Geometric phases in graphitic cones

• Published in: Physics letters. A Vol. 372; no. 32; pp. 5368 - 5371
• Main Authors: Furtado, Claudio, Moraes, Fernando, de M. Carvalho, A.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 04-08-2008
• Subjects: Geometric phases; Graphene; Topological defects; 73.50.Jt; Graphene; 73.20.Dx; Topological defects; 73.61.Wp; Geometric phases
• ISSN: 0375-9601; 1873-2429
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2008.06.029

In this Letter we use a geometric approach to study geometric phases in graphitic cones. The spinor that describes the low energy states near the Fermi energy acquires a phase when transported around the apex of the cone, as found by a holonomy transformation. This topological result can be viewed as an analogue of the Aharonov–Bohm effect. The topological analysis is extended to a system with
n cones, whose resulting configuration is described by an effective defect.