Intrinsic nonlinear Hall effect beyond Bloch geometry

Abstract

The theory of the intrinsic Hall effect, both linear and nonlinear, is rooted in a geometry which is defined in the Bloch-vector parameter space; the formal expressions are mostly derived from semiclassical concepts. When disorder and interaction are considered, there is no Bloch vector to speak of; one needs a more general quantum geometry, defined in a different parameter space. The nonlinear Hall effect is a fundamental geometric response of the many-body ground state, not a band-structure peculiarity. The higher-level geometrical formulation of the intrinsic Hall effect provides very compact expressions, which have the additional virtue—in the Bloch special case—of yielding the known results in a straightforward way: The logic is not concealed by the algebra.