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1. Strong and fragile topological Dirac semimetals with higher-order Fermi arcs

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14443-5  

   Wieder, Benjamin J. ; Wang, Zhijun ; Cano, Jennifer ; Dai, Xi ; Schoop, Leslie M. ; Bradlyn, Barry ; Bernevig, B. Andrei ( January 2020 , Nature Communications)

   Dirac and Weyl semimetals both exhibit arc-like surface states. However, whereas the surface Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetals are topological consequences of the Weyl points themselves, the surface Fermi arcs in Dirac semimetals are not directly related to the bulk Dirac points, raising the question of whether there exists a topological bulk-boundary correspondence for Dirac semimetals. In this work, we discover that strong and fragile topological Dirac semimetals exhibit one-dimensional (1D) higher-order hinge Fermi arcs (HOFAs) as universal, direct consequences of their bulk 3D Dirac points. To predict HOFAs coexisting with topological surface states in solid-state Dirac semimetals, we introduce and layer a spinful model of ans–d-hybridized quadrupole insulator (QI). We develop a rigorous nested Jackiw–Rebbi formulation of QIs and HOFA states. Employing ab initio calculations, we demonstrate HOFAs in both the room- (α) and intermediate-temperature (α″) phases of Cd₃As₂, KMgBi, and rutile-structure ($$ \beta ^{\prime} $$${\beta }^{\prime }$-) PtO₂.

    

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2. Weyl Fermions and broken symmetry phases of laterally confined 3 He films

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/acf42b  

   Wu, Hao ; Sauls, J. A. ( September 2023 , Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter)

   Broken symmetries in topological condensed matter systems have implications for the spectrum of Fermionic excitations confined on surfaces or topological defects. The Fermionic spectrum of confined (quasi-2D)³He-A consists of branches of chiral edge states. The negative energy states are related to the ground-state angular momentum,$L_z=(N/2)\hslash$, for$N/2$Cooper pairs. The power law suppression of the angular momentum,$L_z(T)\simeq (N/2)\hslash [1-\frac{2}{3}(\pi T/\mathrm{\Delta }{)}^2]$for$0⩽T\ll T_c$, in the fully gapped 2D chiral A-phase reflects the thermal excitation of the chiral edge Fermions. We discuss the effects of wave function overlap, and hybridization between edge states confined near opposing edge boundaries on the edge currents, ground-state angular momentum and ground-state order parameter of superfluid³He thin films. Under strong lateral confinement, the chiral A phase undergoes a sequence of phase transitions, first to a pair density wave (PDW) phase with broken translational symmetry at$D_{c2}\sim 16{\xi }_0$. The PDW phase is described by a periodic array of chiral domains with alternating chirality, separated by domain walls. The period of PDW phase diverges as the confinement length$D\to D_{c_2}$. The PDW phase breaks time-reversal symmetry, translation invariance, but is invariant under the combination of time-reversal and translation by a one-half period of the PDW. The mass current distribution of the PDW phase reflects this combined symmetry, and originates from the spectra of edge Fermions and the chiral branches bound to the domain walls. Under sufficiently strong confinement a second-order transition occurs to the non-chiral ‘polar phase’ at$D_{c1}\sim 9{\xi }_0$, in which a single p-wave orbital state of Cooper pairs is aligned along the channel.

    

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3. Proximity-enhanced valley Zeeman splitting at the WS 2 /graphene interface

   https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/acd5df  

   Faria Junior, Paulo E. ; Naimer, Thomas ; McCreary, Kathleen M. ; Jonker, Berend T. ; Finley, Jonathan J. ; Crooker, Scott A. ; Fabian, Jaroslav ; Stier, Andreas V. ( May 2023 , 2D Materials)

