Berry Phase Dynamics of Sliding Electron Crystals

Systems such as Wigner crystals and incommensurate charge density waves that spontaneously break a continuous translation symmetry have unusual transport properties arising from their ability to slide coherently in space. Recent experimental and theoretical studies suggest that spontaneous translation symmetry breaking in some two-dimensional materials with nontrivial quantum geometry (e.g., rhombohedral pentalayer graphene) leads to a topologically nontrivial electron crystal state called the anomalous Hall crystal and characterized by a vanishing linear-response dc longitudinal conductivity and a nonvanishing Hall conductivity. In this work we present a theoretical investigation of the sliding dynamics of this new type of electron crystal, taking into account the system’s nontrivial quantum geometry. We find that when accelerated by an external electric field, the crystal acquires a transverse anomalous velocity that stems from not only the Berry curvature of the parent band but also the Galilean noninvariance of the crystal state (i.e., crystal states with different momenta are not related by simple momentum boosts). We further show that acceleration of the crystal modifies its internal current from the static crystal value that is determined by the Chern number of the crystal state. The net Hall conductance including contributions from center-of-mass motion and internal current is in general not quantized. As an experimentally relevant example, we present numerical results in rhombohedral pentalayer graphene and discuss possible experimental implications.