Chiral response in lattice models of Weyl materials

Abstract

For a generic lattice Hamiltonian of the electron states in Weyl materials, we calculate analytically the chiral (or, equivalently, valley) charge and current densities in the first order in background electromagnetic and strain-induced pseudoelectromagnetic fields. We find that the chiral response induced by the pseudoelectromagnetic fields is not topologically protected. Although our calculations reproduce qualitatively the anomalous chiral Hall effect, the actual result for the conductivity depends on the definition of the chirality as well as on the parameters of the lattice model. In addition, while for the well- separated Fermi surfaces surrounding the individual Weyl nodes the current induced by the magnetic field coincides almost exactly with the current of the chiral separation effect in linearized models, there are clear deviations when the Fermi surfaces undergo the Lifshitz transition. In general, we find that all chiral response coefficients vanish at large chemical potential.