No Arabic abstract
We investigate the scattering of an electron by phonons in a small structure between two one-dimensional tight-binding leads. This model mimics the quantum electron transport through atomic wires or molecular junctions coupled to metallic leads. The electron-phonon coupled structure is represented by the Holstein model. We observe permanent energy transfer from the electron to the phonon system (dissipation), transient self-trapping of the electron in the electron-phonon coupled structure (due to polaron formation and multiple reflections at the structure edges), and transmission resonances that depend strongly on the strength of the electron-phonon coupling and the adiabaticity ratio. A recently developed TEBD algorithm, optimized for bosonic degrees of freedom, is used to simulate the quantum dynamics of a wave packet launched against the electron-phonon coupled structure. Exact results are calculated for a single electron-phonon site using scattering theory and analytical approximations are obtained for limiting cases.
Using time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group, we study the time evolution of electronic wave packets in the one-dimensional extended Hubbard model with on-site and nearest neighbor repulsion, U and V, respectively. As expected, the wave packets separate into spin-only and charge-only excitations (spin-charge separation). Charge and spin velocities exhibit non-monotonic dependence on V. For small and intermediate values of V, both velocities increase with V. However, the charge velocity exhibits a stronger dependence than that of the spin, leading to a more pronounced spin-charge separation. Charge fractionalization, on the other hand, is weakly affected by V. The results are explained in terms of Luttinger liquid theory in the weak-coupling limit, and an effective model in the strong-coupling regime.
Electron and phonon correlations in systems of one-dimensional electrons coupled to phonons are studied at low temperatures by emphasizing on the effect of electron-phonon backward scattering. It is found that the $2k_F$-wave components of the electron density and phonon displacement field share the same correlations. Both correlations are quasi-long-ranged for a single conducting chain coupled to one-dimensional or three-dimensional phonons, and they are long-ranged for repulsive electron-electron interactions for a three-dimensional array of parallel one-dimensional conducting chains coupled to three-dimensional phonons.
We present a scheme comprised of a one-dimensional system with repulsive interactions, in which the formation of bound pairs can take place in an easily tunable fashion.By capacitively coupling a primary electronic quantum wire of interest to a secondary strongly-correlated fermionic system, the intrinsic electron-electron repulsion may be overcome, promoting the formation of bound electron pairs in the primary wire. The intrinsic repulsive interactions tend to favor the formation of charge density waves of these pairs, yet we find that superconducting correlations are dominant in a limited parameter regime. Our analysis show that the paired phase is stabilized in an intermediate region of phase space, encompassed by two additional phases: a decoupled phase, where the primary wire remains gapless, and a trion phase, where a primary electron pair binds a charge carrier from the secondary system. Tuning the strength of the primary-secondary interaction, as well as the chemical potential of the secondary system, one can control the different phase transitions. Our approach takes into account the interactions among the secondary degrees of freedom, and strongly relies on their highly correlated nature. Extension of our proposal to two dimensions is discussed, and the conditions for a long-range superconducting order from repulsion only are found. Our physical description, given by a simple model with a minimal amount of ingredients, may help to shed some light on pairing mechanism in various low-dimensional strongly correlated materials.
Twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) has recently emerged as a platform for hosting correlated phenomena, owing to the exceptionally flat band dispersion that results near interlayer twist angle $thetaapprox1.1^circ$. At low temperature a variety of phases are observed that appear to be driven by electron interactions including insulating states, superconductivity, and magnetism. Electrical transport in the high temperature regime has received less attention but is also highly anomalous, exhibiting gigantic resistance enhancement and non-monotonic temperature dependence. Here we report on the evolution of the scattering mechanisms in tBLG over a wide range of temperature and for twist angle varying from 0.75$^circ$ - 2$^circ$. We find that the resistivity, $rho$, exhibits three distinct phenomenological regimes as a function of temperature, $T$. At low $T$ the response is dominated by correlation and disorder physics; at high $T$ by thermal activation to higher moire subbands; and at intermediate temperatures $rho$ varies linearly with $T$. The $T$-linear response is much larger than in monolayer graphenefor all measured twist angles, and increases by more than three orders of magnitude for $theta$ near the flat-band condition. Our results point to the dominant role of electron-phonon scattering in twisted layer systems, with possible implications for the origin of the observed superconductivity.
In two-dimensional insulators with time-reversal (TR) symmetry, a nonzero local Berry curvature of low-energy massive Dirac fermions can give rise to nontrivial spin and charge responses, even though the integral of the Berry curvature over all occupied states is zero. In this work, we present a new effect induced by the electronic Berry curvature. By studying electron-phonon interactions in BaMnSb$_2$, a prototype two-dimensional Dirac material possessing two TR-related massive Dirac cones, we find that the nonzero local Berry curvature of electrons can induce a phonon angular momentum. The direction of this phonon angular momentum is locked to the phonon propagation direction, and thus we refer it as phonon helicity, in a way that is reminiscent of electron helicity in spin-orbit-coupled electronic systems. We discuss possible experimental probes of such phonon helicity.