- Letter
Symmetry-enforced third-order nonlinear thermal Hall effects in altermagnets
Phys. Rev. B 114, L140406 – Published 15 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5bns-qkgl
Abstract
The thermal Hall effect (THE) is a powerful probe of material properties, even in insulators. Here, we investigate the thermal response of altermagnets by developing a theory on Berry curvature driven nonlinear THE from both electrons and magnons. We identify symmetry conditions under which the third-order THE dominates while linear and second-order contributions vanish. Notably, -wave and -wave altermagnets with out-of-plane Néel order satisfy these conditions, whereas in-plane order yields a dominant linear THE. Using (a -wave altermagnetic metal) and (an altermagnetic insulator) as concrete examples, we show nonzero third-order nonlinear THE from electrons and magnons, respectively, both exhibiting a -periodic dependence on the direction of temperature gradient. These symmetry-guaranteed Berry curvature phenomena provide a diagnostic for altermagnetism in candidate materials and enable the determination of the Néel vector orientation.