Orbital effect of magnetic field on the Majorana phase diagram

Studies of Majorana bound states in semiconducting nanowires frequently neglect the orbital effect of magnetic field. Systematically studying its role leads us to several conclusions for designing Majoranas in this system. Specifically, we show that for experimentally relevant parameter values orbital effect of magnetic field has a stronger impact on the dispersion relation than the Zeeman effect. While Majoranas do not require a presence of only one dispersion subband, we observe that the size of the Majoranas becomes unpractically large, and the band gap unpractically small when more than one subband is filled. Since the orbital effect of magnetic field breaks several symmetries of the Hamiltonian, it leads to the appearance of large regions in parameter space with no band gap whenever the magnetic field is not aligned with the wire axis. The reflection symmetry of the Hamiltonian with respect to the plane perpendicular to the wire axis guarantees that the wire stays gapped in the topologically nontrivial region as long as the field is aligned with the wire.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, data available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4121/uuid:20f1c784-1143-4c61-a03d-7a3454914ab

Computation of topological phase diagram of disordered Pb1−x_{1-x}Snx_{x}Te using the kernel polynomial method

We present an algorithm to determine topological invariants of inhomogeneous systems, such as alloys, disordered crystals, or amorphous systems. Based on the kernel polynomial method, our algorithm allows us to study samples with more than $10^7$ degrees of freedom. Our method enables the study of large complex compounds, where disorder is inherent to the system. We use it to analyse Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_{x}$Te and tighten the critical concentration for the phase transition.Comment: 4 pages + supplemental materia

Isotropic 3D topological phases with broken time reversal symmetry

Axial vectors, such as current or magnetization, are commonly used order parameters in time-reversal symmetry breaking systems. These vectors also break isotropy in three dimensional systems, lowering the spatial symmetry. We demonstrate that it is possible to construct a fully isotropic and inversion-symmetric three-dimensional medium where time-reversal symmetry is systematically broken. We devise a cubic crystal with scalar time-reversal symmetry breaking, implemented by hopping through chiral magnetic clusters along the crystal bonds. The presence of only the spatial symmetries of the crystal -- finite rotation and inversion symmetry -- is sufficient to protect a topological phase. The realization of this phase in amorphous systems with average continuous rotation symmetry yields a statistical topological insulator phase. We demonstrate the topological nature of our model by constructing a bulk integer topological invariant, which guarantees gapless surface spectrum on any surface with several overlapping Dirac nodes, analogous to crystalline mirror Chern insulators. We also show the expected transport properties of a three-dimensional statistical topological insulator, which remains critical on the surface for odd values of the invariant.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Topological defects in a double-mirror quadrupole insulator displace diverging charge

We show that topological defects in quadrupole insulators do not host quantized fractional charges, contrary to what their Wannier representation indicates. In particular, we test the charge quantization hypothesis based on the Wannier representation of a parametric defect and a disclination. Against the expectations, we find that the local charge density decays as $\sim 1/r^2$ with distance, leading to a diverging defect charge. We identify sublattice symmetry and not higher order topology as the origin of the previously reported charge quantization.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Design of a Majorana trijunction

Braiding of Majorana states demonstrates their non-Abelian exchange statistics. One implementation of braiding requires control of the pairwise couplings between all Majorana states in a trijunction device. In order to have adiabaticity, a trijunction device requires the desired pair coupling to be sufficently large and the undesired couplings to vanish. In this work, we design and simulate of a trijunction device in a two-dimensional electron gas with a focus on the normal region that connects three Majorana states. We use an optimisation approach to find the operational regime of the device in a multi-dimensional voltage space. Using the optimization results, we simulate a braiding experiment by adiabatically coupling different pairs of Majorana states without closing the topological gap. We then evaluate the feasibility of braiding in a trijunction device for different shapes and disorder strengths

Enhanced proximity effect in zigzag-shaped Majorana Josephson junctions

High density superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor junctions have a small induced superconducting gap due to the quasiparticle trajectories with a large momentum parallel to the junction having a very long flight time. Because a large induced gap protects Majorana modes, these long trajectories constrain Majorana devices to a low electron density. We show that a zigzag-shaped geometry eliminates these trajectories, allowing the robust creation of Majorana states with both the induced gap $E_\textrm{gap}$ and the Majorana size $\xi_\textrm{M}$ improved by more than an order of magnitude for realistic parameters. In addition to the improved robustness of Majoranas, this new zigzag geometry is insensitive to the geometric details and the device tuning.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Minimal Zeeman field requirement for a topological transition in superconductors

Platforms for creating Majorana quasiparticles rely on superconductivity and breaking of time-reversal symmetry. By studying continuous deformations to known trivial states, we find that the relationship between superconducting pairing and time reversal breaking imposes rigorous bounds on the topology of the system. Applying these bounds to $s$-wave systems with a Zeeman field, we conclude that a topological phase transition requires that the Zeeman energy at least locally exceed the superconducting pairing by the energy gap of the full Hamiltonian. Our results are independent of the geometry and dimensionality of the system.Comment: 8 pages; figure added, clarifications added to main text; submission to SciPos