Investigation of the change in band structure of a carbon nanotube due to a distortion keeping the initial translational symmetry

The changes in the band structure of a carbon nanotube due to a structural distortion keeping the initial translational symmetry were studied using a tight-binding model. From analytical expressions obtained for the energy bands, it was found that the distortion cannot cause a metal-insulator transition for a metallic armchair tube. However, it can open up an energy gap for a zigzag tube.