Crowdion dynamics in a nonuniformly deformed three-dimensional crystal

The problem of crowdion motion is formulated and analyzed as a dynamical problem of a three-dimensional crystal lattice formed by atoms of several kinds, which interact with each other by means of short-range pair potentials. It is explained that in order for the the crowdion excitations of the close-packed atomic rows to be distinguishable against the background of small dynamic deformations of the crystal as a whole, the microscopic parameters of the crystal structure must meet certain stated requirements. The equation of motion of a crowdion in an arbitrary elastic strain field of the crystal is derived in the Lagrangian formalism. Expressions are obtained which relate the effective mass and the rest energy of a crowdion with the geometric and force parameters of the crystal lattice. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-777X(00)00503-X].