arxiv: 2604.03975 · v1 · submitted 2026-04-05 · ❄️ cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Recognition: 2 theorem links

· Lean Theorem

Weyl points enabling significant enhancement of thermoelectric performance in an antiferromagnetic van der Waals metal GdTe3

Zhigang Gui , Panshuo Wang , Wenxiang Wang , Yuqing Zhang , Yanjun Li , Yikang Li , Qingyuan Liu , Xikai Wen

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Qihang Liu Jianjun Ying Xianhui Chen

Authors on Pith no claims yet

Pith reviewed 2026-05-13 17:32 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ❄️ cond-mat.mtrl-sci

keywords thermoelectric performanceWeyl pointsGdTe3antiferromagnetic van der Waals metalmagneto-thermoelectric effecttopological transitionpower factorsolid-state cooling

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The pith

A magnetic field induces Weyl points in GdTe3 that drive its thermoelectric power factor to the highest value recorded in any metallic system.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper establishes that applying a magnetic field to the antiferromagnetic van der Waals metal GdTe3 triggers a topological transition that creates Weyl points in the electronic structure. These points produce a large, unsaturated rise in thermopower, yielding a power factor of 18846 μW m^{-1} K^{-1} at 20 K under 13.5 T. The relative gains reach 873 percent in thermopower and 1075 percent in power factor, exceeding most known metallic and even many optimized thermoelectric materials. A reader would care because the result points to a concrete, field-tunable route for improving solid-state cooling performance using the topology of real materials rather than conventional doping or nanostructuring.

Core claim

GdTe3 exhibits an unsaturated power factor of up to 18846 μW m^{-1} K^{-1} under a magnetic field of 13.5 T at 20 K, the highest value observed in metallic systems. This enhancement is attributed to the Weyl points contribution resulting from the field-induced topological transition, as confirmed by theoretical calculations. The relative enhancement under magnetic field reaches 873 percent in thermopower and 1075 percent in power factor.

What carries the argument

Weyl points generated by the magnetic-field-induced topological transition in the antiferromagnetic van der Waals metal GdTe3, which alter the density of states and scattering to enhance thermopower and power factor.

If this is right

The power factor remains unsaturated at 13.5 T, implying further gains are possible at higher fields.
GdTe3 becomes a candidate material for solid-state cooling devices that operate under moderate magnetic fields at cryogenic temperatures.
Weyl points can be deliberately introduced via field-induced topology to optimize thermoelectric response in other van der Waals antiferromagnets.
The 1075 percent power-factor gain demonstrates that topological features can outperform conventional strategies for metallic thermoelectrics.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The same field-tuning approach could be tested in isostructural rare-earth tritellurides to check whether the enhancement is general.
If the Weyl-point contribution persists or can be engineered to higher temperatures, the method might extend to practical waste-heat recovery devices.
Transport signatures of the Weyl points, such as specific angular magnetoresistance patterns, could be measured to strengthen the causal link between topology and thermoelectric gain.

Load-bearing premise

The observed dramatic rise in thermopower and power factor is caused primarily by the Weyl points that appear after the magnetic field drives a topological transition.

What would settle it

A calculation or measurement showing that the band structure under 13.5 T contains no Weyl points near the Fermi level, or that the power factor saturates or matches experimental values without any topological contribution, would falsify the central attribution.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2604.03975 by Jianjun Ying, Panshuo Wang, Qihang Liu, Qingyuan Liu, Wenxiang Wang, Xianhui Chen, Xikai Wen, Yanjun Li, Yikang Li, Yuqing Zhang, Zhigang Gui.

**Figure 2.** Figure 2: Weyl points contribute to thermoelectric performance. The electronic band structures of GdTe₃ in (a) the collinear AFM state and (b) the canting AFM state. Enlarged views highlight the differences in band structures around the Γ point in these states. Panels (c) and (d) illustrate the band splitting and its evolution following a field-induced topological transition. (e) dΩ/dE plotted as a function of chemi… view at source ↗

read the original abstract

Magneto-thermoelectric (MTE) effect has demonstrated significant ad-vantages in achieving optimal thermoelectric (TE) properties compared to conventional methods. Topological materials pro-vide a unique platform for investigating the MTE effect, leveraging their exotic electronic structure topology. In this study, we report that the topological material GdTe3 exhibits an unsaturated power factor of up to 18846 {\mu}W m-1 K-1 under a magnetic field of 13.5 T at 20 K, which represents the highest value observed in metallic systems and surpasses most state-of-the-art TE materials. The relative enhancement under magnetic field in thermopower and power factor reaches 873% and 1075%, respectively, attributed to the Weyl points contribution resulting from the field-induced topological transition, as confirmed by our theoretical calculations. Our findings demonstrate a promising candidate for solid-state cooling and reveal the substantial contribution of Weyl points to TE enhancement, thereby offering a novel approach to optimizing TE properties in topological materials.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

GdTe3 shows a striking power factor under field, but the Weyl-point attribution rests on calculations that do not isolate topology from other magnetotransport effects.

