Ever-present Majorana bound state in a generic one-dimensional superconductor with odd number of Fermi surfaces

Abstract

A quasi-1D superconductor with odd number of Fermi surfaces is expected to exhibit a nondegenerate Majorana bound state at the Fermi level at its boundary with an insulator (where the latter could be an actual insulator material or vacuum, for a terminated sample). Previous explicit theoretical demonstrations of this property were done for specific microscopic models of the bulk Hamiltonian and, most importantly, of the boundary. In this work, we theoretically demonstrate that this property holds for the whole class of systems, using the symmetry-based formalism of low-energy continuum models and general boundary conditions. We derive the general form of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes low-energy Hamiltonian that is subject only to charge-conjugation symmetry ${\mathcal{C}}_{+}$ of the type ${\mathcal{C}}_{+}^2=+1$ and a few minimal assumptions. Crucially, we also derive the most general form of the boundary conditions describing the boundary with an insulator, subject only to the fundamental principle of the probability-current conservation and ${\mathcal{C}}_{+}$ symmetry. Such {\em normal-reflection} boundary conditions do not contain scattering between electrons and holes. We find that for odd number of Fermi surfaces a Majorana bound state always exists as long as the bulk is in the gapped superconducting state, irrespective of the parameters of the bulk Hamiltonian and boundary conditions. Importantly, our general model includes a possible {\em Fermi-point mismatch}, when the two Fermi points are not at exactly opposite momenta, which disfavors superconductivity. We find that the Fermi-point mismatch does {\em not} have a direct destructive effect on the Majorana bound state, in the sense that once the bulk gap is opened the bound state is always present.

v2: identical to the published version. 20 pages, 8 figures. The result has been generalized to an arbitrary odd number of Fermi surfaces. Sec. VI added, abstract and introduction updated

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