English

Zero energy Majorana modes in spin ladders and a possible realization of the Kitaev model

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2015-05-28 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Quantum Physics

Abstract

We show that in double-chain Mott insulators (ladders), disordered alternating ionic potentials may locally destroy coherence of magnetic excitations and lead to the appearance of spontaneously dimerized islands inside the Haldane spin-liquid phase. We argue that a boundary between the dimerized and Haldane phases of a spin-1/2 ladder supports a localized zero-energy Majorana fermion mode. Based on these findings we suggest a realization of a generalized Kitaev model where Majorana fermions can propagate in more than one dimension.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1105.5835,
  title  = {Zero energy Majorana modes in spin ladders and a possible realization of the Kitaev model},
  author = {A. A. Nersesyan and A. M. Tsvelik},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.5835},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

5 pages, 2 figures