Distinguishing Majorana bound states from accidental zero-energy modes with a microwave cavity

Abstract

Transport measurements of hybrid nanowires often rely on the observation of a zero-bias conductance peak as a hallmark of Majorana bound states (MBSs). However, such signatures can also be produced by trivial zero-energy Andreev bound states (ABSs) or by quasi-Majorana bound states (QMBSs), complicating their unambiguous identification. Here we propose microwave absorption visibility, extracted from parity-dependent cavity-nanowire susceptibility measurements, as a complementary probe of MBSs nonlocality. We study a Rashba spin-orbit nanowire consisting of a proximitized superconducting segment and an uncovered quantum-dot region, capacitively coupled to a single-mode microwave cavity. We show that true MBSs yield finite visibility only when both MBSs are simultaneously coupled to the cavity, reflecting their intrinsic nonlocality. In contrast, ABSs and QMBSs exhibit visibility extrema even when the cavity couples only locally to part of the nanowire. We further demonstrate that this distinction persists in the presence of Gaussian disorder, which may otherwise generate trivial subgap states. Motivated by recent experiments, we also analyze ``poor man's" Majoranas in double-quantum-dot setups, where analytical results confirm the same nonlocal visibility criterion. Finally, we discuss a cavity-driven scheme for initializing the electronic system in a given parity state. Our results establish cavity-based visibility as a robust and versatile probe of MBSs, providing a clear route to distinguish them from trivial zero-energy states in hybrid superconducting platforms.

References in corpus (44)

• 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
• Majorana bound states in a coupled quantum-dot hybrid-nanowire system
• Transport spectroscopy of NS nanowire junctions with Majorana fermions
• A Majorana smoking gun for the superconductor-semiconductor hybrid topological system
• Realization of a minimal Kitaev chain in coupled quantum dots
• InAs-Al Hybrid Devices Passing the Topological Gap Protocol
• Parity qubits and poor man's Majorana bound states in double quantum dots
• Strong localization of Majorana end states in chains of magnetic adatoms
• Fermion-parity anomaly of the critical supercurrent in the quantum spin-Hall effect
• Zero bias conductance peak in Majorana wires made of semiconductor-superconductor hybrid structures
• Tunable superconducting coupling of quantum dots via Andreev bound states in semiconductor-superconductor nanowires
• On controlling the bound states in quantum-dot hybrid-nanowire
• Giant spin orbit interaction due to rotating magnetic fields in graphene nanoribbons
• Three-terminal nonlocal conductance in Majorana nanowires: Distinguishing topological and trivial in realistic systems with disorder and inhomogeneous potential
• A two-site Kitaev chain in a two-dimensional electron gas
• Roadmap towards Majorana qubits and nonabelian physics in quantum dot-based minimal Kitaev chains
• Local and non-local quantum transport due to Andreev bound states in finite Rashba nanowires with superconducting and normal sections
• Helical States in Curved Bilayer Graphene
• Robust poor man's Majorana zero modes using Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states
• Majorana bound states in semiconducting nanostructures
• Trivial Andreev band mimicking topological bulk gap reopening in the non-local conductance of long Rashba nanowires
• Probing Majorana localization in minimal Kitaev chains through a quantum dot
• Direct cavity detection of Majorana pairs
• Signatures of Majorana protection in a three-site Kitaev chain
• Minimal Kitaev-transmon qubit based on double quantum dots
• Enhancing the excitation gap of a quantum-dot-based Kitaev chain
• Minimal quantum dot based Kitaev chain with only local superconducting proximity effect
• Kitaev chain in an alternating quantum dot-Andreev bound state array
• From perfect to imperfect poor man's Majoranas in minimal Kitaev chains
• Accessing the degree of Majorana nonlocality in a quantum dot-optical microcavity system
• Flux-tunable Kitaev chain in a quantum dot array
• Fate of poor man's Majoranas in the long Kitaev chain limit
• Microwave detection of gliding Majorana zero modes in nanowires
• Disordered Majorana nanowires: Studying disorder without any disorder
• Coupling of quantum-dot states via elastic-cotunneling and crossed Andreev reflection in a minimal Kitaev chain
• Reshaping the Jaynes-Cummings ladder with Majorana bound states
• Effect of topological length on Bound states signatures in a Topological nanowire
• Majorana bound states in topological insulators with hidden Dirac points
• Majorana-magnon interactions in topological Shiba chains