources like GX 3+1 most of the hydrogen content is being burned persistently, so during the expansion/contraction phase the neutron star atmosphere is likely to lack hydrogen. Using the Eddington luminosity appropriate for hydrogen-poor matter then leads to $`d=6.1\pm 0.1`$ kpc. Dropping only our assumption that the burst radiates isotropically, and assuming anisotropy values of $`0.5<\xi <2`$ (e.g. van Paradijs & Lewin 1987), we derive distances between 3–7 kpc. On the other hand, if the peak luminosities during radius expansion bursts are standard candles we can use the mean peak luminosity for such bursts seen in globular cluster sources for which the distances are known, i.e. $`3.0\times 10^{38}`$ erg s-1 (Lewin et al. 1993). In this case we derive $`d5.6`$ kpc. These distance estimates show that in principle one can get an idea of the distance to the source, but the exact value still remains rather uncertain by $``$30%.

The persistent flux during our observations is the same within a factor of $``$2 with respect to the previous reports when GX 3+1 was bursting, i.e. low ($``$0.2 Crab). Using the fact that during the peak of the burst the observed (net-burst) luminosity is at near Eddington values we can now for the first time estimate the persistent flux in terms of the Eddington luminosity for the bright atoll sources like GX 3+1 (i.e. GX 13+1, GX 9+1 and GX 9+9). For GX 3+1 we find L$`{}_{\mathrm{pers}}{}^{}0.17`$ Ledd (assuming the burst and persistent emission is radiated in the same directions). This is consistent with that inferred from models of X-ray spectra, i.e. $``$0.1 LEdd (Psaltis & Lamb 1998).

GX 13+1 has been seen to burst sporadically (Matsuba et al. 1995), whereas no bursts have been reported for GX 9+1 and GX 9+9. This may mean that GX 3+1 and GX 13+1 are accreting near to the critical mass accretion rate at which bursts cease to occur, whereas GX 9+9 and GX 9+1 accrete above this limit. However, this does not explain the fact that some sources that are accreting at even higher rates (near Eddington), i.e. Cyg X-2 and GX 17+2, also irreglularly show bursts.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Lars Bildsten, Mariano Méndez and Dimitrios Psaltis for discussions. We acknowledge the use of daily averaged quick-look results provided by the ASM/RXTE team. This work was supported in part by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) grant 614-51-002.


text:
# Chaos in Superstring Cosmology

\[

## Abstract

It is shown that the general solution near a spacelike singularity of the Einstein-dilaton-$`p`$-form field equations relevant to superstring theories and $`M`$-theory exhibits an oscillatory behaviour of the Belinskii-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz type. String dualities play a significant role in the analysis.

\]

An outstanding result in theoretical cosmology has been the discovery by Belinskii, Khalatnikov and Lifshitz (BKL) that the generic solution of the four-dimensional Einstein’s vacuum equations near a cosmological singularity exhibits a never ending oscillatory behaviour . The oscillatory approach toward the singularity has the character of a random process, whose chaotic nature has been intensively studied . However, two results cast a doubt on the physical applicability, to our universe, of the BKL picture. First, it was surprisingly found that the chaotic BKL oscillatory behaviour disappears from the generic solution of the vacuum Einstein equations in spacetime dimension $`D11`$ and is replaced by a monotonic Kasner-like power-law behaviour . Second, it was proved that the generic solution of the four-dimensional Einstein-scalar equations also exhibits a non-oscillatory, power-law behaviour , .

Superstring theory  suggests that the massless (bosonic) degrees of freedom which can be generically excited near a cosmological singularity correspond to a high-dimension ($`D=10`$ or $`11`$) Kaluza-Klein-type model containing, in addition to Einstein’s $`D`$-dimensional gravity, several other fields (scalars, vectors and/or forms). In view of the results quoted above, it is a priori unclear whether the full field content of superstring theory will imply, as generic cosmological solution, a chaotic BKL-like behaviour, or a monotonic Kasner-like one. In this letter we report the result that the massless bosonic content of all superstring models ($`D=10`$ IIA, IIB, I, $`\mathrm{het}_\mathrm{E}`$, $`\mathrm{het}_{\mathrm{SO}}`$), as well as of $`M`$-theory ($`D=11`$ supergravity), generically implies a chaotic BKL-like oscillatory behaviour near a cosmological singularity. \[Our analysis applies at scales large enough to excite all Kaluza-Klein-type modes, but small enough to be able to neglect the stringy and non-perturbative massive states.\] It is the presence of various form fields (e.g. the three form in $`\mathrm{SUGRA}_{11}`$) which provides the crucial source of this generic oscillatory behaviour.

