Microscopic Origins of Hydrodynamic Transport in Type-II Weyl Semimetal WP2
Jennifer Coulter, Harvard University
In traditional materials, electronic transport obeys Ohmic physics. However, in graphene and several recently studied semimetallic materials, transport can instead be described as a hydrodynamic flow. An understanding of hydrodynamic transport in these semimetals has remained elusive in theoretical descriptions and experimental measurements. We investigate the structure and microscopic properties of transport in WP2, a type-II Weyl semimetal that exhibits hydrodynamic flow. 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 WP2 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 WP2 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 Tc superconductors.
Abstract Author(s): Jennifer Coulter, Prineha Narang