Dynamics of quenched topological edge modes

TL;DR

This paper investigates how time-dependent changes in Hamiltonian parameters affect topological edge modes, revealing decay, revival, and the emergence of edge states under periodic perturbations.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the dynamics of fermionic and Majorana edge modes under various time-dependent perturbations, including periodic driving.

Findings

Edge modes decay in the thermodynamic limit but revive in finite systems.

Periodic perturbations can induce edge modes in trivial phases.

Revival time scales with system size.

Abstract

A characteristic feature of topological systems is the presence of robust gapless edge states. In this work the effect of time-dependent perturbations on the edge states is considered. Specifically we consider perturbations that can be understood as changes of the parameters of the Hamiltonian. These changes may be sudden or carried out at a fixed rate. In general, the edge modes decay in the thermodynamic limit, but for finite systems a revival time is found that scales with the system size. The dynamics of fermionic edge modes and Majorana modes are compared. The effect of periodic perturbations is also referred allowing the appearance of edge modes out of a topologically trivial phase.