Let us consider a model of the general form

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle }d^Dx\sqrt{g}[R(g)_\mu \phi ^\mu \phi `$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{p}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(p+1)!}}e^{\lambda _p\phi }(dA_p)^2].`$
Here, the spacetime dimension $`D`$ is left unspecified. We work (as a convenient common formulation) in the Einstein conformal frame, and we normalize the kinetic term of the “dilaton” $`\phi `$ with a weight 1 with respect to the Ricci scalar. The integer $`p0`$ labels the various $`p`$-forms $`A_pA_{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _p}`$ present in the theory, with field strengths $`F_{p+1}dA_p`$, i.e. $`F_{\mu _0\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _p}=_{\mu _0}A_{\mu _1\mathrm{}\mu _p}\pm p`$ permutations. The real parameter $`\lambda _p`$ plays the crucial role of measuring the strength of the coupling of the dilaton to the $`p`$-form $`A_p`$ (in the Einstein frame). When $`p=0`$, we assume that $`\lambda _00`$ (this is the case in type IIB where there is a second scalar). The Einstein metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ is used to lower or raise all indices in Eq. (2) ($`gdetg_{\mu \nu }`$). The model (2) is, as it reads, not quite general enough to represent in detail all the superstring actions. Indeed, it lacks additional terms involving possible couplings between the form fields (e.g. Yang-Mills couplings for $`p=1`$ multiplets, Chern-Simons terms, $`(dC_2C_0dB_2)^2`$-type terms in type IIB). However, we have verified in all relevant cases that these additional terms do not qualitatively modify the BKL behaviour to be discussed below. On the other hand, in the case of $`M`$-theory (i.e. $`D=11`$ SUGRA) the dilaton $`\phi `$ is absent, and one must cancell its contributions to the dynamics.

The leading Kasner-like approximation to the solution of the field equations for $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\phi `$ derived from (2) is, as usual ,

$`g_{\mu \nu }dx^\mu dx^\nu `$ $``$ $`dt^2+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}}t^{2p_i(x)}(\omega ^i)^2,`$ (4)
$`\phi `$ $``$ $`p_\phi (x)\mathrm{ln}t+\psi (x),`$ (6)
where $`dD1`$ denotes the spatial dimension and where $`\omega ^i(x)=e_j^i(x)dx^j`$ is a time-independent $`d`$-bein. The spatially dependent Kasner exponents $`p_i(x)`$, $`p_\phi (x)`$ must satisfy the famous Kasner constraints (modified by the presence of the dilaton):

$`Q(p)p_\phi ^2+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}}p_i^2\left({\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}}p_i\right)^2`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (8)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}}p_i`$ $`=`$ $`1.`$ (10)
The set of parameters satisfying Eqs. (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology) is topologically a $`(d1)`$-dimensional sphere: the “Kasner sphere”. When the dilaton is absent, one must set $`p_\phi `$ to zero in Eq.(8). In that case the dimension of the Kasner sphere is $`d2=D3`$.

The approximate solution Eqs. (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology) is obtained by neglecting in the field equations for $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\phi `$: (i) the effect of the spatial derivatives of $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\phi `$, and (ii) the contributions of the various $`p`$-form fields $`A_p`$. The condition for the “stability” of the solution (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology), i.e. for the absence of BKL oscillations at $`t0`$, is that the inclusion in the field equations of the discarded contributions (i) and (ii) (computed within the assumption (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology)) be fractionally negligible as $`t0`$. As usual, the fractional effect of the spatial derivatives of $`\phi `$ is found to be negligible, while the fractional effect (with respect to the leading terms, which are $`t^2`$) of the spatial derivatives of the metric, i.e. the quantities $`t^2\overline{R}_j^i`$ (where $`\overline{R}_j^i`$ denotes the $`d`$-dimensional Ricci tensor) contains, as only “dangerous terms” when $`t0`$ a sum of terms $`t^{2g_{ijk}}`$, where the gravitational exponents $`g_{ijk}`$ ($`ij`$, $`ik`$, $`jk`$) are the following combinations of the Kasner exponents

