Lobachevsky crystallography made real through carbon pseudospheres

J Phys Condens Matter. 2016 Apr 6;28(13):13LT01. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/28/13/13LT01. Epub 2016 Mar 4.

Abstract

We realize Lobachevsky geometry in a simulation lab, by producing a carbon-based energetically stable molecular structure, arranged in the shape of a Beltrami pseudosphere. We find that this structure: (i) corresponds to a non-Euclidean crystallographic group, namely a loxodromic subgroup of SL(2, Z); (ii) has an unavoidable singular boundary, that we fully take into account. Our approach, substantiated by extensive numerical simulations of Beltrami pseudospheres of different size, might be applied to other surfaces of constant negative Gaussian curvature, and points to a general procedure to generate them. Our results also pave the way to test certain scenarios of the physics of curved spacetimes owing to graphene's unique properties.

Publication types

  • Letter
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't