Semimetal study links spiral magnetism to Weyl fermions
Findings may help explain spatial modulations seen in the magnetism of other rare earth intermetallic compounds
Weyl fermions – massless quasiparticles that carry charge in materials without having counterparts in empty space – explain otherwise inexplicable features of the magnetism in the semimetal neodymium aluminium silicon, researchers in the US believe. Although these ghostly phenomena were first observed in 2015, the researchers’ work suggests Weyl fermion-mediated interactions can affect a material’s bulk properties.