title: From aromaticity to self-organized criticality in graphene.
abstract: The unique properties of graphene are rooted in its peculiar electronic structure where effects of electron delocalization are pivotal. We show that the traditional view of delocalization as formation of a local or global aromatic bonding framework has to be expanded in this case. A modification of the π-electron system of a finite-size graphene substrate results in a scale-invariant response in the relaxation of interatomic distances and reveals self-organized criticality as a mode of delocalized bonding. Graphene is shown to belong to a diverse class of finite-size extended systems with simple local interactions where complexity emerges spontaneously under very general conditions that can be a critical factor controlling observable properties such as chemical activity, electron transport, and spin-polarization.
authors.affiliation: Kenneth S. Pitzer Center for Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1460, USA.
authors.forename: Dmitry Yu
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Zubarev
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frenklach
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Lester