Topological signatures in nodal semimetals through neutron scattering

Abstract

Abstract Topological nodal semimetals are known to host a variety of fascinating electronic properties due to the topological protection of the band-touching nodes. Neutron scattering, despite its power in probing elementary excitations, has not been routinely applied to topological semimetals, mainly due to the lack of an explicit connection between the neutron response and the signature of topology. In this work, we theoretically investigate the role that neutron scattering can play to unveil the topological nodal features: a large magnetic neutron response with spectral non-analyticity can be generated solely from the nodal bands. A new formula for the dynamical structure factor for generic topological nodal metals is derived. For Weyl semimetals, we show that the locations of Weyl nodes, the Fermi velocities and the signature of chiral anomaly can all leave hallmark neutron spectral responses. Our work offers a neutron-based avenue toward probing bulk topological materials.