Berry curvature and various thermal Hall effects

Abstract

Applying the approach of semiclassical wave packet dynamics, we study various thermal Hall effects where carriers can be electron, phonon, magnon, etc. A general formula of thermal Hall conductivity is obtained to provide an essential physics for various thermal Hall effects, where the Berry phase effect manifests naturally. All the formulas of electron thermal Hall effect, phonon Hall effect, and magnon Hall effect can be directly reproduced from the general formula. It is also found that the Strěda formula can not be directly applied to the thermal Hall effects, where only the edge magnetization contributes to the Hall effects. Furthermore, we obtain a combined formula for anomalous Hall conductivity, thermal Hall electronic conductivity and thermal Hall conductivity for electron systems, where the Berry curvature is weighted by a different function. Finally, we discuss particle magnetization and its relation to angular momentum of the carrier, change of which could induce a mechanical rotation; and possible experiments for thermal Hall effect associated with a mechanical rotation are also proposed.

Keywords

• Berry curvature
• thermal Hall effects
• phonon Hall effect
• magnon Hall effect
• 73.43.-f
• 65.40.-b