The creation of supra-thermal densities of high-energy phonons in He II

We report the new phenomenon that high-energy phonons can be created from low-energy phonons. This arises because the dynamics of phonons in propagating pulses are quite different to those in isotropic phonon distributions. A pulse of low-energy phonons rapidly thermalises by three-phonon processes. On a much longer time scale four-phonon processes occur within this phonon cloud which create high-energy (10 K) phonons that cannot spontaneously decay. These phonons have a lower velocity and so are lost from the back of phonon cloud; their deficit is restored continuously by four-phonon processes. These now isolated high-energy phonons are very stable and propagate ballistically behind the low-energy phonons, so giving the two pulses which are detected in experiments. For long pulses the high-energy phonons may also decay within the cloud, however the available low-energy phonons for scattering are confined to a narrow-angle cone, so the decay probability is very low because the four phonon process requires large angle scattering. A supra-thermal density of these high-energy phonons is predicted.     

Non-equilibrium approach to transport phenomena in quantum crystals

A pure dielectric quantum crystal subjected to an external mechanical force is described by non-equilibrium Green’s functions. In equilibrium the leading approximation leads to the definition of elementary excitations, the phonons in the renormalized harmonic approximation. Their temperature dependent energies are to be determined as solutions of an integral equation. For hydrodynamic disturbances a generalized transport equation for a phonon number density is derived. A similar approximation for the spectral function yields an integral equation for space and time dependent quasiparticle energies which are expressed as functionals of the displacement field and the phonon distribution. The Boltzmann equation for the latter includes the quasi-particle interaction.     

Coupling of electrons and phonons in a doped antiferromagnet

It is well-known that low-energy electronic excitations in high-T _c superconductors have energies of the order of the exchange couplingJ, i.e. of the same order as the phonon energies. Therefore, low-energy electronic excitations and phonons should strongly influence each other. To investigate this problem we consider a coupled electron-phonon system. For the electronic degrees of freedom we start from the three band Hubbard or Emery model. In analogy to the transformation of the three band Hubbard model to thet?J model, studied by Zhang and Rice, we derive an effective electron-phonon interaction. Its electronic degrees of freedom are those of thet?J model which couple to the phonons of the original system. The coupling of electrons and phonons is discussed by means of the phonon Green function for a breathing-like mode.     

Thermodynamics of phonon-stabilized Fermi distributions with application to uranium

Since phonons are built on the free energy of electrons, their frequencies can be altered by thermal electronic excitations, implying that thermal electronic excitations can alter the phonon entropy. The effect of this extra phonon entropy on electronic distribution functions and thermodynamic properties is calculated in the limit of classical vibrations. The phonon entropy stabilizes electrons above the Fermi level by more than the usual k _B T. The thermodynamic coupling of electron and phonon degrees of freedom allows far more heat capacity than in equivalent independent systems. The method developed is used to explain uranium data from the literature.     

Effect of phonon decay processes on the formation of a phonon nonequilibrium signal in crystals with two two-level subsystems

The effect of phonon decay on the characteristic propagation time and shape of a phonon nonequilibrium signal in disordered crystals, including crystals containing inelastic phonon scattering centers, is studied theoretically. Attention is focused on slow processes, which are typical of yttrium-aluminum garnet solid solutions and erbium-doped aluminates. It is shown that the temperature dependence of the arrival time of a phonon nonequilibrium signal in these systems can be governed, to a considerable extent, by phonon-phonon interactions. The results of the theoretical studies are compared with experimental data on the propagation of weakly nonequilibrium thermal phonons in solid solutions of rare-earth yttrium-aluminum garnets and aluminates.     

Phonons and electrons at metal surfaces

Some aspects of the coupling between phonons and electrons and the interaction between electrons at metal surfaces are reviewed. Surface science techniques as diverse as electron energy loss spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunnelling microscopy are employed to study these interactions. Electron–phonon and electron–electron coupling are discussed in terms of renormalized phonon dispersion relations, and increased decay rates of electronic excitations. PACS 63.20.Kr; 68.35.Ja; 68.37.Ef; 68.43.Pq; 72.10.Fk; 72.15.Qm; 73.20.At     

Quantum tunneling of light particles in metals

The motion of a particle in a metallic crystal is studied for low temperatures where transitions between adjacent interstitial sites are caused by quantum tunneling. The influence of electrons and phonons on the hopping rate is taken into account by means of a functional integral method. The electronic influence may effectively be described by Ohmic damping which dominates the low temperature behavior of the defect motion. When subsequent tunneling transitions are statistically independent, the diffusion constant is found to obey a power law, D∼T^2K−1, where K depends on the defect-electron interaction. This power law is limited at low temperatures by the effects of phonon excitations. Near the transition between electron and phonon dominated behavior the diffusion constant has a minimum where the precise temperature dependence of the rate depends not only on phonon spectra but also on the processes limiting phonon lifetimes.     

