Magnetoelectric Polarizability and Axion Electrodynamics in Crystalline Insulators
Magnetoelectric Polarizability and Axion Electrodynamics in Crystalline Insulators
The orbital motion of electrons in a three-dimensional solid can generate a pseudoscalar magnetoelectric coupling theta, a fact we derive for the single-particle case using a recent theory of polarization in weakly inhomogeneous materials. This polarizability theta is the same parameter that appears in the "axion electrodynamics" Lagrangian DeltaL_{EM}=(thetae;{2}/2pih)E.B, which …