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Abstract

Weyl semimetals harbor topological Fermi arc surface states that determine the nontrivial charge current response to external fields. We study here the quasiparticle decay rate of Fermi arc states arising from their coupling to acoustic phonons, as well as the phonon-limited conductivity tensor for a clean Weyl semimetal slab. Using the phonon modes for an isotropic elastic continuum with a deformation potential coupling to electrons, we determine the temperature dependence of the quasiparticle decay rate, both near and far away from the arc termination points. By solving the coupled Boltzmann equations for the bulk and arc state distribution functions in the slab geometry, we show how the linear-response conductivity depends on key parameters such as the temperature, the chemical potential, the geometric shape of the Fermi arcs, or the slab width. The chiral nature of Fermi arc states causes an enhancement of the longitudinal conductivity along the chiral direction at low temperatures, together with a 1/T2 scaling regime at intermediate temperatures without counterpart for the conductivity along the perpendicular direction.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been published in Physical Review B by American Physical Society, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.085410
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics Q Science > QC Physics
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Mathematics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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