   The valley Zeeman physics of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides provides valuable insight into the spin and orbital degrees of freedom inherent to these materials. Being atomically-thin materials, these degrees of freedom can be influenced by the presence of adjacent layers, due to proximity interactions that arise from wave function overlap across the 2D interface. Here, we report 60 T magnetoreflection spectroscopy of the A- and B- excitons in monolayer WS₂, systematically encapsulated in monolayer graphene. While the observed variations of the valley Zeeman effect for the A- exciton are qualitatively in accord with expectations from the bandgap reduction and modification of the exciton binding energy due to the graphene-induced dielectric screening, the valley Zeeman effect for the B- exciton behaves markedly different. We investigate prototypical WS₂/graphene stacks employing first-principles calculations and find that the lower conduction band of WS₂at the$K/K^{\mathrm{\prime }}$valleys (the${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{B}}^{-}$band) is strongly influenced by the graphene layer on the orbital level. Specifically, our detailed microscopic analysis reveals that the conduction band at theQpoint of WS₂mediates the coupling between${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{B}}^{-}$and graphene due to resonant energy conditions and strong coupling to the Dirac cone. This leads to variations in the valley Zeeman physics of the B- exciton, consistent with the experimental observations. Our results therefore expand the consequences of proximity effects in multilayer semiconductor stacks, showing that wave function hybridization can be a multi-step energetically resonant process, with different bands mediating the interlayer interactions. Such effects can be further exploited to resonantly engineer the spin-valley degrees of freedom in van der Waals and moiré heterostructures.

    

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4. Superconducting Phases in Lithium Decorated Graphene LiC6

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32050-9  

   Gholami, Rouhollah ; Moradian, Rostam ; Moradian, Sina ; Pickett, Warren E. ( September 2018 , Scientific Reports)

   A study of possible superconducting phases of graphene has been constructed in detail. A realistic tight binding model, fit to ab initio calculations, accounts for the Li-decoration of graphene with broken lattice symmetry, and includessanddsymmetry Bloch character that influences the gap symmetries that can arise. The resulting seven hybridized Li-C orbitals that support nine possible bond pairing amplitudes. The gap equation is solved for all possible gap symmetries. One band is weakly dispersive near the Fermi energy along Γ → Mwhere its Bloch wave function has linear combination of$${d}_{{x}^{2}-{y}^{2}}$$$d_{x^2-y^2}$andd_xycharacter, and is responsible for$${d}_{{x}^{2}-{y}^{2}}$$$d_{x^2-y^2}$andd_xypairing with lowest pairing energy in our model. These symmetries almost preserve properties from a two band model of pristine graphene. Another part of this band, alongK → Γ, is nearly degenerate with uppersband that favors extendedswave pairing which is not found in two band model. Upon electron doping to a critical chemical potentialμ₁ = 0.22 eVthe pairing potential decreases, then increases until a second critical valueμ₂ = 1.3 eV at which a phase transition to a distorteds-wave occurs. The distortion ofd- or s-wave phases are a consequence of decoration which is not appear in two band pristine model. In the pristine graphene these phases convert to usuald-wave or extendeds-wave pairing.

    

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5. Searching for a dark matter particle with anti-protonic atoms

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-12319-8  

   Doser, Michael ; Farrar, Glennys ; Kornakov, Georgy ( December 2023 , The European Physical Journal C)

   A wide range of dark matter candidates have been proposed and are actively being searched for in a large number of experiments, both at high (TeV) and low (sub meV) energies. One dark matter candidate, a deeply bounduuddsssexaquark,$$S$$$S$, with mass$$\sim 2$$$\sim 2$GeV (having the same quark content as the hypothesized H-dibaryon, but long lived) is particularly difficult to explore experimentally. In this paper, we propose a scheme in which such a state could be produced at rest through the formation of$$\bar{p}$$$\overline{p}$–$$^3$$${}^3$He antiprotonic atoms and their annihilation into$$S$$$S$+$$K^+K^+\pi ^-$$$K^{+}{K}^{+}{\pi }^{-}$, identified both through the unique tag of a$$S=+2, Q=+1$$$S=+2,Q=+1$final state, as well as through full kinematic reconstruction of the final state recoiling against it.

    

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