Unified description of the classical hall viscosity

Tobias Holder, Raquel Queiroz, Ady Stern

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the absence of time-reversal symmetry, viscous electron flow hosts a number of interesting phenomena, of which we focus here on the Hall viscosity. Taking a step beyond the hydrodynamic definition of the Hall viscosity, we derive a generalized relation between the Hall viscosity and the transverse electric field using a kinetic equation approach. We explore two different geometries where the Hall viscosity is accessible to measurement. For hydrodynamic flow of electrons in a narrow channel, we find that the viscosity may be measured by a local probe of the transverse electric field near the center of the channel. Ballistic flow, on the other hand, is dominated by boundary effects. In a Corbino geometry, viscous effects arise not from boundary friction but from the circular flow pattern of the Hall current. In this geometry, we introduce a viscous Hall angle that remains well defined throughout the crossover from ballistic to hydrodynamic flow and captures the bulk viscous response of the fluid.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106801
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume123
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Sep 2019
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Unified description of the classical hall viscosity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this