BCS-BEC crossover and topological phase transition in 3D spin-orbit coupled degenerate Fermi gases

We investigate the BCS-BEC crossover in three-dimensional degenerate Fermi gases in the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and Zeeman field. We show that the superfluid order parameter destroyed by a large Zeeman field can be restored by the SOC. With increasing strengths of the Zeeman field, there is a series of topological quantum phase transitions from a nontopological superfluid state with fully gapped fermionic spectrum to a topological superfluid state with four topologically protected Fermi points (i.e., nodes in the quasiparticle excitation gap) and then to a second topological superfluid state with only two Fermi points. The quasiparticle excitations near the Fermi points realize the long-sought low-temperature analog of Weyl fermions of particle physics. We show that the topological phase transitions can be probed using the experimentally realized momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.     

Low-energy electronic properties of a Weyl semimetal quantum dot

We investigate the low-energy electronic structure of a Weyl semimetal quantum dot(QD) with a simple model Hamiltonian with only two Weyl points. Distinguished from the semiconductor and topological insulator QDs, there exist both surface and bulk states near the Fermi level in Weyl semimetal QDs. The surface state, distributed near the side surface of the QD, contributes a circular persistent current, an orbital magnetic moment, and a chiral spin polarization with spin-current locking. There are always surface states even for a strong magnetic field, even though a given surface state gradually evolves into a Landau level with increasing magnetic field. It indicates that these unique properties can be tuned via the QD size. In addition, we show the correspondence to the electronic structures of a three-dimensional Weyl semimetal, such as Weyl point and Fermi arc. Because a QD has the largest surface-to-volume ratio, it provides a new platform to verify Weyl semimetal by separating and detecting the signals of surface states. Besides, the study of Weyl QDs is also necessary for potential applications in nanoelectronics.     

Topological Nodal Line Semimetal in Non-Centrosymmetric PbTaS_2

Topological semimetals are a new type of matter with one-dimensional Fermi lines or zero-dimensional Weyl or Dirac points in momentum space. Here using first-principles calculations, we find that the non-centrosymmetric PbTaS2 is a topological nodal line semimetal. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling(SOC), one band inversion happens around a high symmetrical H point, which leads to forming a nodal line. The nodal line is robust and protected against gap opening by mirror reflection symmetry even with the inclusion of strong SOC. In addition, it also hosts exotic drumhead surface states either inside or outside the projected nodal ring depending on surface termination. The robust bulk nodal lines and drumhead-like surface states with SOC in PbTaS_2 make it a potential candidate material for exploring the freakish properties of the topological nodal line fermions in condensed matter systems.     

Lifshitz transitions via the type-II dirac and type-II Weyl points

The type-II Weyl and type-II Dirac points emerge in semimetals and in relativistic systems. In particular, the type-II Weyl fermions may emerge behind the event horizon of black holes. The type-II Weyl and Dirac points also emerge as the intermediate states of the topological Lifshitz transitions. In one case, the type-II Weyl point connects the Fermi pockets, and the Lifshitz transition corresponds to the transfer of the Berry flux between the Fermi pockets. In the other case, the type-II Weyl point connects the outer and inner Fermi surfaces. At the Lifshitz transition, the Weyl point is released from both Fermi surfaces. They loose their Berry flux, which guarantees the global stability, and without the topological support, the inner surface disappears after shrinking to a point at the second Lifshitz transition. These examples reveal the complexity and universality of topological Lifshitz transitions, which originate from the ubiquitous interplay of a variety of topological characters of the momentum-space manifolds.     

Anomalous Nernst effect in type-II Weyl semimetals

Topological Weyl semimetals (WSM), a new state of quantum matter with gapless nodal bulk spectrum and open Fermi arc surface states, have recently sparked enormous interest in condensed matter physics. Based on the symmetry and fermiology, it has been proposed that WSMs can be broadly classified into two types, type-I and type-II Weyl semimetals. While the undoped, conventional, type-I WSMs have point like Fermi surface and vanishing density of states (DOS) at the Fermi energy, the type-II Weyl semimetals break Lorentz symmetry explicitly and have tilted conical spectra with electron and hole pockets producing finite DOS at the Fermi level. The tilted conical spectrum and finite DOS at Fermi level in type-II WSMs have recently been shown to produce interesting effects such as a chiral anomaly induced longitudinal magnetoresistance that is strongly anisotropic in direction and a novel anomalous Hall effect. In this work, we consider the anomalous Nernst effect in type-II WSMs in the absence of an external magnetic field using the framework of semi-classical Boltzmann theory. Based on both a linearized model of time-reversal breaking WSM with a higher energy cut-off and a more realistic lattice model, we show that the anomalous Nernst response in these systems is strongly anisotropic in space, and can serve as a reliable signature of type-II Weyl semimetals in a host of magnetic systems with spontaneously broken time reversal symmetry.     

