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Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana


Modes
Manisha Thakurathi

Journal Club
Centre for High Energy Physics
IISc
Bangalore

January 17, 2013

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes

References

Floquet Topological Insulators by J. Cayssol et al., arXiv :


1211.5623
Generating Many Majorana Modes via Periodic Driving by
Q. Tong et al., arXiv :1211.2498
Floquet Topological Insulator in Semiconductor Quantum
Well by N.H. Linder et al., Nature Physics

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes

Outline
1 Introduction

Symmetry
Integer Quantum Hall Effect
Topological Insulator
Bloch theory
Topological Invariant
2 Floquet topological insulator

Floquet Theory
Floquet Formalism
Floquet Chern Number
3 New topological phases by light

HgTe/CdTe heterostructures
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes
Conclusions

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Introduction
Symmetry

Symmetry

Symmetry: Invariance under certain operation


Most quantum states of matter are categorized by the
continuous symmetries they break and by a local order
parameter.
For example, the crystallization of water into ice breaks
translational symmetry or the magnetic ordering of spins
breaks rotational symmetry.
There are some states where continuous symmetries are not
broken.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Introduction
Integer Quantum Hall Effect

Integer Quantum Hall Effect


In the quantum Hall state, an external magnetic field
perpendicular to a two-dimensional electron gas causes the
electrons to circulate in quantized orbits. The bulk of the
electron gas is an insulator, but along its edge, electrons
circulate.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Introduction
Topological Insulator

Topological Insulator
It has been realized that same robust conducting edge states
that are found in the quantum Hall state could be found on
the boundary of band insulators with large spin-orbit effect,
called topological insulators.
A topological insulator (TI) is a band insulator which is
characterized by a topological number and which has gapless
excitations at its boundaries.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Introduction
Bloch theory

Bloch theory
Bloch theorem formulates a condition on the solutions ~k (~r ) of a
lattice having periodic potential V (~r )
~

~k (~r ) = u~k (~r ) e i k.~r


~k = Allowed wave vector for electron that is obtained for a
constant potential
u~k (~r ) = Arbitrary function but always with the periodicity of lattice
~ = u~ (~r )
u~k (~r + R)
k
We can rewrite Blochs theorem as
~ ~

~ = ~ (~r ) e i k.R
~k (~r + R)
k

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Introduction
Topological Invariant

Topological Invariant
What is the difference between a quantum Hall state and an
ordinary insulator?
Chern (or TKNN) topological invariant (Thouless et al, 1982)
Z
1
~ m d 2~k
~ X A

nm =
2
where
~ m = ihum (~k)||u
~ m (~k)i
A
Insulator : n = 0
IQHE
: xy = ne 2 /h
Analogy : Genus of a surface : g = No. of holes

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Floquet topological insulator

Floquet topological insulator (FTI)


The dearth of experimentally accessible TIs has motivated many
proposals.
One of the most intriguing proposals involves shining light on
conventional insulator to yield systems with a topological nature.
These kind of TIs called as Floquet Topological Insulator

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Floquet topological insulator
Floquet Theory

Floquet Theory
Quantum systems with Hamiltonian periodic function in time,
follow Floquet theorem
The Schrodinger equation for the 1D quantum system is
(H(x, t) i~

) (x, t) = 0
t

With
H(x, t) = H0 (x) + V (x, t); V (x, t) = V (x, t + T )
According to the Floquet theorem, there exist solutions to
Eq.(1) that have the form
(x, t + T ) = e i T /~ (x, t);
= Floquet characteristic exponent or Quasienergy

(1)

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Floquet topological insulator
Floquet Formalism

Effective Hamiltonian
In the absence of irradiation the Bloch Hamiltonian of a two band
insulator is
H0 (~k) = 0 (~k)I2x2 + d(~k) ~
Time dependent perturbation
V (~k, t) = V0 (~k) ~ cos(t)
Chern number for non irradiated insulator is given by
!
Z

d(k)

d(k)
1

d 2~k

d(k)
CI =
4
kx
ky

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


Floquet topological insulator
Floquet Chern Number

Floquet Chern Number


Under irradiation (t) = U(t, t0 )(t0 )
The evolution operator is
Z

U(t, t0 ) = Tt exp (i

dt 0 H(~k, t 0 ))

t0

Floquet Hamiltonian HF is defind as


~

Uk (T + t0 , t0 ) = e iHF (k)T
It can be parametrized as
HF (~k) = F (~k)I2x2 + n(~k) ~
Floquet Chern number is given by


