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Abstract

The realization of Dirac and Weyl physics in solids has made topological materials one of the main focuses of condensed matter physics. Recently, the topic of topological nodal line semimetals, materials in which Dirac or Weyl-like crossings along special lines in momentum space create either a closed ring or line of degeneracies, rather than discrete points, has become a hot topic in topological quantum matter. Here, we review the experimentally confirmed and theoretically predicted topological nodal line semimetals, focusing in particular on the symmetry protection mechanisms of the nodal lines in various materials. Three different mechanisms: a combination of inversion and time-reversal symmetry, mirror reflection symmetry, and non-symmorphic symmetry and their robustness under the effect of spin orbit coupling are discussed. We also present a new Weyl nodal line material, the Te-square net compound KCu₂EuTe₄, which has several Weyl nodal lines including one extremely close to the Fermi level (30 meV below E_F). Finally, we discuss potential experimental signatures for observing exotic properties of nodal line physics.