Magnetic ac control of the spin textures in a helical Luttinger liquid

We demonstrate the possibility to induce and control peculiar spin textures in a helical Luttinger liquid, by means of a time-dependent magnetic scatterer. The presence of a perturbation that breaks the time-reversal symmetry opens a gap in the spectrum, inducing single-particle backscattering and a peculiar spin response. We show that in the weak backscattering regime asymmetric spin textures emerge at the left and right sides of the scatterer, whose spatial oscillations are controlled by the ratio between the magnetization frequency and the Fermi energy and by the electron interaction. This peculiar spin response marks a strong difference between helical and nonhelical liquids, which are expected to produce symmetric spin textures even in the ac regime. © 2014 American Physical Society.