Stability of Majorana zero modes with quantum optical lattices

Abstract

I analyze the emergence of Majorana zero modes (MZM) in a one dimensional ultracold fermionic system confined by an optical lattice inside a high-Q cavity. This forms a quantum optical lattice due to the cavity backaction, with emergent long range interactions controlled by the light pumped into the system and thus long range pairing. I investigate the possibility of formation and emergence of edge modes using exact diagonalization and singular value decomposition of the Hamiltonian in the Majorana representation, while computing the mass gap of the MZM and its spectral properties. The interplay of cavity induced interactions and effective $p$-wave short range interactions controls the emergence of the signatures of MZM. I find that under certain conditions MZM distinctively emerge leading to a superradiant topological phase of matter. These MZM have potential applications for quantum information as they are topologically protected analogous to the behaviour of the Kitaev chain. The techniques employed lead to a scheme based on the Majorana representation and exact diagonalization with self consistent conditions that can be applied to other fermionic and analog systems termed Light-Matter-Majorana.