Kitaev's Pfaffian formula equates the ground‐state fermion parity of a closed system to the sign of the Pfaffian of the Hamiltonian in the Majorana basis. Using Klich's theory of counting... Show moreKitaev's Pfaffian formula equates the ground‐state fermion parity of a closed system to the sign of the Pfaffian of the Hamiltonian in the Majorana basis. Using Klich's theory of counting statistics for paired fermions, the Pfaffian formula is generalized to account for quantum fluctuations in the fermion parity of an open subsystem. A statistical description in the framework of random‐matrix theory is used to answer the question when a vanishing fermion parity in a superconductor fusion experiment becomes a distinctive signature of an isolated Majorana zero‐mode. Show less
This thesis focuses on the investigation of Majorana zero-modes and their quantum transport properties of topological insulators and topological superconductors in several low-dimensional systems,... Show moreThis thesis focuses on the investigation of Majorana zero-modes and their quantum transport properties of topological insulators and topological superconductors in several low-dimensional systems, i.e. 1D nanowire system (Chapter 2), 2D quantum spin Hall system (Chapter 3, 4) and 0D quantum dot system (Chapter 5, 6). Show less