Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:0805.2556 · Physical Review B

Trapping of lattice polarons by impurities

J. P. Hague, P. E. Kornilovitch, A. S. Alexandrov

Published Sep 16, 2008• 24 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider the effects of impurities on polarons in three dimensions using a continuous time quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. An exact treatment of the phonon degrees of freedom leads to a very efficient algorithm, and we are able to compute the polaron dynamics on an infinite lattice by developing an auxiliary weighting scheme. The magnitude of the impurity potential, the electron-phonon coupling, and the phonon frequency are varied. We determine the magnitude of the impurity potential required for polaron trapping. For small electron-phonon coupling the number of phonons increases dramatically on trapping combined with a sharp decrease in kinetic energy. The polaron binding diagram is computed, showing that intermediate-coupling low-phonon-frequency polarons are localized by exceptionally small impurities.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.78.092302

Related papers

Trapping of three-dimensional Holstein polarons by various impurities

Hadi Ebrahimnejad, Mona Berciu

We study the bound states of a three-dimensional Holstein polaron near various kinds of single impurities, using the momentum-average approximation. We show that the electron-phonon coupling is responsible for a strong renormalization of the impurity potential, resulting in an effective potential with significant retardation effects, which describes essential physics ignored by ``instantaneous'' approximations. The accuracy of our approximation is gauged by comparison with results from diagrammatic Monte Carlo for the case of an impurity that modifies the on-site energy of the electron. We also discuss impurities that modify the local strength of the electron-phonon coupling as well as isotope substitutions that change both the electron-phonon coupling and the phonon frequency, and contrast and highlight the difference between these cases.

arXiv:1203.5836•Physical Review B•Apr 11, 2012•34 citations

Localization-delocalization transition of a polaron near an impurity

Andrei S. Mishchenko, Naoto Nagaosa, Andreas Alvermann +4 more

We solve the problem of polaron localization on an attractive impurity by means of direct-space diagrammatic Monte Carlo implemented for the system in the thermodynamic limit. In particular we determine the ground-state phase diagram in dependence on the electron-phonon coupling and impurity potential strength for the whole phonon frequency range. Including the quantum phonon effects we find and characterize a phase where self-trapped polarons are not localized at shallow impurities, which is missing in the adiabatic approximation. We show that near the localization transition a region with a mixture of weak- and strong-coupling spectral responses is realized.

arXiv:0806.2483•Physical Review B•May 11, 2009•30 citations

Dynamical mean-field theory of the small polaron

Sergio Ciuchi, FERDINANDO DE PASQUALE, S. Fratini +1 more

A dynamical mean-field theory of the small polaron problem is presented, which becomes exact in the limit of infinite dimensions. The ground-state properties and the one-electron spectral function are obtained for a single electron interacting with Einstein phonons by a mapping of the lattice problem onto a polaronic impurity model. The one-electron propagator of the impurity model is calculated through a continued fraction expansion, at both zero and finite temperature, for any electron-phonon coupling and phonon energy. In contrast to the ground-state properties, such as the effective polaron mass, which show a continuous behavior as the coupling is increased, spectral properties exhibit a sharp qualitative change at low enough phonon frequency: beyond a critical coupling, one energy gap and then more open in the density of states at low energy, while the high-energy part of the spectrum is broad and can be qualitatively explained by a strong coupling adiabatic approximation. As a consequence, narrow and coherent low-energy subbands coexist with an incoherent featureless structure at high energy. The subbands denote the formation of quasiparticle polaron states. Also, divergencies of the self-energy may occur in the gaps. At finite temperature such an effect triggers an important damping and broadening of the polaron subbands. On the other hand, in the large phonon frequency regime such a separation of energy scales does not exist and the spectrum always has a multipeaked structure.

arXiv:cond-mat/9703118•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Aug 15, 1997•188 citations

Effect of electron-phonon interaction range on lattice polaron dynamics: A continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo study

