Abstract
We show that the Peierls instability can result in softening of acoustic phonons with small wave vectors and suggest that this unusual transition takes place in carbon nanotubes, resulting in a static twist deformation of the nanotube lattice. The topological excitations in the ordered phase are immobile and propagate only in pairs.
- Received 5 September 2000
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4572
©2001 American Physical Society