RQMP Research Seminar

Topology in heritage: influence of the electronic Berry phase in lattice vibrations

Ion Garate

Département de physique
Université de Sherbrooke

In 1983, Michael Berry discovered that a quantum system adiabatically transported along a closed path in the space of external parameters acquires, besides the usual dynamical phase, an additional phase that depends only on the geometry of the path. Since its discovery, the Berryphase has found applications on numerous branches of physics. In condensed matter physics, the Berry phase of electrons leads to a number of remarkable electronic effects, which have been thoroughly investigated. In comparison, the impact of the electronic Berry phase on nonelectronic quasiparticles has remained largely unexplored. In this talk, I will present examples of potentially interesting phonon effects that originate from the Berry phase of electrons.