Paul Spencer, John H. Samson, P. E. Kornilovitch +1 more

We present the numerically exact ground-state energy, effective mass, and isotope exponents of a one-dimensional lattice polaron, valid for any range of electron-phonon interaction, applying a continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique in a wide range of coupling strength and adiabatic ratio. The QMC method is free from any systematic finite-size and finite-time-step errors. We compare our numerically exact results with analytical weak-coupling theory and with the strong-coupling $1∕\ensuremath{\lambda}$ expansion. We show that the exact results agree well with the canonical Fr\"ohlich and Holstein-Lang-Firsov theories in the weak and strong coupling limits, respectively, for any range of interaction. We find a strong dependence of the polaron dynamics on the range of interaction. An increased range of interaction has a similar effect to an increased (less adiabatic) phonon frequency: specifically, a reduction in the effective mass.

arXiv:cond-mat/0407250•Physical Review B•May 31, 2005•49 citations

Exact Solution of the Small-Polaron Problem in Infinite Dimensions

Sergio Ciuchi, FERDINANDO DE PASQUALE, D. Feinberg

The spectral function of a single electron coupled to Einstein phonons (Holstein model) is calculated exactly in the limit of large space dimensionality, for any coupling strength and phonon frequency. A self-consistent mapping onto an effective impurity model leads to the solution in terms of a continued-fraction expansion for the electron propagator at zero temperature. True self-trapping is obtained only for finite bandwidth, such as the case of a Bethe lattice in infinite dimensions. It is shown that at intermediate coupling multiphonon resonances develop, corresponding to polaron states. Only the lowest one has long lifetime, and the polaron mass is calculated.

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Apr 20, 1995•28 citations

Effects of lattice geometry and interaction range on polaron dynamics

J. P. Hague, P. E. Kornilovitch, A. S. Alexandrov +1 more

We study the effects of lattice type on polaron dynamics using a continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo approach. Holstein and screened Fr\"ohlich polarons are simulated on a number of different Bravais lattices. The effective mass, isotope coefficients, ground-state energy and energy spectra, phonon numbers, and density of states are calculated. In addition, the results are compared with weak- and strong-coupling perturbation theory. For the Holstein polaron, it is found that the crossover between weak- and strong-coupling results becomes sharper as the coordination number is increased. In higher dimensions, polarons are much less mobile at strong coupling, with more phonons contributing to the polaron. The total energy decreases monotonically with coupling. Spectral properties of the polaron depend on the lattice type considered, with the dimensionality contributing to the shape and the coordination number to the bandwidth. As the range of the electron-phonon interaction is increased, the coordination number becomes less important, with the dimensionality taking the leading role.

