Proposed Aharonov-Casher interference measurement of non-Abelian vortices in chiral p-wave superconductors

Abstract

We propose a two-path vortex interferometry experiment based on the Aharonov-Casher effect for detecting the non-Abelian nature of vortices in a chiral p-wave superconductor. The effect is based on observing vortex interference patterns upon enclosing a finite charge of externally controllable magnitude within the interference path. We predict that when the interfering vortices enclose an odd number of identical vortices in their path, the interference pattern disappears only for non-Abelian vortices. When pairing involves two distinct spin species, we derive the mutual statistics between half quantum and full quantum vortices and show that, remarkably, our predictions still hold for the situation of a full quantum vortex enclosing a half quantum vortex in its path. We discuss the experimentally relevant conditions under which these effects can be observed.

4 pages, 1 figure

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• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Detecting Non-Abelian Statistics in the nu=5/2 Fractional Quantum Hall State
• Observation of half-height magnetization steps in Sr2RuO4
• Hidden quasi one-dimensional superconductivity in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
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• Electrical manipulation of Majorana fermions in an interdigitated superconductor-ferromagnet device
• Active Electric Dipole Energy Sources: Transduction via Electric Scalar and Vector Potentials
• Hybridization mechanism of the dual proximity effect in superconductor-topological insulator interfaces
• The Aharonov-Casher phase is geometrical and not topological
• Majorana bound state parity exchanges in planar Josephson junctions
• Floquet Gauge Pumps as Sensors for Spectral Degeneracies Protected by Symmetry or Topology