Topological polarization in disordered systems

Abstract

Deformations in piezoelectric materials lead to conduction effects, which are due to two contributions: the relative displacements of the ionic cores, and the so-called orbital polarization. This work is devoted to the rigorous derivation of the celebrated King-Smith and Vanderbilt formula for orbital polarization in a generalized setting that includes continuous random systems among others.

22 pages. Keywords: Piezoelectricity, orbital polarization, King-Smith and Vanderbilt formula