Gauge potential formulations of the spin Hall effect in graphene

Two different gauge potential methods are engaged to calculate explicitly the spin Hall conductivity in graphene. The graphene Hamiltonian with spin–orbit interaction is expressed in terms of kinematic momenta by introducing a gauge potential. A formulation of the spin Hall conductivity is established by requiring that the time evolution of this kinematic momentum vector vanishes. We then calculated the conductivity employing the Berry gauge fields. We show that both of the gauge fields can be deduced from the pure gauge field arising from the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformations.

► The graphene Hamiltonian is expressed by introducing a gauge potential.
► The spin Hall conductivity is formulated by Heisenberg equations of motion.
► The spin Hall conductivity is calculated in terms of Berry phases.