Causal structure of interacting Weyl fermions in condensed matter systems

Chiu，Wei Chi1; Chang，Guoqing2; Macam，Gennevieve3,4; Belopolski，Ilya5,6; Huang，Shin Ming4,7,8; Markiewicz，Robert1; Yin，Jia Xin9; Cheng，Zi Jia5; Lee，Chi Cheng10; Chang，Tay Rong7,11,12; Chuang，Feng Chuan4,7,8; Xu，Su Yang13; Lin，Hsin14; Hasan，M. Zahid5; Bansil，Arun1

2023-12-01

10.1038/s41467-023-37931-w

Nature Communications   影响因子和分区

2041-1723

The spacetime light cone is central to the definition of causality in the theory of relativity. Recently, links between relativistic and condensed matter physics have been uncovered, where relativistic particles can emerge as quasiparticles in the energy-momentum space of matter. Here, we unveil an energy-momentum analogue of the spacetime light cone by mapping time to energy, space to momentum, and the light cone to the Weyl cone. We show that two Weyl quasiparticles can only interact to open a global energy gap if they lie in each other’s energy-momentum dispersion cones–analogous to two events that can only have a causal connection if they lie in each other’s light cones. Moreover, we demonstrate that the causality of surface chiral modes in quantum matter is entangled with the causality of bulk Weyl fermions. Furthermore, we identify a unique quantum horizon region and an associated ‘thick horizon’ in the emergent causal structure.

SCI

英语

NI论文

其他

Ames Laboratory[DE-AC0207CH11358];National Science Foundation[ECCS-2025158];Air Force Office of Scientific Research[FA9550- 20-1-0322];Air Force Office of Scientific Research[FA9550-20-1-0322];Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation[GBMF4547];Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation[GBMF9461];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST 108-2112-M-110-013- MY3];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST 109-2112-M-001-014-MY3];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST 110-2112-M-032-016-MY2];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST-107-2628-M-110-001-MY3];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST-110-2112-M-110-013-MY3];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST107-2627-E-006-001];Institute for Information Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan[MOST110-2636-M-006-016];National Research Foundation Singapore[NRF-NRFF13-2021-0010];

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:000988360100016

NATURE PORTFOLIO

2-s2.0-85152978163

Scopus

1.Department of Physics,Northeastern University,Boston,02115,United States
2.Division of Physics and Applied Physics,School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore,21 Nanyang Link,637371,Singapore
3.National Institute of Physics,University of the Philippines,Quezon City,Diliman,1101,Philippines
4.Department of Physics,National Sun Yat-sen University,Kaohsiung,80424,Taiwan
5.Laboratory for Topological Quantum Matter and Advanced Spectroscopy (B7),Department of Physics,Princeton University,Princeton,08544,United States
6.RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS),Wako,Saitama,351-0198,Japan
7.Physics Division,National Center for Theoretical Sciences,Taipei,10617,Taiwan
8.Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics,National Sun Yat-sen University,Kaohsiung,80424,Taiwan
9.Department of Physics,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,Guangdong,518055,China
10.Department of Physics,Tamkang University,New Taipei,Tamsui,251301,Taiwan
11.Department of Physics,National Cheng Kung University,Tainan,Taiwan
12.Center for Quantum Frontiers of Research and Technology (QFort),Tainan,Taiwan
13.Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology,Harvard University,Cambridge,United States
14.Institute of Physics,Academia Sinica,Taipei,115201,Taiwan

Chiu，Wei Chi,Chang，Guoqing,Macam，Gennevieve,et al. Causal structure of interacting Weyl fermions in condensed matter systems[J]. Nature Communications,2023,14(1).

Chiu，Wei Chi.,Chang，Guoqing.,Macam，Gennevieve.,Belopolski，Ilya.,Huang，Shin Ming.,...&Bansil，Arun.(2023).Causal structure of interacting Weyl fermions in condensed matter systems.Nature Communications,14(1).

Chiu，Wei Chi,et al."Causal structure of interacting Weyl fermions in condensed matter systems".Nature Communications 14.1(2023).