Theory of Coulomb blockaded transport in realistic Majorana nanowires

Abstract

Coulomb blockaded transport of topological superconducting nanowires provides an opportunity to probe the localization of states at both ends of the system in a two-terminal geometry. In addition, it provides a way for checking for subgap states away from the leads. At the same time, Coulomb blockade transport is difficult to analyze because of the interacting nature of the problem arising from the nonperturbative Coulomb interaction inherent in the phenomenon. Here we show that the Coulomb blockade transport can be modeled at the same level of complexity as quantum point contact tunneling that has routinely been used in mesoscopic physics to understand nanowire experiments provided we consider the regime where the tunneling rate is below the equilibration rate of the nanowire. This assumption leads us to a generalized Meir-Wingreen formula for the tunnel conductance which we use to study various features of the nanowire such as Andreev bound states, self-energy, and soft gap. We anticipate that our theory will provide a route to interpret Coulomb blockade transport in hybrid Majorana systems as resulting from features of the nanowire, such as Andreev bound states and soft gaps.

31 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (21)

• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
• Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor Heterostructures
• Evidence of Majorana fermions in an Al - InAs nanowire topological superconductor
• Observation of Majorana Fermions in a Nb-InSb Nanowire-Nb Hybrid Quantum Device
• Anomalous modulation of a zero bias peak in a hybrid nanowire-superconductor device
• Epitaxy of Semiconductor-Superconductor nanowires
• Non-Abelian quantum order in spin-orbit-coupled semiconductors: The search for topological Majorana particles in solid state systems
• Transport spectroscopy of NS nanowire junctions with Majorana fermions
• Zero-bias anomaly in a nanowire quantum dot coupled to superconductors
• A Majorana smoking gun for the superconductor-semiconductor hybrid topological system
• Proximity effect at the superconductor - topological insulator interface
• Topological Kondo effect with Majorana fermions
• Flux-induced topological superconductivity in full-shell nanowires
• Splitting of Majorana modes due to intervortex tunneling in a p + ip superconductor
• Strong localization of Majorana end states in chains of magnetic adatoms
• Majorana fermions in ferromagnetic chains on the surface of bulk spin-orbit coupled $s$-wave superconductors
• Electron temperature and tunnel coupling dependence of zero-bias and almost-zero-bias conductance peaks in Majorana nanowires
• Presence versus absence of end-to-end nonlocal conductance correlations in Majorana nanowires: Majorana bound states versus Andreev bound states
• X-shaped and Y-shaped Andreev resonance profiles in a superconducting quantum dot

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Disorder-induced zero-bias peaks in Majorana nanowires
• Estimating disorder and its adverse effects in semiconductor Majorana nanowires
• Random matrix theory for the robustness, quantization, and end-to-end correlation of zero-bias conductance peaks in a class D ensemble
• Double Fu-teleportation and anomalous Coulomb blockade in a Majorana-hosted superconducting island
• Richardson model with complex level structure and spin-orbit coupling for hybrid superconducting islands: stepwise suppression of pairing and magnetic pinning
• Fate of the superconducting state in floating islands of hybrid nanowire devices
• Majorana zero modes in semiconductor-superconductor hybrid structures: Defining topology in short and disordered nanowires through Majorana splitting
• Matrix product state simulations of quantum quenches and transport in Coulomb blockaded superconducting devices
• Electronic transport in double-nanowire superconducting islands with multiple terminals