Topological transitions and fractional charges induced by strain and magnetic field in carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We show that carbon nanotubes (CNT) can be driven through a topological phase transition using either strain or a magnetic field. This can naturally lead to Jackiw-Rebbi soliton states carrying fractionalized charges, similar to those found in a domain wall in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, in a setup with a spatially inhomogeneous strain and an axial field. Two types of fractionalized states can be formed at the interface between regions with different strain: a spin-charge separated state with integer charge and spin zero (or zero charge and spin $\pm \hbar/2$), and a state with charge $\pm e/2$ and spin $\pm \hbar/4$. The latter state requires spin-orbit coupling in the CNT. We show that in our setup, the precise quantization of the fractionalized interface charges is a consequence of the symmetry of the CNT under a combination of a spatial rotation by $\pi$ and time reversal. Finally, we comment on the effects of many-body interaction on this phenomena.