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    Quantum-Geometry-Enabled Landau-Zener Tunneling in Singular Flat Bands

    Xuanyu Long and Feng Liu*

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA

    • *Contact author: ftiger.liu@utah.edu

    Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 146302 – Published 28 September, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rzdx-3xgj

    Abstract

    Flat-band materials have attracted substantial interest for their intriguing quantum geometric effects. Here we investigate how singular flat bands (SFBs) respond to a static, uniform electric field in the weak-field regime and whether they can support single-particle dc transport. By constructing a minimal two-band lattice model, we show that away from the singular band crossing point (BCP), the Wannier-Stark (WS) spectrum of the flat band is well captured by an intraband Berry phase ΦB. The associated WS eigenstates are exponentially localized along the field direction, precluding dc transport. In contrast, near the BCP the interband Berry connection becomes prominent and drives Landau-Zener tunneling, which bends the flat-band WS ladder and delocalizes the SFB wave functions. Remarkably, this regime is governed solely by the maximal quantum distance d through two geometric phases (θ,φ): θ characterizes the tunneling rate, while φ acts as a generalized Berry phase that reduces to the Berry phase away from the BCP. These results highlight the essential role of quantum geometry in enabling transport signatures in SFBs.

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