$$g_{ijk}(p)=2p_i+\underset{\mathrm{}i,j,k}{}p_{\mathrm{}}=1+p_ip_jp_k.$$
(11)
The “gravitational” stability condition is that all the exponents $`g_{ijk}(p)`$ be positive. In the presence of form fields $`A_p`$ there are additional stability conditions related to the contributions of the form fields to the Einstein-dilaton equations. They are obtained by solving, à la BKL, the $`p`$-form field equations in the background (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology) and then estimating the corresponding “dangerous” terms in the Einstein field equations. When neglecting the spatial derivatives in the Maxwell equations in first-order form $`dF=0`$ and $`\delta (e^{\lambda _p\phi }F)=0`$, where $`\delta d`$ is the (Hodge) dual of the Cartan differential $`d`$ and $`F_{p+1}=dA_p`$, one finds that both the “electric” components $`\sqrt{g}e^{\lambda _p\phi }F^{0i_1\mathrm{}i_p}`$, and the “magnetic” components $`F_{j_1\mathrm{}j_{p+1}}`$, are constant in time. Combining this information with the approximate results (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology) one can estimate the fractional effect of the $`p`$-form contributions in the right-hand-side of the $`g_{\mu \nu }`$\- and $`\phi `$-field equations, i.e. the quantities $`t^2T_{(A)0}^0`$ and $`t^2T_{(A)j}^i`$ where $`T_{(A)\nu }^\mu `$ denotes the stress-energy tensor of the $`p`$-form. \[As usual  the mixed terms $`T_{(A)i}^0`$, which enter the momentum constraints play a rather different role and do not need to be explicitly considered.\] Finally, one gets as “dangerous” terms when $`t0`$ a sum of “electric” contributions $`t^{2e_{i_1\mathrm{}i_p}^{(p)}}`$ and of “magnetic” ones $`t^{2b_{j_1\mathrm{}j_{dp1}}^{(p)}}`$. Here, the electric exponents $`e_{i_1\mathrm{}i_p}^{(p)}`$ (where all the indices $`i_n`$ are different) are defined as

$$e_{i_1\mathrm{}i_p}^{(p)}(p)=p_{i_1}+p_{i_2}+\mathrm{}+p_{i_p}\frac{1}{2}\lambda _pp_\phi ,$$
(12)
while the magnetic exponents $`b_{j_1\mathrm{}j_{dp1}}^{(p)}`$ (where all the indices $`j_n`$ are different) are

$$b_{j_1\mathrm{}j_{dp1}}^{(p)}(p)=p_{j_1}+p_{j_2}+\mathrm{}+p_{j_{dp1}}+\frac{1}{2}\lambda _pp_\phi .$$
(13)
To each $`p`$-form is associated a (duality-invariant) double family of “stability” exponents $`e^{(p)}`$, $`b^{(p)}`$. The “electric” (respectively “magnetic”) stability condition is that all the exponents $`e^{(p)}`$ (respectively, $`b^{(p)}`$) be positive. This result generalizes the results of  on the effect of vector fields in $`D=4`$.

The main result reported here is that, for all superstring models, there exists no open region of the Kasner sphere where all the stability exponents $`g(p)`$, $`e(p)`$, $`b(p)`$ are strictly positive. To define the set of stability conditions for the various superstring models, let us review their field content and give the values of the crucial dilaton couplings $`\lambda _p`$. The simplest case is the massless bosonic sector of $`M`$-theory, i.e of SUGRA in $`D=11`$. In that case, there is a 3-form and no dilaton. The parameters $`p_\alpha ^M`$, $`\alpha =1,\mathrm{},10`$, run over the 8-dimensional sphere $`S_M^8`$ defined by $`_\alpha (p_\alpha ^M)^2=1=_\alpha p_\alpha ^M`$. The presence of a 3-form $`A_3`$ uncoupled to any dilaton implies that the electric and magnetic stability exponents are respectively given by (12) and (13) with $`p=3`$, $`\lambda _p=0`$ and $`d=10`$, i.e., $`e_{\alpha _1\alpha _2\alpha _3}^{M(3)}=p_{\alpha _1}^M+p_{\alpha _2}^M+p_{\alpha _3}^M`$ and $`b_{\alpha _1\mathrm{}\alpha _6}^{M(3)}=p_{\alpha _1}^M+\mathrm{}+p_{\alpha _6}^M`$.

