Abstract
The search of new means of generating and controlling topological states of matter is at the front of many joint efforts, including bandgap engineering by doping and light-induced topological states. Most of our understading, however, is based on a single particle picture. Topological states in systems including interaction effects, such as electron-electron and electron-phonon, remain less explored. By exploiting a non-perturbative and non-adiabatic picture, here we show how the interaction between electrons and a coherent phonon mode can lead to a bandgap hosting edge states of topological origin. Further numerical simulations witness the robustness of these states against different types of disorder. Our results contribute to the search of topological states, in this case in a minimal Fock space.
Highlights
The search of topological states of matter is reshaping condensed matter physics.[1,2] The pioneering works in the 1980s3,4 bloomed about 20 years later with the prediction[5,6] and discovery of topological insulators in two[7] and three dimensions.[8]
To infer whether the peak at ω/2 survives far away from the border of the ribbon, we show in Fig. 3(b) the zero-phonon local density of states (LDoS) evaluated at the center of an infinite ac-graphene nanoribbons (GNRs)
This study, based on a specific model for the electron-phonon interaction given by a stretching mode in graphene nanoribbons, serves as a proof of concept
Summary
The search of topological states of matter is reshaping condensed matter physics.[1,2] The pioneering works in the 1980s3,4 bloomed about 20 years later with the prediction[5,6] and discovery of topological insulators in two[7] and three dimensions.[8]. The effect of interactions, both on topological phases predicted on the basis of a single-particle picture or as a mean of inducing new ones, stands out as a major problem Previous studies along this direction have shown that electron-phonon interaction can either suppress[17] or even induce[18,19,20,21] non-trivial topological phases as the temperature increases. Our numerical simulations show that these states remain robust to different types of disorder and ribbon geometries
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