arXiv:cond-mat/0509059•Physical Review B•Feb 16, 2006•47 citations
We consider the effects of impurities on polarons in three dimensions using a continuous time quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. An exact treatment of the phonon degrees of freedom leads to a very efficient algorithm, and we are able to compute the polaron dynamics on an infinite lattice by developing an auxiliary weighting scheme. The magnitude of the impurity potential, the electron-phonon coupling, and the phonon frequency are varied. We determine the magnitude of the impurity potential required for polaron trapping. For small electron-phonon coupling the number of phonons increases dramatically on trapping combined with a sharp decrease in kinetic energy. The polaron binding diagram is computed, showing that intermediate-coupling low-phonon-frequency polarons are localized by exceptionally small impurities.
We study the bound states of a three-dimensional Holstein polaron near various kinds of single impurities, using the momentum-average approximation. We show that the electron-phonon coupling is responsible for a strong renormalization of the impurity potential, resulting in an effective potential with significant retardation effects, which describes essential physics ignored by ``instantaneous'' approximations. The accuracy of our approximation is gauged by comparison with results from diagrammatic Monte Carlo for the case of an impurity that modifies the on-site energy of the electron. We also discuss impurities that modify the local strength of the electron-phonon coupling as well as isotope substitutions that change both the electron-phonon coupling and the phonon frequency, and contrast and highlight the difference between these cases.
We solve the problem of polaron localization on an attractive impurity by means of direct-space diagrammatic Monte Carlo implemented for the system in the thermodynamic limit. In particular we determine the ground-state phase diagram in dependence on the electron-phonon coupling and impurity potential strength for the whole phonon frequency range. Including the quantum phonon effects we find and characterize a phase where self-trapped polarons are not localized at shallow impurities, which is missing in the adiabatic approximation. We show that near the localization transition a region with a mixture of weak- and strong-coupling spectral responses is realized.
A dynamical mean-field theory of the small polaron problem is presented, which becomes exact in the limit of infinite dimensions. The ground-state properties and the one-electron spectral function are obtained for a single electron interacting with Einstein phonons by a mapping of the lattice problem onto a polaronic impurity model. The one-electron propagator of the impurity model is calculated through a continued fraction expansion, at both zero and finite temperature, for any electron-phonon coupling and phonon energy. In contrast to the ground-state properties, such as the effective polaron mass, which show a continuous behavior as the coupling is increased, spectral properties exhibit a sharp qualitative change at low enough phonon frequency: beyond a critical coupling, one energy gap and then more open in the density of states at low energy, while the high-energy part of the spectrum is broad and can be qualitatively explained by a strong coupling adiabatic approximation. As a consequence, narrow and coherent low-energy subbands coexist with an incoherent featureless structure at high energy. The subbands denote the formation of quasiparticle polaron states. Also, divergencies of the self-energy may occur in the gaps. At finite temperature such an effect triggers an important damping and broadening of the polaron subbands. On the other hand, in the large phonon frequency regime such a separation of energy scales does not exist and the spectrum always has a multipeaked structure.
We present the numerically exact ground-state energy, effective mass, and isotope exponents of a one-dimensional lattice polaron, valid for any range of electron-phonon interaction, applying a continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique in a wide range of coupling strength and adiabatic ratio. The QMC method is free from any systematic finite-size and finite-time-step errors. We compare our numerically exact results with analytical weak-coupling theory and with the strong-coupling $1∕\ensuremath{\lambda}$ expansion. We show that the exact results agree well with the canonical Fr\"ohlich and Holstein-Lang-Firsov theories in the weak and strong coupling limits, respectively, for any range of interaction. We find a strong dependence of the polaron dynamics on the range of interaction. An increased range of interaction has a similar effect to an increased (less adiabatic) phonon frequency: specifically, a reduction in the effective mass.
The spectral function of a single electron coupled to Einstein phonons (Holstein model) is calculated exactly in the limit of large space dimensionality, for any coupling strength and phonon frequency. A self-consistent mapping onto an effective impurity model leads to the solution in terms of a continued-fraction expansion for the electron propagator at zero temperature. True self-trapping is obtained only for finite bandwidth, such as the case of a Bethe lattice in infinite dimensions. It is shown that at intermediate coupling multiphonon resonances develop, corresponding to polaron states. Only the lowest one has long lifetime, and the polaron mass is calculated.
We study the effects of lattice type on polaron dynamics using a continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo approach. Holstein and screened Fr\"ohlich polarons are simulated on a number of different Bravais lattices. The effective mass, isotope coefficients, ground-state energy and energy spectra, phonon numbers, and density of states are calculated. In addition, the results are compared with weak- and strong-coupling perturbation theory. For the Holstein polaron, it is found that the crossover between weak- and strong-coupling results becomes sharper as the coordination number is increased. In higher dimensions, polarons are much less mobile at strong coupling, with more phonons contributing to the polaron. The total energy decreases monotonically with coupling. Spectral properties of the polaron depend on the lattice type considered, with the dimensionality contributing to the shape and the coordination number to the bandwidth. As the range of the electron-phonon interaction is increased, the coordination number becomes less important, with the dimensionality taking the leading role.