Statistical topology of perturbed two-dimensional lattices

Abstract

The Voronoi cell of any atom in a lattice is identical. If atoms are perturbed from their lattice coordinates, then the topologies of the Voronoi cells of the atoms will change. We consider the distribution of Voronoi cell topologies in two-dimensional perturbed systems. These systems can be thought of as simple models of finite-temperature crystals. We give analytical results for the distribution of Voronoi topologies of points in two-dimensional Bravais lattices under infinitesimal perturbations and present a discussion with numerical results for finite perturbations.