Type-I Weyl points induced by negative coupling in photonic crystal

Weyl points, which are the degenerate points in three-dimensional momentum space, have been widely studied in the photonic system, and show some intriguing phenomena such as topologically protected surface states and chiral anomalies. Type-I Weyl systems possess a complete bandgap, and topologically protected surface states can be excited without disturbing the bulk states.In this work, we investigate the influence of the sign of coupling coefficient on the topological property of the system and find that type-I Weyl points can be realized by introducing a negative coupling between the stacking layers of the designed photonic crystal. We propose a new strategy to construct a type-I Weyl system by stacking the hexagonal photonic lattice. Different from the topological nontrivial photonic system with a positive coefficient, the negative couplings in the photonic system are realized by adding another resonating site between stacking layers. We theoretically demonstrate that the effective coupling between the resonating sites in adjacent layers sign-flips through the judicious design of the nearest coupling strength and eigenfrequency of the additional sites. The surface states at opposite boundaries of the proposed system have opposite group velocities, which is the feature of type-I Weyl points. Our study provides a new method of exploring topologically protected photonic systems and developing possible topological devices.     

Intrinsic anomalous Hall effect in type-II Weyl semimetals

Recently, a new type of Weyl semimetal called type-II Weyl semimetal has been proposed. Unlike the usual (type-I) Weyl semimetal, which has a point-like Fermi surface, this new type of Weyl semimetal has a tilted conical spectrum around the Weyl point. Here we calculate the anomalous Hall conductivity of a Weyl semimetal with a tilted conical spectrum for a pair of Weyl points, using the Kubo formula. We find that the Hall conductivity is not universal and can change sign as a function of the parameters quantifying the tilts. Our results suggest that even for the case where the separation between the Weyl points vanishes, tilting of the conical spectrum could give rise to a finite anomalous Hall effect, if the tilts of the two cones are not identical.     

Acoustic spin-1 Weyl semimetal

The study of topological semimetals hosting spin-1 Weyl points(WPs) beyond Dirac points and WPs has attracted a great deal of attention. However, a spin-1 Weyl semimetal that exclusively possesses spin-1 WPs in a clean frequency window without being shadowed by any other nodal points is yet to be discovered. This study reports a spin-1 Weyl semimetal in a phononic crystal. Its spin-1 WPs are touched by two linear dispersions and an additional flat band and carry monopole charges(-2,0,2) or(2,0,-2) for the three bands from the bottom to the top. They result in double Fermi arcs, which occur between the first and second bands, as well as between the second and third bands. Further robust propagation is observed against the multiple joints and topological negative refraction of the acoustic surface arc wave. The results of this study create the basis for the exploration of the unusual properties of spin-1 Weyl physics on a macroscopic scale.     

Intrinsic magnetic topological materials

Topological states of matter possess bulk electronic structures categorized by topological invariants and edge/surface states due to the bulk-boundary correspondence. Topological materials hold great potential in the development of dissipationless spintronics, information storage and quantum computation, particularly if combined with magnetic order intrinsically or extrinsically. Here, we review the recent progress in the exploration of intrinsic magnetic topological materials, including but not limited to magnetic topological insulators, magnetic topological metals, and magnetic Weyl semimetals. We pay special attention to their characteristic band features such as the gap of topological surface state, gapped Dirac cone induced by magnetization (either bulk or surface), Weyl nodal point/line and Fermi arc, as well as the exotic transport responses resulting from such band features. We conclude with a brief envision for experimental explorations of new physics or effects by incorporating other orders in intrinsic magnetic topological materials.     

