English

Curved spacetime theory of inhomogeneous Weyl materials

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2019-10-23 v1 Strongly Correlated Electrons Quantum Physics

Abstract

We show how the universal low-energy properties of Weyl semimetals with spatially varying time-reversal (TR) or inversion (I) symmetry breaking are described in terms of chiral fermions experiencing curved-\emph{spacetime} geometry and synthetic gauge fields. By employing Clifford representations and Schrieffer-Wolff transformations, we present a systematic derivation of an effective curved-space Weyl theory with rich geometric and gauge structure. To illustrate the utility of the formalism, we give a concrete prescription of how to fabricate nontrivial curved spacetimes and event horizons in topological insulators with magnetic textures. Our theory can also account for strain-induced effects, providing a powerful unified framework for studying and designing inhomogeneous Weyl materials.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1906.07540,
  title  = {Curved spacetime theory of inhomogeneous Weyl materials},
  author = {Long Liang and Teemu Ojanen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.07540},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

6+8 pages, 1 Fig