Unconventional spin Hall effect and axial current generation in a Dirac semimetal

Abstract

We investigate electrical transport in a three-dimensional massless Dirac fermion model that describes a Dirac semimetal state realized in topological materials. We derive a set of interdependent diffusion equations with eight local degrees of freedom, including the electric charge density and the spin density, that respond to an external electric field. By solving the diffusion equations for a system with a boundary, we demonstrate that a spin Hall effect with spin accumulation occurs even though the conventional spin current operator is zero. The Noether current associated with chiral symmetry, known as the axial current, is also discussed. We demonstrate that the axial current flows near the boundary and that it is perpendicular to the electric current.