Anisotropic optics and gravitational lensing of tilted Weyl fermions

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 15-05-2023
Journal Physical Review B
Article number L201406
Volume | Issue number 107 | 20
Number of pages 7
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Institute of Physics (IoP) - Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam (ITFA)
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Institute of Physics (IoP)
Abstract

We show that tilted Weyl semimetals with a spatially varying tilt of the Weyl cones provide a platform for studying analogs to problems in anisotropic optics as well as curved spacetime. Considering particular tilting profiles, we numerically evaluate the time evolution of electronic wave packets and their current densities. We demonstrate that electron trajectories in such systems can be obtained from Fermat's principle in the presence of an inhomogeneous, anisotropic effective refractive index. On the other hand, we show how the electron dynamics reveal gravitational features and use them to simulate gravitational lensing around a synthetic black hole. These results bridge optical and gravitational analogies in Weyl semimetals, suggesting different pathways for experimental solid-state electron optics.

Document type Article
Note © 2023 American Physical Society.
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.L201406
Other links https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85161182127
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PhysRevB.107.L201406 (Final published version)
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