Pseudo-electromagnetic fields in topological semimetals

Dirac and Weyl semimetals, materials where electrons behave as relativistic fermions, react to position- and time-dependent perturbations, such as strain, as if emergent electromagnetic fields were applied. Since they differ from external electromagnetic fields in their symmetries and phenomenology they are called pseudo-electromagnetic fields, and enable a simple and unified description of a variety of inhomogeneous systems involving topological semimetals. We review the different physical ways to create effective pseudo-fields, their observable consequences as well as their similarities and differences compared to electromagnetic fields. Among these difference is their effect on quantum anomalies, the absence of a classical symmetry in the quantum theory, which we revisit from a quantum field theory and a semiclassical viewpoint. We conclude with predicted observable signatures of the pseudo-fields and the nascent experimental status.Comment: 18 pages, 6 (preliminary) figures. Original submitted version, comments welcom

Robust Helical Edge Transport in Quantum Spin Hall Quantum Wells

We show that burying of the Dirac point in semiconductor-based quantum-spin-Hall systems can generate unexpected robustness of edge states to magnetic fields. A detailed ${\bf k\cdot p}$ band-structure analysis reveals that InAs/GaSb and HgTe/CdTe quantum wells exhibit such buried Dirac points. By simulating transport in a disordered system described within an effective model, we further demonstrate that buried Dirac points yield nearly quantized edge conduction out to large magnetic fields, consistent with recent experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Noise-induced backscattering in a quantum-spin-Hall edge

Time-reversal symmetry suppresses electron backscattering in a quantum-spin-Hall edge, yielding quantized conductance at zero temperature. Understanding the dominant corrections in finite-temperature experiments remains an unsettled issue. We study a novel mechanism for conductance suppression: backscattering caused by incoherent electromagnetic noise. Specifically, we show that an electric potential fluctuating randomly in time can backscatter electrons inelastically without constraints faced by electron-electron interactions. We quantify noise-induced corrections to the dc conductance in various regimes and propose an experiment to test this scenario.Comment: 5+3 pages, 1 figure; shortened version to appear in PRL, added reference

Quantum-metric-enabled exciton condensate in double twisted bilayer graphene

Flat-band systems are a promising platform for realizing exotic collective ground states with spontaneously broken symmetry because the electron-electron interactions dominate the kinetic energy. A state of particular interest would be the chased after interlayer-phase-coherent exciton condensate but the conventional treatments of the effect of thermal and quantum fluctuations suggest that this state might be either unstable or fragile. In this work, using double twisted bilayer graphene heterostructures as an example, we show that the quantum metric of the Bloch wave functions can strongly stabilize the exciton condensate and reverse the conclusion that one would draw using a conventional approach. The quantum metric contribution arises from interband terms, and flat-bands are most commonly realized by engineering multiband systems. Our results therefore suggest that in many practical situations the quantum metric can play a critical role in determining the stability of exciton condensates in double layers formed by two-dimensional systems with flat-bands.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Suppressing quasiparticle poisoning with a voltage-controlled filter

We study single-electron charging events in an Al/InAs nanowire hybrid system with deliberately introduced gapless regions. The occupancy of a Coulomb island is detected using a nearby radio-frequency quantum dot as a charge sensor. We demonstrate that a 1 micron gapped segment of the wire can be used to efficiently suppress single electron poisoning of the gapless region and therefore protect the parity of the island while maintaining good electrical contact with a normal lead. In the absence of protection by charging energy, the 1e switching rate can be reduced below 200 per second. In the same configuration, we observe strong quantum charge fluctuations due to exchange of electron pairs between the island and the lead. The magnetic field dependence of the poisoning rate yields a zero-field superconducting coherence length of ~ 90 nm