We use the continuous-time interaction expansion (CT-INT) quantum Monte Carlo method to calculate the phonon spectral function of the one-dimensional Holstein-Hubbard model at half-filling. Our results are consistent with a soft-mode Peierls transition in the adiabatic regime, and the existence of a central peak related to long-range order in the Peierls phase. We explain a previously observed feature at small momenta in terms of a hybridization of charge and phonon excitations. Tuning the system from a Peierls to a metallic phase with a nonzero Hubbard interaction suppresses the central peak, but a significant renormalization of the phonon dispersion remains. In contrast, the dispersion is only weakly modified in the Mott phase. We discuss finite-size effects, the relation to the dynamic charge structure factor, as well as additional sum rules and their implications. Finally, we reveal the existence of a discrete symmetry in a continuum field theory of the Holstein model, which is spontaneously broken in the Peierls phase.

• Received 28 April 2015
• Revised 11 June 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.235150