When electrons are interacting strongly, they can form a strongly-correlated phase. A classic example is the Wigner crystal phase, where electrostatic energy localizes electrons into a crystalline lattice.

In this work, we propose a topological variant of the Wigner crystal, which we dub an Anomalous Hall Crystal (AHC). The AHC has nonzero Chern number, distinguishing it from classical Wigner crystals.

We first use mean-field Hartree-Fock calculation to show that the AHC phase can be stable in rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, which has recently been shown to host integer/fractional Chern insulators.

Next, we consider a generalization of the two dimensional electron gas, which we dub “lambda-jellium”, and show its Hartree-Fock phase diagram hosts a stable AHC phase. These two findings confirm the important role played by nontrivial band geometry in stabilizing the novel AHC phase.

In the final part of the talk, I will discuss the phonon dynamics of the AHC phase, both with and without magnetic field, and show how it can be extracted from numerics.

Here’s the link for registration.