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Classification of engineered topological superconductors. (English) Zbl 1451.81397

Summary: I perform a complete classification of two-dimensional, quasi-one-dimensional (1D) and 1D topological superconductors which originate from the suitable combination of inhomogeneous Rashba spin-orbit coupling, magnetism and superconductivity. My analysis reveals alternative types of topological superconducting platforms for which Majorana fermions are accessible. Specifically, I observe that for quasi-1D systems with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and time-reversal violating superconductivity, such as for instance due to a finite Josephson current flow, Majorana fermions can emerge even in the absence of magnetism. Furthermore, for the classification I also consider situations where additional ‘hidden’ symmetries emerge, with a significant impact on the topological properties of the system. The latter generally originate from a combination of space group and complex conjugation operations that separately do not leave the Hamiltonian invariant. Finally, I suggest alternative directions in topological quantum computing for systems with additional unitary symmetries.

MSC:

81V74 Fermionic systems in quantum theory
81T45 Topological field theories in quantum mechanics

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