Quantum transport in topological semimetals under magnetic fields

Topological semimetals are three-dimensional topological states of matter, in which the conduction and valence bands touch at a finite number of points, i.e., the Weyl nodes. Topological semimetals host paired monopoles and antimonopoles of Berry curvature at the Weyl nodes and topologically protected Fermi arcs at certain surfaces. We review our recent works on quantum transport in topological semimetals, according to the strength of the magnetic field. At weak magnetic fields, there are competitions between the positive magnetoresistivity induced by the weak anti-localization effect and negative magnetoresistivity related to the nontrivial Berry curvature. We propose a fitting formula for the magnetoconductivity of the weak anti-localization. We expect that the weak localization may be induced by inter-valley effects and interaction effect, and occur in double-Weyl semimetals. For the negative magnetoresistance induced by the nontrivial Berry curvature in topological semimetals, we show the dependence of the negative magnetoresistance on the carrier density. At strong magnetic fields, specifically, in the quantum limit, the magnetoconductivity depends on the type and range of the scattering potential of disorder. The high-field positive magnetoconductivity may not be a compelling signature of the chiral anomaly. For long-range Gaussian scattering potential and half filling, the magnetoconductivity can be linear in the quantum limit. A minimal conductivity is found at the Weyl nodes although the density of states vanishes there.     

Chern semimetal and the quantized anomalous Hall effect in HgCr2Se4

In 3D momentum space, a topological phase boundary separating the Chern insulating layers from normal insulating layers may exist, where the gap must be closed, resulting in a "Chern semimetal" state with topologically unavoidable band crossings at the Fermi level. This state is a condensed-matter realization of Weyl fermions in (3+1)D, and should exhibit remarkable features, such as magnetic monopoles and Fermi arcs. Here we predict, based on first principles calculations, that such a novel quantum state can be realized in a known ferromagnetic compound HgCr2Se4, with a single pair of Weyl fermions separated in momentum space. The quantum Hall effect without an external magnetic field can be achieved in its quantum-well structure.     

Generalization of the theory of three-dimensional quantum Hall effect of Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetal

The quantum Hall effect (QHE), which is usually observed in two-dimensional systems, was predicted theoretically and observed experimentally in three-dimensional (3D) topological semimetal. However, there are some inconsistencies between the theory and the experiments showing the theory is imperfect. Here, we generalize the theory of the 3D QHE of Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetal. Through calculating the sheet Hall conductivity of a Weyl semimetal slab, we show that the 3D QHE of Fermi arcs can occur in a large energy range and the thickness dependences of the QHE in different Fermi energies are distinct. When the Fermi energy is near the Weyl nodes, the Fermi arcs give rise to the QHE which is independent of the thickness of the slab. When the Fermi energy is not near the Weyl nodes, the two Fermi arcs form a complete Fermi loop with the assistance of bulk states giving rise to the QHE which is dependent on the sample thickness. We also demonstrate how the band anisotropic terms influence the QHE of Fermi arcs. Our theory complements the imperfections of the present theory of 3D QHE of Fermi arcs.     

Classification of Emergent Weyl Spinors in Multi-Fermion Systems

JETP Letters - In the fermionic systems with topologically stable Fermi points, the emergent two-component Weyl fermions appear. We propose the topological classification of these fermions based on...     

5d过渡金属氧化物中的奇异量子物性研究

相比于3d和4d过渡金属元素, 5d过渡金属元素既具有很强的自旋轨道耦合相互作用, 同时它们的电子关联作用也不可忽略. 因而5d过渡金属氧化物体系具有许多奇异的量子特性. 这篇综述主要介绍我们在5d过渡金属氧化物中的一些理论进展. 首先介绍烧绿石结构铱氧化物(A₂Ir₂O₇, A=Y或稀土元素)中的Weyl拓扑半金属性. 我们确定出A₂Ir₂O₇这一类具有阻挫结构材料的磁基态, 并预言其是Weyl半金属; 其Weyl 点受到拓扑保护而稳定, 而且它的表面态在费米能级形成特别的费米弧. 其次预言尖晶石结构锇氧化物(AOs₂O₄, A=Ca, Sr)是具有奇异磁电响应的Axion绝缘体; 然后分析了电子关联、自旋轨道耦合对钙钛矿结构的锇氧化物(NaOsO₃)的影响, 并成功定出它的基态磁构型, 最终确定其为Slater绝缘体. 最后介绍了LiOsO₃中铁电金属性的成因.     

