Repulsive polarons found

摘要

Polarons are well known in the solid state. For example, when a charge carrier, such as an electron, is placed in a crystal lattice, the surrounding lattice ions are displaced. The electron, together with the surrounding lattice distortion, forms a quasiparticle - a polaron - that has an energy and effective mass quite different from that of a bare electron. Polarons have an important role in a wide range of exotic many-body phenomena in condensed-matter physics, including high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxide compounds and colossal magneto-resistance in rare-earth manganites.