Majorana zero modes

Abstract

We derive the zero mode solutions for a Majorana fermion in the background of a cosmic string and contrast it with the zero mode solution for a (neutral) Dirac fermion. A Majorana zero mode carries no vector or axial charge, and it cannot be bosonised. We study the implications for vorton formation and stability. In the massless limit stability of the zero mode is guaranteed by energy-momentum conservation. However, zero modes obtain an effective mass on string loops. It is found that the conditions under which current formation can be effective are exactly those for which zero mode decay is most likely to occur.

37 pages, no figures

References in corpus (16)

• Cosmic strings
• Tau Neutrinos Favored over Sterile Neutrinos in Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Oscillations
• Measurement of the flux and zenith-angle distribution of upward through-going muons by Super-Kamiokande
• Measurement of a small atmospheric ${\nu }_{\mu }/{\nu }_e$ ratio
• Study of the atmospheric neutrino flux in the multi-GeV energy range
• Neutrino-induced upward stopping muons in Super-Kamiokande
• Cosmic Vortons and Particle Physics Constraints
• Inflation in Supersymmetric Unified Theories
• Chiral Vortons and Cosmological Constraints on Particle Physics
• Limits on Cosmic Chiral Vortons
• New mechanism for leptogenesis
• Zero modes of fermions with general mass matrix
• Equation of state of cosmic strings with fermionic current-carriers
• Cosmic String Current Stability
• B-L Cosmic strings and Baryogenesis
• Cosmic Strings and Cooper Pairs

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Confronting hybrid inflation in supergravity with CMB data
• Moduli Corrections to D-term Inflation
• On Stability of Fermionic Superconducting Current in Cosmic String
• Leptogenesis from reheating after inflation and cosmic string decay
• Observation of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states in superconducting graphene
• Zero modes on cosmic string loops
• Fermionic zero modes in the vortex field in arbitrary dimensions and index of Dirac operator with Majorana-like interaction