Anharmonic dephasing in the electron-phonon interaction
Abstract
Electron-phonon coupling has been a central topic in condensed matter physics for decades, and firstprinciples methods have demonstrated remarkable success in quantitatively capturing its role in a wide variety of physical phenomena and materials. Conventional calculations of electron-phonon coupling typically assume that phonons have infinite lifetimes, but phonons can exhibit finite lifetimes due to anharmonic phonon-phonon interactions. In this work, we derive an expression for the electron-phonon coupling scattering rates including the effects of anharmonic three-phonon interactions, which lead to phonon dephasing and finite phonon lifetimes. We also describe a first-principles implementation of this anharmonic electron-phonon coupling which can be seamlessly integrated within existing workflows for the evaluation of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon coupling interactions. Finally, we present calculations of electron-phonon scattering rates including phonon dephasing in a range of materials, and discuss the different microscopic mechanisms by which anharmonic phonons influence electron-phonon coupling. This study establishes the importance of finite phonon lifetimes in the evaluation of electron-phonon coupling, and provides a platform to explore these effects in a wide range of materials and phenomena.
Versions
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{kong2026anharmonic,
title = {{Anharmonic dephasing in the electron-phonon interaction}},
author = {Mingran Kong and Bartomeu Monserrat},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.09039},
eprint = {2608.09039},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09039},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Anharmonic dephasing in the electron-phonon interaction
AU - Mingran Kong
AU - Bartomeu Monserrat
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.09039
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09039
AB - Electron-phonon coupling has been a central topic in condensed matter physics for decades, and firstprinciples methods have demonstrated remarkable success in quantitatively capturing its role in a wide variety of physical phenomena and materials. Conventional calculations of electron-phonon coupling typically assume that phonons have infinite lifetimes, but phonons can exhibit finite lifetimes due to anharmonic phonon-phonon interactions. In this work, we derive an expression for the electron-phonon coupling scattering rates including the effects of anharmonic three-phonon interactions, which lead to phonon dephasing and finite phonon lifetimes. We also describe a first-principles implementation of this anharmonic electron-phonon coupling which can be seamlessly integrated within existing workflows for the evaluation of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon coupling interactions. Finally, we present calculations of electron-phonon scattering rates including phonon dephasing in a range of materials, and discuss the different microscopic mechanisms by which anharmonic phonons influence electron-phonon coupling. This study establishes the importance of finite phonon lifetimes in the evaluation of electron-phonon coupling, and provides a platform to explore these effects in a wide range of materials and phenomena.
ER -