The $`D=10`$ type IIA string theory involves, besides $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and a dilaton $`\phi =\mathrm{\Phi }/\sqrt{2}`$ (with $`g_s=e^\mathrm{\Phi }`$ being the string coupling) a 1-form, a 2-form and a 3-form. The (Einstein-frame) dilaton coupling parameters of the forms are $`\lambda _1^A=3\sqrt{2}/2`$, $`\lambda _2^A=\sqrt{2}`$ and $`\lambda _3^A=\sqrt{2}/2`$, respectively. Besides the dilaton Kasner exponent $`p_\phi ^A`$, there are nine metric exponents $`p_i^A`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},9`$. They run over $`S_A^8`$ defined by Eqs. (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology).

The $`D=10`$ type IIB string theory involves (besides $`g_{\mu \nu }`$): two scalars: the dilaton $`\phi =\mathrm{\Phi }/\sqrt{2}`$ and the $`RR`$ 0-form $`C_0`$, two 2-forms $`B_2(NSNS)`$ and $`C_2(RR)`$, and one “self-dual” $`RR`$ 4-form $`C_4`$. The dilaton coupling strengths of the forms are: $`\lambda _{C_0}^B=2\sqrt{2}`$, $`\lambda _{B_2}^B=\sqrt{2}`$, $`\lambda _{C_2}^B=+\sqrt{2}`$ and $`\lambda _{C_4}^B=0`$. \[$`\lambda _{C_2}^B`$ refers to the more complicated mixed coupling $`e^\mathrm{\Phi }(dC_2C_0dB_2)^2`$\]. The Kasner exponents $`p_\phi ^B`$, $`p_i^B`$ ($`i=1,\mathrm{},9`$) run over $`S_B^8`$ defined by Eqs. (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology).

The $`D=10`$ type I string theory involves (besides $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\phi `$): an $`\mathrm{SO}(32)`$ vector potential, and a 2-form. The dilaton couplings are $`\lambda _1^I=\sqrt{2}/2`$ and $`\lambda _2^I=+\sqrt{2}`$***Note the misprint in Eq. (12.1.34b) of , corrected on the author’s web page.. The Kasner exponents $`p_\phi ^I`$, $`p_i^I`$ ($`i=1,\mathrm{},9`$) run, as for IIA and IIB, on the $`S_I^8`$ defined by Eqs. (Chaos in Superstring Cosmology).

Finally, the $`D=10`$ heterotic string theories involve (besides $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\phi `$): an $`\mathrm{SO}(32)`$ or $`E_8\times E_8`$ vector potential, and a 2-form. Their respective (Einstein-frame) dilaton couplings are: $`\lambda _1^h=\sqrt{2}/2`$, $`\lambda _2^h=\sqrt{2}`$. The Kasner sphere $`S_h^8`$ for $`p_\phi ^h`$, $`p_i^h`$ ($`i=1,\mathrm{},9`$) is the same as for IIA, IIB or I.

Let us denote for each given theory “th” (where $`\mathrm{th}=M,A,B,I,h`$ labels the theory) the full (finite) sequence of stability exponents as $`w_J^{\mathrm{th}}(p)`$, where $`J`$ labels all the possible exponents within each theory. E.g., when $`\mathrm{th}=M`$ the label $`J`$ takes 690 values corresponding to the set $`\{w_J^M\}=\{g_{\alpha \beta \gamma }^M,e_{\alpha _1\alpha _2\alpha _3}^{M(3)},b_{\beta _1\mathrm{}\beta _6}^{M(3)}\}`$. The condition of “Kasner stability” of each theory is that there exist an open region of the corresponding Kasner sphere $`S_{\mathrm{th}}^8`$ where $`w_J^{\mathrm{th}}(p)>0`$ for all the labels $`J`$. However, we have proven that, for all theories, $`\mathrm{inf}_Jw_J^{\mathrm{th}}(p)`$ is strictly negative for all values of $`pS_{\mathrm{th}}^8`$, except at a finite number of isolated points where it vanishes.

