We show that the coupling to vibrational degrees of freedom can drive a semimetal excitonic-insulator quantum phase transition in an one-dimensional two-band f-c electron system at zero temperature. The insulating state typifies an excitonic condensate accompanied by a finite lattice distortion. Using the projector-based renormalization method we analyze the ground-state and spectral properties of the interacting electron-phonon model at half-filling. In particular we calculate the momentum dependence of the excitonic order parameter function and determine the finite critical interaction strength for the metal-insulator transition to appear. The electron spectral function reveals the strong hybridization of f- and c-electron states and the opening of a single-particle excitation gap. The phonon spectral function indicates that the phonon mode involved in the transition softens (hardens) in the adiabatic (non-adiabatic and extreme anti-adiabatic) phonon frequency regime.
@article{arxiv.1309.7279,
title = {Exciton condensation due to electron-phonon interaction},
author = {N. V. Phan and K. W. Becker and H. Fehske},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.7279},
year = {2015}
}