Broken Relativistic Symmetry Groups, Toroidal Moments and Superconductivity in Magnetoelectric Crystals

Abstract

A connection between creation of toroidal moments and breaking of the relativistic crystalline group associated to a given crystal, is presented in this paper. Indeed, if magnetoelectric effects exist, the interaction between electrons and elementary magnetic cells appears in such a way that the resulting local polarization and magnetization break the local relativistic crystalline symmetry. Therefore, Goldstone bosons, also associated to toroidal moments, are created and, as a consequence, corresponding toroidal phases in crystals. The list of the Shubnikov groups compatible with this kind of phases is given and possible consequences in superconductor theory in magnetoelectric crystals are examined.