We numerically demonstrate that the topological corner states residing in the corners of higher-order topological insulator possess non-Abelian braiding properties. Such topological corner states are Dirac fermionic modes other than Majorana zero-modes. We claim that Dirac fermionic modes protected by nontrivial topology also support non-Abelian braiding. An analytical description on such non-Abelian braiding is conducted based on the vortex-induced Dirac-type fermionic modes. The braiding operator for Dirac fermionic modes is also analytically derivated and compared with the Majorana zero-modes. Experimentally, such non-Abelian braiding operation on Dirac fermionic modes is proposed to be testified through topological electric circuit.
We propose the concept of a device based on a square-shaped sample of a two-dimensional second-order topological helical superconductor which hosts two zero-dimensional Majorana quasiparticles at the corners. The two zero-energy modes rely on particle-hole symmetry (PHS) and their spacial position can be shifted by rotating an in-plane magnetic field and tuning proximity-induced spin-singlet pairing. We consider an adiabatic cycle performed on the degenerate ground-state manifold and show that it realizes the braiding of the two modes whereby they accumulate a non-trivial statistical phase $π$…
We propose to realize Majorana edge and corner states in electric circuits. First, we simulate the Kitaev model by an LC electric circuit and the $p_{x}+ip_{y}$ model by an LC circuit together with operational amplifiers. Zero-energy edge states emerge in the topological phase, which are detectable by measuring impedance. Next, we simulate the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model by including an effective magnetic field without breaking the particle-hole symmetry, where zero-energy corner states emerge in the topological phase. It is demonstrated that they are Ising anyons subject to the braiding. Name…
We analyse the control of Majorana zero-energy states by mapping the fermionic system onto a chain of Ising spins. Although the topological protection is lost for the Ising system, the mapping provides additional insight into the nature of the quantum states. By controlling the local magnetic field, one can separate the Ising chain into ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases, corresponding to topological and non-topological sections of the fermionic system. In this paper we propose (topologically non-protected) protocols performing the braiding operation, and in fact also more general rotations…
Conventional $n$-dimensional topological superconductors (TSCs) have protected gapless $(n - 1)$-dimensional boundary states. In contrast to this, second-order TSCs are characterized by topologically protected gapless $(n - 2)$-dimensional states with usual gapped $(n - 1)$-boundaries. Here, we study a second-order TSC with a two-dimensional (2D) magnetic topological insulator (TI) proximity-coupled to a high-temperature superconductor, where Majorana bound states (MBSs) are localized at the corners of a square sample with gapped edge modes. Due to the mirror symmetry of the hybrid system cons…
According to a basic rule of fermionic and bosonic many-body physics, known as the linked cluster theorem, physical observables are not affected by vacuum bubbles, which represent virtual particles created from vacuum and self-annihilating without interacting with real particles. Here, we show that this conventional knowledge must be revised for anyons, quasiparticles that obey fractional exchange statistics intermediate between fermions and bosons. We find that a certain class of vacuum bubbles of Abelian anyons does affect physical observables. They represent virtually excited anyons which w…
We propose to use the recently predicted two-dimensional `weak-pairing' $p_x + ip_y$ superfluid state of fermionic cold atoms as a platform for topological quantum computation. In the core of a vortex, this state supports a zero-energy Majorana mode, which moves to finite energy in the corresponding topologically trivial `strong-pairing' state. By braiding vortices in the `weak-pairing' state, unitary quantum gates can be applied to the Hilbert space of Majorana zero-modes. For read-out of the topological qubits, we propose realistic schemes suitable for atomic superfluids.
We study intragap bound states in the topological phase of a Rashba nanowire in the presence of a magnetic field and with non-uniform spin orbit interaction (SOI) and proximity-induced superconductivity gap. We show that fermionic bound states (FBS) can emerge inside the proximity gap. They are localized at the junction between two wire sections characterized by different directions of the SOI vectors, and they coexist with Majorana bound states (MBS) localized at the nanowire ends. The energy of the FBS is determined by the angle between the SOI vectors and the lengthscale over which the SOI …
We propose a platform for braiding Majorana non-Abelian anyons based on a heterostructure between a $d$-wave high-$T_c$ superconductor and a quantum spin-Hall insulator. It has been recently shown that such a setup for a quantum spin-Hall insulator leads to a pair of Majorana zero modes at each corner of the sample, and thus can be regarded as a higher-order topological superconductor. We show that upon applying a Zeeman field in the region, these Majorana modes split in space and can be manipulated for braiding processes by tuning the field and pairing phase. We show that such a setup can ach…
A collider, where particles are injected to a beam splitter from opposite sides, has been used for identifying quantum statistics of identical particles. The collision leads to bunching of the particles for bosons and antibunching for fermions. In recent experiments, a collider was applied to a fractional quantum Hall regime hosting Abelian anyons. The observed negative cross correlation of electrical currents cannot be understood with fermionic antibunching. Here we predict, based on a conformal field theory and non-perturbative treatment of non-equilibrium anyon injection, that the collider …
$1/3$-Flux Bound States in Multicomponent Superconductor Exhibiting Non-Abelian Statistics of $\mathbb {Z}_3$ Parafermions
Interdisciplinary Center for Theoretical Physics and Information Sciences, Fudan University（复旦大学理论物理与信息科学交叉中心）；State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学表面物理国家重点实验室和物理系）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences（上海量子科学研究中心）；International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院量子材料国际中心）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
