A theorem for the existence of Majorana fermion modes in spin-orbit-coupled semiconductors
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: A theorem for the existence of Majorana fermion modes in spin-orbit-coupled semiconductors
zbMATH Open document ID: 1188.82147
author: Sumanta Tewari
author: Jay D. Sau
author: S. Das Sarma
published in: Annals of Physics
publication date: 2010-02-12T00:00:00Z
full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0910.4763
review text: A theorem for the existence of Majorana zero modes in a semiconducting thin film with a sizable spin-orbit coupling is proved. One of the main features of the present paper is that both the \(s\)-wave superconductivity and the Zeeman splitting are induced by a proximity effect. The momentum space construction of the zero-mode solution in the form of the Jackiw-Rebbi index theorem is complementary to the approximate real-space solution of the the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) equations at a vortex core. In such a way it establishes the existence of non-degenerate Majorana fermion excitations localized at the vortices in the semiconductor heterostructure. The methods of this paper can be straightforwardly applied to the zero modes on the surface of a topological insulator with a non-zero chemical potential in the presence of a superconducting vortex, but not to the case when the chemical potential on the topological insulator surface is zero.
reviewed by: Vicenţiu D. Rădulescu
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 82D37
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81P68
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 82D55
zbMATH DE Number: 5669081
zbMATH Keywords: topological quantum computation
zbMATH Keywords: Majorana fermions
zbMATH Keywords: non-abelian statistics
zbMATH Keywords: semiconductor
zbMATH Keywords: superconductor
MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile
Wikidata QID: Q59422054
OpenAlex ID: W2012230397
arXiv ID: 0910.4763
cites work: Q3493041
cites work: Non-Abelian anyons and topological quantum computation
cites work: Fault-tolerant quantum computation by anyons
cites work: \(2n\)-quasihole states realize \(2^{n-1}\)-dimensional spinor braiding statistics in paired quantum Hall states
cites work: Q3671491
DOI: 10.1016/J.AOP.2009.11.003
description: scientific article