Coupled phonon-ripplon modes in a single wire of electrons on the liquid-helium surface

TL;DR

This paper investigates the coupled phonon-ripplon modes in a quasi-one-dimensional electron wire on liquid helium, revealing mode splitting, threshold frequencies, and effective masses, with implications for observing phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of mode splitting and threshold frequencies in electron-ripplon systems, advancing understanding of collective excitations in low-dimensional electron liquids.

Findings

Mode splitting into low- and high-frequency modes due to electron-ripplon coupling

Estimation of effective masses for low-frequency modes

Calculation of threshold frequencies for mode excitation

Abstract

The coupled phonon-ripplon modes of the quasi-one-dimensional electron chain on the liquid helium sutface are studied. It is shown that the electron-ripplon coupling leads to the splitting of the collective modes of the wire with the appearance of low-frequency modes and high-frequency optical modes starting from threshold frequencies. The effective masses of an electron plus the associated dimple for low frequency modes are estimated and the values of the threshold frequencies are calculated. The results obtained can be used in experimental attempts to observe the phase transition of the electron wire into a quasi-ordered phase.