On the conclusive detection of Majorana zero modes: conductance spectroscopy, disconnected entanglement entropy and the fermion parity noise

Abstract

Abstract Semiconducting nanowires with strong Rashba spin–orbit coupling in the proximity with a superconductor and under a strong Zeeman field can potentially manifest Majorana zero modes (MZMs) at their edges and are a topical candidate for topological superconductivity. However, protocols for their detection based on the local and the non-local conductance spectroscopy have been subject to intense scrutiny. In this work, by taking current experimental setups into account, we detail mathematical ideas related to the entanglement entropy and the fermion parity fluctuations to faithfully distinguish between true MZMs and trivial quasi-MZMs. We demonstrate that the disconnected entanglement entropy, derived from the von Neumann entanglement entropy, provides a distinct and robust signature of the topological phase transition which is immune to system parameters, size and disorders. In order to understand the entanglement entropy of the Rashba nanowire system, we establish its connection to a model of interacting spinfull Kitaev chains. Moreover, we relate the entanglement entropy to the fermionic parity fluctuation, and show that it behaves concordantly with entanglement entropy, hence making it a suitable metric for the detection of MZMs. In connection with the topological gap protocol that is based on the conductance spectra, the aforesaid metrics can reliably point toward the topological transitions even in realistic setups.