Quantum metric induced nonlinear transport in the hidden loop-current phase of kagome metal RbV3Sb5
Abstract
A hidden low-temperature phase with possible loop-current order has been proposed in the kagome metals AV3Sb5 (A=K, Rb or Cs), but its experimental signatures remain subtle and indirect. Here, we use third-order nonlinear transport to probe this hidden phase in RbV3Sb5. At ~35 K, the longitudinal cubic response develops a strong kink and pronounced directional anisotropy with a strong departure from common relaxation time scaling, while the transverse cubic response acquires a magnetic field-odd component at the same temperature. Their coincident onset identifies the third-harmonic response as a sensitive marker of the low-temperature electronic reconstruction with time-reversal broken symmetry. Crucially, we find that the quantum metric quadrupole contributes directly to the longitudinal third-order response. In a loop-current charge-density-wave model, its direction selective enhancement captures the observed angular reconstruction. Our work shows how higher-order nonlinear transport translates subtle changes in electronic symmetry and quantum metric into measurable electrical signatures in quantum materials that is important for studying complex electronic phases of matter.
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BibTeX
@misc{shi2026quantum,
title = {{Quantum metric induced nonlinear transport in the hidden loop-current phase of kagome metal RbV$_3$Sb$_5$}},
author = {Jia-Chen Shi and Shupeng Xu and Utkarsh Khandelwal and Nashra Pistawala and Luminita Harnagea and Steven J. May and Ritesh Agarwal},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.36353},
eprint = {2609.36353},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36353},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quantum metric induced nonlinear transport in the hidden loop-current phase of kagome metal RbV_3Sb_5
AU - Jia-Chen Shi
AU - Shupeng Xu
AU - Utkarsh Khandelwal
AU - Nashra Pistawala
AU - Luminita Harnagea
AU - Steven J. May
AU - Ritesh Agarwal
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.36353
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.36353
AB - A hidden low-temperature phase with possible loop-current order has been proposed in the kagome metals AV_3Sb_5 (A=K, Rb or Cs), but its experimental signatures remain subtle and indirect. Here, we use third-order nonlinear transport to probe this hidden phase in RbV_3Sb_5. At ~35 K, the longitudinal cubic response develops a strong kink and pronounced directional anisotropy with a strong departure from common relaxation time scaling, while the transverse cubic response acquires a magnetic field-odd component at the same temperature. Their coincident onset identifies the third-harmonic response as a sensitive marker of the low-temperature electronic reconstruction with time-reversal broken symmetry. Crucially, we find that the quantum metric quadrupole contributes directly to the longitudinal third-order response. In a loop-current charge-density-wave model, its direction selective enhancement captures the observed angular reconstruction. Our work shows how higher-order nonlinear transport translates subtle changes in electronic symmetry and quantum metric into measurable electrical signatures in quantum materials that is important for studying complex electronic phases of matter.
ER -