Emergent Supersymmetry from Strongly Interacting Majorana Zero Modes

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Quantum Critical Phenomena
• Topological Quantum Matter

Background:

• Majorana zero modes are exotic quasiparticles with potential applications in topological quantum computing.
• Understanding the behavior of strongly interacting Majorana systems is crucial for their experimental realization and control.
• Quantum critical points represent unique states of matter where quantum fluctuations dominate.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize a supersymmetric quantum critical point in a strongly interacting chain of Majorana zero modes.
• To establish the connection between this critical point and the established tricritical Ising model.
• To investigate the implications of these findings for experimental observations, particularly in tunneling experiments.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of strongly interacting Majorana zero modes.
• Identification of a quantum critical point corresponding to the c=7/10 tricritical Ising model.
• Numerical verification using density-matrix-renormalization-group (DMRG) computations.

Main Results:

• Demonstration of a supersymmetric quantum critical point in the Majorana chain.
• The critical point separates a critical phase (Ising universality class) from a supersymmetric massive phase.
• Numerical simulations confirm the theoretical predictions and provide quantitative support.

Conclusions:

• The strongly interacting Majorana chain hosts a novel supersymmetric quantum critical point.
• This critical point provides a new platform for studying tricritical Ising physics in a quantum system.
• The results offer testable predictions for future tunneling experiments probing Majorana systems.