Unconventional topological transitions in a self-organized magnetic ladder

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that topological phase transitions in topological superconductors are accompanied by a closing of the topological gap or a change of the symmetry of the system. We demonstrate that an unconventional topological phase transition with neither gap closing nor a change of symmetry is possible. We consider a nanoscopic length ladder of atoms on a superconducting substrate, comprising self-organized magnetic moments coupled to itinerant electrons. For a range of conditions, the ground state of such a system prefers helical magnetic textures, self-sustaining topologically nontrivial phase. Abrupt changes in the magnetic order as a function of induced superconducting pairing or chemical potential can cause topological phase transitions without closing the topological gap. Furthermore, the ground state prefers either parallel or anti-parallel configurations along the rungs, and the anti-parallel configuration causes an emergent time reversal asymmetry protecting Kramer's pair's of Majorana zero modes, but in a BDI topological superconductor. We determine the topological invariant and inspect the boundary Majorana zero modes.

References in corpus (50)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Fault-tolerant quantum computation by anyons
• Unpaired Majorana fermions in quantum wires
• Helical liquids and Majorana bound states in quantum wires
• Topological insulators and superconductors: ten-fold way and dimensional hierarchy
• Topological Defects and Gapless Modes in Insulators and Superconductors
• Dynamical quantum phase transitions: a review
• Topological classification of crystalline insulators through band structure combinatorics
• Topological Superconductivity and Majorana Fermions in RKKY Systems
• Interplay between classical magnetic moments and superconductivity in quantum one-dimensional conductors: toward a self-sustained topological Majorana phase
• Single particle Green's functions and interacting topological insulators
• Self-Organized Topological State with Majorana Fermions
• Search for Majorana fermions in multiband semiconducting nanowires
• Spin and Majorana polarization in topological superconducting wires
• Majorana Kramers pairs in higher-order topological insulators
• Time-Reversal Invariant Parafermions in Interacting Rashba Nanowires
• Topological properties of spin-triplet superconductors and the Fermi surface topology in the normal state
• Selective Equal-Spin Andreev Reflections Induced by Majorana Fermions
• Majorana states in helical Shiba chains and ladders
• Search for non-Abelian Majorana braiding statistics in superconductors
• Kramers Pairs of Majorana Fermions and Parafermions in Fractional Topological Insulators
• Helical order in one-dimensional magnetic atom chains and possible emergence of Majorana bound states
• Nuclear magnetism and electron order in interacting one-dimensional conductors
• Majorana bound states in two-channel time-reversal-symmetric nanowire systems
• Nuclear Magnetism and Electronic Order in 13C Nanotubes
• Topological Phase Transition without Gap Closing
• Self-Organized Topological Superconductivity in a Yu-Shiba-Rusinov Chain
• Visualising Majorana bound states in 1D and 2D using the generalized Majorana polarization
• Thermodynamics of the two-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model: a classical Monte Carlo study
• Majorana bound states in open quasi-1D and 2D systems with transverse Rashba coupling
• Topological superconductivity with deformable magnetic skyrmions
• Flat Majorana bands in 2-d lattices with inhomogeneous magnetic fields: topology and stability
• Self-stabilizing temperature driven crossover between topological and non-topological ordered phases in one-dimensional conductors
• Low-field Topological Threshold in Majorana Double Nanowires
• Majorana Bound States Induced by Antiferromagnetic Skyrmion Textures
• DIII Topological Superconductivity with Emergent Time-Reversal Symmetry
• Block-spiral magnetism: An exotic type of frustrated order
• Helical nuclear spin order in two-subband quantum wires
• Majorana Bound States in Double Nanowires with Reduced Zeeman Thresholds due to Supercurrents
• High-Temperature Majorana Fermions in Magnet-Superconductor Hybrid Systems
• Interplay of Magnetic Order, Pairing and Phase Separation in a One Dimensional Spin Fermion Model
• How to measure the Majorana polarization of a topological planar Josephson junction
• Topological superconductivity at finite temperatures in proximitized magnetic nanowires
• Majoranas with and without a 'character': hybridization, braiding and Majorana number
• First-order quantum phase transition in three-dimensional topological band insulators
• Topological phase transitions with and without energy gap closing
• Pressure and Inversion Symmetry Breaking Field Driven First Order Phase Transition and Formation of Dirac Circle in Perovskites
• Transport signatures of topological phases in double nanowires probed by spin-polarized STM
• Voltage-tunable Majorana bound states in time-reversal symmetric bilayer quantum spin Hall hybrid systems

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Unsupervised Machine Learning Phase Classification for Falicov-Kimball Model
• Topological superconductivity driven by correlations and linear defects in multiband superconductors
• Instability of Majorana states in Shiba chains due to leakage into a topological substrate
• A Dynamical Bulk-Boundary Correspondence in Two Dimensional Topological Matter