Leonardo Mazza 1, 2 Fernando IeminiMarcello DalmonteChristophe Mora 3
Phys.Rev.B, 2018, 98 (20), pp.201109. 〈10.1103/PhysRevB.98.201109〉
We discuss a one-dimensional fermionic model with a generalized ZN even multiplet pairing extending Kitaev Z2 chain. The system shares many features with models believed to host localized edge parafermions, the most prominent being a similar bosonized Hamiltonian and a ZN symmetry enforcing an N-fold degenerate ground state robust to certain disorders. Interestingly, we show that the system supports a pair of parafermions but they are nonlocal instead of being boundary operators. As a result, the degeneracy of the ground state is only partly topological and coexists with spontaneous symmetry breaking by a (two-particle) pairing field. Each symmetry-breaking sector is shown to possess a pair of Majorana edge modes encoding the topological twofold degeneracy. Surrounded by two band insulators, the model exhibits for N=4 the dual of an 8π fractional Josephson effect highlighting the presence of parafermions.
- 1. LPTMS – Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques
- 2. FRDPENS – Fédération de recherche du Département de physique de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure – ENS Paris
- 3. LPA – Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain