Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator

We study the proximity effect between an s-wave superconductor and the surface states of a strong topological insulator. The resulting two dimensional state resembles a spinless p_x+ip_y superconductor, but does not break time reversal symmetry. This state supports Majorana bound states at vortices. We show that linear junctions between superconductors mediated by the topological insulator form a non chiral 1 dimensional wire for Majorana fermions, and that circuits formed from these junctions provide a method for creating, manipulating and fusing Majorana bound states.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published versio

Resonant tunneling of interacting electrons in a one-dimensional wire

We consider the conductance of a one-dimensional wire interrupted by a double-barrier structure allowing for a resonant level. Using the electron-electron interaction strength as a small parameter, we are able to build a non-perturbative analytical theory of the conductance valid in a broad region of temperatures and for a variety of the barrier parameters. We find that the conductance may have a non-monotonic crossover dependence on temperature, specific for a resonant tunneling in an interacting electron system.Comment: 4 pages. 2 figure