Quench dynamics in higher-dimensional Holstein models: Insights from truncated Wigner approaches
Abstract
Charge-density wave phases in quantum materials stem from the complex interplay of electronic and lattice degrees of freedom. Nowadays, various time-resolved spectroscopy techniques allow to actively manipulate such phases and monitor their dynamics in real time. Modeling such nonequilibrium dynamics theoretically is a great challenge and exact methods can usually only treat a small number of atoms and finitely many phonons. We approach the melting of charge-density waves in a Holstein model after a sudden switch-on of the electronic hopping from two perspectives. We prove that in the noninteracting and in the strong-coupling limit, the CDW order parameter on high-dimensional hypercubic lattices obeys a factorization relation for long times, such that its dynamics can be reduced to the one-dimensional case. Secondly, we present numerical results from semiclassical techniques based on the truncated Wigner approximation for two spatial dimensions. A comparison with exact data obtained for a Holstein chain shows that a semiclassical treatment of both the electrons and phonons is required in order to correctly describe the phononic dynamics. This is confirmed, in addition, for a quench in the electron-phonon coupling strength.
- Publication:
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Physical Review B
- Pub Date:
- May 2024
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.174303
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2312.12291
- Bibcode:
- 2024PhRvB.109q4303P
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons;
- Quantum Physics
- E-Print:
- Figure data is attached