Chiral anomaly in Weyl semi-metals; a study based on phonon dispersion

The Nobel prize in physics 2016 cemented topology as a concept in condensed matter physics. Topological phases exhibit unique properties and represent a new class of quantum materials.

Weyl semi-metals belong to the class topological phases and are famous for realizing Weyl fermions in a quasi-particle form.

The materials are expected to show a range of intriguing phenomena such as chiral anomaly (chiral magnetic effect) or large anomalous Hall conductivity.

While most studies in the literature dedicated to Weyl semi-metals are based on mapping the electronic structures using angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), this project aims to study Weyl semi-metals by measuring the phonon dispersion via inelastic neutron and X-ray scattering (INS and IXS).

Since chiral anomaly is expected to take form under magnetic fields, ARPES measurements are challenging.

On the other hand, phonon dispersion can be measured under magnetic fields and presents prominent way to study chiral anomaly.

The obtained results will be used to confirm the unconfirmed theoretical predictions and help develop our theoretical understanding of these materials.The initial stage of the project will be dedicated to securing the required ARPES, INS and IXS beam times. The second stage will be dedicated to carry out the measurements and analysing the data.

The final part of the project will be focused on uniting the experimental data with theoretical models.