Evidence of topological superconductivity in planar Josephson junctions

Majorana zero modes are quasiparticle states localized at the boundaries of topological superconductors that are expected to be ideal building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Several observations of zero-bias conductance peaks measured in tunneling spectroscopy above a critical magnetic field have been reported as experimental indications of Majorana zero modes in superconductor/semiconductor nanowires. On the other hand, two dimensional systems offer the alternative approach to confine Ma jorana channels within planar Josephson junctions, in which the phase difference {\phi} between the superconducting leads represents an additional tuning knob predicted to drive the system into the topological phase at lower magnetic fields. Here, we report the observation of phase-dependent zero-bias conductance peaks measured by tunneling spectroscopy at the end of Josephson junctions realized on a InAs/Al heterostructure. Biasing the junction to {\phi} ~ {\pi} significantly reduces the critical field at which the zero-bias peak appears, with respect to {\phi} = 0. The phase and magnetic field dependence of the zero-energy states is consistent with a model of Majorana zero modes in finite-size Josephson junctions. Besides providing experimental evidence of phase-tuned topological superconductivity, our devices are compatible with superconducting quantum electrodynamics architectures and scalable to complex geometries needed for topological quantum computing.Comment: main text and extended dat

Critical conductance of a one-dimensional doped Mott insulator

We consider the two-terminal conductance of a one-dimensional Mott insulator undergoing the commensurate-incommensurate quantum phase transition to a conducting state. We treat the leads as Luttinger liquids. At a specific value of compressibility of the leads, corresponding to the Luther-Emery point, the conductance can be described in terms of the free propagation of non-interacting fermions with charge e/\sqrt{2}. At that point, the temperature dependence of the conductance across the quantum phase transition is described by a Fermi function. The deviation from the Luther-Emery point in the leads changes the temperature dependence qualitatively. In the metallic state, the low-temperature conductance is determined by the properties of the leads, and is described by the conventional Luttinger liquid theory. In the insulating state, conductance occurs via activation of e/\sqrt{2} charges, and is independent of the Luttinger liquid compressibility.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Published versio

Spin orbit effects in a GaAs quantum dot in a parallel magnetic field

We analyze the effects of spin-orbit coupling on fluctuations of the conductance of a quantum dot fabricated in a GaAs heterostructure. We argue that spin-orbit effects may become important in the presence of a large parallel magnetic field B_{||}, even if they are negligble for B_{||}=0. This should be manifest in the level repulsion of a closed dot, and in reduced conductance fluctuations in dots with a small number of open channels in each lead, for large B_{||}. Our picture is consistent with the experimental observations of Folk et al.Comment: 5 page

The Evolution of Quasiparticle Charge in the Fractional Quantum Hall Regime

The charge of quasiparticles in a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) liquid, tunneling through a partly reflecting constriction with transmission t, was determined via shot noise measurements. In the nu=1/3 FQH state, a charge smoothly evolving from e*=e/3 for t=1 to e*=e for t<<1 was determined, agreeing with chiral Luttinger liquid theory. In the nu=2/5 FQH state the quasiparticle charge evolves smoothly from e*=e/5 at t=1 to a maximum charge less than e*=e/3 at t<<1. Thus it appears that quasiparticles with an approximate charge e/5 pass a barrier they see as almost opaque.Comment: 4 pages, Correct figure 3 and caption include

An accurate effective action for `baby' to `adult' skyrmions

Starting with a Chern-Simons theory, we derive an effective action for interacting quantum Hall skyrmions that takes into account both large-distance physics and short-distance details as well. We numerically calculate the classical static skyrmion profile from this action and find excellent agreement with other, microscopic calculations over a wide range of skyrmion sizes including the experimentally relevant one. This implies that the essential physics of this regime might be captured by a continuum classical model rather than resorting to more microscopic approaches. We also show that the skyrmion energy closely follows the formula suggested earlier by Sondhi et al. for a broad parameter range of interest as well.Comment: 13 pages (Revtex) + 3 ps-figure

Coulomb drag in compressible quantum Hall states

We consider the Coulomb drag between two layers of two-dimensional electronic gases subject to a strong magnetic field. We first focus on the case in which the electronic density is such that the Landau level filling fraction $\nu$ in each layer is at, or close to, $\nu=1/2$. Discussing the coupling between the layers in purely electronic terms, we show that the unique dependence of the longitudinal conductivity on wave-vector, observed in surface acoustic waves experiments, leads to a very slow decay of density fluctuations. Consequently, it has a crucial effect on the Coulomb drag, as manifested in the transresistivity $\rho_D$. We find that the transresistivity is very large compared to its typical values at zero magnetic field, and that its temperature dependence is unique -- $\rho_D \propto T^{4/3}$. For filling factors at or close to $1/4$ and $3/4$ the transresistivity has the same $T$-dependence, and is larger than at $\nu = 1/2$. We calculate $\rho_D$ for the $\nu=3/2$ case and propose that it might shed light on the spin polarization of electrons at $\nu=3/2$. We compare our results to recent calculations of $\rho_D$ at $\nu=1/2$ where a composite fermion approach was used and a $T^{4/3}$-dependence was obtained. We conclude that what appears in the composite fermion language to be drag induced by Chern-Simons interaction is, physically, electronic Coulomb drag.Comment: 11 pages, REVTeX with two Postscript figure

Singularities in the Fermi liquid description of a partially filled Landau level and the energy gaps of fractional quantum Hall states

We consider a two dimensional electron system in an external magnetic field at and near an even denominator Landau level filling fraction. Using a fermionic Chern--Simons approach we study the description of the system's low energy excitations within an extension of Landau's Fermi liquid theory. We calculate perturbatively the effective mass and the quasi--particle interaction function characterizing this description. We find that at an even denominator filling fraction the fermion's effective mass diverges logarithmically at the Fermi level, and argue that this divergence allows for an {\it exact} calculation of the energy gaps of the fractional quantized Hall states asymptotically approaching these filling fractions. We find that the quasi--particle interaction function approaches a delta function. This singular behavior leads to a cancelation of the diverging effective mass from the long wavelength low frequency linear response functions at even denominator filling fractions.Comment: 46 pages, RevTeX, 5 figures included in a uuencoded postscript file. Minor revisions relative to the original version. The paper will be published in the Physical Review B, and can be retrieved from the World Wide Web, in http://cmtw.harvard.edu/~ster

Dissipationless transport in low density bilayer systems

In a bilayer electronic system the layer index may be viewed as the z-component of an isospin-1/2. An XY isospin-ordered ferromagnetic phase was observed in quantum Hall systems and is predicted to exist at zero magnetic field at low density. This phase is a superfluid for opposite currents in the two layers. At B=0 the system is gapless but superfluidity is not destroyed by weak disorder. In the quantum Hall case, weak disorder generates a random gauge field which probably does not destroy superfluidity. Experimental signatures include Coulomb drag and collective mode measurements.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Plasmas and Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Contains reports on four research project.U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (Contract AT(11-1)-3070

Plasma Dynamics

Contains reports on two research projects.U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration (Contract E(l1-1)-3070)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG75-06242