Edge Current due to Majorana Fermions in Superfluid 3He A- and B-Phases

被引:29
作者
Tsutsumi, Yasumasa [1 ]
Machida, Kazushige [1 ]
机构
[1] Okayama Univ, Dept Phys, Okayama 7008530, Japan
基金
日本学术振兴会;
关键词
Majorana fermions; edge current; superfluid He-3; surface Andreev bound state; intrinsic angular momentum; ORBITAL ANGULAR-MOMENTUM; SUPERCONDUCTORS; VORTEX; STATES;
D O I
10.1143/JPSJ.81.074607
中图分类号
O4 [物理学];
学科分类号
0702 ;
摘要
We propose a method utilizing edge current to observe Majorana fermions in the surface Andreev bound state for the superfluid He-3 A-and B-phases. The proposal is based on self-consistent analytic solutions of quasi-classical Green's function with an edge. The local density of states and edge mass current in the A-phase or edge spin current in the B-phase can be obtained from these solutions. The edge current carried by the Majorana fermions is partially cancelled by quasiparticles (QPs) in the continuum state outside the superfluid gap. QPs contributing to the edge current in the continuum state are distributed in energy even away from the superfluid gap. The effect of Majorana fermions emerges in the depletion of the edge current by temperature within a low-temperature range. The observations that the reduction in the mass current is changed by T-2-power in the A-phase and the reduction in the spin current is changed by T-3-power in the B-phase establish the existence of Majorana fermions. We also point out another possibility for observing Majorana fermions by controlling surface roughness.
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页数:10
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