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arXiv:1409.6721 · Physical Review B

Solitons in a one-dimensional Wigner crystal

Michael Pustilnik, К. А. Матвеев

Published Apr 16, 2015• 8 citations
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Abstract

In one-dimensional quantum systems with strong long-range repulsion particles arrange in a quasiperiodic chain, the Wigner crystal. We demonstrate that besides the familiar phonons, such one-dimensional Wigner crystal supports an additional mode of elementary excitations, which can be identified with solitons in the classical limit. We compute the corresponding excitation spectrum and argue that the solitons have a parametrically small decay rate at low energies. We discuss implications of our results for the behavior of the dynamic structure factor.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.91.165416

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In one-dimensional quantum systems with strong long-range repulsion particles arrange in a quasiperiodic chain, the Wigner crystal. We demonstrate that besides the familiar phonons, such one-dimensional Wigner crystal supports an additional mode of elementary excitations, which can be identified with solitons in the classical limit. We compute the corresponding excitation spectrum and argue that the solitons have a parametrically small decay rate at low energies. We discuss implications of our results for the behavior of the dynamic structure factor.
We study one-dimensional quantum systems near the classical limit described by the Korteweg--de Vries (KdV) equation. The excitations near this limit are the well-known solitons and phonons. The classical description breaks down at long wavelengths, where quantum effects become dominant. Focusing on the spectra of the elementary excitations, we describe analytically the entire classical-to-quantum crossover. We show that the ultimate quantum fate of the classical KdV excitations is to become fermionic particles and holes. We discuss in detail two exactly solvable models exhibiting such crossover, namely the Lieb-Liniger model of bosons with weak contact repulsion and the quantum Toda model. We argue that the results obtained for these models are universally applicable to all quantum one-dimensional systems with a well-defined classical limit described by the KdV equation.
Equilibration of a one-dimensional system of interacting electrons requires processes that change the numbers of left- and right-moving particles. At low temperatures such processes are strongly suppressed, resulting in slow relaxation towards equilibrium. We study this phenomenon in the case of spinless electrons with strong long-range repulsion, when the electrons form a one-dimensional Wigner crystal. We find the relaxation rate by accounting for the umklapp scattering of phonons in the crystal. For the integrable model of particles with inverse-square repulsion, the relaxation rate vanishes.
A one-dimensional gas of electrons interacting with long-range Coulomb forces [V(r)\ensuremath{\approxeq}1/r] is investigated. The excitation spectrum consists of separate collective charge and spin modes. For arbitrarily weak Coulomb repulsion density correlations at wave vector 4kF{\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{F}}kF​ decay extremely slowly and are best described as those of a one-dimensional Wigner crystal. Pinning of the Wigner crystal then leads to the nonlinear transport properties characteristic of charge density waves. The results allow a consistent interpretation of the plasmon and spin excitations observed in one-dimensional semiconductor structures, and suggest an interpretation of some of the observed features in terms of ``spinons.''
The physics of interacting quantum wires has attracted a lot of attention recently. When the density of electrons in the wire is very low, the strong repulsion between electrons leads to the formation of a Wigner crystal. We review the rich spin and orbital properties of the Wigner crystal, in both the one-dimensional and the quasi-one-dimensional regimes. In the one-dimensional Wigner crystal the electron spins form an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with exponentially small exchange coupling. In the presence of leads, the resulting inhomogeneity of the electron density causes a violation of spin-charge separation. As a consequence the spin degrees of freedom affect the conductance of the wire. Upon increasing the electron density, the Wigner crystal starts deviating from the strictly one-dimensional geometry, forming a zigzag structure instead. Spin interactions in this regime are dominated by ring exchanges, and the phase diagram of the resulting zigzag spin chain has a number of unpolarized phases as well as regions of complete and partial spin polarization. Finally we address the orbital properties in the vicinity of the transition from a one-dimensional to a quasi-one-dimensional state. Due to the locking between chains in the zigzag Wigner crystal, only one gapless mode exists. Manifestations of Wigner crystal physics at weak interactions are explored by studying the fate of the additional gapped low-energy mode as a function of interaction strength.
Abstract. The physics of interacting quantum wires has attracted a lot of attention recently. When the density of electrons in the wire is very low, the strong repulsion between electrons leads to the formation of a Wigner crystal. We review the rich spin and orbital properties of the Wigner crystal, both in the one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional regime. In the one-dimensional Wigner crystal the electron spins form an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with exponentially small exchange coupling. In the presence of leads the resulting inhomogeneity of the electron density causes a violation of spin-charge separation. As a consequence the spin degrees of freedom affect the conductance of the wire. Upon increasing the electron density, the Wigner crystal starts deviating from the strictly one-dimensional geometry, forming a zigzag structure instead. Spin interactions in this regime are dominated by ring exchanges, and the phase diagram of the resulting zigzag spin chain has a number of unpolarized phases as well as regions of complete and partial spin polarization. Finally we address the orbital properties in the vicinity of the transition from a onedimensional to a quasi-one-dimensional state. Due to the locking between chains in the zigzag Wigner crystal, only one gapless mode exists. Manifestations of Wigner crystal physics at weak interactions are explored by studying the fate of the additional gapped low-energy mode as a function of interaction strength. PACS numbers: 71.10.Pm2 1.
We study scattering of charge and spin excitations in a system of interacting electrons in one dimension. At low densities, electrons form a one-dimensional Wigner crystal. To a first approximation, the charge excitations are the phonons in the Wigner crystal, and the spin excitations are described by the Heisenberg model with nearest-neighbor exchange coupling. This model is integrable and thus incapable of describing some important phenomena, such as scattering of excitations off each other and the resulting equilibration of the system. We obtain the leading corrections to this model, including charge-spin coupling and the next-nearest-neighbor exchange in the spin subsystem. We apply the results to the problem of equilibration of the one-dimensional Wigner crystal and find that the leading contribution to the equilibration rate arises from scattering of spin excitations off each other. We discuss the implications of our results for the conductance of quantum wires at low electron densities.