Dirac semimetal (DSM) is a phase of matter, whose elementary excitation is described by the relativistic Dirac equation. Its parity-time symmetry enforces the linear-dispersed Dirac cone in the momentum space to be non-chiral, leading to surface stat
es connected adiabatically to a topologically trivial surface state. Inspired by the flavor symmetry in particle physics, we theoretically propose a massless chiral Dirac equation linking two Weyl fields with the identical chirality by assuming SU(2) isospin symmetry, independent of the space-time rotation exchanging the two fields. Dramatically, such symmetry is hidden in certain solid-state spin-1/2 systems with negligible spin-orbit coupling, where the spin degree of freedom is decoupled with the lattice. Therefore, it cannot be explained by the conventional (magnetic) space group framework. The corresponding system is called chiral DSM. The four-fold degenerate Dirac fermion manifests linear dispersion and a Chern number of +2/-2, leading to a robust network of topologically protected Fermi arcs throughout the Brillouin zone. For material realization, we show that the transition-metal chalcogenide CoNb3S6 with experimentally confirmed collinear antiferromagnetic order is ideal for chiral DSM. Our work unprecedentedly reveals a condensed-matter counterpart of the flavor symmetry in particle physics, leading to further possibilities of emergent phenomena in quantum materials.
Symmetry formulated by group theory plays an essential role with respect to the laws of nature, from fundamental particles to condensed matter systems. Here, by combining symmetry analysis and tight-binding model calculations, we elucidate that the c
rystallographic symmetries of a vast number of magnetic materials with light elements, in which the neglect of relativistic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is an appropriate approximation, are considerably larger than the conventional magnetic groups. Thus, a symmetry description that involves partially-decoupled spin and spatial rotations, dubbed as spin group, is required. Spin group permits more symmetry operations and thus more energy degeneracies that are disallowed by the magnetic groups. One consequence of the spin group is the new anti-unitary symmetries that protect SOC-free Z_2 topological phases with unprecedented surface node structures. Our work not only manifests the physical reality of materials with weak SOC, but also shed light on the understanding of all solids with and without SOC by a unified group theory.
