Axion physics in condensed-matter systems

Nenno, Dennis M.; Garcia, Christina A. C.; Gooth, Johannes; Felser, Claudia; Narang, Prineha

doi:10.1038/s42254-020-0240-2

Cited by 117 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 156 publications

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“…The physics of CM axion is very rich and the CM axion in a different material may have a different microphysical origin [42,43,76]. It would be interesting to explore the physics of CM axion as a probe of DM in a broader class of materials.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Axion/hidden-photon dark matter conversion into condensed matter axion

Chigusa

Moroi

Nakayama

2021

J. High Energ. Phys.

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The QCD axion or axion-like particles are candidates of dark matter of the universe. On the other hand, axion-like excitations exist in certain condensed matter systems, which implies that there can be interactions of dark matter particles with condensed matter axions. We discuss the relationship between the condensed matter axion and a collective spin-wave excitation in an anti-ferromagnetic insulator at the quantum level. The conversion rate of the light dark matter, such as the elementary particle axion or hidden photon, into the condensed matter axion is estimated for the discovery of the dark matter signals.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the axion-like excitation also appears in the condensed matter physics [40,41] (see refs. [42,43] for reviews). To distinguish it from the elementary particle axion or ALP, we call such an axion-like excitation in condensed matter context as "condensed matter axion (CM axion)".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Axion/hidden-photon dark matter conversion into condensed matter axion

Chigusa

Moroi

Nakayama

2021

J. High Energ. Phys.

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“…To study the electromagnetic properties of three-dimensional (3D) magnetic topological insulators, a widely used approach is that proposed by Refs. [42,43], which is based on axion field theory [44,45]. In this approach, there is an extra term to the usual Maxwell electromagnetic action, viz., the following:…”

Section: Equations Of Axion Electrodynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Casimir Effect in Topological Matter

2021

Universe

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We give an overview of the work done during the past ten years on the Casimir interaction in electronic topological materials, our focus being solids, which possess surface or bulk electronic band structures with nontrivial topologies, which can be evinced through optical properties that are characterizable in terms of nonzero topological invariants. The examples we review are three-dimensional magnetic topological insulators, two-dimensional Chern insulators, graphene monolayers exhibiting the relativistic quantum Hall effect, and time reversal symmetry-broken Weyl semimetals, which are fascinating systems in the context of Casimir physics. Firstly, this is for the reason that they possess electromagnetic properties characterizable by axial vectors (because of time reversal symmetry breaking), and, depending on the mutual orientation of a pair of such axial vectors, two systems can experience a repulsive Casimir–Lifshitz force, even though they may be dielectrically identical. Secondly, the repulsion thus generated is potentially robust against weak disorder, as such repulsion is associated with the Hall conductivity that is topologically protected in the zero-frequency limit. Finally, the far-field low-temperature behavior of the Casimir force of such systems can provide signatures of topological quantization.

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“…where C ± X is obtained by replacing k z = 0 with k z = π/c in Eq. (7). The MCNs remain invariant under multiband gauge transformations that do not mix the two mirror-parity sectors.…”

Section: Mirror-symmetric Insulatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mirror Chern numbers in the hybrid Wannier representation

et al. 2021

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The topology of electronic states in band insulators with mirror symmetry can be classified in two different ways. One is in terms of the mirror Chern number, an integer that counts the number of protected Dirac cones in the Brillouin zone of high-symmetry surfaces. The other is via a Z 2 index that distinguishes between systems that have a nonzero quantized orbital magnetoelectric coupling ("axion-odd"), and those that do not ("axioneven"); this classification can also be induced by other symmetries in the magnetic point group, including time reversal and inversion. A systematic characterization of the axion Z 2 topology has previously been obtained by representing the valence states in terms of hybrid Wannier functions localized along one chosen crystallographic direction, and inspecting the associated Wannier band structure. Here we focus on mirror symmetry, and extend that characterization to the mirror Chern number. We choose the direction orthogonal to the mirror plane as the Wannierization direction and show that the mirror Chern number can be determined from the winding numbers of the touching points between Wannier bands on mirror-invariant planes and from the Chern numbers of flat bands pinned to those planes. In this representation, the relation between the mirror Chern number and the axion Z 2 index is readily established. The formalism is illustrated by means of ab initio calculations for SnTe in the monolayer and bulk forms, complemented by tight-binding calculations for a toy model.

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Axion physics in condensed-matter systems

Cited by 117 publications

References 156 publications

Axion/hidden-photon dark matter conversion into condensed matter axion

Axion/hidden-photon dark matter conversion into condensed matter axion

The Casimir Effect in Topological Matter

Mirror Chern numbers in the hybrid Wannier representation

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