Quantum oscillations in the activated conductivity in excitonic insulators: Possible application to monolayer <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mi>WTe</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>

Abstract

A recent paper on the insulating state of monolayer $\text{W}{\text{Te}}_{2}$ reported the observation of large oscillations in the conductivity that are periodic in $1/B$, resembling quantum oscillations in metals. This remarkable observation has inspired suggestions of exotic physics such as spin-charge separation. We show that a rather more conventional but still nontrivial explanation in terms of gap modulation may be possible in a model of an excitonic insulator subject to a magnetic field.

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