1111.6592 (Sumanta Tewari et al.)

Topological invariants for spin-orbit coupled superconductor nanowires    [PDF]

Sumanta Tewari, Jay D. Sau

We show that a spin-orbit coupled semiconductor nanowire with Zeeman
splitting and s-wave superconductivity is in symmetry class BDI (not D as is
commonly thought) of the topological classification of band Hamiltonians. The
class BDI allows for an integer Z topological invariant equal to the number of
Majorana fermion (MF) modes at each end of the quantum wire protected by the
chirality symmetry (reality of the Hamiltonian). Thus it is possible for this
system (and all other d=1 models related to it by symmetry) to have an
arbitrary integer number, not just 0 or 1 as is commonly assumed, of MFs
localized at each end of the wire. The integer counting the number of MFs at
each end reduces to 0 or 1, and the class BDI reduces to D, in the presence of
terms in the Hamiltonian that break the chirality symmetry.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.6592