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In the current stage, valley-contrasting physics is mainly rooted in nonmagnetic and/or ferromagnetic hexagonal lattices and is rarely used to observe the simultaneous spin and valley polarization in antiferromagnetic materials. In this work, we propose a general scheme that can be achieved easily in experiments to break the P T joint symmetry of antiferromagnetic structures, that is, introducing an out-of-plane potential gradient to realize spin–valley splitting and spontaneous valley polarization. In combination of the model analysis and first-principles calculations, we translate the concept into Mn2P2X3Y3 monolayers and clarify the valley-related physics. It is obvious that our finding significantly extends the scope of valleytronics in both theory and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first evidence of a global polarization of Λ hyperons in relativistic nuclear collisions in 2017, spin has opened a new window in the field, both at experimental and theoretical level, and an exciting perspective. The current state of the field is reviewed with regard to the theoretical understanding of the data, reporting on the most recent achievements and envisioning possible developments. The intriguing connections of spin physics in relativistic matter with fundamental questions in quantum field theory and applications in the non-relativistic domain are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mesoscopic multi-terminal superconducting Nb strip with a spin injection terminal has been developed. We investigate the influence of spin polarization on the relaxation process of the quasiparticle in the superconducting Nb. The position dependence of the nonlocal voltage provides the quasiparticle relaxation length. The relaxation length for the spin-polarized quasiparticle is found to show a 12.5% increase from that for the un-polarized quasiparticle. This demonstration opens a new avenue for utilization of the spin current in a superconducting device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new method, using the Andreev reflection at superconductors, to measure parity violation induced by the standard electroweak theory, which in turn constrains the possible parity-violating effects of new physics. The weak neutral currents induce parity-violating, marginal effective operators, though quite tiny, in superconductors. We estimate their effects on superconducting gaps and propose a method to measure the parity-violation from the spin polarization effect, when electrons or holes get Andreev-reflected at the interface between normal metal and a superconductor. Such polarization effects might be comparable to the atomic parity violation and thus naturally give an interesting bound on certain models of new physics, that couples to electrons, such as Majorana mass of active neutrinos or doubly charged Higgs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]