Emergent gauge fields from curvature in single layers of transition-metal dichalcogenides

Abstract: We analyze the electron dynamics in corrugated layers of transition-metal dichalcogenides. Due to the strong spin-orbit coupling, the intrinsic (Gaussian) curvature leads to an emergent gauge field associated with the Berry connection of the spinor wave function. We discuss the gauge field created by topological defects of the lattice, namely, tetragonal/octogonal disclinations and edge dislocations. Ripples and topological disorder induce the same dephasing effects as a random magnetic field, suppressing the weak localization effects. This geometric magnetic field can be detected in a Aharonov-Bohm interferometry experiment by measuring the local density of states in the vicinity of corrugations.