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Majorana modes and p-wave superfluids for fermionic atoms in optical lattices

Bühler, Adam, Lang, Nicolai, Kraus, Christina V, Möller, Gunnar, Huber, Sebastian D, Büchler, Hans-Peter (2014) Majorana modes and p-wave superfluids for fermionic atoms in optical lattices. Nature communications, 5 . Article Number 4504. ISSN 2041-1723. (doi:10.1038/ncomms5504) (KAR id:55585)

Abstract

The quest for realizations of non-Abelian phases of matter, driven by their possible use in fault-tolerant topological quantum computing, has been spearheaded by recent developments in p-wave superconductors. The chiral p_x + i p_y-wave superconductor in two-dimensions exhibiting Majorana modes provides the simplest phase supporting non-Abelian quasiparticles and can be seen as the blueprint of fractional topological order. Alternatively, Kitaev's Majorana wire has emerged as an ideal toy model to understand Majorana modes. Here, we present a way to make the transition from Kitaev's Majorana wires to two-dimensional p-wave superconductors in a system with cold atomic gases in an optical lattice. The main idea is based on an approach to generate p-wave interactions by coupling orbital degrees of freedom with strong s-wave interactions. We demonstrate how this design can induce Majorana modes at edge dislocations in the optical lattice and we provide an experimentally feasible protocol for the observation of the non-Abelian statistics.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/ncomms5504
Uncontrolled keywords: Physics of Quantum Materials
Subjects: Q Science > QC Physics > QC173.45 Condensed Matter
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Funders: Organisations -1 not found.
Organisations -1 not found.
Organisations -1 not found.
Organisations -1 not found.
Swiss National Science Foundation (https://ror.org/00yjd3n13)
Isaac Newton Trust (https://ror.org/02gn6ta77)
Depositing User: Gunnar Moeller
Date Deposited: 18 Aug 2016 21:40 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2022 13:10 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/55585 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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