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The enigmatic mechanism underlying unconventional high-temperature superconductivity, especially the role of lattice dynamics, has remained a subject of debate. Theoretical insights have long been hindered due to the lack of an accurate first-principles description of the lattice dynamics of cuprates. Recently, using the r2SCAN meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) functional, we have been able to achieve accurate phonon spectra of an insulating cuprate YBa2Cu3O6 and discover significant magnetoelastic coupling in experimentally interesting Cu–O bond stretching optical modes [Ning et al., Phys. Rev. B 107, 045126 (2023)]. We extend this work by comparing Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof and r2SCAN performances with corrections from the on-site Hubbard U and the D4 van der Waals (vdW) methods, aiming at further understanding on both the materials science side and the density functional side. We demonstrate the importance of vdW and self-interaction corrections for accurate first-principles YBa2Cu3O6 lattice dynamics. Since r2SCAN by itself partially accounts for these effects, the good performance of r2SCAN is now more fully explained. In addition, the performances of the Tao–Mo series of meta-GGAs, which are constructed in a different way from the strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA and its revised version r2SCAN, are also compared and discussed.

Proposed mechanisms for large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in magnetic topological semimetals include diverging Berry curvatures of Weyl nodes, anticrossing nodal rings or points of non-trivial bands. Here we demonstrate that a half-topological semimetal (HTS) state near a topological critical point can provide an alternative mechanism for a large AHE via systematic studies on an antiferromagnetic (AFM) half-Heusler compound TbPdBi. We not only observe a large AHE with tanΘ^H≈ 2 in its field-driven ferromagnetic (FM) phase, but also find a distinct Hall resistivity peak in its canted AFM phase. Moreover, we observe a large negative magnetoresistance with a value of ~98%. Our in-depth theoretical modelling indicates that these exotic transport properties originate from the HTS state which exhibits Berry curvature cancellation between the trivial spin-up and nontrivial spin-down bands. Our study offers alternative strategies for improved materials design for spintronics and other applications.

The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) has streamlined the materials discovery effort by leveraging generic traits of materials, with focus largely on perfect solids. Defects such as impurities and perturbations, however, drive many attractive functional properties of materials. The rich tapestry of charge, spin, and bonding states hosted by defects are not accessible to elements and perfect crystals, and defects can thus be viewed as another class of “elements” that lie beyond the periodic table. Accordingly, a Defect Genome Initiative (DGI) to accelerate functional defect discovery for energy, quantum information, and other applications is proposed. First, major advances made under the MGI are highlighted, followed by a delineation of pathways for accelerating the discovery and design of functional defects under the DGI. Near‐term goals for the DGI are suggested. The construction of open defect platforms and design of data‐driven functional defects, along with approaches for fabrication and characterization of defects, are discussed. The associated challenges and opportunities are considered and recent advances towards controlled introduction of functional defects at the atomic scale are reviewed. It is hoped this perspective will spur a community‐wide interest in undertaking a DGI effort in recognition of the importance of defects in enabling unique functionalities in materials.

The family of transition-metal dipnictides has been of theoretical and experimental interest because this family hosts topological states and extremely large magnetoresistance (MR). Recently,${\mathrm{T}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}}_2$, a member of this family, has been predicted to support a topological crystalline insulating state. Here, by using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we reveal both closed and open pockets in the metallic Fermi surface (FS) and linearly dispersive bands on the ($\bar{2}01$) surface, along with the presence of extreme MR observed from magneto-transport measurements. A comparison of the ARPES results with first-principles computations shows that the linearly dispersive bands on the measured surface of${\mathrm{T}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}}_2$are trivial bulk bands. The absence of symmetry-protected surface state on the ($\bar{2}01$) surface indicates its topologically dark nature. The presence of open FS features suggests that the open-orbit fermiology could contribute to the extremely large MR of${\mathrm{T}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}}_2$.

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.