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Quantum metric induced nonlinear transport in the hidden loop-current phase of kagome metal RbV ₃ Sb
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Quantum metric induced nonlinear transport in the hidden loop-current phase of kagome metal RbV ₃ Sb

Jia-Chen Shi, Shupeng Xu, Utkarsh Khandelwal, Nashra Pistawala, Luminita Harnagea, Steven J May and Ritesh Agarwal
arXiv (Cornell University)
28 Sep 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.36353
url
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.36353View
Preprint (Author's original) Open arXiv.org - Non-exclusive license to distribute

Abstract

Physics - Materials Science Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons
A hidden low-temperature phase with possible loop-current order has been proposed in the kagome metals AV ₃ Sb 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 ₃ Sb 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.

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