Zero-energy states in corrugated bilayer graphene

Abstract

Anomalous quantum Hall effects in single-layer and bilayer graphene are related with nontrivial topological properties of electron states (Berry phases $π$ and 2$π$, respectively). It was known that the Atiyah-Singer index theorem guarantees, for the case of the single-layer, existence of zero-energy states for the case of inhomogeneous magnetic fields assuming that the total flux is non-zero. This leads, in particular, to appearance of midgap states in corrugated graphene and topologically protects zero-energy Landau level in corrugated single-layer graphene. Here we apply this theorem to the case of bilayer graphene and prove the existence of zero-energy modes for this case.

minor changes (misprints are fixed, a bit more explanations in the mathematical part are added)