Z
1

n(k)
n(k)
2~
CF =
d k

n(k)
4
kx
ky

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light

New topological phases


by light

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
HgTe/CdTe heterostructures

HgTe/CdTe heterostructures
Irradiation of light is able to produce transition between trivial
insulating state (non- inverted regime) and the non trivial
state (inverted regime).
Lets start from a non inverted HgTe/CdTe quantum well :
!
H0 (~k)
0
~
H4x4 (k) =
0
H0 (~k)
Where
H0 (~k) = 0 (~k)I2x2 + d(~k) ~
and the vector
d(~k) = (Akx , Aky , M B ~k 2 )

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
HgTe/CdTe heterostructures

HgTe/CdTe heterostructures
When a linearly polarized perturbation is added to the trivial phase
(M/B < 0) , the bands reshuffle in such a way that the
Hamiltonian is characterized by inverted effective bands.

Figure: Quasi-energy spectrum with = 2.3M, V = A = |B| = 0.2|M|


Ref. : N. H. Linder et. al. Nat. Phys.7, 490 (2011)

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
HgTe/CdTe heterostructures

HgTe/CdTe heterostructures

Figure: Density of edge mode for kx = 0 and kx = 0.84 respectively


Ref. : N. H. Linder et al. Nat. Phys.7, 490 (2011)

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Majorana Fermion

Majorana fermion provide a very robust way of storing


information
Majorana fermion operator is Hermitian and anticommutes
with all other fermionic operator. a2 = 1 and {a, b} = 0
Two such operators can be combined to give a single Dirac
fermion operator: c = 12 (a + i b) and c = 12 (a i b)
Majorana fermions are bound states at zero energy and called
Majorana bound states or Majorana zero modes.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Majorana Bound State


We now consider the Hamiltonian
H =

N1
X

x
Jx nx n+1

n=1

N
X

nz

n=1

Define Jordan-Wigner transformation from N spin-1/2s to 2N


Majorana operators
an =

Q

n1 z
j=1 j

nx , bn =

H=i

N1
X
n=1

Q

n1 z
j=1 j

Jx bn an+1 + i

ny
N
X
n=1

hn an bn

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Majorana Bound State


Majorana bound state for N = 200, Jx = 1, h = 0.9 :

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Many Floquet Majorana Modes


Formation of many Majorana modes need :
Protection of time-reversal symmetry
Longer range interaction in the system
More long-ranged the interaction is, the more Majorana
modes one might obtain
Question : How to synthesize a long-range interaction in a
topologically nontrivial condensed-matter system while
maintaining time-reversal symmetry

Ref. : Wong et al. arXiv 1110.4575

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Many Floquet Majorana Modes

Answer to this question is Periodic Driving of system


Periodic driving is becoming an highly controllable and
versatile tool in generating different topological states of
matter
Here periodic driving protocol is - switching Hamiltonian from
H1 for first half period to H2 for second half period
The Floquet operator U is given by
U(T ) = e i

H2 T
2~

e i

H1 T
2~

e i

Heff T
~

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Many Floquet Majorana Modes

Using Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff (BCH) formula, Heff


Heff =

H1 H2 iT
+
[H2 , H1 ]
2
2
8~
2
T
[(H2 H1 ), [H2 , H1 ]] +

96~2

The engineered Heff may still have long-range hopping or


pairing terms via the nested-commutators even if H1 or H2 are
short-range Hamiltonians

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Static Model
1D spinless p-wave superconductor
H =

N
X

l=1
N2
X

cl cl

N1
X

(t1 cl cl+1 + 1 cl cl+1


+ h.c.)

l=1

(t2 cl cl+2 + 2 cl cl+2


+ h.c.)

l=1

where a = |a | e ia
The relative phase = 1 2 determines the topological class of
H. For = 0 and , H has time-reversal and particle-hole
symmetries but other values of , H has particle-hole symmetry
only.(S. Ryu et. al. New J. Phys. 12, 065010(2010)

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Driven Model

Driving Protocol: Switch between the two Hamiltonians H1


and H2 . In the first half period, H1 = H(1 , 2 ) whereas in
the second half period, swap 1 and 2 so that
H2 = H(2 , 1 ).
= 1 2 = /2, so within each half period, the
Hamiltonian breaks time-reversal symmetry
In addition to a possible generation of long-range interactions
for Heff , this driving protocol is designed to recover
time-reversal symmetry.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Driven Model

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Theoretical results
U(T ) = e i

