Theoretical Physics Colloquium
Majorana Edge States in Interacting One-Dimensional Systems
by Dr. Suhas Gangadharaiah (University of Basel)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
from
to
(Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG69 )
at Colaba Campus ( AG69 )
Description |
Majorana fermions are exotic particles that are their own anti-particles. Originally discussed in the context of high-energy physics, these particles remain elusive and have not yet been detected. Recently, a number of proposals have been made for a solid- state realization of Majorana fermions. It turns out that in these setups they are expected to be spatially localized and amenable to detection. One of these proposals involves a quantum wire in the presence of spin-orbit interaction, magnetic field and proximity-induced superconductivity, where for appropriate parameter strength Majorana states appear at the two ends of the quantum wire. While the analysis was originally performed in a non-interacting picture, we show that for weak interactions the Majorana edge states persist. On the other hand, strong interactions generically destroy the induced superconducting gap that stabilizes the Majorana edge states. |