Fermi arc mediated entropy transport in topological semimetals
Abstract
The low-energy excitations of topological Weyl semimetals are composed of linearly dispersing Weyl fermions that act as monopoles of Berry curvature in the bulk momentum space. Furthermore, on the surface there exist topologically protected Fermi arcs at the projections of these Weyl points. We propose a pathway for entropy transport involving Fermi arcs on one surface connecting to Fermi arcs on the other surface via the bulk Weyl monopoles. We present results for the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the magnetothermal conductance of this conveyor belt channel. The circulating currents result in a net entropy transport without any net charge transport. We provide results for the Fermi arc mediated magnetothermal conductivity in the low-field semiclassical limit as well as in the high-field ultraquantum limit, where only chiral Landau levels are involved. Our work provides a proposed signature of Fermi arc mediated magnetothermal transport and sets the stage for utilizing and manipulating the topological Fermi arcs in thermal applications.
- Publication:
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Physical Review B
- Pub Date:
- May 2018
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1703.04606
- Bibcode:
- 2018PhRvB..97s5152M
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
- E-Print:
- 16 pages, 6 figures