  At hole concentrations below x=0.4, Ba_(1-x)K_xBiO_3 is non-metallic. At x=0,
pure BaBiO3 is a Peierls insulator. Very dilute holes create bipolaronic point
defects in the Peierls order parameter. Here we find that the Rice-Sneddon
version of Peierls theory predicts that more concentrated holes should form
stacking faults (two-dimensional topological defects, called slices) in the
Peierls order parameter. However, the long-range Coulomb interaction, left out
of the Rice-Sneddon model, destabilizes slices in favor of point bipolarons at
low concentrations, leaving a window near 30% doping where the sliced state is
marginally stable.
