English

Topo-fermiology

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2018-02-21 v2

Abstract

The modern semiclassical theory of a Bloch electron in a magnetic field now encompasses the orbital magnetic moment and the geometric phase. These two notions are encoded in the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition as a phase (λ\lambda) that is subleading in powers of the field; λ\lambda is measurable in the phase offset of the de Haas-van Alphen oscillation, as well as of fixed-bias oscillations of the differential conductance in tunneling spectroscopy. In some solids and for certain field orientations, λ/π\lambda/\pi are robustly integer-valued owing to the symmetry of the extremal orbit, i.e., they are the topological invariants of magnetotransport. Our comprehensive symmetry analysis identifies solids in any (magnetic) space group for which λ\lambda is a topological invariant, as well as identifies the symmetry-enforced degeneracy of Landau levels. The analysis is simplified by our formulation of ten (and only ten) symmetry classes for closed, Fermi-surface orbits. Case studies are discussed for graphene, transition metal dichalchogenides, 3D Weyl and Dirac metals, and crystalline and Z2\mathbb{Z}_2 topological insulators. In particular, we point out that a π\pi phase offset in the fundamental oscillation should \emph{not} be viewed as a smoking gun for a 3D Dirac metal.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1707.08586,
  title  = {Topo-fermiology},
  author = {A. Alexandradinata and Chong Wang and Wenhui Duan and Leonid Glazman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.08586},
  year   = {2018}
}

Comments

Update: (i) Generalized Lifshitz-Kosevich formulae (for the oscillatory magnetization and density of states) which apply also in magnetic solids. (ii) Case studies on Bi2Se3 and Na3Bi. A $\pi$ phase offset in the fundamental oscillation should not be viewed as a smoking gun for a 3D Dirac metal. (iii) A zero-sum rule for $\lambda$ is derived for bulk orbits in time-reversal-symmetric metals

R2 v1 2026-06-22T20:58:27.048Z