Quantum dissociation of an edge of a Luttinger liquid

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum fluctuations cause the edge of a one-dimensional Luttinger liquid to dissociate before the bulk, revealing a quantum surface melting phenomenon driven by zero-point motion.

Contribution

It introduces a model analyzing the quantum dissociation of a Luttinger liquid edge using Morse interactions and identifies the edge instability at lower quantum fluctuation levels than the bulk.

Findings

Edge dissociation occurs at lower De Boer's number than bulk instability.

Quantum fluctuations induce surface melting in a Luttinger liquid.

Edge instability precedes bulk dissociation in quantum regimes.

Abstract

In a Luttinger liquid phase of one-dimensional molecular matter the strength of zero-point motion can be characterized by dimensionless De Boer's number quantifying the interplay of quantum fluctuations and two-body interactions. Selecting the latter in the Morse form we show that dissociation of the Luttinger liquid is a process initiated at the system edge. The latter becomes unstable against quantum fluctuations at a value of De Boer's number which is smaller than that of the bulk instability which parallels the classical phenomenon of surface melting.