Magnetic-field-induced insulating behavior in highly oriented pyrolitic graphite - art. no. 206401

We propose an explanation for the apparent semimetal-insulator transition o bserved in highly oriented pyrolitic graphite in the presence of magnetic f ield perpendicular to the layers. We show that the magnetic field opens an excitonic gap in the linear spectrum of the Coulomb interacting quasipartic les, in close analogy with the phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry brea king in the relativistic theories of the (2 + 1)-dimensional Dirac fermions . Our strong-coupling approach allows for a nonperturbative description of the corresponding critical behavior.