Stability of bipolarons in the presence of a magnetic field

The stability of large Fröhlich bipolarons in the presence of a static magnetic field is investigated with the path integral formalism. We find that the application of a magnetic field (characterized by the cyclotron frequence ω _c) favors bipolaron formation: (i) the critical electronphonon coupling parameter α _c (above which the bipolaron is stable) decreases with increasing ω _c and (ii) the critical Coulomb repulsion strength U _c (below which the bipolaron is stable) increases with increasing ω _c. The binding energy and the corresponding variational parameters are calculated as a function of α, U and ω _c. Analytical results are obtained in various limiting cases. In the limit of strong electron-phonon coupling (α ? 1) we obtain for ω _c ? 1 that E _estim ? E _estim(ω _c = 0) + c(u)ω _c/α ⁴ with c(u) an explicitly calculated constant, dependent on the ratio u = U/α where U is the strength of the Coulomb repulsion. This relation applies both in 2D and in 3D, but with a different expression for c(u). For ω _c ? α ²? 1 we find in 3D E _estim ? ω _c - α ² A(u) ln²(ω _c/α ²), (also with an explicit analytical expression for A(u)) whereas in 2D E _estim ^2D ? ω _c - α√ω _cπ(u-2-√2)/2. The validity region of the Feynman-Jensen inequality for the present problem, bipolarons in a magnetic field, remains to be examined.