Magnetic-Field-Induced Insulating Behavior in Highly Oriented Pyrolitic Graphite

We propose an explanation for the apparent semimetal-insulator transition observed in highly oriented pyrolitic graphite in the presence of magnetic field perpendicular to the layers. We show that the magnetic field opens an excitonic gap in the linear spectrum of the Coulomb interacting quasiparticles, in close analogy with the phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking 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.