- Access by Xinjiang University
Tunable bands in one-dimensional fractional quantum media
Phys. Rev. E 114, 014106 – Published 6 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yrtd-m3tt
Abstract
Fractional calculus has become an essential framework in geophysics, optics, and biological systems to capture long-range correlations and anomalous transport. In this article, we extend the success of fractional calculus in physical models to explore a particle in a periodic potential, where the Schrödinger equation is extended to its fractional form. This framework enables us to study how the Lévy index governs the formation and inversion of energy bands, offering a pathway to engineer new physical behaviors and device functionalities by tuning in periodic quantum systems. We solve the fractional Schrödinger equation for periodic rectangular potentials of varying height , barrier thickness , and well width using an imaginary-time evolution algorithm, and supplement the discrete energy dispersion through Gaussian process regression. This analysis reveals a qualitative shift in the system's band structure at , separating into distinct regimes of dispersion that define behavior for and . For , the energy bands undergo an inverting transformation as symmetric minima emerge within the first Brillouin zone and shift from toward with increasing . These degenerate minima define a Bloch-momentum qubit, suggesting an analog to valley degrees of freedom used in valleytronics. The at which the inversion completes scales as , and when varying potential parameters individually, indicating a tunable transformation sensitivity to potential geometry. In contrast, for , the ground band hardens around , with a dispersion following the functional form of near . This suggests an effective mass of 0 for at the band's lowest energy state. These results demonstrate that the Lévy index serves as a tunable degree of freedom in quantum periodic systems, capable of driving band inversion, modulating the band gap, and reshaping carrier dynamics through effective-mass control.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (29)
- N. Laskin, Fractional quantum mechanics and Lévy path integrals, Phys. Lett. A 268, 298 (2000).
- N. Laskin, Fractional Quantum Mechanics (World Scientific, Singapore, 2018), p. 23.
- B. Berkowitz, A. Cortis, M. Dentz, and H. Scher, Modeling non-Fickian transport in geological formations as a continuous time random walk, Rev. Geophys. 44, 2005RG000178 (2006).
- S. Longhi, Fractional Schrödinger equation in optics, Opt. Lett. 40, 1117 (2015).
- Y. Zhang, H. Zhong, M. R. Belić, W. Zhong, Y. Zhang, and M. Xiao, Propagation dynamics of a light beam in a fractional Schrödinger equation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 180403 (2015).
- G. M. Viswanathan, S. V. Buldyrev, S. Havlin, M. G. E. da Luz, E. P. Raposo, and H. E. Stanley, Optimizing the success of random searches, Nature (London) 401, 911 (1999).
- D. Brockmann, L. Hufnagel, and T. Geisel, The scaling laws of human travel, Nature (London) 439, 462 (2006).
- P. Barthelemy, J. Bertolotti, and D. S. Wiersma, A Lévy flight for light, Nature (London) 453, 495 (2008).
- J. M. Lewis, M. Singh, and L. D. Carr, Designing Lévy disorder for experiment: From voids to scatterers (unpublished).
- R. P. Feynman and A. R. Hibbs, Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965).
- D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed. (Pearson Prentice Hall, London, 2005).
- A. Caldeira and A. Leggett, Path integral approach to quantum Brownian motion, Physica A 121, 587 (1983).
- V. Zaburdaev, S. Denisov, and J. Klafter, Lévy walks, Rev. Mod. Phys. 87, 483 (2015).
- R. Metzler and J. Klafter, The random walk's guide to anomalous diffusion: A fractional dynamics approach, Phys. Rep. 339, 1 (2000).
- V. I. Tatarskii, The Wigner representation of quantum mechanics, Sov. Phys. Usp. 26, 311 (1983).
- J. M. Lewis, Multiscale quantum mechanics: Fractional derivatives, Levy flights, nonlocal criticality, and material realizations in many-body systems, Ph.D. thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA, 2025.
- C. Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, 8th ed. (Wiley, New York, 2004).
- S. A. Vitale, Valleytronic information processing and applications, 2019 NSF/DOE/AFOSR Quantum Science Summer School (Penn State University, 2019).
- M. Ameri, D. Rached, M. Rabah, R. Khenata, N. Benkhettou, B. Bouhafs, and M. Maachou, Structural and electronic properties calculations of alloy, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 10, 6 (2007).
- Y. Zhang, R. Wang, H. Zhong, J. Zhang, M. R. Belić, and Y. Zhang, Optical Bloch oscillation and Zener tunneling in the fractional Schrödinger equation, Sci. Rep. 7, 17872 (2017).
- Y. Zhang, H. Zhong, M. R. Belić, Y. Zhu, W. Zhong, Y. Zhang, D. N. Christodoulides, and M. Xiao, Pt symmetry in a fractional Schrödinger equation, Laser Photonics Rev. 10, 526 (2016).
- P. R. Stinga, Fractional derivatives: Fourier, elephants, memory effects, viscoelastic materials and anomalous diffusions, Notices Amer. Math. Soc. 70, 576 (2023).
- D. H. McIntyre, Quantum Mechanics a Paradigms Approach (Pearson Addison-Wesley, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2012), Chap. 15, Periodic Systems, p. 469.
- J. M. Lewis and L. D. Carr, Exploring multiscale quantum media: High-precision numerical solution of the fractional Schrödinger equation, eigenfunctions with physical potentials, and fractionally-enhanced quantum tunneling, J. Phys. A 58, 175303 (2025).
- C. Hughes, J. Isaacson, A. Perry, R. F. Sun, and J. Turner, What is a qubit? in Quantum Computing for the Quantum Curious (Springer, Cham, 2021), p. 7.
- C. E. Rasmussen and C. K. I. Williams, Gaussian Processes for Machine Learning (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006).
- S. Sze and K. K. Ng, Physics and properties of semiconductors—a review, in Physics of Semiconductor Devices (Wiley, New York, 2006), Chap. 1, p. 5.
- M. C. Peter Y. Yu, Vibrational properties of semiconductors, and electron-phonon interactions, in Fundamentals of Semiconductors (Springer, Berlin, 2010), p. 107.
- V. Damljanović, Existence of Mexican-hat dispersion and symmetry group of a layer, Physica E 170, 116224 (2025).