Physical interpretation of large Lorentz violation via Weyl semimetals

Abstract

The physical intepretation of effective field theories of fundamental interactions incorporating large Lorentz violation is a long-standing challenge, known as the concordance problem. In condensed-matter physics, certain Weyl semimetals with emergent Lorentz invariance exhibit large Lorentz violation, thereby offering prospective laboratory analogues for exploration of this issue. We take advantage of the mathematical equivalence between the descriptions of large Lorentz violation in fundamental and condensed-matter physics to investigate the primary aspects of the concordance problem, which arise when the coefficients for Lorentz violation are large or the observer frame is highly boosted. Using thermodynamic arguments, we present a physical solution to the concordance problem and explore some implications.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Band structures.
• Figure 2: Dispersions for timelike $b_{\mu}$.
• Figure 3: Dispersions for spacelike $b_{\mu}$.
• Figure 4: Dispersion relations.
• Figure 5: Energy eigenvalues from lattice simulation.