We study characteristic band structures of the fermions on a square kagome lattice, one of the two-dimensional lattices hosting a corner-sharing network of triangles. We show that the band structures of the nearest-neighbor tight-binding model exhibit many characteristic features, including a flat band which is ubiquitous among frustrated lattices. On the flat band, we elucidate its origin by using the molecular-orbital representation and also find localized exact eigenstates called compact localized states. In addition to the flat band, we also find two spin-1 Dirac cones with different energ…
Exotic states of topological materials are challenging or impossible to create under ambient conditions.1-4 Moreover, it is unclear whether topological superconductivity, as a critical element for topological quantum computing, exists in any naturally occurring materials.5-7 Although these problems can be overcome through the combination of materials in heterostructures, there are still many requisites, such as low temperatures and specific magnetic fields.8,9 Herein, an intrinsic topological superconductor that does not depend on particular external conditions is demonstrated. It is accomplis…
The topological physics has been extensively studied in different kinds of bosonic and fermionic systems, ranging from artificial structures to natural materials. However, the coexistence of topological phonon and electron in one single material is seldom reported. Recently, graphdiyne is proposed to be a two-dimensional (2D) electronic second-order topological insulator (SOTI). In this work, based on density-functional tight-binding calculations, we found that graphdiyne is equivalent to the Kekule lattice, also realizing a 2D phononic SOTI in both out-of-plane and in-plane modes. Depending o…
In this tutorial, we pedagogically review recent developments in the field of non-interacting fermionic phases of matter, focussing on the low energy description of higher-order topological insulators in terms of the Dirac equation. Our aim is to give a mostly self-contained treatment. After introducing the Dirac approximation of topological crystalline band structures, we use it to derive the anomalous end and corner states of first- and higher-order topological insulators in one and two spatial dimensions. In particular, we recast the classical derivation of domain wall bound states of the S…
Non-Abelian anyons can exist as point-like particles in two-dimensional systems, and have particle exchange statistics which are neither bosonic nor fermionic. Like in spin systems, the role of fusion (Heisenberg-like) interactions between anyons has been well studied. However, unlike our understanding of the role of bosonic and fermionic statistics in the formation of different quantum phases of matter, little is known concerning the effect of non-Abelian anyonic statistics. We explore this physics using an anyonic Hubbard model on a two-legged ladder which includes braiding and nearest neigh…
In topological mechanics, the identification of a mechanical system's rigidity matrix with an electronic tight-binding model allows to infer topological properties of the mechanical system, such as the occurrence of `floppy' boundary modes, from the associated electronic band structure. Here we introduce an approach to systematically construct topological mechanical systems by an exact supersymmetry (SUSY) that relates the bosonic (mechanical) and fermionic (e.g. electronic) degrees of freedom. As examples we discuss mechanical analogues of the Kitaev honeycomb model and of a second-order topo…
Coupled-wire constructions have been widely applied to quantum Hall systems and symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. In this Letter, we use the coupled one-dimensional nonchiral Luttinger liquids with domain-wall structured mass terms as quantum wires to construct the crystalline higher-order topological superconductors (HOTSC) in two-dimensional interacting fermionic systems by two representative examples: $D_4$-symmetric class-D HOTSC and $C_4$-symmetric class-BD\1 HOTSC, with Majorana corner modes on the edge. Furthermore, based on the coupled-wire constructions, the quantum phase t…
Topological insulators possess protected boundary states which are robust against disorders and have immense implications in both fermionic and bosonic systems. Harnessing these topological effects in non-equilibrium scenarios is highly desirable and has led to the development of topological lasers. The topologically protected boundary states usually lie within the bulk bandgap, and selectively exciting them without inducing instability in the bulk modes of bosonic systems is challenging. Here, we consider topological parametrically driven nonlinear resonator arrays that possess complex eigenv…
Anderson localization is studied for two flavors of massless Dirac fermions in 2D space perturbed by static disorder that is invariant under a chiral symmetry (chS) and a time-reversal symmetry (TRS) operation which, when squared, is equal either to plus or minus the identity. The former TRS (symmetry class BDI) can for example be realized when the Dirac fermions emerge from spinless fermions hopping on a 2D lattice with a linear energy dispersion such as the honeycomb lattice (graphene) or the square lattice with $π$-flux per plaquette. The latter TRS is realized by the surface states of 3D $…
After exploring much on two-dimensional higher-order topological superconductors (HOTSCs) hosting Majorana corner modes (MCMs) only, we propose a simple fermionic model based on a three-dimensional topological insulator proximized with $s$-wave superconductor to realize Majorana hinge modes (MHMs) followed by MCMs under the application of appropriate Wilson-Dirac perturbations. We interestingly find that the second-order topological superconductor, hosting MHMs, appears above a threshold value of the first type perturbation while the third-order topological superconducting phase, supporting MC…
In this work we discuss the formation of zero energy vortex and chiral edge modes in a fermionic representation of the Kitaev honeycomb model. We introduce the representation and show how the associated Jordan-Wigner procedure naturally defines the so called branch cuts that connect the topological vortex excitations. Using this notion of the branch cuts we show how to, in the non-Abelian phase of the model, describe the Majorana zero mode structure associated with vortex excitations. Furthermore we show how, by intersecting the edges between Abelian and non-Abelian domains, the branch cuts di…
