Interaction-induced topological phase transition and Majorana edge states in low-dimensional orbital-selective Mott insulators

ORAL

Abstract

It is known that superconductivity induced on a topological insulator's surface can lead to exotic Majorana modes. In this context, iron-based high critical temperature superconductors are among the main candidates to host such exotic phenomenon. Moreover, it is commonly believed that the Coulomb interaction is vital for the magnetic and superconducting properties of these systems. This work bridges these two perspectives and shows that the Coulomb interaction can also drive a trivial superconductor with orbital degrees of freedom into the topological phase. Namely, we show that above some critical value of the Hubbard interaction, identified by the change in entropy behaviour, the system simultaneously develops spiral spin order, a highly unusual triplet amplitude in superconductivity, and, remarkably, Majorana fermions at the edges of the system.

*Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) via project PPN/PPO/2018/1/00035
National Science Centre (NCN), Poland via project 2019/35/B/ST3/01207
US DOE, Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computer Research and Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Science and Engineering
US DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Materials Sciences and Engineering Division

–

Presenters

  • Jacek Herbrych

    • Wroclaw Univ of Tech
    • Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
    • Department of Theoretical Physics, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

Authors

  • Jacek Herbrych

    • Wroclaw Univ of Tech
    • Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
    • Department of Theoretical Physics, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

  • Maksymilian Sroda

    • Wroclaw Univ of Tech
    • Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

  • Gonzalo Alvarez

    • Oak Ridge National Lab
    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Computational Sciences & Engineering Division and Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Marcin Mierzejewski

    • Wroclaw Univ of Tech

  • Elbio Dagotto

    • University of Tennessee
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennesse at Knoxville
    • Physics, University of Tennessee
    • University of Tennessee and ORNL
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee
    • Oak Ridge National Lab