Edge Majoranas on locally flat surfaces - the cone and the Möbius band

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the edge Majorana modes in the simplest possible $p{}_x+i{p}_y$ superconductor defined on surfaces with different geometry - the annulus, the cylinder, the Möbius band and a cone (by cone we mean a cone with the tip cut away so it is topologically equivalent to the annulus and cylinder)- and with different configuration of magnetic fluxes threading holes in these surfaces. In particular, we shall address two questions: Given that, in the absence of any flux, the ground state on the annulus does not support Majorana modes, while the one on the cylinder does, how is it possible that the conical geometry can interpolate smoothly between the two? Given that in finite geometries edge Majorana modes have to come in pairs, how can a $p{}_x+i{p}_y$ state be defined on a Möbius band, which has only one edge? We show that the key to answering these questions is that the ground state depends on the geometry, even though all the surfaces are locally flat. In the case of the truncated cone, there is a non-trivial holonomy, while the non-orientable Möbius band must necessarily support a domain wall.

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