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Abstract Transitions between distinct obstructed atomic insulators (OAIs) protected by crystalline symmetries, where electrons form molecular orbitals centering away from the atom positions, must go through an intermediate metallic phase. In this work, we find that the intermediate metals will become a scale-invariant critical metal phase (CMP) under certain types of quenched disorder that respect the magnetic crystalline symmetries on average. We explicitly construct models respecting averageC_2zT, m, andC_4zTand show their scale-invariance under chemical potential disorder by the finite-size scaling method. Conventional theories, such as weak anti-localization and topological phase transition, cannot explain the underlying mechanism. A quantitative mapping between lattice and network models shows that the CMP can be understood through a semi-classical percolation problem. Ultimately, we systematically classify all the OAI transitions protected by (magnetic) groups$$Pm,P{2}^{{\prime} },P{4}^{{\prime} }$$ $Pm,P{2}^{\prime },P{4}^{\prime }$, and$$P{6}^{{\prime} }$$ $P{6}^{\prime }$with and without spin-orbit coupling, most of which can support CMP. 

Topological semimetals with massless Dirac and Weyl fermions represent the forefront of quantum materials research. In two dimensions, a peculiar class of fermions that are massless in one direction and massive in the perpendicular direction was predicted 16 years ago. These highly exotic quasiparticles—the semi-Dirac fermions—ignited intense theoretical and experimental interest but remain undetected. Using magneto-optical spectroscopy, we demonstrate the defining feature of semi-Dirac fermions— $B^{2/3}$scaling of Landau levels—in a prototypical nodal-line metal ZrSiS. In topological metals, including ZrSiS, nodal lines extend the band degeneracies from isolated points to lines, loops, or even chains in the momentum space. With calculations and theoretical modeling, we pinpoint the observed semi-Dirac spectrum to the crossing points of nodal lines in ZrSiS. Crossing nodal lines exhibit a continuum absorption spectrum but with singularities that scale as $B^{2/3}$at the crossing. Our work sheds light on the hidden quasiparticles emerging from the intricate topology of crossing nodal lines and highlights the potential to explore quantum geometry with linear optical responses. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Ultraclean graphene at charge neutrality hosts a quantum critical Dirac fluid of interacting electrons and holes. Interactions profoundly affect the charge dynamics of graphene, which is encoded in the properties of its electron-photon collective modes: surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Here, we show that polaritonic interference patterns are particularly well suited to unveil the interactions in Dirac fluids by tracking polaritonic interference in time at temporal scales commensurate with the electronic scattering. Spacetime SPP interference patterns recorded in terahertz (THz) frequency range provided unobstructed readouts of the group velocity and lifetime of polariton that can be directly mapped onto the electronic spectral weight and the relaxation rate. Our data uncovered prominent departures of the electron dynamics from the predictions of the conventional Fermi-liquid theory. The deviations are particularly strong when the densities of electrons and holes are approximately equal. The proposed spacetime imaging methodology can be broadly applied to probe the electrodynamics of quantum materials. 

Nodal-line metals allow hyperbolic infrared waveguiding through the bulk with band structure–engineered loss reduction. 

Abstract 1D charge transport offers great insight into strongly correlated physics, such as Luttinger liquids, electronic instabilities, and superconductivity. Although 1D charge transport is observed in nanomaterials and quantum wires, examples in bulk crystalline solids remain elusive. In this work, it is demonstrated that spin‐orbit coupling (SOC) can act as a mechanism to induce quasi‐1D charge transport in the Ln₃MPn₅(Ln = lanthanide; M = transition metal; Pn = Pnictide) family. From three example compounds, La₃ZrSb₅, La₃ZrBi₅, and Sm₃ZrBi₅, density functional theory calculations with SOC included show a quasi‐1D Fermi surface in the bismuthide compounds, but an anisotropic 3D Fermi surface in the antimonide structure. By performing anisotropic charge transport measurements on La₃ZrSb₅, La₃ZrBi₅, and Sm₃ZrBi₅, it is demonstrated that SOC starkly affects their anisotropic resistivity ratios (ARR) at low temperatures, with an ARR of ≈4 in the antimonide compared to ≈9.5 and ≈22 (≈32 after magnetic ordering) in La₃ZrBi₅and Sm₃ZrBi₅, respectively. This report demonstrates the utility of spin‐orbit coupling to induce quasi‐low‐dimensional Fermi surfaces in anisotropic crystal structures, and provides a template for examining other systems.