Majorana vortex phases in time-reversal invariant higher-order topological insulators and topologically trivial insulators
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866911702714417152 |
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| author | Luo, Xun-Jiang Tian, Mingliang |
| author_facet | Luo, Xun-Jiang Tian, Mingliang |
| contents | Majorana vortex phases have been extensively studied in topological materials with conventional superconducting pairing. Inspired by recent experimental progress in realizing time-reversal invariant higher-order topological insulators (THOTIs) and inducing superconducting proximity effects, we investigate Majorana vortex phases in these systems. We construct THOTIs as two copies of a topological insulator (TI) with time-reversal symmetry-preserving mass terms that anisotropically gap the surface states. We find that these mass terms have a negligible impact on the vortex phase transitions of double TIs when treated as perturbations, and no additional topological phase transitions are induced. Consequently, $\mathbb{Z}_2$-protected Majorana vortex end modes (MVEMs) emerge when the chemical potential lies between the critical chemical potentials $μ_c^{(1)}$ and $μ_c^{(2)}$ of the two TI vortex phase transitions. We demonstrate this behavior across multiple THOTI models, including rotational symmetry-protected THOTI, inversion symmetry-protected THOTI, rotational and inversion symmetries-protected THOTI bismuth, and extrinsic THOTI. Remarkably, MVEMs persist even when all surfaces are gapped with the same sign, rendering the system topologically trivial in both first- and second-order classifications. Our findings establish that MVEMs can be realized in time-reversal invariant systems with fully gapped surfaces, encompassing both topologically nontrivial and trivial insulators, thus significantly broadening the solid state material platforms for hosting Majorana vortex phases. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_17980 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Majorana vortex phases in time-reversal invariant higher-order topological insulators and topologically trivial insulators Luo, Xun-Jiang Tian, Mingliang Superconductivity Majorana vortex phases have been extensively studied in topological materials with conventional superconducting pairing. Inspired by recent experimental progress in realizing time-reversal invariant higher-order topological insulators (THOTIs) and inducing superconducting proximity effects, we investigate Majorana vortex phases in these systems. We construct THOTIs as two copies of a topological insulator (TI) with time-reversal symmetry-preserving mass terms that anisotropically gap the surface states. We find that these mass terms have a negligible impact on the vortex phase transitions of double TIs when treated as perturbations, and no additional topological phase transitions are induced. Consequently, $\mathbb{Z}_2$-protected Majorana vortex end modes (MVEMs) emerge when the chemical potential lies between the critical chemical potentials $μ_c^{(1)}$ and $μ_c^{(2)}$ of the two TI vortex phase transitions. We demonstrate this behavior across multiple THOTI models, including rotational symmetry-protected THOTI, inversion symmetry-protected THOTI, rotational and inversion symmetries-protected THOTI bismuth, and extrinsic THOTI. Remarkably, MVEMs persist even when all surfaces are gapped with the same sign, rendering the system topologically trivial in both first- and second-order classifications. Our findings establish that MVEMs can be realized in time-reversal invariant systems with fully gapped surfaces, encompassing both topologically nontrivial and trivial insulators, thus significantly broadening the solid state material platforms for hosting Majorana vortex phases. |
| title | Majorana vortex phases in time-reversal invariant higher-order topological insulators and topologically trivial insulators |
| topic | Superconductivity |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17980 |