Majorana zero modes in a quantum wire platform without Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

We propose a platform for engineering helical fermions in a hybridized double-quantum-wire setup. When our setup is proximity coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor it can become a class $D$ topological superconductor exhibiting Majorana zero modes. The goal of this proposal is to expand the group of available Hamiltonians to those without strong Rashba spin-orbit interactions which are essential to many other approaches. Furthermore, we show that there exist electron-electron interactions that stabilize fractional excitations which obey ${\mathbb{Z}}_3^{}$ parafermionic algebra.

14 pages, 6 figures; Corrections after review process, the version published in PRB