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Fragility of the Fractional Josephson Effect in Time-Reversal-Invariant Topological Superconductors

Knapp, Christina and Chew, Aaron and Alicea, Jason (2020) Fragility of the Fractional Josephson Effect in Time-Reversal-Invariant Topological Superconductors. Physical Review Letters, 125 (20). Art. No. 207002. ISSN 0031-9007. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.125.207002. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20201112-103611049

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Abstract

Time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor (TRITOPS) wires host Majorana Kramers pairs that have been predicted to mediate a fractional Josephson effect with 4π periodicity in the superconducting phase difference. We explore the TRITOPS fractional Josephson effect in the presence of time-dependent “local mixing” perturbations that instantaneously preserve time-reversal symmetry. Specifically, we show that just as such couplings render braiding of Majorana Kramers pairs nonuniversal, the Josephson current becomes either aperiodic or 2π periodic (depending on conditions that we quantify) unless the phase difference is swept sufficiently quickly. We further analyze topological superconductors with T² = +1 time-reversal symmetry and reveal a rich interplay between interactions and local mixing that can be experimentally probed in nanowire arrays.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.125.207002DOIArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Knapp, Christina0000-0002-5982-8107
Chew, Aaron0000-0003-0448-6215
Alicea, Jason0000-0001-9979-3423
Additional Information:© 2020 American Physical Society. (Received 3 July 2020; accepted 1 October 2020; published 12 November 2020) We are grateful to Arbel Haim, Torsten Karzig, and Yang Peng for illuminating discussions. We also thank Dima Pikulin and Charlie Marcus for conversations that stimulated this research. This work was supported by the Army Research Office under Grant No. W911NF-17-1-0323; the National Science Foundation through Grant No. DMR-1723367; the Caltech Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, an NSF Physics Frontiers Center with support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant No. GBMF1250; the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at Caltech; and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative, Grant No. GBMF8682.
Group:Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Army Research Office (ARO)W911NF-17-1-0323
NSFDMR-1723367
Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM)UNSPECIFIED
NSF Physics Frontiers CenterUNSPECIFIED
Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationGBMF1250
Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, CaltechUNSPECIFIED
Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationGBMF8682
Issue or Number:20
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.125.207002
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20201112-103611049
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20201112-103611049
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:106640
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: George Porter
Deposited On:16 Nov 2020 15:52
Last Modified:16 Nov 2021 18:55

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