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Anomalous chiral Fermi surfaces.
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-3800, USA. zahed@tonic.physics.sunysb.edu
Physical Review Letters
|September 26, 2012
Summary
A geometric argument reveals a Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) term in Fermi surfaces with Berry curvature. This leads to chiral anomalies in fermionic currents, while fermion number is conserved due to paired Berry curvatures.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- High-energy physics
- Quantum field theory
Background:
- Berry curvature in condensed matter systems.
- Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) terms in quantum field theory.
- Chiral anomalies and their physical implications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a geometrical argument for the emergence of a WZW term in a Fermi surface threaded by Berry curvature.
- To investigate the implications of the gauged WZW term in the presence of external fields.
- To discuss anomalous currents and temperature corrections in fermionic fluids.
Main Methods:
- Geometrical arguments.
- Analysis of gauged WZW terms.
- Low-temperature fermionic fluid dynamics.
Main Results:
- Emergence of a WZW term from Berry curvature in Fermi surfaces.
- Chiral anomaly in fermionic current at the Fermi surface edge.
- Conservation of fermion number due to paired Berry curvatures.
- Discussion of anomalous vector and axial currents.
- Identification of a potential link between temperature correction to chiral vortical effect and gravitational anomaly.
Conclusions:
- The study establishes a geometric origin for WZW terms in systems with Berry curvature.
- Chiral anomalies are a direct consequence of these terms in the presence of external fields.
- Fermion number conservation is maintained through the paired nature of Berry curvatures.
- The findings offer insights into anomalous transport phenomena and potential connections to gravitational anomalies.
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