Emergent long-lived Zitterbewegung in Su–Schrieffer–Heeger lattice with third-nearest-neighbor hopping

Abstract

We investigate the wavepacket dynamics of quasiparticles in a Su–Schrieffer–Heeger lattice with third-nearest-neighbor hopping. The results reveal that the life-span of Zitterbewegung can be prolonged. To better understand the mechanism, we discuss the band structure and the long-time average of inverse participation rate. The results show that the band structure can be effectively manipulated as a quasi-flat band by introducing the third-nearest-neighbor hopping. This, as a unique advantage over the standard Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model, will bring about restrained diffusion of the wavepacket as well as dramatically stretched life-span of Zitterbewegung, thus will promise wide applications in condensed matter physics.