Strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions in an anisotropically interacting Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the emergence of strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions in an anisotropic Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice, showing stability under slight strain direction changes through numerical and analytical methods.

Contribution

It reveals the formation of stable Landau levels of Majorana fermions induced by strain in an anisotropic Kitaev model, combining numerical and analytical approaches.

Findings

Quantized states appear in low-energy regions under strain.

Landau levels follow a square root energy dependence on quantum number.

Zero-energy states localize on one sublattice and are stable under slight strain direction changes.

Abstract

The energy structure of an anisotropically interacting Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice under triaxial strain is investigated. A numerical calculation shows that quantized states appear in the low-energy region, even when the anisotropy of the interaction is rather strong. Their energies are proportional to the square root of the quantum number and the quantized state at zero energy appears only on one sublattice. These findings indicate the emergence of the strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions, which is also confirmed by an analytical calculation. These Landau levels are stable, when the direction of triaxial strain is slightly changed from the bond direction.