Non-Abelian SU(2) gauge fields through density-wave order and strain in graphene

Abstract

Spatially varying strain patterns can qualitatively alter the electronic properties of graphene, acting as effective valley-dependent magnetic fields and giving rise to pseudo-Landau-level (PLL) quantization. Here, we show that the strain-induced magnetic field is one component of an SU(2) non-Abelian gauge field within the low-energy theory of graphene, and identify the other two components as period-3 charge-density waves. We show that these density-waves, if spatially varied, give rise to PLL quantization. We also argue that strain-induced magnetic fields can induce density-wave order in graphene, thus dynamically gapping out the lowest PLL; moreover, the ordering should generically be accompanied by dislocations. We discuss experimental signatures of these effects.

5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (6)

• The electronic properties of graphene
• Multi-Component Quantum Gases in Spin-Dependent Hexagonal Lattices
• Ultracold atomic gases in non-Abelian gauge potentials: The case of constant Wilson loop
• Ultracold atomic gas in non-Abelian "magnetic" fields: the quantum Hall effect supremacy
• SO(3) symmetry between Neel and ferromagnetic order parameters for graphene in a magnetic field
• Pseudo-magnetic catalysis of the time-reversal symmetry breaking in graphene

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Charge instabilities and topological phases in the extended Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice with enlarged unit cell
• Non-abelian gauge fields and quadratic band touchings in molecular graphene
• Stability of edge states in strained graphene