Let us first consider $`M`$-theory. We have proven a stronger result, namely, that the electric stability conditions alone are never fulfilled. If, at any point on $`S_M^8`$, we order the Kasner exponents as $`p_1^Mp_2^M\mathrm{}p_{10}^M`$, the most stringent electric stability criterion involves $`f_0(p)p_1^M+p_2^M+p_3^M`$. To show that this function is non-positive on the cell $`p_1^M\mathrm{}p_{10}^M`$ of the Kasner sphere, we maximize it subject to the constraints $`(p_\alpha ^M)^2=1`$, $`p_\alpha ^M=1`$. These constraints can be taken into account by introducing two Lagrange multipliers. After a straightforward (but rather long) exhaustive analysis, we have found that $`f_0^{\mathrm{max}}=0`$, this maximum being reached only at $`p_1=\mathrm{}=p_9=0`$, $`p_{10}=1`$.

To deal with the type IIA theory, we use the fact that IIA is the Kaluza-Klein (KK) reduction of $`M`$ on a circle. This fact dictates the link between the field variables of the two models. If we label by the letter $`y`$ the compactified dimension this link implies the following relation between the (Einstein-frame) Kasner exponents of the two theories ($`i=1,\mathrm{},9`$)

$$p_\phi ^A=\frac{6\sqrt{2}p_y^M}{8+p_y^M},p_i^A=\frac{8p_i^M+p_y^M}{8+p_y^M}.$$
(14)
Forgetting about this Kaluza-Klein motivationNote that the fact that the IIA field variables depend on one less variable than the $`M`$-ones is unimportant. What is important is the map (14) and the fact that we have taken into account in the stability criteria all possible dangerous terms in a generic solution., we can consider that Eqs. (14) define a one-to-one map $`\pi _{AM}`$ from $`S_M^8`$ to $`S_A^8`$: $`p_\alpha ^A=\pi _{AM}(p_\beta ^M)`$. Using this map, we have then shown that the complete set of IIA stability conditions is logically equivalent to the complete set of $`M`$ stability conditions. The instability of the Kasner behaviour of $`M`$-theory proven above then implies that the Kasner behaviour of IIA is also unstable.

To deal with the type IIB theory, we use the fact that IIA and IIB are related by $`T`$-duality. The link between the field variables of the two models dictated by $`T`$-duality  enables one to derive a certain fractionally linear map $`\pi _{BA}`$ between their (Einstein-frame) Kasner exponents, which can be used, as above, to prove the Kasner-stability equivalence of the types IIA and IIB theories. Since type IIA is unstable, type IIB is also unstable.

At this stage, we know that $`M`$, IIA and IIB are equivalent with respect to Kasner stability, and are all unstable. It remains to tackle the type I and heterotic theories, which are equivalent because their stability conditions are algebraically mapped onto each other by the $`S`$-duality transformation $`p_\phi ^I=p_\phi ^h,p_i^I=p_i^h`$. To study the Kasner-stability of the heterotic theory, we found very convenient to replace the Einstein-frame Kasner exponents $`(p_\phi ^h,p_i^h)`$ by their string-frame counterparts $`(\alpha _i^h)`$. The link between the two is (in $`d+1`$ spacetime dimensions, see, e.g. )

$$p_\phi =\frac{\sqrt{d1}\sigma }{d1\sigma },p_i=\frac{(d1)\alpha _i\sigma }{d1\sigma },$$
(15)
with $`\sigma \left(_i\alpha _i\right)1`$ and $`i=1,\mathrm{},d`$. In terms of the $`\alpha `$’s the Kasner sphere $`S^{d1}`$ is simply the usual unit sphere, $`_i(\alpha _i)^2=1`$. In our case, $`d=9`$ and one should add a label “$`h`$” to both the $`p`$’s and the $`\alpha `$’s. In terms of the string-frame exponents it is found that the $`h`$-stability conditions are equivalent to the simpler inequalities $`\alpha _i^h>0`$ and $`\alpha _i^h+\alpha _j^h+\alpha _k^h<1`$ (where $`i,j,k`$ are all different) subjected to the constraints $`_i(\alpha _i^h)^2=1`$. It is easy to verify that these inequalities can never hold when the space dimension is $`d=9`$. In that case, the closest one comes to satisfying the inequalities is the isotropic point $`\alpha _i=1/3`$ for which the second inequality is saturated. This concludes our proof that the heterotic model (and therefore also the type I one) is Kasner unstable. Finally the two blocks of theories $`(M,A,B)`$ and $`(I,h)`$ are both Kasner unstable, though for different algebraic reasons.

