Dual origin of effective axion response

Abstract: Effective axion fields in condensed matter and photonics are manifested as $\mathcal{P}$- and $\mathcal{T}$-odd contributions to the electromagnetic response. Here, we show that the phenomena previously attributed to the effective axion fields have two distinct physical origins. One of them corresponds to the standard axion electrodynamics, while another provides its dual-symmetric version having the same symmetry and featuring similar but distinguishable optical properties. We present an example system described by the dual-symmetric modification of axion electrodynamics, derive the key predictions and pinpoint experimentally observable distinctions between the two versions of axion-type response.