Majorana Fermi Sea in Insulating SmB6: A proposal and a Theory of Quantum Oscillations in Kondo Insulators

Abstract

In an exciting development, SmB6, a Kondo insulator has been shown to exhibit bulk quantum oscillations. We propose that SmB6 is a bulk scalar Majorana Fermi Liquid} (MFL) with a finite gap for charge and spin excitations. In their study of Kondo insulators in 1993, Coleman, Miranda and Tsvelik (CMT) envisaged such a remarkable possibility, using a mean field ansatz. We generalize CMT theory to non-zero magnetic fields and show a counter intuitive result that the scalar Majorana fermi liquid, while remaining electrically insulating, responds to external magnetic field and exhibits Landau diamagnetism and quantum oscillations. Physics of an emergent compactified 2-channel Kondo lattice physics that is behind formation of the novel scalar Majorana fermi liquid phase is discussed. It is also suggested that a known resistivity saturation in SmB6 as well as a new strong deviation of quantum oscillation amplitude from Lifshitz-Kosevich formula in SmB6 at low temperatures are due to a coherent fluctuation of charge of a neutral scalar Majorana fermion. Possible presence of 2-dimensional Majorana fermion excitations in surfaces of SmB6, and other Topological Kondo Insulators (TKI) is pointed out.

Invited Talk at the Workshop `Concepts and Discovery in Quantum Matter', 12-15th July 2015, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, UK

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