We report drastically new physics associated with wave scattering in pseudospin-1 systems whose band structure consists of a conventional Dirac cone and a topologically flat band. First, for small scatterer size, we find a surprising revival resonant scattering phenomenon and identify a peculiar type of boundary trapping profile through the formation of unusual vortices as the physical mechanism. Second, for larger scatterer size, a perfect caustic phenomenon arises as a manifestation of the super-Klein tunneling effect, leading to the scatterer's being effectively as a Veselago lens. Third, in the far scattering field, an unexpected isotropic behavior emerges at low energies, which can be attributed to the vanishing Berry phase for massless pseudospin-1 particles and, consequently, to constructive interference between the time-reversed backscattering paths. We develop an analytic theory based on the generalized Dirac-Weyl equation to fully explain these phenomena and articulate experimental schemes with photonic or electronic systems.
Persistent currents (PCs), one of the most intriguing manifestations of the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, are known to vanish for Schrödinger particles in the presence of random scatterings, e.g., due to classical chaos. But would this still be the case for Dirac fermions? Addressing this question is of significant value due to the tremendous recent interest in two-dimensional Dirac materials. We investigate relativistic quantum AB rings threaded by a magnetic flux and find that PCs are extremely robust. Even for highly asymmetric rings that host fully developed classical chaos, the amplitudes of PCs are of the same order of magnitude as those for integrable rings, henceforth the term superpersistent currents (SPCs). A striking finding is that the SPCs can be attributed to a robust type of relativistic quantum states, i.e., Dirac whispering gallery modes (WGMs) that carry large angular momenta and travel along the boundaries. We propose an experimental scheme using topological insulators to observe and characterize Dirac WGMs and SPCs, and speculate that these features can potentially be the base for a new class of relativistic qubit systems. Our discovery of WGMs in relativistic quantum systems is remarkable because, although WGMs are common in photonic systems, they are relatively rare in electronic systems.
The Berry-phase mediated valley-selected skew scattering in α-T 3 lattices is demonstrated. The interplay of Lorentz and Berry forces in position and momentum spaces is revealed and analyzed. Many-body screening of the electron-impurity interaction is taken into account to avoid overestimation of back-and skew-scattering of electrons in the system. Triplet peak from skew interactions at two valleys is found in near-vertical and near-horizontal forward-and backwardscattering directions for small Berry phases and low magnetic fields. Magnetic-field dependence in both non-equilibrium and thermal-equilibrium currents is also presented for valley-dependent longitudinal and transverse transports mediated by a Berry phase. Mathematically, two Boltzmann moment equations are employed for computing scattering-angle distributions of non-equilibrium skew currents by using microscopic inverse energy-and momentum-relaxation times. Meanwhile, a valley-dependent unbalanced thermal-equilibrium anomalous Hall current induced by the Berry force in momentum space, due to different mobilities for two valleys, is also computed for comparisons. arXiv:1903.07795v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall]
A crucial result in quantum chaos, which has been established for a long time, is that the spectral properties of classically integrable systems generically are described by Poisson statistics whereas those of time-reversal symmetric, classically chaotic systems coincide with those of random matrices from the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE). Does this result hold for two-dimensional Dirac material systems? To address this fundamental question, we investigate the spectral properties in a representative class of graphene billiards with shapes of classically integrable circular-sector billiards. Naively one may expect to observe Poisson statistics, which is indeed true for energies close to the band edges where the quasiparticle obeys the Schrödinger equation. However, for energies near the Dirac point, where the quasiparticles behave like massless Dirac fermions, Poisson statistics is extremely rare in the sense that it emerges only under quite strict symmetry constraints on the straight boundary parts of the sector. An arbitrarily small amount of imperfection of the boundary results in GOE statistics. This implies that, for circular sector confinements with arbitrary angle, the spectral properties will generically be GOE. These results are corroborated by extensive numerical computation. Furthermore, we provide a physical understanding for our results.
Quantum chaos is generally referred to as the study of quantum manifestations or fingerprints of nonlinear dynamical and chaotic behaviors in the corresponding classical system, an interdisciplinary field that has been active for about four decades. In closed chaotic Hamiltonian systems, for example, the basic phenomena studied include energy level-spacing statistics and quantum scarring. In open Hamiltonian systems, quantum chaotic scattering has been investigated extensively. Previous works were almost exclusively for nonrelativistic quantum systems described by the Schrödinger equation. Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth of interest in Dirac materials such as graphene, topological insulators, molybdenum disulfide and topological Dirac semimetals. A common feature of these materials is that their physics is described by the Dirac equation in relativistic quantum mechanics, generating phenomena that do not usually emerge in conventional semiconductor materials. This has important consequences. In particular, at the level of basic science, a new field has emerged: Relativistic Quantum Chaos (RQC), which aims to uncover, understand, and exploit relativistic quantum manifestations of classical nonlinear dynamical behaviors including chaos. Practically, Dirac materials have the potential to revolutionize solid-state electronic and spintronic devices, and have led to novel device concepts such as valleytronics. Exploiting manifestations of nonlinear dynamics and chaos in the relativistic quantum regime can have significant applications.The aim of this article is to give a comprehensive review of the basic results obtained so far in the emergent field of RQC. Phenomena to be discussed in depth include energy level-spacing statistics in graphene or Dirac fermion systems that exhibit various nonlinear dynamical behaviors in the classical limit, relativistic quantum scars (unusually high concentrations of relativistic quantum spinors about classical periodic orbits), peculiar features of relativistic quantum chaotic scattering and quantum transport, manifestations of the Klein paradox and its effects on graphene or 2D Dirac material based devices, chaos based modulation of conductance fluctuations in relativistic quantum dots, regularization of relativistic quantum tunneling by chaos, superpersistent currents in chaotic Dirac rings subject to a magnetic flux, and exploitation of relativistic quantum whispering gallery modes for applications in quantum information science. Computational methods for solving the Dirac equation in various situations will be introduced and physical theories developed so far in RQC will be described. Potential device applications will be discussed.
Quantum chaos is referred to as the study of quantum manifestations or fingerprints of classical chaos. A vast majority of the studies were for nonrelativistic quantum systems described by the Schrödinger equation. Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of Dirac materials such as graphene and topological insulators, which are described by the Dirac equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. A new field has thus emerged: relativistic quantum chaos. This Tutorial aims to introduce this field to the scientific community. Topics covered include scarring, chaotic scattering and transport, chaos regularized resonant tunneling, superpersistent currents, and energy level statistics-all in the relativistic quantum regime. As Dirac materials have the potential to revolutionize solid-state electronic and spintronic devices, a good understanding of the interplay between chaos and relativistic quantum mechanics may lead to novel design principles and methodologies to enhance device performance.
We uncover a remarkable quantum scattering phenomenon in two-dimensional Dirac material systems where the manifestations of both classically integrable and chaotic dynamics emerge simultaneously and are electrically controllable. The distinct relativistic quantum fingerprints associated with different electron spin states are due to a physical mechanism analogous to a chiroptical effect in the presence of degeneracy breaking. The phenomenon mimics a chimera state in classical complex dynamical systems but here in a relativistic quantum setting-henceforth the term "Dirac quantum chimera," associated with which are physical phenomena with potentially significant applications such as enhancement of spin polarization, unusual coexisting quasibound states for distinct spin configurations, and spin selective caustics. Experimental observations of these phenomena are possible through, e.g., optical realizations of ballistic Dirac fermion systems.
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