Theoretical Physics Seminar: Alessandro Romito (Lancaster)

Date: 18 October 2017

Time: 3pm

Location: EC Stoner 7.73

Transport properties of interacting Majorana systems

Majorana zero modes are anyons appearing as zero energy excitations of certain topological superconductors. They are drawing a considerable attention because they are a potential platform to implement topological quantum information operations and they can be engineered in electronic nanostructures. In fact a number of signatures of their presence, mostly from conductance measurements, have been reported in experiments. Interactions have dramatic effects on Majorana zero modes systems in that they can change the topological classification of the system itself and alter the nature of edge modes, they can further induce exotic Kondo physics, and even provide platform for chaotic calculable models.

In this talk I will discuss how the main signatures of Majorana zero modes in transport properties are modified by interactions. After reviewing the physics beyond the emergence of Majorna zero modes in topological superconductors and their detection, I will focus on the case of time-reversal symmetric (BDI) superconductors. I will show that transport properties faithfully reflect the interacting topological phases for 1D system and can provide indications of the emergence of a weak topological phase in 2D systems.