Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1802.04809 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Fermionized parafermions and symmetry-enriched Majorana modes

Aaron Chew, David F. Mross, Jason Alicea

Published Aug 27, 2018• 41 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Parafermion zero modes are generalizations of Majorana modes that underlie comparatively rich non-Abelian-anyon properties. We introduce exact mappings that connect parafermion chains, which can emerge in two-dimensional fractionalized media, to strictly one-dimensional fermionic systems. In particular, we show that parafermion zero modes in the former setting translate into symmetry-enriched Majorana modes that intertwine with a bulk order parameter---yielding braiding and fusion properties that are impossible in standard Majorana platforms. Fusion characteristics of symmetry-enriched Majorana modes are directly inherited from the associated parafermion setup and can be probed via two kinds of anomalous pumping cycles that we construct. Most notably, our mappings relate ${\mathbb{Z}}_{4}$ parafermions to conventional electrons with time-reversal symmetry. In this case, one of our pumping protocols entails fairly minimal experimental requirements: Cycling a weakly correlated wire between a trivial phase and time-reversal-invariant topological superconducting state produces an edge magnetization with quadrupled periodicity. Our work highlights new avenues for exploring beyond-Majorana physics in experimentally relevant one-dimensional electronic platforms, including proximitized ferromagnetic chains.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.98.085143

Related papers

Classification of topological phases of parafermionic chains with symmetries

Dganit Meidan, Erez Berg, Ady Stern

We study the topological classification of parafermionic chains in the presence of a modified time-reversal symmetry that satisfies ${\mathcal{T}}^{2}=1$. Such chains can be realized in one-dimensional structures embedded in fractionalized two-dimensional states of matter, e.g., at the edges of a fractional quantum spin Hall system, where counterpropagating modes may be gapped either by backscattering or by coupling to a superconductor. In the absence of any additional symmetries, a chain of ${\mathbb{Z}}_{m}$ parafermions can belong to one of several distinct phases. We find that when the modified time-reversal symmetry is imposed, the classification becomes richer. If $m$ is odd, each of the phases splits into two subclasses. We identify the symmetry-protected phase as a Haldane phase that carries a Kramers doublet at each end. When $m$ is even, each phase splits into four subclasses. The origin of this split is in the emergent Majorana fermions associated with even values of $m$. We demonstrate the appearance of such emergent Majorana zero modes in a system where the constituent particles are either fermions or bosons.

arXiv:1701.01133•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•May 4, 2017•10 citations

Parafermionic edge zero modes in Zn-invariant spin chains

Paul Fendley

Abstract A sign of topological order in a gapped one-dimensional quantum chain is the existence of edge zero modes. These occur in the Z 2-invariant Ising/Majorana chain, where they can be understood using free-fermion techniques. Here I discuss their presence in spin chains with Z n symmetry, and prove that for appropriate couplings they are exact, even in this strongly interacting system. These modes are naturally expressed in terms of parafermions, generalizations of fermions to the Z n case. I show that parafermionic edge zero modes do not occur in the usual ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases, but rather only when the interactions are chiral, so that spatial-parity and time-reversal symmetries are broken.

arXiv:1209.0472•Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment•Nov 1, 2012•373 citations

Enriching Majorana Zero Modes

Aaron Chew

My various projects in graduate school have centered around a common theme: harnessing relatively well-understood phases of matter and combining them to create exotic physics. They also involve Majoranas, or more accurately, defects that bind Majorana zero modes and are the centerpiece for topological quantum computation. We exploit and enrich this Majorana zero mode by employing topological superconductors, time crystals, and quantum dots and combining them together. Our first project involved joining Majorana nanowires and quantum dots to simulate the SYK model, a zero-dimensional strongly interacting phase with connections to black holes and holography. We follow by explaining how to combine spontaneous symmetry-breaking with topological superconductivity to recover parafermion physics in one dimension. We explain an exact mapping that relates fermions to parafermions, illustrating a deep connection between different one-dimensional phases of matter. We finally show that enhancing the topological superconductor with a time crystal, a phase of matter that spontaneously breaks time-translation symmetry, creates an anomalous zero mode that displays 4Tperiodicity in the Floquet drive. By combining these different phases in judicious ways we achieve exotic physics unattainable by the constituent parts. Our work thus illustrates profitable directions for harnessing Majorana zero modes to study the physics of exotic matter.

