We show that, as it happens in graphene, elastic deformations couple to the electronic degrees of freedom as pseudo gauge fields in Weyl semimetals. We derive the form of the elastic gauge fields in a tight-binding model hosting Weyl nodes and see that this vector electron-phonon coupling is chiral, providing an example of axial gauge fields in three dimensions. As an example of the new response functions that arise associated to these elastic gauge fields, we derive a non-zero phonon Hall viscosity for the neutral system at zero temperature. The axial nature of the fields provides a test of the chiral anomaly in high energy with three axial vector couplings. PACS numbers:Introduction.-The occurrence of Weyl fermions (massless Dirac fermions of definite chirality) in condensed matter has come always with unexpected phenomena and new physics. Although having a long tradition [1], the best examples so far arose in one spacial dimension (Luttinger liquids) [2] or in two (Graphene [3] and the surface of three dimensional topological insulators [4]). Charged massless fermions are particularly interesting in three dimensions: They do not have counterparts in particle physics and they experience the chiral anomaly [5][6][7][8][9] and its related physical responses.
We study the anomalous Nernst and thermal Hall effects in a linearized low-energy model of a tilted Weyl semimetal, with two Weyl nodes separated in momentum space. For inversion symmetric tilt, we give analytic expressions in two opposite limits: For a small tilt, corresponding to a type-I Weyl semimetal, the Nernst conductivity is finite and independent of the Fermi level; for a large tilt, corresponding to a type-II Weyl semimetal, it acquires a contribution depending logarithmically on the Fermi energy. This result is in a sharp contrast to the nontilted case, where the Nernst response is known to be zero in the linear model. The thermal Hall conductivity similarly acquires Fermi surface contributions, which add to the Fermi level-independent, zero-tilt result, and is suppressed as one over the tilt parameter at half filling in the type-II phase. In the case of inversion-breaking tilt, with the tilting vector of equal modulus in the two Weyl cones, all Fermi surface contributions to both anomalous responses cancel out, resulting in zero Nernst conductivity. We discuss two possible experimental setups, representing open and closed thermoelectric circuits
We show that Weyl semimetals exhibit a mixed axial-torsional anomaly in the presence of axial torsion, a concept exclusive of these materials with no known natural fundamental interpretation in terms of the geometry of spacetime. This anomaly implies a nonconservation of the axial currentthe difference in current of left-and right-handed chiral fermions-when the torsion of the spacetime in which the Weyl fermions move couples with opposite sign to different chiralities. The anomaly is activated by driving transverse sound waves through a Weyl semimetal with a spatially varying tilted dispersion, which can be engineered by applying strain. This leads to sizable alternating current in presence of a magnetic field that provides a clear-cut experimental signature of our predictions.
Spin-wave technology (magnonics) has the potential to further reduce the size and energy consumption of information-processing devices. In the submicrometer regime (exchange spin waves), topological defects such as domain walls may constitute active elements to manipulate spin waves and perform logic operations. We predict that spin waves that pass through a domain wall in an ultrathin perpendicular-anisotropy film experience a phase shift that depends on the orientation of the domain wall (chirality). The effect, which is absent in bulk materials, originates from the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and can be interpreted as a geometric phase. We demonstrate analytically and by means of micromagnetic simulations that the phase shift is strong enough to switch between constructive and destructive interference. The two chirality states of the domain wall may serve as a memory bit or spin-wave switch in magnonic devices.
We derive the equations of motionof a domain wall in a thin-film magnet coupled to the surface states of a topological insulator, in the presence of both an electric field along the domain wall and a magnetic field perpendicular to the junction. We show how the electric field acts as a chirality stabilizer holding off the appearance of Walker breakdown and enhancing the terminal velocity of the wall. We also propose a mechanism to reverse the domain wall chirality in a controllable manner, by tuning the chiral current flowing through the wall. An input from a weak perpendicular magnetic field is required in order to break the reflection symmetry that protects the degeneracy of the chirality vacuum.
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