Recent Progress in the Study of Topological Semimetals

The topological semimetal is a new, theoretically predicted and experimentally discovered, topological state of matter. In one of its several realizations, the topological semimetal hosts Weyl fermions, elusive particles predicted more than 85 years ago, sought after in high-energy experiments, but only recently found in a condensed-matter setting. In the present review, we catalogue the most recent progress in this fast-developing research field. We give special attention to topological invariants and the material realization of three different types of topological semimetal. We also discuss various photo emission, transport and optical experimental observables that characterize the appearance of topological semimetal phases.