We derive the topological Chern number of the integer quantum Hall effect in electrical conductivity, using Buot's superfield and lattice Weyl transform nonequilibrium quantum transport formalism. The method is naturally straightforward, appropriate for treating nonequilibrium systems acted on by external electromagnetic fields. We have identified the topological invariant in the effective (~p; ~q; E; t)-phase space via the nonequilibrium quantum transport equation, generally not to first-order in electric field but to first-order in the gradient expansion. We have also derive the Kubo current-current correlation for the Hall current as a by-product of our new transport approach. The Berry curvature related to orbital magnetic moment is also calculated.
In Weyl semimetals the application of parallel electric and magnetic fields leads to valley polarization -- an occupation disbalance of valleys of opposite chirality -- a direct consequence of the chiral anomaly. In this work, we present numerical tools to explore such nonequilibrium effects in spatially confined three-dimensional systems with a variable disorder potential, giving exact solutions to leading order in the disorder potential and the applied electric field. Application to a Weyl-metal slab shows that valley polarization also occurs without an external magnetic field as an effect o…
We give a simple macroscopic phase-space explanation of fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), in a fashion reminiscent of the Landau-Ginsburg macroscopic symmetry breaking analyses. This is in contrast to the more complicated microscopic wavefunction approaches. Here, we employ a nonequilibrium quantum transport in the lattice Weyl transform formalism. This is coupled with the Maxwell Chern-Simons gauge theory for defining fractional filling of Landau levels. Flux attachment concept is inherent in fully occupied and as well as in partially occupied Landau levels. We derived the k-factor scali…
The non-equilibrium dynamics beyond linear response of Weyl semimetals is studied after a sudden switching on of a DC electric field. The resulting current is a nonmonotonic function of time, with an initial quick increase of polarization current followed by a power-law decay. Particle-hole creation à la Schwinger dominates for long times when the conduction current takes over the leading role, with the total current increasing again. The conductivity estimated from a dynamical calculation within a Drude picture agrees with the one obtained from Kubo's formula. The full distribution function o…
We show that the gauge symmetry of the nonequilibrium quantum transport of Chern insulator in a uniform electric field is governed by the Wilson line of parallel transport operator coupled with the dynamical translation operator. This is dictated by the minimal coupling of derivatives with gauge fields in U (1) gauge theory. This parallel transport symmetry consideration leads to the integer quantum Hall effect in electrical conductivity obtained to first-order gradient expansion of the nonequilibrium quantum transport equations.
The chiral magnetic effect is a phenomenon where an electromagnetic current is generated along a magnetic field. Recently, in nonequilibrium systems, negative longitudinal magnetoresistance has been observed experimentally in Dirac/Weyl semimetals, which provides evidence for the chiral magnetic effect as a nonequilibrium current. On the other hand, the emergence of the chiral magnetic effect as an equilibrium current is still controversial. We propose a possible realization of the chiral magnetic effect as an equilibrium current using inhomogeneous magnetic fields. By employing tight-binding …
Electronic transport in Weyl semimetals is quite extraordinary due to the topological property of the chiral anomaly generating the charge pumping between two distant Weyl nodes with opposite chiralities under parallel electric and magnetic fields. Here, we develop a full nonequilibrium quantum transport theory of the chiral anomaly, based on the fact that the chiral charge pumping is essentially nothing but the Bloch oscillation. Specifically, by using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function method, it is shown that there is a rich structure in the chiral anomaly transport, including the ne…
Due to studies in nonequilibrium (periodically-driven) topological matter, it is now understood that some topological invariants used to classify equilibrium states of matter do not suffice to describe their nonequilibrium counterparts. Indeed, in Floquet systems the additional gap arising from the periodicity of the quasienergy Brillouin zone often leads to unique topological phenomena without equilibrium analogues. In the context of Floquet Weyl semimetal, Weyl points may be induced at both quasienergy zero and $π/T$ ($T$ being the driving period) and these two types of Weyl points can be ve…
The Onsager-Casimir reciprocal relations are a fundamental symmetry of nonequilibrium statistical systems. Here we study an unusual chirality-dependent Hall effect in a tilted Weyl semimetal Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ with broken time reversal symmetry. It is confirmed that the reciprocal relations are satisfied. Since two Berry curvature effects, an anomalous velocity and a chiral chemical potential, contribute to the observed Hall effect, the reciprocal relations suggest their intriguing connection.