Phonon contribution to wetting phenomena: macroscopic theory

We present a macroscopic treatment that clarifies the role of phonons in the wetting of a solid by an ideal liquid, such as liquid ⁴He. We show that in the equation for the wetting temperature the phonon contribution cancels exactly. Therefore, a pure phonon mechanism always results in wetting, and other mechanisms determine whether wetting or non-wetting occurs. The importance of ripplon excitations for the wetting phenomenon is discussed.     

Magnetic moment of phonons in graphene induced by a magnetic field

A magnetic field not only changes the electronic structure in graphene but also affects the phonon excitations via the electron-phonon interaction and even enables the phonons to generate magnetism. In this paper, we evaluate the magnetic moment of phonons in graphene using a generating-functional technique. The calculation results indicate that the phonon magnetic moment exists only in a weak magnetic field. The step-like change of the magnetic moment with the magnetic field reflects a macroscopic quantum effect.     

声子和温度对球型量子点中极化子性质的影响

采用求解能量本征方程、幺正变换及变分相结合的方法,研究声子和温度对球型量子点中极化子性质的影响.数值计算表明,声子效应导致极化子的基态能量低于电子能量,且极化子基态能量随电子-声子耦合强度的增大而降低.数值计算还表明,当温度较低,使得电子热运动能量小于声子能量时,声子不会被激发,极化子的基态能量不随温度的变化而变化;在温度较高,使得电子热运动能量大于声子能量时,电子和晶格热运动加剧,更多的声子被激发.极化子的基态能量随温度的升高而增大.     

Feshbach-Villars perturbation theory for pionic atom problems

It is shown that the commutation relations between the quasiparticles forming phonons can correctly be taken into account within the quasiparticle-phonon nuclear model. The doubly-even deformed nuclei with the isoscalar and isovector multipole-multipole forces are studied. The exact and approximate secular equations are derived. It is shown that the two-phonon poles in the secular equation are shifted due to the Pauli principle. These shifts are large for the two identical collective phonons. In some cases pronounced shifts are found for the poles composed of a low-lying collective phonon and a collective phonon forming the giant resonance. In other cases the shifts are not large, as a rule.     

声子和温度对球型量子点中极化子性质的影响

采用求解能量本征方程、幺正变换及变分相结合的方法,研究声子和温度对球型量子点中极化子性质的影响。数值计算表明,声子效应导致极化子的基态能量低于电子能量,且极化子基态能量随电子—声子耦合强度的增大而降低。数值计算还表明,温度较低时,声子不会被激发,极化子的基态能量不随温度而变;温度较高时,声子会被激发,导致极化子能量随温度升高而增大。     

Studies of high-temperature electron–phonon interactions with inelastic neutron scattering and first-principles computations

Several recent studies of phonons combining inelastic neutron scattering and first-principles calculations are summarized. Inelastic neutron scattering was used to measure the phonon densities of states of the A15 compounds V₃Si, V₃Ge, and V₃Co at temperatures from 10 K to 1273 K. It was found that phonons in V₃Si and V₃Ge, which are superconducting at low temperatures, exhibit an anomalous stiffening with increasing temperature, whereas phonons in V₃Co have a normal softening behavior. Additional measurements of the phonon DOS of BCC V alloys were performed, and it was found that a stiffening anomaly present in pure V is suppressed upon introduction of extra d-electrons by alloying. First-principles calculations of the electronic and phonon densities of states show that in both these systems, the anomalous phonon stiffening originates with an adiabatic electron–phonon coupling mechanism. The anomaly is caused by the thermally-induced broadening of sharp peaks in the electronic density of states, which tends to decrease the electronic density at the Fermi level. These results illustrate how the combined use of first-principles calculations and inelastic neutron scattering provides powerful insights into couplings of excitations in condensed-matter.     

