1,721,258 research outputs found
Josephson current via an isolated Majorana zero mode
Get PDFWe study the equilibrium dc Josephson current in a junction between an s-wave and a topological superconductor. Cooper pairs from the s-wave superconducting lead can transfer to the topological side either via an unpaired Majorana zero mode localized near the junction or via the above-gap continuum states. We find that the Majorana contribution to the supercurrent can be switched on when time-reversal symmetry in the conventional lead is broken, e.g., by an externally applied magnetic field inducing a Zeeman splitting. Moreover, if the magnetic field has a component in the direction of the effective spin-orbit field, there will be a Majorana-induced anomalous supercurrent at zero phase difference. These behaviors may serve as a signature characteristic of Majorana zero modes and are accessible to devices with only superconducting contacts.QRD/Wimmer GroupBUS/Quantum Delf
Single fermion manipulation via superconducting phase differences in multiterminal Josephson junctions
Get PDFWe show how the superconducting phase difference in a Josephson junction may be used to split the Kramers degeneracy of its energy levels and to remove all the properties associated with time-reversal symmetry. The superconducting phase difference is known to be ineffective in two-terminal short Josephson junctions, where irrespective of the junction structure the induced Kramers degeneracy splitting is suppressed and the ground state fermion parity must stay even, so that a protected zero-energy Andreev level crossing may never appear. Our main result is that these limitations can be completely avoided by using multiterminal Josephson junctions. There the Kramers degeneracy breaking becomes comparable to the superconducting gap, and applying phase differences may cause the change of the ground state fermion parity from even to odd. We prove that the necessary condition for the appearance of a fermion parity switch is the presence of a “discrete vortex” in the junction: the situation when the phases of the superconducting leads wind by 2?. Our approach offers strategies for creation of Majorana bound states as well as spin manipulation. Our proposal can be implemented using any low density, high spin-orbit material such as InAs quantum wells, and can be detected using standard tool.QN/Quantum NanoscienceApplied Science
Topological phases in two-dimensional arrays of parafermionic zero modes
No full textIt has recently been realized that zero modes with projective non-Abelian statistics, generalizing the notion of Majorana bound states, may exist at the interface between a superconductor and a ferromagnet along the edge of a fractional topological insulator (FTI). Here, we study two-dimensional architectures of these non-Abelian zero modes, whose interactions are generated by the charging and Josephson energies of the superconductors. We derive low-energy Hamiltonians for two different arrays of FTIs on the plane, revealing an interesting interplay between the real-space geometry of the system and its topological properties. On the one hand, in a geometry where the length of the FTI edges is independent on the system size, the array has a topologically ordered phase, giving rise to a qudit toric code Hamiltonian in perturbation theory. On the other hand, in a geometry where the length of the edges scales with system size, we find an exact duality to an Abelian lattice gauge theory and no topological order
Conductance of a proximitized nanowire in the Coulomb blockade regime
No full textWe identify the leading processes of electron transport across finite-length segments of proximitized nanowires and build a quantitative theory of their two-terminal conductance. In the presence of spin-orbit interaction, a nanowire can be tuned across the topological transition point by an applied magnetic field. Due to a finite segment length, electron transport is controlled by the Coulomb blockade. Upon increasing of the field, the shape and magnitude of the Coulomb blockade peaks in the linear conductance are defined, respectively, by Andreev reflection, single-electron tunneling, and resonant tunneling through the Majorana modes emerging after the topological transition. Our theory provides the framework for the analysis of experiments with proximitized nanowires [such as reported in S. M. Albrecht et al., Nature (London) 531, 206 (2016)] and identifies the signatures of the topological transition in the two-terminal conductance
Braiding of non-Abelian anyons using pairwise interactions
No full textThe common approach to topological quantum computation is to implement quantum gates by adiabatically moving non-Abelian anyons around each other. Here we present an alternative perspective based on the possibility of realizing the exchange (braiding) operators of anyons by adiabatically varying pairwise interactions between them rather than their positions. We analyze a system composed by four anyons whose couplings define a T junction, and we show that the braiding operator of two of them can be obtained through a particular adiabatic cycle in the space of the coupling parameters. We also discuss how to couple this scheme with anyonic chains in order to recover the topological protection. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.87.02234
Erratum: Braiding of non-Abelian anyons using pairwise interactions (vol 87, 022343, 2013)
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Quantum critical dynamics of a Josephson junction at the topological transition
Get PDFWe find the admittance of a Josephson junction at or near a topological transition. The dependence of the admittance on frequency and temperature at the critical point is universal and determined by the symmetries of the system. Despite the absence of a spectral gap at the transition, the dissipative response may remain weak at low energies: . This behavior is strikingly different from the electromagnetic response of a normal metal. Away from the critical point, the scaling functions for the dependence of the admittance on frequency and temperature are controlled by at most two parameters.BUS/Quantum Delf
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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