read the letter

The main result here is the reported power factor of 18846 μW m^{-1} K^{-1} at 13.5 T and 20 K in antiferromagnetic GdTe3, with 873% and 1075% gains in thermopower and power factor. Those numbers stand out for a metallic van der Waals system and are presented as the highest seen in metals. The paper links the enhancement to a field-induced topological transition that creates Weyl points, backed by DFT-style band calculations under Zeeman field. That combination of high-field data and a topological explanation is the concrete new piece relative to earlier work on GdTe3 or similar RTe3 compounds. The experimental traces and the calculated band evolution are laid out clearly enough to follow the basic story. The soft spot is the mechanism. The calculations show the appearance of Weyl nodes, but they do not include a controlled comparison that turns the nodes on and off while holding other field-induced changes fixed. Without that, it is hard to tell how much of the thermopower rise survives once ordinary orbital magnetoresistance, spin scattering, or Fermi-surface shifts are subtracted. The abstract and the stress-test note both flag this gap, and the full text does not close it with an explicit decomposition. The work is aimed at people studying magneto-thermoelectric effects in topological materials. A reader already working on Weyl semimetals or high-field thermopower in van der Waals metals will find the numbers useful to check against their own systems. The experimental claims are sharp enough that a serious referee should see the manuscript, even though the topological attribution will need more work to hold up. I would send it out for review rather than desk-reject.

Referee Report

1 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript reports magneto-thermoelectric measurements on the antiferromagnetic van der Waals metal GdTe3, claiming an unsaturated power factor of 18846 μW m^{-1} K^{-1} at 13.5 T and 20 K (a 1075% enhancement relative to zero field) that exceeds values in other metallic systems. The authors attribute the 873% thermopower increase to the contribution of Weyl points generated by a field-induced topological transition, as supported by their theoretical calculations.

Significance. If the central attribution holds, the result would be significant for demonstrating that magnetic-field tuning of topological band features can produce exceptionally large thermoelectric enhancements in a metallic antiferromagnet, potentially establishing a new optimization route for topological materials. The reported power factor is among the highest claimed for metallic systems and would strengthen the case for Weyl-point engineering in thermoelectrics.

major comments (1)

The attribution of the thermopower and power-factor enhancements primarily to Weyl points requires an explicit quantitative decomposition in the theoretical section. The calculations must isolate the topological contribution by comparing the Seebeck coefficient computed with intact Weyl nodes versus the same nodes artificially gapped or removed, while holding other magnetotransport channels (orbital MR, spin-disorder scattering, Fermi-surface reconstruction) fixed; without this, the mechanism remains an interpretation rather than a demonstrated driver of the 1075% gain.

minor comments (1)

Experimental protocols, sample characterization (e.g., crystal quality, antiferromagnetic ordering confirmation), data quality metrics, and error bars on the reported power-factor and thermopower values are not described, which are necessary to assess the reliability of the 18846 μW m^{-1} K^{-1} figure.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the detailed and constructive report. The central concern regarding the need for a quantitative isolation of the Weyl-point contribution is well taken. We address it point-by-point below and will incorporate the requested analysis in the revised manuscript.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: The attribution of the thermopower and power-factor enhancements primarily to Weyl points requires an explicit quantitative decomposition in the theoretical section. The calculations must isolate the topological contribution by comparing the Seebeck coefficient computed with intact Weyl nodes versus the same nodes artificially gapped or removed, while holding other magnetotransport channels (orbital MR, spin-disorder scattering, Fermi-surface reconstruction) fixed; without this, the mechanism remains an interpretation rather than a demonstrated driver of the 1075% gain.

Authors: We agree that an explicit side-by-side comparison would strengthen the mechanistic claim. In the revised manuscript we will add a new subsection in the theoretical analysis that recomputes the Seebeck coefficient after artificially opening a gap at the Weyl nodes (while keeping the same Fermi-surface volume, orbital magnetoresistance, and scattering rates fixed). The difference between the gapped and ungapped cases will be presented quantitatively to isolate the topological contribution to the observed 873 % thermopower increase. We note that the original calculations already demonstrate the field-induced band inversion that creates the Weyl nodes, but the referee’s requested decomposition was not performed; it will now be included. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity; central attribution rests on independent experimental data plus separate theoretical calculations

full rationale

The paper reports direct measurements of thermopower and power factor under applied magnetic field, then attributes the observed enhancement to field-induced Weyl points on the basis of separate DFT or tight-binding calculations of the band structure. No step in the provided derivation chain reduces a claimed prediction to a fitted parameter by construction, renames a known result, or relies on a load-bearing self-citation whose validity is presupposed by the present work. The theoretical confirmation is presented as an external check rather than an internal re-derivation of the measured quantities, leaving the logical chain self-contained against external benchmarks.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

Based solely on the abstract, no free parameters, axioms, or invented entities are specified. Weyl points are a standard concept from topological band theory applied to explain the result rather than newly postulated.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5520 in / 1276 out tokens · 68543 ms · 2026-05-13T17:32:18.029122+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

IndisputableMonolith/Foundation/RealityFromDistinction.lean reality_from_one_distinction unclear

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unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

the magnetic field-induced topological transition from trivial metal to Weyl metal... SWeyl ≈ αWeyl(B)ρ(B) = c B^γ ρ(B)
IndisputableMonolith/Foundation/AlexanderDuality.lean alexander_duality_circle_linking unclear

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unclear
Relation between the paper passage and the cited Recognition theorem.

Weyl points contribution resulting from the field-induced topological transition

What do these tags mean?

matches: The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports: The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends: The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses: The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts: The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear: Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

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