Stacking-Induced Symmetry-Protected Topological Phase Transitions

Abstract

We study symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase transitions induced by stacking two gapped one-dimensional subsystems in BDI symmetry class. The topological invariant of the entire system is a sum of three topological invariants: two from each subsystem and an emerging topological invariant from the stacking. We find that any symmetry-preserving stacking of topologically trivial subsystems can drive the entire system into a topologically nontrivial phase. We explain this intriguing SPT phase transitions by conditions set by orbital degrees of freedom and time-reversal symmetry. To exemplify the SPT transition, we provide a concrete model which consists of an atomic chain and a spinful nanowire with spin-orbit interaction and $s$-wave superconducting order. The stacking-induced SPT transition drives this heterostructure into a zero-field topological superconducting phase.

arXiv comment7 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (29)

• Topological Insulators
• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Unpaired Majorana fermions in quantum wires
• Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
• Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor Heterostructures
• Classification of topological insulators and superconductors in three spatial dimensions
• Helical liquids and Majorana bound states in quantum wires
• New directions in the pursuit of Majorana fermions in solid state systems
• Observation of Majorana Fermions in Ferromagnetic Atomic Chains on a Superconductor
• Periodic table for topological insulators and superconductors
• Search for Majorana fermions in superconductors
• Exceptional Topology of Non-Hermitian Systems
• Topological Insulator Materials
• Higher-Order Topological Insulators
• Topological quantum chemistry
• Majorana bound states in a coupled quantum-dot hybrid-nanowire system
• Acoustic higher-order topological insulator on a Kagome lattice
• Topological Crystalline Insulators and Topological Superconductors: From Concepts to Materials
• Topological classification of crystalline insulators through band structure combinatorics
• Synthetic Dimension in Photonics
• Majorana Fermions in Semiconductor Nanowires: Fundamentals, Modeling, and Experiment
• Majorana Fermions in Semiconductor Nanowires
• Topological quantum matter in synthetic dimensions
• Topological phases: Classification of topological insulators and superconductors of non-interacting Fermions, and beyond
• Topological states in quasicrystals
• Time Reversal Symmetric Topological Exciton Condensate in Bilayer HgTe Quantum Wells
• Tunable quantum spin Hall effect in double quantum wells
• Coexisting edge states and gapless bulk in topological states of matter

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Emerging topological bound states in Haldane model zigzag nanoribbons
• Topological states constructed by two different trivial quantum wires