Electronic Raman scattering of antiferromagnetic excitonic insulators

Abstract

The excitonic insulator, a quantum mechanical state arising from exciton condensation, was proposed theoretically many years ago but has yet to be experimentally confirmed. The discovery of correlated transition metal oxides based on $4d$ and $5d$ elements, where the on-site Coulomb repulsion is comparable to the dominant hopping amplitude, presents a unique opportunity to study exciton condensation. By constructing an effective mean field Raman operator for the Hubbard model, we derive the low-energy electronic Raman scattering cross section, demonstrating Raman spectroscopy as a powerful tool for detecting exciton condensation. Here, we demonstrate that Raman scattering directly reveals exciton condensation in the bilayer iridate Sr$_3$Ir$_2$O$_7$ under pressure.