Topology and the one-dimensional Kondo-Heisenberg model

Julian May-Mann, Ryan Levy, Rodrigo Soto-Garrido, Gil Young Cho, Bryan K. Clark, Eduardo Fradkin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Kondo-Heinsberg chain is an interesting model of a strongly correlated system which has a broad superconducting state with pair-density wave (PDW) order. Some of us have recently proposed that this PDW state is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) state, and the gapped spin sector of the model supports Majorana zero modes. In this paper, we reexamine this problem using a combination of numeric and analytic methods. In extensive density-matrix renormalization group calculations, we find no evidence of a topological ground state degeneracy or the previously proposed Majorana zero modes in the PDW phase of this model. This result motivated us to reexamine the original arguments for the existence of the Majorana zero modes. A careful analysis of the effective continuum field theory of the model shows that the Hilbert space of the spin sector of the theory does not contain any single Majorana fermion excitations. This analysis shows that the PDW state of the doped 1D Kondo-Heisenberg model is not an SPT with Majorana zero modes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number165133
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume101
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 15 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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