2013/11/30 by Maxim N. Chernodub, Alberto Cortijo, Adolfo G. Grushin +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.89.081407
published as Phys. Rev. B 89, 081407(R) (2014) · 5 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2014/02/27 · arxiv updated 2014/02/28
The axial magnetic effect, i.e., the generation of an energy current parallel to an axial magnetic field coupling with opposite signs to left- and right-handed fermions is a non-dissipative transport phenomenon intimately related to the gravitational contribution to the axial anomaly. An axial magnetic field emerges naturally in condensed matter in the so called Weyl semi-metals. We present a measurable implementation of the axial magnetic effect. We show that the edge states of a Weyl semimetal at finite temperature possess a temperature dependent angular momentum in the direction of the vector potential intrinsic to the system. Such a realization provides a plausible context for the experimental confirmation of the elusive gravitational anomaly.