title: Self-organized topological state with Majorana fermions.
abstract: Most physical systems known to date tend to resist entering the topological phase and must be fine-tuned to reach that phase. Here, we introduce a system in which a key dynamical parameter adjusts itself in response to the changing external conditions so that the ground state naturally favors the topological phase. The system consists of a quantum wire formed of individual magnetic atoms placed on the surface of an ordinary s-wave superconductor. It realizes the Kitaev paradigm of topological superconductivity when the wave vector characterizing the emergent spin helix dynamically self-tunes to support the topological phase. We call this phenomenon a self-organized topological state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z1.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Vazifeh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franz