Interplay between many-body correlations, strain, and lattice relaxation in twisted bilayer graphene
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In twisted bilayer graphene, a unified understanding of the mechanisms governing temperature-dependent electronic spectra and thermodynamic properties remains controversial despite extensive theoretical efforts. Here, we present a comprehensive theoretical framework that quantitatively accounts for scanning tunneling spectroscopy, quantum twisting microscopy, and thermodynamic properties of magic angle twisted bilayer graphene. We demonstrate that the observed behavior arises from the interplay between electron correlations and external symmetry breaking induced by strain and lattice relaxation. These effects act cooperatively to shape the emergent electronic behavior, leaving characteristic signatures across spectroscopy, compressibility, and entropy.
DOI: 10.1103/x2mz-hm8y
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: National Science Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Princeton University, European Commission, Science Foundation Ireland, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, European Research Council, Horizon 2020, Office of Naval Research, Division of Materials Research
Awards: G1230266125, G1426273466, G1746067696, G1957822890, G2152757567, Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems Theory Center, G3180218165, EXC 2056: CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter, G3764568615, G4276050791, G4675369358, Korrelierte Quantenphasen und Proximitätseffekte in zweidimensionalen Magneten, G5096419125, Predicting Zero-Magnetic-Field Fractional Topological States in Twisted Graphene Systems, G5947738484, G5974671110, G6180380485, G6536552022, EXC 2147: Komplexität und Topologie in Quantenmaterialien (CT.QMAT), Princeton Center for Complex Materials, G7276484245, G7517071416, FOR 5249: Quantitative räumlichzeitliche Modellierung von Materie mit elektronischen Korrelationen, TRR 288: Elastisches Tuning und elastische Reaktion elektronischer Quantenphasen der Materie (ELASTOQMAT), G8876996369, SPP 2244: 2D Materialien – die Physik von van der Waals [Hetero]Strukturen (2DMP)
OpenAlex ID: W4416255963