On the possibility of magnetic Weyl fermions in non-symmorphic compound PtFeSb

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that magnetic order in non-symmorphic PtFeSb can induce Weyl fermions through band splitting, revealing new threefold and twofold degenerate Weyl nodes and expanding the understanding of magnetic topological materials.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism by which magnetic order creates Weyl fermions in non-symmorphic compounds, supported by density functional theory and group theory analysis.

Findings

Magnetic order splits six-fold degeneracy into Weyl nodes.

Identification of threefold and twofold degenerate Weyl points.

Potential synthesis of a phase with magnetic Weyl points.

Abstract

Weyl fermions are expected to exhibit exotic physical properties such as the chiral anomaly, large negative magnetoresistance or Fermi arcs. Recently a new platform to realize these fermions has been introduced based on the appearance of a three-fold band crossing at high symmetry points of certain space groups. These band crossings are composed of two linearly dispersed bands that are topologically protected by a Chern number, and a at band with no topological charge. In this paper we present a new way of inducing two kinds of Weyl fermions, based on two- and three-fold band crossings, in the non-symmorphic magnetic material PtFeSb. By means of density functional theory calculations and group theory analysis we show that magnetic order can split a six-fold degeneracy enforced by non-symmoprhic symmetry to create three-fold or two-fold degenerate Weyl nodes. We also report on the synthesis of a related phase potentially containing two-fold degenerate magnetic Weyl points and extend our group theory analysis to that phase. This is the first study showing that magnetic ordering has the potential to generate new threefold degenerate Weyl nodes, advancing the understanding of magnetic interactions in topological materials.