Hydrodynamic theory of thermoelectric transport and negative magnetoresistance in Weyl semimetals.

Lucas, Andrew; Davison, Richard A; Sachdev, Subir · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We present a theory of thermoelectric transport in weakly disordered Weyl semimetals where the electron-electron scattering time is faster than the electron-impurity scattering time. Our hydrodynamic theory consists of relativistic fluids at each Weyl node, coupled together by perturbatively small intervalley scattering, and long-range Coulomb interactions. The conductivity matrix of our theory is Onsager reciprocal and positive semidefinite. In addition to the usual axial anomaly, we account for the effects of a distinct, axial-gravitational anomaly expected to be present in Weyl semimetals. Negative thermal magnetoresistance is a sharp, experimentally accessible signature of this axial-gravitational anomaly, even beyond the hydrodynamic limit.