Interplay of Majorana and Kondo coupling in a quantum dot attached to interacting leads and topological superconductor

• Grant number: 14/05305-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: June 02, 2014
• End date: July 02, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: José Carlos Egues de Menezes
• Grantee: José Carlos Egues de Menezes
• Visiting researcher: Suhas Gangadharaiah
• Visiting researcher institution: Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER Bhopal), India
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In this proposal we aim to study the rather unusual interplay of Majorana and Kondo physics which arise due to the coupling of interacting leads to the ends of a topological superconductor and quantum dot respectively. This study is motivated from the recent experiments of Mourik et al., [13] who found signatures of Majorana modes (in the form of zero-bias peak) at the ends of a topological superconductor via tunneling measurements. A debate is still on the exact origin of these zero-bias peaks. The likely candidates that are being discussed in the current literature include the Kondo effect, Andreev bound states, disorder effects or indeed due to the Majorana end modes. In this work we try to resolve one aspect of the puzzle, namely, if both Kondo and Majorana physics are present what are the regimes where one becomes dominant over the other and what are the corresponding signatures on the zero-bias peak. (AU)