Unconventional quasiparticle lifetime in graphene

We address the question of how large can the lifetime of electronic states be at low energies in graphene, below the scale of the optical phonon modes. For this purpose, we study the many-body effects at the K point of the spectrum, which induce a strong coupling between electron-hole pairs and out-of-plane phonons. We show the existence of a soft branch of hybrid states below the electron-hole continuum when graphene is close to the charge neutrality point, leading to an inverse lifetime proportional to the cube of the quasiparticle energy. This implies that a crossover should be observed in transport properties, from such a slow decay rate to the lower bound given at very low energies by the decay into acoustic phonons.     

Final-state-interactions in the infrared absorption of doped semiconductors

We calculate the profile of the infrared inter-valence-band absorption in p-doped non-polar semiconductor as modified by the final-state interaction of electronic excitations with optical phonons. The absorption coefficient vanishes at a light frequency equal to the frequency of the non-polar optical vibrations. The spectrum is asymmetric with respect to the absorption minimum. We show that the type of asymmetry depends on the position of the optical phonon energy relative to the electronic continuum. The results are compared to available data for p-doped Si.     

Entanglement of electronic states of impurities in a nanocrystal

It is shown that the dynamics of electronic states of impurities in a nanocrystal embedded in a bulk matrix can be described with the help of the model of a single-mode microcavity with quasi-resonant atoms and losses at the mirrors. In the proposed model, the dynamics of impurities is similar to the collective decay of atoms in a common bath. In the case of a nanocrystal, matrix phonons represent this bath. Impurities interact with the localized phonon mode of the nanocrystal owing to the electron-phonon interaction. The localized phonon mode is coupled with bath phonons at the nanocrystal boundary. In the dispersive limit, the standard model of collective relaxation appears, within the framework of which, different types of many-particle entangled electronic states of impurities are described. In the case of exact resonance, similar entangled states also appear, which are discussed for two impurities in a nanocrystal.     

Theoretical investigation of hot electron cooling process in GaAs/AlAs cylindrical quantum wire under the influence of an intense electromagnetic wave

Hot electrons cooling by phonons in GaAs/AlAs cylindrical quantum wire (CQW), under the influence of an intense electromagnetic wave (EMW), is studied theoretically. Analytic expression for the electron cooling power (CP) is derived from the quantum transport equation for phonons, using the Hamiltonian of interacting electron–optical phonon system. Both photon absorption and emission processes are considered. Numerical results show that the CP reaches maximum when the energy difference between electronic subbands equals the energy of an optical phonon plus the photon energy. Under the influence of the EMW, the negative CP is observed showing that electrons gain energy from phonon and photon instead of losing their energy. Also, the CP increases with increasing the EMW amplitude. Our results theoretically clarify the mechanism of the electron cooling process by phonons in the GaAs/AlAs CQW under the EMW, which is of significance for designing and fabricating high-speed nanoelectronic devices based on this material.     

In-plane conductivity of a layered large-bipolaron liquid

Distinctive normal-state properties of cuprate superconductors follow from their charge carriers forming a large-bipolaron liquid. The very weak scattering of the liquid’s slow-moving heavy-massed excitations by acoustic phonons yields a scattering rate that is less than the Debye frequency. The liquid’s moderate mobility, >1 cm²/V-sec at 300 K, results from its weak scattering compensating for its large mass. In resolution of a long-standing dilemma, the dc resistivity resulting from scattering by long-wavelength phonons remains nearly proportional to temperature to well below the Debye temperature. Above the Debye frequency, the frequency-dependent conductivity is dominated by excitation and photo-ionization of the liquid’s self-trapped electronic carriers. Below the Debye frequency, the frequency-dependent conductivity is dominated by the liquid’s Drude-like collective motion. The ‘gap’ between these two domains sharpens with decreasing temperature as phonon scattering of the liquid’s collective excitations diminishes. The high-frequency electronic excitations survive in the superconducting state.     

Phonon focussing patterns: Calculation of response of finite area detectors to pulsed ballistic beams of dispersive and dispersionless phonons

The phonon images of crystals are described in the frame of the Boltzmann kinetic equation. Monochromatic heat pulses of the dispersive and dispersionless acoustic phonons are considered. Exact expressions for the energy and quasimomentum carried by a pulsed beam of monochromatic dispersionless acoustic phonons falling onto a detector of the finite area are derived. These formulae provide us with a convenient starting point for numerical calculations of phonon images. For the example of long wave-length acoustic phonons and a point as well as extended sources, an algorithm for numerical calculations of phonon images of anisotropic crystalline media is presented. However, it is quite general and can be easily adapted for dispersive phonons and to quasiparticles with an arbitrary dispersion low.