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Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Weyl Semimetals

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Perimeter Inst. for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada); OSTI
  2. Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada); Perimeter Inst. for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)
  3. Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Weyl semimetal may be thought of as a gapless topological phase protected by the chiral anomaly, where the symmetries involved in the anomaly are the U(1) charge conservation and the crystal translational symmetry. The absence of a band gap in a weakly interacting Weyl semimetal is mandated by the electronic structure topology and is guaranteed as long as the symmetries and the anomaly are intact. The nontrivial topology also manifests in the Fermi arc surface states and topological response, in particular taking the form of an anomalous Hall effect in magnetic Weyl semimetals, whose magnitude is only determined by the location of the Weyl nodes in the Brillouin zone. In this work, we consider the situation when the interactions are not weak and ask whether it is possible to open a gap in a magnetic Weyl semimetal while preserving its nontrivial electronic structure topology along with the translational and the charge conservation symmetries. Surprisingly, the answer turns out to be yes. The resulting topologically ordered state provides a nontrivial realization of the fractional quantum Hall effect in three spatial dimensions in the absence of an external magnetic field, which cannot be viewed as a stack of two dimensional states. Our state contains loop excitations with nontrivial braiding statistics when linked with lattice dislocations.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
1767755
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1603736
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 124; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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