Motion of Charged Soliton in Polyacetylene Due to Electric Field

Abstract

Real time dynamics of a moving charged soliton in polyacetylene is studied numerically by using Su-Schrieffer-Heeger’s model. An electric field is introduced to the system through a time dependent vector potential which can be included into the Hamiltonian through the Peierls substitution of the phase factor to the transfer integral. Several interesting properties of the moving soliton are obtained, e.g., the Brownian-like motion of the soliton due to the soliton-phonon interaction, the saturation of the soliton velocity, the saturation velocity being independent of the applied electric field strength, while the time needed to attain the saturation velocity is, roughly speaking, linearly dependent on the logarithm of the applied field.