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Fabrication of Gate-tunable Graphene Devices for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies with Coulomb Impurities
Published on: July 24, 2015
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Magnetic Catalysis in Graphene Effective Field Theory
Carleton DeTar1, Christopher Winterowd1, Savvas Zafeiropoulos2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|January 7, 2017
Summary
This study demonstrates magnetic catalysis at zero temperature using nonperturbative simulations of graphene effective field theory. Results show spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and a dynamical mass for Dirac quasiparticles.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Field Theory
- High Energy Physics
Background:
- Graphene exhibits unique electronic properties due to its massless Dirac fermions.
- The magnetic catalysis effect describes how magnetic fields can induce symmetry breaking.
- Nonperturbative methods are crucial for understanding strongly interacting systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To perform the first nonperturbative calculation of magnetic catalysis at zero temperature in graphene effective field theory.
- To investigate the behavior of (2+1)-dimensional Dirac fermions in a magnetic field.
- To determine if chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken under these conditions.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing lattice gauge theory for a fully nonperturbative simulation.
- Analyzing the (2+1)-dimensional theory of strongly interacting, massless Dirac fermions.
- Performing calculations in the zero-temperature limit.
Main Results:
- A nonzero chiral condensate was obtained at zero temperature.
- This indicates the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry.
- A nonzero dynamical mass for Dirac quasiparticles was implied.
Conclusions:
- Magnetic catalysis is confirmed at zero temperature in this nonperturbative graphene model.
- Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking occurs, leading to massive Dirac quasiparticles.
- The findings provide insights into the behavior of Dirac fermions in strong magnetic fields.
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