We are as interested as the the commenters [1] about the possibility of observing a Dirac loop in a real physical system. In our work [2] we showed a simple class of lattice models that possess a Dirac loop at theier Fermi level and detailed some of the physical consequences of that loop, such as the possibility of a 3D anomalous Hall effect and topological surface states in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. nodal lines. It is remarkable that these loops can occur in simple hyper-honeycomb lattices.

We propose a family of structures that have "Dirac loops", closed lines of Dirac nodes in momentum space, on which the density of states vanishes linearly with energy. Those lattices all possess the planar trigonal connectivity present in graphene, but are three dimensional. We show that their highly anisotropic and multiply-connected Fermi surface leads to quantized Hall conductivities in three dimensions for magnetic fields with toroidal geometry. In the presence of spin-orbit coupling, we show that those structures have topological surface states. We discuss the feasibility of realizing the structures as new allotropes of carbon.Introduction.− In honeycomb lattices, the existence of the Dirac point results from the planar trigonal connectivity of the sites and its sub-lattice symmetry [1]. Less well known are "Dirac loops", three dimensional (3D) closed lines of Dirac nodes in momentum space, on which the energy vanishes linearly with the perpendicular components of momentum [2]. To date there are no experimental observations of Dirac loops, and they were predicted to exist only in topological superconductors [3] and 3D Dirac semimetals [4] in which the parameters such as interactions and magnetic field are finely tuned [2].Theoretically, graphene is not the only possible lattice realization with planar trigonally connected atoms [5]. It is therefore natural to ask if there are variations on the honeycomb geometry that might produce exotic Fermi surfaces with Dirac-like excitations and topologically non-trivial states. In this Letter, we propose a family of trigonally connected 3D lattices that admit simple tight-binding Hamiltonians having Dirac loops, without requiring any tuning or spin-orbit coupling. Some of these structures lie in the family of harmonic honeycomb lattices, which have been studied in the context of the Kitaev model [7][8][9][10][11], and experimentally realized in honeycomb iridates [12]. The simplest example is the hyper-honeycomb lattice, shown in Fig. 1a.We derive the low energy Hamiltonian of this family of systems, and analyze the quantization of the conductivity and possible surface states. Even though these systems are 3D semimetals, their Fermi surface is multiply connected, with the shape of a torus, and highly anisotropic. When a magnetic field with toroidal geometry is applied, we find that the Hall conductivity is quantized in 3D at sufficiently large field. Additional spin-orbit coupling effects can create topologically protected surface states in these crystals. We claim that in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, these structures conceptually correspond to a new family of strong 3D topological insulators [13,14]. We finally discuss the experimental feasibility of realizing those structures as new allotropic forms of carbon.Tight-binding lattice.− Our discussion starts with the simplest structure, the hyper-honeycomb lattice (see Fig.

Inspired by the formulation of quantum-electrodynamical time-dependent density functional theory (QED-TDDFT) by Rubio and co-workers [Flick et al., ACS Photonics 6, 2757-2778 (2019)], we propose an implementation that uses dimensionless amplitudes for describing the photonic contributions to QED-TDDFT electron–photon eigenstates. This leads to a Hermitian QED-TDDFT coupling matrix that is expected to facilitate the future development of analytic derivatives. Through a Gaussian atomic basis implementation of the QED-TDDFT method, we examined the effect of dipole self-energy, rotating-wave approximation, and the Tamm–Dancoff approximation on the QED-TDDFT eigenstates of model compounds (ethene, formaldehyde, and benzaldehyde) in an optical cavity. We highlight, in the strong coupling regime, the role of higher-energy and off-resonance excited states with large transition dipole moments in the direction of the photonic field, which are automatically accounted for in our QED-TDDFT calculations and might substantially affect the energies and compositions of polaritons associated with lower-energy electronic states.

We apply the theory of elasticity to study the effects of Skyrmion mass on lattice dynamics in quantum Hall systems. We find that massive Skyrme lattices behave like a Wigner crystal in the presence of a uniform perpendicular magnetic field. We make a comparison with the microscopic Hartree-Fock results to characterize the mass of quantum Hall skyrmions at ϭ1 and investigate how the low temperature phase of Skyrme lattices may be affected by the Skyrmion mass.

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A computational model was developed to study the thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)-polymer composites. A random walk simulation was used to model the effect of interfacial resistance on the heat flow in different orientations of SWNTs dispersed in the polymers. The simulation is a modification of a previous model taking into account the numerically determined thermal equilibrium factor between the SWNTs and the composite matrix material. The simulation results agreed well with reported experimental data for epoxy and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composites. The effects of the SWNT orientation, weight fraction and thermal boundary resistance on the effective conductivity of composites were quantified. The present model is a useful tool for the prediction of the thermal conductivity within a wide range of volume fractions of the SWNTs, so long as the SWNTs are not in contact with each other. The developed model can be applied to other polymers and solid materials, possibly even metals.