Vibraton

Vibraton is a hypothetical quasiparticle representing a quantized vibrational excitation in crystalline lattices, proposed as an extension of the phonon concept to capture high-frequency, strongly nonlinear lattice dynamics. In models where lattice units include nonlinear resonators or engineered metamaterial elements, vibratons arise as collective excitations that carry energy and momentum without a fixed particle counterpart.

Unlike phonons, which are well-established in harmonic or weakly anharmonic lattices, vibratons are predicted to appear in systems with significant anharmonicity or tailored coupling between unit cells. They are typically described as bosonic quasiparticles with a dispersion relation ω(k) that can depend strongly on lattice geometry and on resonator parameters. Group velocity, lifetimes, and interaction with electrons or magnons depend on the specific material and drive conditions.

Experimental evidence for vibratons remains indirect. Some inelastic scattering and spectroscopic data in highly engineered nanostructures have been interpreted as signatures compatible with vibrational modes beyond standard phonons, but attribution is controversial and no unambiguous observation has been reported.

Possible implications include new channels for thermal transport, especially at nanoscale where nonlinearities dominate, and the manipulation of vibrational energy for information processing or energy harvesting in metamaterials. If realized, vibratons would complement phonons by capturing nonlinear and localized vibrational dynamics.

See also: phonon, quasiparticle, lattice dynamics, metamaterial, nonlinear phononics.