Chiral Magnetic Effect and Anomalous Hall Effect in Antiferromagnetic Insulators with Spin-Orbit Coupling

TL;DR

This paper explores how spin excitations in antiferromagnetic insulators with spin-orbit coupling can produce dynamical magnetoelectric effects like the chiral magnetic effect and anomalous Hall effect, linked to the dynamical axion field.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of dynamical chiral magnetic and anomalous Hall effects in antiferromagnetic insulators with spin-orbit coupling, connecting these phenomena to the dynamical axion field in condensed matter.

Findings

Dynamical chiral magnetic effect arises from time-dependent order parameters.

Anomalous Hall effect occurs due to spatial variations like domain walls.

Spin excitations can lead to nontrivial charge responses in these systems.

Abstract

We search for dynamical magnetoelectric phenomena in three-dimensional correlated systems with spin-orbit coupling. We focus on the antiferromagnetic insulator phases where the dynamical axion field is realized by the fluctuation of the antiferromagnetic order parameter. It is shown that the dynamical chiral magnetic effect, an alternating current generation by magnetic fields, emerges due to the time dependences of the order parameter such as antiferromagnetic resonance. It is also shown that the anomalous Hall effect arises due to the spatial variations of the order parameter such as antiferromagnetic domain walls. Our study indicates that spin excitations in antiferromagnetic insulators with spin-orbit coupling can result in nontrivial charge responses. Moreover, observing the chiral magnetic effect and anomalous Hall effect in our system is equivalent to detecting the dynamical axion field in condensed matter.