Heff =

H2 T
2~

e i

H1 T
2~

e i

Heff T
~

H1 H2 iT
+
[H2 , H1 ]
2
2
8~
U(T )|ui = e iT |ui

P
X Define ck = l cl e ikl / N and introduce the particle-hole
T
] , then Heff is given by :
representation Ck = [ck , ck
P
Heff = kBZ Ck Heff (k)Ck , with Heff (k) = Ek ~n(k) ~
X n1 (k) = 0 so ~n(k) is in yz plane

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Theoretical results

Topological invariant ZR can be obtained by the integer

k
winding number W = d
2 Z , where
k = arctan[n3 (k)/n2 (k)]
Geometrically, W means the number of times the vector ~n(k)
rotates around the origin point as k varies from to
The number of pairs of Majorana modes under open boundary
condition is then given by |W |
As some system parameters continuously change, gap closing
and consequently topological phase transitions occur

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Theoretical results
HbL

(a)
W = -3

W = -2

1
1 n3
-1
-

k0

0 n2
-1

W=0

n3 1
-1
-

k0

-3

-2

1
3
1 n1
0 n2 -
k0
-1

1
0 n2
-1
W=1

1
0 n2
-1

t2

n3 1
1
--

-1
0

-2
-5 2
0 1

t1

Figure: (a) Winding of the unit vector ~n(k), in different parameter regimes under our
driving protocol.t1 = 1; t2 = 5 for W = 3, t2 = 3 for W = 2, t2 = 0 for
W = 0,and t2 = 3 for W = 1. (b) Topological phase diagram of driven system
plotted in the (t1 , t2 ) plane. Other parameters are = 10, |2 | = 2.5 and T = 0.2
Ref. : Q. Tong et. al. arxiv: 1211.2498v1

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Numerical results
Floquet Majorana modes have two flavors: one at  = 0 and the
other at  = /T .The second flavor is certainly absent in an
undriven system.

HHbLL
20
Eenergy

Quasi-energy(T)

HaL

-
-5 -3

-20

t2

-5 -3

0
t2

Figure: Comparison between quasi-energy spectrum for the driven case (a) and
energy spectrum for the static case(b); t1 = 1, N=200
Ref. : Q. Tong et. al. arxiv: 1211.2498v1

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Even More Majorana

In efforts to generate even more Majorana modes, extend


direct numerical studies to other parameter regimes.
The BCH formula indicates that as T increases, the nested
commutators will have heavier weights.
An increasing T can then induce longer-range interactions in
Heff . Numerically Heff expanded as a quadratic function of the
operators (c1 , , cN , c1 , , cN )T

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Even More Majorana


(a)

(b)
1

100

100

200

200

300

300
-1

400
1

-1

400
1

100 200 300 400

100 200 300 400

m
(d)

m
(c)
1

10

100

200

200

1
100

2.5

300

300
-10

400
1

100 200 300 400

-2.5

400
1

100 200 300 400

Figure: The expansion coefficients of Heff for (a) T = 0.2 and (b) T = 2.0 and of
the static H for the real (c) and imaginary (d) parts
Ref. : Q. Tong et. al. arxiv: 1211.2498v1

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Generating Many Floquet Majorana modes

Generating Even More Majorana


For large values of T, winding number W is no longer well-defind
and one is forced to count the formed pairs of Majorana modes.

Table: Number of Majorana modes localized at each boundary for


different values of T

t2
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
T = 0.5 2 4 4 3 3 2 0 0
T = 1.0 6 6 7 7 6 3 3 2
T = 2.0 13 13 12 11 9 8 8 1

0
0
1
1

1
1
1
3

2
1
2
4

3
2
5
7

4 5 6 7 8
2 4 4 4 3
5 6 7 7 6
11 10 13 13 12

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Conclusions

Conclusions

A trivial insulator can be driven into a topological phase of


matter by applying a proper time-periodic perturbation
A periodic driving has the capacity to restore time-reversal
symmetry and to induce an effective long-range interaction
With these two mechanisms working at once, the generation
of many Majorana modes is achieved using a standard p-wave
superconductor model under certain periodic modulation.

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Conclusions

References

Floquet Topological Insulators by J. Cayssol et al., arXiv :


1211.5623
Generating Many Majorana Modes via Periodic Driving by
Q. Tong et al., arXiv :1211.2498
Floquet Topological Insulator in Semiconductor Quantum
Well by N.H. Linder et al., Nature Physics

Floquet Topological Insulators and Majorana Modes


New topological phases by light
Conclusions

Acknowledgement
I gratefully acknowledge Diptiman Sen and Abhiram Soori for the
discussions.

Thank you

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