Non-Abelian Braiding in Spin Superconductors Utilizing the Aharonov-Casher Effect

Yijia Wu, Hua Jiang, Hua Chen, Haiwen Liu, Jie Liu, and X. C. Xie

Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 106804 – Published 11 March 2022

Abstract

Spin superconductor (SSC) is an exciton condensate state where the spin-triplet exciton superfluidity is charge neutral while spin $2 (ℏ / 2)$ . In analogy to the Majorana zero mode (MZM) in topological superconductors, the interplay between SSC and band topology will also give rise to a specific kind of topological bound state obeying non-Abelian braiding statistics. Remarkably, the non-Abelian geometric phase here originates from the Aharonov-Casher effect of the “half-charge” other than the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Such topological bound state of SSC is bound with the vortex of electric flux gradient and can be experimentally more distinct than the MZM for being electrically charged. This theoretical proposal provides a new avenue investigating the non-Abelian braiding physics without the assistance of MZM and charge superconductor.

Received 28 August 2021
Revised 16 November 2021
Accepted 4 February 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.106804

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Aharonov-Casher effect Excitons Fractionalization Geometric & topological phases Spin current Vortices in superconductors

Superfluids Topological materials

Non-Abelian models

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Yijia Wu ¹, Hua Jiang^2,3, Hua Chen ⁴, Haiwen Liu⁵, Jie Liu ^6,*, and X. C. Xie^1,7,†

¹International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
²School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
³Institute for Advanced Study, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
⁴Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
⁵Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
⁶Department of Applied Physics, School of Science, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian 710049, China
⁷CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

^*Corresponding author. jieliuphy@xjtu.edu.cn
^†xcxie@pku.edu.cn

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Issue

Vol. 128, Iss. 10 — 11 March 2022

Reuse & Permissions

Access Options

Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Physical Review Letters