Purely Electronic Chirality without Structural Chirality

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ishitobi, Takayuki, Hattori, Kazumasa
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ishitobi, Takayuki
Hattori, Kazumasa
author_facet Ishitobi, Takayuki
Hattori, Kazumasa
contents We introduce the concept of purely electronic chirality (PEC), which arises in the absence of structural chirality. In condensed matter physics and chemistry, chirality has conventionally been understood as a mirror-image asymmetry in crystal or molecular structures. We demonstrate that certain electronic orders exhibit chirality-related properties without atomic displacement. Specifically, we investigate quadrupole orders to realize such purely electronic chirality with handedness that can be tuned by magnetic fields. As a representative example, we analyze a model featuring $120^circ$ antiferro quadrupole orders on a distorted kagomé lattice, predicting various chirality-related responses in the nonmagnetic ordered phase of URhSn. Furthermore, as a phonon analog, chiral phonons can emerge in achiral crystals through coupling with the PEC order. Our results provide a distinct origin of chirality and a fundamental basis for exploring the interplay between electronic and structural chirality.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_13977
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Purely Electronic Chirality without Structural Chirality
Ishitobi, Takayuki
Hattori, Kazumasa
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
We introduce the concept of purely electronic chirality (PEC), which arises in the absence of structural chirality. In condensed matter physics and chemistry, chirality has conventionally been understood as a mirror-image asymmetry in crystal or molecular structures. We demonstrate that certain electronic orders exhibit chirality-related properties without atomic displacement. Specifically, we investigate quadrupole orders to realize such purely electronic chirality with handedness that can be tuned by magnetic fields. As a representative example, we analyze a model featuring $120^circ$ antiferro quadrupole orders on a distorted kagomé lattice, predicting various chirality-related responses in the nonmagnetic ordered phase of URhSn. Furthermore, as a phonon analog, chiral phonons can emerge in achiral crystals through coupling with the PEC order. Our results provide a distinct origin of chirality and a fundamental basis for exploring the interplay between electronic and structural chirality.
title Purely Electronic Chirality without Structural Chirality
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13977