• Accepted Paper

Directional criticality and higher-order flatness: Designing Van Hove singularities in three dimensions

Hua-Yu Li, Hengxin Tan, Hao-Yu Zhu, Hong-Kuan Yuan, and Min-Quan Kuang

Phys. Rev. B - Accepted 30 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3b9b-jjkp

Abstract

Van Hove singularities (VHSs) play a pivotal role in driving correlated electronic phenomena. Traditional classifications focus only on critical points where the band gradient vanishes in all directions. Here we establish a unified classification of VHSs in three-dimensional systems, characterized by the number of vanishing gradient components and Hessian eigenvalues: ordinary (M-type), higher-order (T1, T2, T3), noncritical ordinary (N0, N1, N2), and noncritical higher-order (S1, S2) types. Noncritical VHSs exhibit directional quenching: the gradient vanishes in a two-dimensional subspace while remaining finite along the orthogonal direction, yielding finite density-of-states enhancements with distinct energy dependencies. Using an s-orbital tight-binding model on the pyrochlore lattice with spin-orbit coupling, we demonstrate that all singularity classes emerge at distinct high-symmetry points through controlled tuning of the hopping ratio. This work establishes directional criticality and higher-order flatness as design principles for tailoring density-of-states enhancements in three-dimensional quantum materials.

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