Shaping Maximally Localized Wannier Functions via Discrete Adiabatic Transport

Abstract

Maximally localized Wannier functions (MLWFs) are conventionally constructed by iteratively minimizing a spread functional over a high-dimensional gauge landscape. In this work, we present a non-variational constructive algorithm that unifies gauge smoothing and the eigenvalue problem of the projected position operator into a single deterministic framework. We demonstrate that discrete adiabatic transport across band degeneracies emerges naturally as an integral part of the solution procedure for the position eigenvectors. In this transport-aligned gauge, the Bloch overlaps exhibit an approximately linear phase dependence, allowing the Wannier centers to be extracted via deterministic fixed-point iterations and self-consistent updates rather than spread-functional minimization. Benchmark calculations for one- and two-dimensional systems yield spreads and orbital shapes in good agreement with standard minimization schemes. Furthermore, this analytical approach transparently isolates the physical origin of the $\mathcal{O}(L)$ mesh-dependent spread scaling ($L$ being the boundary seam resolution) observed in graphene, demonstrating that it is an intrinsic geometric manifestation of non-commuting projected position operators forcing finite gauge defects to accumulate along a one-dimensional boundary seam.