Topological phases in two-dimensional arrays of parafermionic zero modes
Abstract
It 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.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1302.4560,
title = {Topological phases in two-dimensional arrays of parafermionic zero modes},
author = {Michele Burrello and Bernard van Heck and Emilio Cobanera},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1302.4560},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
18 pages, 11 figures; new version with additional comments, references, figure and appendix