Thermal transport properties and some hydrodynamic-like behavior in three-dimensional topological semimetal ZrTe5

Hydrodynamic fluidity in condensed-matter physics has been experimentally demonstrated only in a limited number of compounds due to the stringent conditions that must be met. Herein, we performed thermal and electrical transport experiments in three-dimensional topological semimetal ZrTe5. By measuring the thermal properties in a wide temperature range, two representative experimental evidences of the hydrodynamics are observed in the temperature window between the ballistic and diffusive regimes: a faster evolution of the thermal conductivity than in the ballistic regime and the nonmonotonic temperature-dependent effective quasiparticle mean-free-path. In addition, magnetothermal conductivity results indicate that charged quasiparticles, as well as phonons, may also play an important role in this hydrodynamic-like flow in ZrTe5.