Dual Topological Features of Weyl Semimetallic Phases in Tetradymite BiSbTe_3

Based on first-principles calculations and symmetry arguments,we reveal that the non-centrosymmetric ternary tetradymite BiSbTe_3 possesses exotic dual topological features of Weyl semimetallic phases with Z_2 index(1:000).The results show that the helical Dirac-type surface states protected by the time-reversal symmetry are present in the vicinity of the Brillouin zone center,which is consistent with the experimental report.Furthermore,we show that four pairs of Weyl points reside exactly at the Fermi level,which are guaranteed to be located on highsymmetry planes due to mirror symmetries.The helical surface states and the projected Weyl nodes are well separated in the momentum space,facilitating their observations in experiments.This work not only uncovers a unique quantum phenomenon with dual topological features in the tetradymite family but also paves a fascinating avenue for exploring the coexistence of multi-topological states with wide applications.     

Electronic Properties of Defects Induced by H Irradiation in Tantalum Phosphide

Tantalum phosphide(TaP) is predicted to be a kind of topological semimetal. Several defects of TaP induced by H irradiation are studied by the density functional theory. Electronic dispersion curves and density of states of these defects are reported. Various defects have different impacts on the topological properties. Weyl point positions are not affected by most defects. The H atom can tune the Fermi level as an interstitial. The defect of substitutional H on P site does not affect the topological properties. P and Ta vacancies of concentration 1/64 as well as the defect of substitutional H on Ta site destruct part of the Weyl points.     

Topological nodal line semimetals predicted from first-principles calculations

Topological semimetals are newly discovered states of quantum matter, which have extended the concept of topological states from insulators to metals and attracted great research interest in recent years. In general, there are three kinds of topological semimetals, namely Dirac semimetals, Weyl semimetals, and nodal line semimetals. Nodal line semimetals can be considered as precursor states for other topological states. For example, starting from such nodal line states, the nodal line structure might evolve into Weyl points, convert into Dirac points, or become a topological insulator by introducing the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) or mass term. In this review paper, we introduce theoretical materials that show the nodal line semimetal state, including the all-carbon Mackay–Terrones crystal (MTC), anti-perovskite Cu₃PdN, pressed black phosphorus, and the CaP₃ family of materials, and we present the design principles for obtaining such novel states of matter.     

High-order harmonic generations in tilted Weyl semimetals

We investigate high-order harmonic generations (HHGs) under comparison of Weyl cones in two types. Due to the hyperboloidal electron pocket structure, strong noncentrosymmetrical generations in high orders are observed around a single type-II Weyl point, especially at zero frequency. Such a remarkable DC signal is proved to have attributions from the intraband transition after spectral decomposition. Under weak pulse electric field, the linear optical response of a non-tilted Weyl cone is consistent with the Kubo theory. With extensive numerical simulations, we conclude that the non-zero chemical potential can enhance the even-order generations, from the slightly tilted system to the over-tilted systems. In consideration of dynamical symmetries, type-I and type-II Weyl cones also show different selective responses under the circularly polarized light. Finally, using a more realistic model containing two pairs of Weyl points, we demonstrate that paired Weyl points with opposite chirality can suppress the overall even-order generations.     

外尔半金属及其输运特性

外尔半金属是继石墨烯以及拓扑绝缘体之后的又一个研究热点。相比于后两者,外尔半金 属独特的三维无能隙线性色散能带结构使得它有很多奇特的性质,如：手性反常、手性磁效应、 反弱局域化、手性朗道能级和负磁阻效应等。实际样品中无序总是不可避免的,所以考虑无序对 体系的影响是很有必要的。我们回顾了无序下第一类以及第二类外尔半金属的相变特性,并获得 了完整的相图,这些无序诱导的相变丰富了拓扑安德森绝缘体和安德森金属绝缘体相变的物理内 涵。我们同样回顾了长程短程无序影响下的第一类外尔半金属体系的输运,发现了一种不能采用 玻尔兹曼输运方程来描述的输运过程。我们介绍Imbert-Fedorov 位移这一光学中的效应在外尔 半金属中的实现,这为更好地应用外尔半金属提供了更多的可能性,随后采用波包散射,我们解 释了外尔半金属中的超高载流子迁移率问题的原因,最后我们给出一个简要的总结。