Effects of anisotropy on the high field magnetoresistance of Weyl semimetals

Abstract

We study the effects of anisotropy on the magnetoresistance of Weyl semimetals (WSMs) in the ultraquantum regime. We utilize the fact that many Weyl semimetals are approximately axially anisotropic. We find that anisotropy manifests itself in the strong dependence of the magnetoresistance on the polar and azimuthal angles determining the orientation of the anisotropy axis with respect to the applied magnetic field and electric current. We also predict that the ratio of magnetoresistances in the geometries, where the magnetic field and anisotropy axes are aligned and where they are orthogonal, scales as $(v_\bot/v_\parallel)^2$ where $v_\bot$ and $v_\parallel$ are the corresponding Fermi velocities.