Multi-scale competition in the Majorana-Kondo system

TL;DR

This paper explores how competing interactions affect the screening process in Majorana-Kondo systems, revealing a crossover from conventional to spin-charge-entangled screening and proposing a temperature-dependent observable to characterize this transition.

Contribution

It introduces a temperature-dependent spatial integral of the screening cloud as a new observable and analyzes the impact of symmetry-breaking perturbations on the screening process.

Findings

Identifies a crossover from conventional Kondo to spin-charge-entangled screening.

Proposes a temperature-dependent screening cloud integral as an unambiguous observable.

Shows that symmetry-breaking perturbations can destroy the screening singlet without affecting the boundary condition.

Abstract

A side-coupled Majorana zero mode in Kondo systems realizes a simple yet nontrivial hybridization that profoundly alters the low-energy physics, making such setups promising candidates for detecting Majorana zero modes. Recently, we demonstrated that the low-energy behavior of this system can be captured by a spin-charge-entangled screening process with an \(A\otimes N\) boundary condition. Here, we investigate the evolution of both the screening cloud and the boundary condition in the presence of competing terms that could break either the spin-charge-entangled \({\rm SU}_{\bf L}(2)\) rotation symmetry or the topological degeneracy. We introduce a temperature-dependent spatial integral of the screening cloud, which can be obtained from the numerical renormalization group. This quantity serves as a proper observable that unambiguously captures the properties of the screening process across temperatures. A clear crossover from conventional Kondo spin screening to spin-charge-entangled screening is observed. Taking into account the overlap between Majorana zero modes, the \(A\otimes N\) boundary condition reduces to a normal one, yet the spin-charge-entangled screening is protected by the \({\rm SU}_{\bf L}(2)\) symmetry. On the other hand, perturbation that breaks the \({\rm SU}_{\bf L}(2)\) symmetry can destroy the screening singlet, while leaving the low-temperature \(A\otimes N\) boundary condition intact.