Spin-orbit density wave induced hidden topological order in URu 2 Si 2

Abstract

The conventional order parameters in quantum matters are often characterized by 'spontaneous' broken symmetries. However, sometimes the broken symmetries may blend with the invariant symmetries to lead to mysterious emergent phases. The heavy fermion metal URu 2Si 2 is one such example, where the order parameter responsible for a second-order phase transition at T h517.5 K has remained a long-standing mystery. Here we propose via ab-initio calculation and effective model that a novel spin-orbit density wave in the f-states is responsible for the hidden-order phase in URu 2Si 2. The staggered spin-orbit order spontaneously breaks rotational, and translational symmetries while time-reversal symmetry remains intact. Thus it is immune to pressure, but can be destroyed by magnetic field even atT 50 K, that means at a quantum critical point. We compute topological index of the order parameter to show that the hidden order is topologically invariant. Finally, some verifiable predictions are presented.