•Jun 1, 2020•0 citations

Topological phase, supercritical point and emergent fermions in the extended parafermion chain

Shunyao Zhang, Hong-Ze Xu, Yue-Xin Huang +3 more

Topological orders and associated topological protected excitations satisfying Abelian or non-Abelian statistics have been widely explored in various platforms. In recent years, the Majorana zero modes with these features have been realized in experiments based on semiconductor and superconducting hybrid structures, opening an exciting avenue for realization of fault-tolerant topological quantum computations. The $\mathbb{Z}_3$ parafermions are regarded as the most natural generation of the Majorana fermions for realizing of more intriguing topological orders. In this work, we investigate the topological phase and emergent fermions in an extended parafermion chain using exact numerical methods. This model exhibits rich variety of phases, including threefold degenerate topological ferromagnetic phase, trivial paramagnetic phase, XX phase, dimer phase, chiral phase and commensurate phase. We present a smooth connection between this model and the extended spin-${1\over 2}$ XX model, by which we can generalize their measurements, such as the order parameters and long-range spin-spin correlations {\it etc}, to fully characterize the properties of these phases and map out their corresponding phase diagram. Strikingly, we find that all the phase boundaries finally merge to a single supercritical point, determined by the extended three-state Potts model. This approach opens a wide range of intriguing applications in investigating the phases and emergent phenomena in other $\mathbb{Z}_k$ parafermion models, and may be also illuminating for their experimental realizations.

•Jan 10, 2018•0 citations

Quantum dots as parafermion detectors

Raphael L. R. C. Teixeira, Luis G. G. V. Dias da Silva

Parafermionic zero modes, ${\mathbb{Z}}_{n}$-symmetric generalizations of the well-known ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ Majorana zero modes, can emerge as edge states in topologically nontrivial strongly correlated systems displaying fractionalized excitations. In this paper, we investigate how signatures of parafermionic zero modes can be detected by its effects on the properties of a quantum dot tunnel-coupled to a system hosting such states. Concretely, we consider a strongly correlated one-dimensional fermionic model supporting ${\mathbb{Z}}_{4}$ parafermionic zero modes coupled to an interacting quantum dot at one of its ends. By using a combination of density matrix renormalization group calculations and analytical approaches, we show that the dot's zero-energy spectral function and average occupation numbers can be used to distinguish between trivial, ${\mathbb{Z}}_{4}$ and $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ phases of the system. The present work opens the prospect of using quantum dots as detection tools to probe nontrivial topological phases in strongly correlated systems.

arXiv:2103.16278•Physical Review Research•Jul 2, 2021•6 citations

Parafermionic phases with symmetry breaking and topological order

A. Alexandradinata, Nicolas Regnault, Chen Fang +2 more

Parafermions are the simplest generalizations of Majorana fermions that realize topological order. We propose a less restrictive notion of topological order in one-dimensional open chains, which generalizes the seminal work by Fendley [J. Stat. Mech. (2012) P11020]. The first essential property is that the ground states are mutually indistinguishable by local, symmetric probes, and the second is a generalized notion of zero edge modes which cyclically permute the ground states. These two properties are shown to be topologically robust, and applicable to a wider family of topologically ordered Hamiltonians than has been previously considered. As an application of these edge modes, we formulate a notion of twisted boundary conditions on a closed chain, which guarantees that the closed-chain ground state is topological, i.e., it originates from the topological manifold of the open chain. Finally, we generalize these ideas to describe symmetry-breaking phases with a parafermionic order parameter. These exotic phases are condensates of parafermion multiplets, which generalize Cooper pairing in superconductors. The stability of these condensates is investigated on both open and closed chains.

