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Curvature Converts Phonon Hall Viscosity into Phonon Angular Momentum

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2026-07-16 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

In a flat crystalline membrane, the low-energy spectrum is dominated by a flexural mode that does not couple to phonon Hall viscosity. We show that static curvature converts normal motion into in-plane strain and thereby opens a Hall-active flexural channel. Tracefree curvature couples directly to Hall-active shear, while mean curvature acts indirectly through the shear generated by ordinary in-plane elasticity. Together, these channels generate in-plane phonon angular momentum along the surface normal. For statistically isotropic shallow ripples, the time average has a definite sign fixed by the Hall viscosity, producing a steady field-odd torque proportional to the mean-square curvature. Using the measured bulk Hall viscosity of α\alpha-RuCl3_3 to set the scale, we estimate a torque of order 1022Nm10^{-22}\,\mathrm{N\,m} for a few-layer membrane, within reach of demonstrated torsional sensors. The same flexural-to-shear response provides a probe of phonon Hall viscosity in atomically thin crystals.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.14868,
  title  = {Curvature Converts Phonon Hall Viscosity into Phonon Angular Momentum},
  author = {Pablo A. Morales},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.14868},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

12 pages, 1 figure