Topological properties of the dimerized Kitaev chain with long-range hopping and pairing terms

TL;DR

This paper explores how long-range interactions in a dimerized Kitaev chain influence its topological phases, revealing a new Majorana phase with degenerated zero-energy edge states and potential for experimental realization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel topological phase in the dimerized Kitaev chain driven by intercell hopping and pairing, expanding understanding of Majorana modes in long-range systems.

Findings

Intercell hopping modulates energy gap and topological phase transitions.

A new Kitaev-like phase with twofold-degenerated Majorana zero-energy edge states.

Magnification of Majorana phase with intercell superconducting pairing.

Abstract

We investigate the topological properties of a dimerized Kitaev chain with long-range interactions, including the intercell hopping and superconducting pairing terms. It is found that even only when the intercell hopping term appears, the size of the energy gap, the proportion of topological phases, and the topological phase transition can be modulated. The notable result is that they lead to a new Kitaev-like phase featured by the twofold-degenerated Majorana zero-energy edge states. Next in the presence of the intercell superconducting pairing term, this kind of Majorana phase can be magnified. This work provides new proposals to realize the twofold degenerated Majorana modes based on the intercell hopping and superconducting pairing terms of the dimerized Kitaev chain.