Phasons and excitations in skyrmion lattice

Abstract: Excitations of two-dimensional skyrmion lattice are theoretically studied based on a collective coordinate description. Starting from the representation of skyrmion lattice in terms of three helices, we identify the canonical coordinates describing low energy excitations as phasons. The phason excitation spectra turn out to have one gapless mode with a quadratic dispersion and one massive mode, in agreement with previous studies. We will show that there is another collective mode governing the topological nature and the stability of skyrmion lattice and that the fluctuation of this mode leads to a screening of the topological charge of the lattice. Experimental implications of the screening effect in microwave absorption, topological Hall effect and depinning threshold current in metals are discussed.