2014/12/31 by Yang Peng, Falko Pientka, L. I. Glazman +2 · 155 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Anderson localization #Bound state #Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) #Coherence length #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #MAJORANA #Magnetic field #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Renormalization #Superconductivity #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.114.106801
published in Physical Review Letters 114(10), 106801 (American Physical Society) · to appear in PRL; includes new heuristic section; 5 pages + supplementary material
arxiv created 2015/02/19 · openalex publication_date 2015/03/09 · arxiv updated 2015/03/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A recent experiment [Nadj-Perge et al, Science 346, 602 (2014)] gives possible evidence for Majorana bound states in chains of magnetic adatoms placed on a superconductor. While many features of the observed end states are naturally interpreted in terms of Majorana states, their strong localization remained puzzling. We consider a linear chain of Anderson impurities on a superconductor as a minimal model and treat it largely analytically within mean-field theory. We explore the phase diagram, the subgap excitation spectrum, and the Majorana wave functions. Owing to a strong velocity renormalization, the latter are localized on a scale which is parametrically small compared to the coherence length of the host superconductor.