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Register a new userExact analytical solution of a time-reversal-invariant topological superconducting wire
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We consider a model proposed before for a time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor (TRITOPS) which contains a hopping term $t$, a chemical potential $mu$, an extended $s$-wave pairing $Delta$ and spin-orbit coupling $lambda$. We show that for $|Delta|=|lambda|$, $mu=t=0$, the model can be solved exactly defining new fermion operators involving nearest-neighbor sites. The many-body ground state is four-fold degenerate due to the existence of two zero-energy modes localized exactly at the first and the last site of the chain. These four states show entanglement in the sense that creating or annihilating a zero-energy mode at the first site is proportional to a similar operation at the last site. By continuity, this property should persist for general parameters. Using these results we correct some statements related with the so called time-reversal anomaly. Addition of a small hopping term for a chain with an even number of sites breaks the degeneracy and the ground state becomes unique with an even number of particles. We also consider a small magnetic field applied to one end of the chain. We compare the many-body excitation energies and spin projection along the spin-orbit direction for both ends of the chains with numerical results %for a small chain obtaining good agreement.
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We study the ground state and low-energy subgap excitations of a finite wire of a time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor (TRITOPS) with spin-orbit coupling. We solve the problem analytically for a long chain of a specific one-dimensional lattice model in the electron-hole symmetric configuration and numerically for other cases of the same model. We present results for the spin density of excitations in long chains with an odd number of particles. The total spin projection along the axis of the spin-orbit coupling $S_z= pm 1/2$ is distributed with fractions $pm 1/4$ localized at both ends, and shows even-odd alternation along the sites of the chain. We calculate the localization length of these excitations and find that it can be well approximated by a simple analytical expression. We show that the energy $E$ of the lowest subgap excitations of the finite chain defines tunneling and entanglement between end states.We discuss the effect of a Zeeman coupling $Delta_Z$ on one of the ends of the chain only. For $Delta_Z<E$, the energy difference of excitations with opposite spin orientation is $Delta_Z/2$, consistent with a spin projection $pm 1/4$. We argue that these physical features are not model dependent and can be experimentally observed in TRITOPS wires under appropriate conditions.
Two-dimensional (2D) topological electronic insulators are known to give rise to gapless edge modes, which underlie low energy dynamics, including electrical and thermal transport. This has been thoroughly investigated in the context of quantum Hall phases, and time-reversal invariant topological insulators. Here we study the edge of a 2D, topologically trivial insulating phase, as a function of the strength of the electronic interactions and the steepness of the confining potential. For sufficiently smooth confining potentials, alternating compressible and incompressible stripes appear at the edge. Our findings signal the emergence of gapless edge modes which may give rise to finite conductance at the edge. This would suggest a novel scenario of a non-topological metal-insulator transition in clean 2D systems. The incompressible stripes appear at commensurate fillings and may exhibit broken translational invariance along the edge in the form of charge density wave ordering. These are separated by structureless compressible stripes.
Time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor (TRITOPS) wires host Majorana Kramers pairs that have been predicted to mediate a fractional Josephson effect with $4pi$ periodicity in the superconducting phase difference. We explore the TRITOPS fractional Josephson effect in the presence of time-dependent `local mixing perturbations that instantaneously preserve time-reversal symmetry. Specifically, we show that just as such couplings render braiding of Majorana Kramers pairs non-universal, the Josephson current becomes either aperiodic or $2pi$-periodic (depending on conditions that we quantify) unless the phase difference is swept sufficiently quickly. We further analyze topological superconductors with $mathcal{T}^2 = +1$ time-reversal symmetry and reveal a rich interplay between interactions and local mixing that can be experimentally probed in nanowire arrays.
We study the scattering of the Dirac electrons by a point-like nonmagnetic impurity on the surface of a topological insulator, driven by a time-periodic gate voltage. It is found that, due to the doublet degenerate crossing points of different Floquet sidebands, resonant backscattering can happen for the surface electrons, even without breaking the time-reversal (TR) symmetry of the topological surface states (TSSs). The energy spectrum is reshuffled in a way quite different from that for the circularly polarized light, so that new features are exhibited in the Friedel oscillations of the local charge and spin density of states. Although the electron scattering is dramatically modified by the driving voltage, the $1/rho$ scale law of the spin precession persists for the TSSs. The TR invariant backscattering provides a possible way to engineer the Dirac electronic spectrum of the TSSs, without destroying the unique property of spin-momentum interlocking of the TSSs.
The Witten effect tells that a unit magnetic monopole can bind a half elementary charge in an axion media. We present an exact solution of a magnetic monopole in a topological insulator that was proposed to be an axion media recently. It is found that a magnetic monopole can induce one zero energy state bound to it and one surface state of zero energy. The two states are quite robust, but the degeneracy can be removed by external fields. For a finite size system, the interference of two states may lift the degeneracy, and the resulting states have one half near the origin and another half around the surface, which realizes the Witten effect. However, the energy difference decays exponentially with the size of the system. The exact solution does not fully support the realization of the Witten effect in a topological insulator.
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