Our results so far show that the generic solution of the low-energy string models can never reach a monotonic Kasner-like behaviour. Following the BKL approach  one can go further and study the evolution near a cosmological singularity as a sequence of Kasner-like “free flights” interrupted by “collisions” against the “potential walls” corresponding to the various stability-violating exponents $`g`$, $`e`$ or $`b`$. We have studied this problem  and found the following universal “collision law” giving the Kasner exponents $`\overline{p}^\mu `$ of the Kasner epoch following a collision in terms of the old ones:

$$\overline{p}^\mu =\left(12\frac{(w\overline{p})(wu)}{(ww)}\right)^1\left[\overline{p}^\mu 2\frac{(w\overline{p})w^\mu }{(ww)}\right].$$
(16)
Here, $`\overline{p}^\mu `$ stands for $`\overline{p}^0p_\phi `$ and $`\overline{p}^ip_i`$. The scalar products are computed with the metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ occurring in the quadratic form (8), namely, $`G_{00}=1`$, $`G_{0i}=0`$, $`G_{ij}=\delta _{ij}1`$, while the vector $`u`$ (entering (10)) has “covariant” components $`u_0=0`$, $`u_i=1`$. Finally, the “contravariant” vector $`w^\mu `$ characterizes the “wall” responsible for the collision and is defined in such a way that the corresponding exponent ($`g(p)`$, $`e(p)`$ or $`b(p)`$) reads $`w(p)=w_\mu \overline{p}^\mu G_{\mu \nu }w^\mu \overline{p}^\nu `$. \[E.g., for the wall associated with the electric exponent $`e_{123}(p)p_1+p_2+p_3`$, $`w_\mu `$ reads $`w_0=0`$, $`w_i=1`$ for $`i=1,2,3`$ and $`w_i=0`$ for $`i>3`$.\] The result (16) (which is a rescaled geometrical reflection in the hyperplane $`w_\mu \overline{p}^\mu =0`$) applies uniformly to all possible “walls”: gravitational, electric or magnetic. It generalizes particular results derived by many authors .

Summarizing: In all string models, the generic solution near a cosmological singularity for the massless bosonic degrees of freedom exhibits BKL-type oscillations, i.e. a (formally infinite) alternation of Kasner-epochs. The primary sources of this BKL behaviour are (i) the presence of $`p`$-forms in the field spectrum of the theories and, (ii) the strength of their dilaton couplings. In the absence of $`p`$-forms, or if the $`\lambda _p`$’s were somewhat smaller, the monotonic Kasner behaviour would be stable and generic. The general rule defining the change of Kasner exponents from one epoch to the next is given by Eq. (16), where $`w`$ is the “wall” (among the various gravitational, electric or magnetic ones) for which $`w(p)=w_\mu \overline{p}^\mu `$ is most negative. We anticipate that the discrete dynamics (16) will define (in all string models) a chaotic motion on the Kasner sphere. At this stage, the physical consequences of such a chaotic motion are unclear. It might constitute a problem for the pre-big-bang scenario  which strongly relies on the existence, near a (future) cosmological singularity, of relatively large, quasi-uniform patches of space following a monotonic, dilaton-driven Kasner behaviour. By contrast our findings suggest that the spatial inhomogeneity continuously increases toward a singularity, as all quasi-uniform patches of space get broken up into smaller and smaller ones by the chaotic oscillatory evolution. In other words, the spacetime structure tends to develop a kind of “turbulence” .

We are aware of the limitations of our result (tree-level bosonic massless modes only) but we think that our finding suggests that the full quantum, string-theory behaviour might be at least as complicated, near a cosmological singularity, as our simplified analysis shows.

We thank Volodia Belinskii, Isaak Khalatnikov and Ilan Vardi for useful exchanges of ideas. T.D. is grateful to David Gross, Gary Horowitz and Joe Polchinski for informative discussions. M. H. thanks the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques for its kind hospitality.