Microscopic Origins of Hydrodynamic Transport in Type-II Weyl Semimetal WP${}_2$

Abstract

The origins of hydrodynamic transport in strongly interacting Dirac and Weyl semimetals have remained elusive in theoretical descriptions and experimental measurements. We investigate the structure and microscopic properties of transport in WP${}_2$, a type-II Weyl semimetal, to probe the emergence of hydrodynamic phenomena. We characterize the quantum behavior underlying the hydrodynamic transport regime as a function of temperature through ab initio calculations of the relevant microscopic scattering processes, including electron-phonon, electron-electron, and phonon-mediated electron-electron lifetimes. We present a fundamentally new approach to calculate phonon-drag, a mechanism that is invoked in numerous recent experiments, and remains the subject of active debate in the field. Further, we show unique and unexpected features of the lifetime-resolved Fermi surfaces of WP${}_2$ in the hydrodynamic regime and quantify the degree of anisotropy in electron and hole pockets. This description of the microscopic dynamics in hydrodynamic systems like WP${}_2$ indicates the importance of electron-phonon interactions in understanding connections between transport in hydrodynamic materials and strongly correlated quantum systems including unconventional metals and high $T_c$ superconductors.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Restoring the density-gradient expansion for exchange in solids and surfaces
• Generalized gradient approximation for solids and their surfaces
• JDFTx: software for joint density-functional theory
• Hydrodynamics of electrons in graphene
• Experimental and ab initio ultrafast carrier dynamics in plasmonic nanoparticles
• Fermi surface of the Weyl type-II metallic candidate WP2
• Stable Weyl points, trivial surface states and particle-hole compensation in WP2

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Topological quantum materials from the viewpoint of chemistry
• Imaging phonon-mediated hydrodynamic flow in WTe2
• Quantum Nanophotonics in Two-Dimensional Materials
• Departure from the Wiedemann-Franz Law in WP${}_2$ Driven by Mismatch in $T$-square Resistivity Prefactors
• Transport properties of strongly coupled electron-phonon liquids
• Electron-phonon hydrodynamics
• Electron hydrodynamics with a polygonal Fermi surface
• Thermal conductivity and Lorenz ratio of metals at intermediate temperature: a first-principles analysis
• Uncovering Electron-Phonon Scattering and Phonon Dynamics in Type-I Weyl Semimetals
• Evidence for dominant phonon-electron scattering in Weyl semimetal WP${}_2$
• First-principles based analysis of thermal transport in metallic nanostructures: size effect and Wiedemann-Franz law
• Lorentz ratio of a compensated metal
• Evidence of a coupled electron-phonon liquid in NbGe${}_2$
• Optoelectronic Response of Type-I Weyl Semimetals TaAs and NbAs from First Principles
• Plasmonics in Argentene
• Topological frequency conversion in Weyl semimetals
• Sondheimer oscillations as a probe of non-ohmic flow in type-II Weyl semimetal WP${}_2$
• Strong and Tunable Electrical-Anisotropy in Type-II Weyl Semimetal Candidate WP2 with Broken Inversion Symmetry
• Anisotropic Scattering in Goniopolar Metal NaSn${}_2$As${}_2$
• Finite-size effects of electron transport in PdCoO${}_2$
• Generalized Design Principles for Hydrodynamic Electron Transport in Anisotropic Metals
• Phonon-mediated Hydrodynamic Transport in a Weyl Semimetal
• Distinguishing viscous, ballistic, and diffusive current flows in anisotropic metals
• Heat transport in Weyl semimetals in the hydrodynamic regime
• Quantum Heat Under the Microscope: A Perspective on Cryogenic Scanning Thermal Microscopy
• Electronic conductivity in anharmonic crystals: Phonon dephasing in the electron-phonon interaction