Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Determining Membrane Protein Topology Using Fluorescence Protease Protection FPP
Published on: April 20, 2015
Fractional Angular Momentum at Topological Insulator Interfaces
Flavio S Nogueira1,2, Zohar Nussinov3, Jeroen van den Brink1,4
1Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
Recently, two fundamental topological properties of a magnetic vortex at the interface of a superconductor (SC) and a strong topological insulator (TI) have been established: The vortex carries both a Majorana zero mode relevant for topological quantum computation and, for a time-reversal invariant TI, a charge of e/4. This fractional charge is caused by the axion term in the electromagnetic Lagrangian of the TI. Here we determine the angular momentum J of the vortices, which in turn determines their mutual statistics. Solving the axion-London electrodynamic equations including screening in both a SC and a TI, we find that the elementary quantum of angular momentum of the vortex is -n^{2}ℏ/8, where n is the flux quantum of the vortex line. Exchanging two elementary fluxes thus changes the phase of the wave function by -π/4.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Angular Momentum
Conservation of Angular Momentum
Principle of Angular Impulse and Momentum
Angular Momentum about an Arbitrary Axis
The velocity of a mass element comprises its translational velocity and the relative velocity instigated by the body's rotation. Substituting the velocity equation into...
Conservation of Angular Momentum: Application
Angular Momentum: Single Particle

