2015/09/11 by Alessandro Stroppa, Paolo Barone, Stroppa, Alessandro +10
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Molecular spectroscopy and chirality #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1509.03423
Text revised
openalex publication_date 2015/09/11 · arxiv created 2015/10/12 · arxiv updated 2015/10/13 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In developing physical theories analogical reasoning has been found to be very powerful, as attested by a number of important historical examples. An analogy between two apparently different phenomena, once established, allows one to transfer information and bring new concepts from one phenomenon to the other. Here we discuss an important analogy between two widely different physical problems, namely, the Jahn-Teller distortion in molecular physics and the Rashba spin splitting in condensed matter physics. By exploring their conceptual and mathematical features and by searching for the counterparts between them, we examine the orbital texture in Jahn-Teller systems, as the counterpart of the spin texture of the Rashba physics, and put forward a possible way of experimentally detecting the orbital texture. Finally, we discuss the analogy by comparing the coexistence of linear Rashba+Dresselhaus effects and Jahn-Teller problems for specific symmetries, which allow for non-trivial spin and orbital textures, respectively.