Condensed Matter/Materials & Biological Physics Seminar with Pavlo Sukhachov on Chiral anomaly in wave propagation through Weyl and Dirac semimetals

Owing to their nontrivial topology and relativistic-like electronic spectra, Dirac and Weyl semimetals realize various anomalous responses, including the celebrated chiral anomaly. In this talk, I will discuss the manifestations of the chiral anomaly in sound attenuation and electromagnetic field penetration. Due to the interplay of intra- and inter-node scattering processes as well as screening, an external magnetic field generically reduces sound absorption. A nontrivial dependence on the relative direction of the magnetic field and the sound wave vector, i.e., the magnetic sound dichroism, can occur in materials with nonsymmetric Weyl nodes. I will also demonstrate that the current response to an electromagnetic field in a Weyl or Dirac semimetal becomes nonlocal due to the chiral anomaly even under the conditions of the normal skin effect. Signatures of this nonlocality may be found in the transmission of electromagnetic waves.

This lecture was made possible by the William C. Ferguson fund. 

Zoom link: 

https://wustl.zoom.us/j/97324916015?pwd=MUg4TXFscGlWajhCOXpMTHJOQUJ2UT09