Cooperative Domain-Wall Dynamics in a Two-Dimensional Quasiclassical Holstein Model

Abstract

We investigate charge-density-wave (CDW) coarsening in a two-dimensional quasiclassical Holstein model following thermal quenches into the ordered phase. Although the staggered CDW order parameter is nonconserved, domain-wall motion remains constrained by conservation of the microscopic electronic charge. The simulations exhibit apparent growth exponents between $1/4$ and the Allen--Cahn value $1/2$. These apparent exponents are primarily accounted for by the crossover kinetics $\dot{L}=[D(T)/L][1+L_{\times }^2(T)/L^2]$, where $L_{\times }(T)$ is a temperature-dependent crossover length. At low temperature, nearly binary occupations require compatible wall segments to rearrange cooperatively, producing the $L(t)\sim t^{1/4}$ limit. Thermal broadening creates partially occupied interfacial sites that permit local curvature-driven motion and restore $L(t)\sim t^{1/2}$ at late times. Fits to the measured growth rate, a dimensionless rate collapse, and a long-time large-system simulation consistently support this crossover picture. These results show that a microscopic conservation law can generate long-lived anomalous coarsening even when the emergent order parameter is nonconserved.

13 pages, 8 figures