Topological Semimetal driven by Strong Correlations and Crystalline Symmetry

Electron correlations amplify quantum fluctuations and, as such, they have been recognized as the origin of a rich landscape of quantum phases. Recent developments motivate us to hypothesize that strong correlations cooperate with crystalline symmetry to drive gapless topological states. Here [1] we test this proposition by exploring Kondo lattice models and materials whose space group symmetries may promote different kinds of electronic degeneracies. We illustrate our approach through the Kondo effect of quantum-fluctuating local moments in the presence of spin-orbit coupling in nonsymmorphic and noncentrosym- metric square-net systems. In our model, Weyl-Kondo nodal-line semimetals–with nodes pinned to the Fermi energy–are realized in both two and three dimensions. We propose materials realizations of these correlated topological semimetal phases and discuss implications of our results for the exploration of topological metals in other classes of strongly correlated systems.

[1] L. Chen et al. arXiv:2107.10837