arXiv:1506.03455•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 2, 2016•45 citations
Parafermion zero modes are generalizations of Majorana modes that underlie comparatively rich non-Abelian-anyon properties. We introduce exact mappings that connect parafermion chains, which can emerge in two-dimensional fractionalized media, to strictly one-dimensional fermionic systems. In particular, we show that parafermion zero modes in the former setting translate into symmetry-enriched Majorana modes that intertwine with a bulk order parameter---yielding braiding and fusion properties that are impossible in standard Majorana platforms. Fusion characteristics of symmetry-enriched Majorana modes are directly inherited from the associated parafermion setup and can be probed via two kinds of anomalous pumping cycles that we construct. Most notably, our mappings relate Z4{\mathbb{Z}}_{4}Z4​ parafermions to conventional electrons with time-reversal symmetry. In this case, one of our pumping protocols entails fairly minimal experimental requirements: Cycling a weakly correlated wire between a trivial phase and time-reversal-invariant topological superconducting state produces an edge magnetization with quadrupled periodicity. Our work highlights new avenues for exploring beyond-Majorana physics in experimentally relevant one-dimensional electronic platforms, including proximitized ferromagnetic chains.
We study the topological classification of parafermionic chains in the presence of a modified time-reversal symmetry that satisfies T2=1{\mathcal{T}}^{2}=1T2=1. Such chains can be realized in one-dimensional structures embedded in fractionalized two-dimensional states of matter, e.g., at the edges of a fractional quantum spin Hall system, where counterpropagating modes may be gapped either by backscattering or by coupling to a superconductor. In the absence of any additional symmetries, a chain of Zm{\mathbb{Z}}_{m}Zm​ parafermions can belong to one of several distinct phases. We find that when the modified time-reversal symmetry is imposed, the classification becomes richer. If mmm is odd, each of the phases splits into two subclasses. We identify the symmetry-protected phase as a Haldane phase that carries a Kramers doublet at each end. When mmm is even, each phase splits into four subclasses. The origin of this split is in the emergent Majorana fermions associated with even values of mmm. We demonstrate the appearance of such emergent Majorana zero modes in a system where the constituent particles are either fermions or bosons.
Abstract A sign of topological order in a gapped one-dimensional quantum chain is the existence of edge zero modes. These occur in the Z 2-invariant Ising/Majorana chain, where they can be understood using free-fermion techniques. Here I discuss their presence in spin chains with Z n symmetry, and prove that for appropriate couplings they are exact, even in this strongly interacting system. These modes are naturally expressed in terms of parafermions, generalizations of fermions to the Z n case. I show that parafermionic edge zero modes do not occur in the usual ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases, but rather only when the interactions are chiral, so that spatial-parity and time-reversal symmetries are broken.
My various projects in graduate school have centered around a common theme: harnessing relatively well-understood phases of matter and combining them to create exotic physics. They also involve Majoranas, or more accurately, defects that bind Majorana zero modes and are the centerpiece for topological quantum computation. We exploit and enrich this Majorana zero mode by employing topological superconductors, time crystals, and quantum dots and combining them together. Our first project involved joining Majorana nanowires and quantum dots to simulate the SYK model, a zero-dimensional strongly interacting phase with connections to black holes and holography. We follow by explaining how to combine spontaneous symmetry-breaking with topological superconductivity to recover parafermion physics in one dimension. We explain an exact mapping that relates fermions to parafermions, illustrating a deep connection between different one-dimensional phases of matter. We finally show that enhancing the topological superconductor with a time crystal, a phase of matter that spontaneously breaks time-translation symmetry, creates an anomalous zero mode that displays 4Tperiodicity in the Floquet drive. By combining these different phases in judicious ways we achieve exotic physics unattainable by the constituent parts. Our work thus illustrates profitable directions for harnessing Majorana zero modes to study the physics of exotic matter.
Topological orders and associated topological protected excitations satisfying Abelian or non-Abelian statistics have been widely explored in various platforms. In recent years, the Majorana zero modes with these features have been realized in experiments based on semiconductor and superconducting hybrid structures, opening an exciting avenue for realization of fault-tolerant topological quantum computations. The Z3\mathbb{Z}_3Z3​ parafermions are regarded as the most natural generation of the Majorana fermions for realizing of more intriguing topological orders. In this work, we investigate the topological phase and emergent fermions in an extended parafermion chain using exact numerical methods. This model exhibits rich variety of phases, including threefold degenerate topological ferromagnetic phase, trivial paramagnetic phase, XX phase, dimer phase, chiral phase and commensurate phase. We present a smooth connection between this model and the extended spin-12{1\over 2}21​ XX model, by which we can generalize their measurements, such as the order parameters and long-range spin-spin correlations {\it etc}, to fully characterize the properties of these phases and map out their corresponding phase diagram. Strikingly, we find that all the phase boundaries finally merge to a single supercritical point, determined by the extended three-state Potts model. This approach opens a wide range of intriguing applications in investigating the phases and emergent phenomena in other Zk\mathbb{Z}_kZk​ parafermion models, and may be also illuminating for their experimental realizations.
Parafermionic zero modes, Zn{\mathbb{Z}}_{n}Zn​-symmetric generalizations of the well-known Z2{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}Z2​ Majorana zero modes, can emerge as edge states in topologically nontrivial strongly correlated systems displaying fractionalized excitations. In this paper, we investigate how signatures of parafermionic zero modes can be detected by its effects on the properties of a quantum dot tunnel-coupled to a system hosting such states. Concretely, we consider a strongly correlated one-dimensional fermionic model supporting Z4{\mathbb{Z}}_{4}Z4​ parafermionic zero modes coupled to an interacting quantum dot at one of its ends. By using a combination of density matrix renormalization group calculations and analytical approaches, we show that the dot's zero-energy spectral function and average occupation numbers can be used to distinguish between trivial, Z4{\mathbb{Z}}_{4}Z4​ and $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ phases of the system. The present work opens the prospect of using quantum dots as detection tools to probe nontrivial topological phases in strongly correlated systems.
Parafermions are the simplest generalizations of Majorana fermions that realize topological order. We propose a less restrictive notion of topological order in one-dimensional open chains, which generalizes the seminal work by Fendley [J. Stat. Mech. (2012) P11020]. The first essential property is that the ground states are mutually indistinguishable by local, symmetric probes, and the second is a generalized notion of zero edge modes which cyclically permute the ground states. These two properties are shown to be topologically robust, and applicable to a wider family of topologically ordered Hamiltonians than has been previously considered. As an application of these edge modes, we formulate a notion of twisted boundary conditions on a closed chain, which guarantees that the closed-chain ground state is topological, i.e., it originates from the topological manifold of the open chain. Finally, we generalize these ideas to describe symmetry-breaking phases with a parafermionic order parameter. These exotic phases are condensates of parafermion multiplets, which generalize Cooper pairing in superconductors. The stability of these condensates is investigated on both open and closed chains.