Curvature Converts Phonon Hall Viscosity into Phonon Angular Momentum

Abstract

In a flat crystalline membrane, the low-energy spectrum is dominated by a flexural mode that does not couple to phonon Hall viscosity. We show that static curvature converts normal motion into in-plane strain and thereby opens a Hall-active flexural channel. Tracefree curvature couples directly to Hall-active shear, while mean curvature acts indirectly through the shear generated by ordinary in-plane elasticity. Together, these channels generate in-plane phonon angular momentum along the surface normal. For statistically isotropic shallow ripples, the time average has a definite sign fixed by the Hall viscosity, producing a steady field-odd torque proportional to the mean-square curvature. Using the measured bulk Hall viscosity of $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ to set the scale, we estimate a torque of order $10^{-22}\,\mathrm{N\,m}$ for a few-layer membrane, within reach of demonstrated torsional sensors. The same flexural-to-shear response provides a probe of phonon Hall viscosity in atomically thin crystals.