Necessity of Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking for the Polar Kerr Effect in Linear Response

Abstract

We show that, measured in a backscattering geometry, the polar Kerr effect is absent if the nonlocal electromagnetic response function respects Onsager symmetry, characteristic of thermodynamic states that preserve time-reversal symmetry. A key element is an expression for the reflectivity tensor in terms of the retarded Green's function.

7 pages, 1 figure. minor changes

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Hidden multipolar orders of dipole-octupole doublets on a triangular lattice
• Edge quantum criticality and emergent supersymmetry in topological phases
• Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking by disorder in superconductors
• Quantum-geometry-induced anomalous Hall effect in nonunitary superconductors and application to Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Mean-field thermodynamic quantum time-space crystal: spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry in a macroscopic fermion system
• Charge and current orders in the spin-fermion model with overlapping hot spots
• Modified Martin-Puplett interferometer for magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements at sub-THz frequencies
• Constraints on the orbital flux phase in $A$V${}_3$Sb${}_5$ from polar Kerr effect