Numerical quasi-conformal transformations for electron dynamics on strained graphene surfaces

Abstract: The dynamics of low energy electrons in general static strained graphene surface is modelled mathematically by the Dirac equation in curved space-time. In Cartesian coordinates, a parametrization of the surface can be straightforwardly obtained, but the resulting Dirac equation is intricate for general surface deformations. Two different strategies are introduced to simplify this problem: the diagonal metric approximation and the change of variables to isothermal coordinates. These coordinates are obtained from quasi-conformal transformations characterized by the Beltrami equation, whose solution gives the mapping between both coordinate systems. To implement this second strategy, a least square finite-element numerical scheme is introduced to solve the Beltrami equation. The Dirac equation is then solved via an accurate pseudo-spectral numerical method in the pseudo-Hermitian representation that is endowed with explicit unitary evolution and conservation of the norm. The two approaches are compared and applied to the scattering of electrons on Gaussian shaped graphene surface deformations. It is demonstrated that electron wave packets can be focused by these local strained regions.