Long-living excited states of a 2D diamagnetic exciton
Hydrogenic excited states of a 2D exciton are degenerate. In the presence of a weak magnetic field, the -states with a zero momentum of the center of mass get coupled to the -states with finite momentum of the center of mass. This field-induced coupling leads to a strong modification of the dispersion branches of the exciton spectrum. Namely, the lower branch acquires a shape of a “mexican hat” with a minimum at a finite momentum. At certain magnetic field, exciton branches exhibit a linear crossing, similarly to the spectrum of a 2D electron in the presence of spin–orbit coupling. While spin is not involved, degenerate and states play the role of the spin projections. Lifting of degeneracy due to diamagnetic shifts and deviation of electron–hole attraction from purely Coulomb suppresses the linear crossing.