Weyl semimetals (WSMs) host charged Weyl fermions as emergent quasiparticles. We develop a unified analytical theory for the anomalous positive longitudinal magnetoconductance (LMC) in a WSM, which bridges the gap between the classical and ultra-quantum approaches. More interestingly, the LMC is found to exhibit periodic-in-$1/B$ quantum oscillations, originating from the oscillations of the nonequilibrium chiral chemical potential. The quantum oscillations, superposed on the positive LMC, are a remarkable fingerprint of a WSM phase with chiral anomaly, whose observation is a valid criteria fo…
Parallel electric and magnetic fields applied to Weyl semimetals pump axial charge via the axial anomaly until balanced by intervalley relaxation. The resulting nonequilibrium steady state exhibits the chiral magnetic effect as well as the anomalous Hall effect, which coupled with Maxwell's equations leads to unstable electromagnetic waves at low frequency and long wavelength. Here, we show that such chiral magnetic instability manifests itself as anomalous reflectance of the surface of pumped Weyl semimetal. Depending on electric, chiral magnetic, and anomalous Hall conductivities, the reflec…
In mesoscopic physics, the application of a time-periodic drive leads to novel transport behaviour, which is absent in the static regimes. Here we consider a quantum pumping protocol, such that the quasiparticles of Weyl/multi-Weyl and nodal-line semimetals are subjected to a time-periodic rectangular potential well. The presence of an oscillating potential of frequency $ω$ creates equispaced Floquet side-bands with spacing $\hbar ω$. As a result, a Fano resonance is observed when the difference in the Fermi energy (i.e., the energy of the incident quasiparticle), and the energy of one of the …
Transport of charge and valley degrees of freedom coupled to order-parameter dynamics in magnetic Weyl semimetals is studied in the framework of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. In addition to the established valley-related transport anomalies that are rooted in band-structure topology, we construct dissipative couplings between the three dynamic constituents of the system driven out of equilibrium by electromagnetic perturbations. We show how the valley degree of freedom mediates an effective coupling between the charge and magnetic sectors of the system, through a combination of the chiral ano…
This work reports the general design and characterization of two exotic, anomalous nonequilibrium topological phases. In equilibrium systems, the Weyl nodes or the crossing points of nodal lines may become the transition points between higher-order and first-order topological phases defined on two-dimensional slices, thus featuring both hinge Fermi arc and surface Fermi arc. We advance this concept by presenting a strategy to obtain, using time-sequenced normal insulator phases only, Floquet higher-order Weyl semimetals and Floquet higher-order nexus semimetals, where the concerned topological…
Second harmonic generation (SHG) is a fundamental nonlinear optical phenomenon widely used both for experimental probes of materials and for application to optical devices. Even-order nonlinear optical responses including SHG generally require breaking of inversion symmetry, and thus have been utilized to study noncentrosymmetric materials. Here, we study theoretically the SHG in inversion-symmetric Dirac and Weyl semimetals under a DC current which breaks the inversion symmetry by creating a nonequilibrium steady state. Based on analytic and numerical calculations, we find that Dirac and Weyl…
We propose a way to observe the chiral magnetic effect in non-centrosymmetric Weyl semimetals under the action of strong electric field, via the non-linear part of their I-V characteristic that is odd in the external magnetic field, or odd-in-magnetic field voltages in electrically open circuits. This effect relies on valley-selective heating in such materials, which in general leads to nonequilibrium valley population imbalances. In the presence of an external magnetic field, such a valley-imbalanced Weyl semimetal will in general develop an electric current along the direction of the magneti…
The spin Nernst effect describes a transverse spin current induced by the longitudinal thermal gradient in a system with the spin-orbit coupling. Here we study the spin Nernst effect in a mesoscopic four-terminal cross-bar Weyl semimetal device under a perpendicular magnetic field. By using the tight-binding Hamiltonian combining with the nonequilibrium Green's function method, the three elements of the spin current in the transverse leads and then spin Nernst coefficients are obtained. The results show that the spin Nernst effect in the Weyl semimetal has the essential difference with the tra…
In topological semimetals and insulators, negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and angle-dependent planar Hall effect have been reported arising from the Berry curvature. Using the Boltzmann transport theory, we present a closed-form expression for the nonequilibrium distribution function which includes both the effects of the Berry curvature and Lorentz force. Using this formulation, we obtain analytical expressions for conductivity and resistivity tensors in Weyl semimetals demonstrating a non-monotonic field dependence arising from the competition between the two effects.
Proposal for realizing unpaired Weyl points in a three-dimensional periodically driven optical Raman lattice
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale（微尺度物质科学国家研究中心）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学物理学院）；School of Physics and Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology（华中科技大学物理学院与量子科学与工程学院）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学上海量子科学研究中心与中科院量子信息与量子物理学前沿卓越创新中心）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
Floquet states can be realized in quantum systems driven by continuous time-periodic perturbations. It is known that a state known as the Floquet Weyl semimetal can be realized when free Dirac fermions are placed in a rotating electric field. What will happen if strong interaction is introduced to this system? Will the interaction wash out the characteristic features of Weyl semimetals such as the Hall response? Is there a steady state and what is its thermodynamic behavior? We answer these questions using AdS/CFT correspondence in the $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric massless QCD in a rotating …
We present a unification of mixed-space quantum representations in Condensed Matter Physics (CMP) and Quantum Field Theory (QFT). The unifying formalism is based on being able to expand any quantum operator, for bosons, fermions, and spin systems, using a universal basis operator Y(u,v) involving mixed Hilbert spaces of P and Q, respectively, where P and Q are momentum and position operators in CMP (which can be considered as a bozonization of free Bloch electrons which incorporates the Pauli exclusion principle and Fermi-Dirac distribution), whereas these are related to the creation and annih…
