Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Evidence for the chiral anomaly in the Dirac semimetal Na₃Bi
Jun Xiong1, Satya K Kushwaha2, Tian Liang1
1Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Abstract:
In a Dirac semimetal, each Dirac node is resolved into two Weyl nodes with opposite "handedness" or chirality. The two chiral populations do not mix. However, in parallel electric and magnetic fields ( E: || B: ), charge is predicted to flow between the Weyl nodes, leading to negative magnetoresistance. This "axial" current is the chiral (Adler-Bell-Jackiw) anomaly investigated in quantum field theory. We report the observation of a large, negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in the Dirac semimetal Na3Bi. The negative magnetoresistance is acutely sensitive to deviations of the direction of B: from E: and is incompatible with conventional transport. By rotating E: (as well as B: ), we show that it is consistent with the prediction of the chiral anomaly.
More Related Videos
05:39Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform
Published on: August 2, 2019
09:06Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Valence Bond Theory
Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects
Chirality in Nature
Radicals: Electronic Structure and Geometry
Accordingly, the structure of a trivalent radical lies between the geometries of carbocations and carbanions. An sp2-hybridized carbocation is trigonal planar, while an sp3-hybridized carbanion is trigonal pyramidal. Here, the difference in geometry is...