Topological constraint on crystalline current

Abstract

How much current does a sliding electron crystal carry? The answer to this simple question has important implications for the dynamic properties of the crystal, such as the frequency of its cyclotron motion, and its phonon spectrum. In this work we introduce a precise definition of a sliding crystal and compute the corresponding current $\mathbf{j}_c$ for topological electron crystals in the presence of magnetic field. Our result is fully non-perturbative, does not rely on Galilean invariance, and applies equally to Wigner crystals and (anomalous) Hall crystals. In terms of the electron density $ρ$ and magnetic flux density $φ$, we find that $\mathbf{j}_c = e(ρ-Cφ)\mathbf{v}$. Surprisingly, the current receives a contribution from the many-body Chern number $C$ of the crystal. When $ρ= Cφ$, sliding crystals therefore carry zero current. The crystalline current fixes the Lorentz force felt by the sliding crystal and the dispersion of low-energy phonons of such crystals. This gives us a simple counting rule for the number of gapless phonons: if a sliding crystal carries nonzero current in a magnetic field, there is a single gapless mode, while otherwise there are two gapless modes. This result can also be understood from anomaly-matching of emanant discrete translation symmetries -- an idea that is also applicable to the dispersion of skyrmion crystals. Our results lead to novel experimental implications and invite further conceptual developments for electron crystals.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Demonstration of the crystalline current formula $\boldsymbol{j}_c = e(\rho-C\phi)\boldsymbol{v}$ when the system is Galilean invariant. The crystalline current is generated by a sliding crystal state Eq. (\ref{['eq:sliding_crystal']}). To compute the current carried by the crystal, we first compute the current generated by the electric field $-\boldsymbol{v}\times\boldsymbol{B}$ when the crystal is stationary. Then, we perform a Galilean boost to the system. The Galilean boost generates an electric field that cancels the applied electric field, and the electronic state is exactly given by Eq. (\ref{['eq:sliding_crystal']}). The crystalline current is the sum of the current induced by the electric field and the current generated by the Galilean boost. We show the cases of a full Hall crystal (HC) $\rho = C\phi$ and a Wigner crystal (WC).