Higher-order Dirac fermions in three dimensions

TL;DR

This paper explores higher-order Dirac fermions in three-dimensional solids, discovering new classes with unique topological features and potential material realizations, expanding the understanding of topological quasiparticles beyond linear dispersion.

Contribution

It systematically classifies higher-order Dirac points in 3D systems, identifying new types with quadratic and cubic dispersions and proposing material candidates.

Findings

Discovery of quadratic and cubic Dirac points with unique topological properties

Identification of material candidates like α-TeO₂ and YRu₄B₄

Higher-order Dirac points serve as parent phases for other exotic topological structures

Abstract

Relativistic massless Weyl and Dirac fermions exhibit the isotropic and linear dispersion relations to preserve the Poincar\'{e} symmetry, the most fundamental symmetry in high energy physics. In solids, the counterparts of the Poincar\'{e} symmetry are crystallographic symmetries, and hence, it is natural to explore generalizations of Dirac and Weyl fermions compatible with their crystallographic symmetries and then the new physics coming along with them. Here, we study an important kind of generalization, namely massless Dirac fermions with higher-order dispersion relations protected by crystallographic symmetries in three-dimensional nonmagnetic systems. We perform a systematic search over all 230 space groups with time-reversal symmetry and spin-orbit coupling considered. We find that the order of dispersion cannot be higher than three, i.e., only the quadratic and cubic Dirac points (QDPs and CDPs) are possible. We discover previously unknown classes of higher-order Dirac points, including the chiral QDPs with Chern numbers of $\pm 4$ and the QDPs/CDPs without centrosymmetry. Especially the chiral QDPs feature four extensive surface Fermi arcs and four chiral Landau bands and hence leads to observable signatures in spectroscopic and transport experiments. We further show that these higher-order Dirac points represent parent phases for other exotic topological structures. Via controlled symmetry breaking, QDPs and CDPs can be transformed into double Weyl points, triple Weyl points, charge-2 Dirac points or Weyl loops. Using first-principles calculations, we also identify possible material candidates, including $\alpha$-TeO$_2$ and YRu$_4$B$_4$, which realize the predicted nodal structures.