Flat band in the core of topological defects: bulk-vortex correspondence in topological superfluids with Fermi points

Abstract

We discuss the dispersionless spectrum with zero energy in the linear topological defects - vortices. The flat band emerges inside the vortex living in the bulk medium containing topologically stable Fermi points in momentum space. The boundaries of the flat band in the vortex are determined by projections of the Fermi points in bulk to the vortex axis. This bulk-vortex correspondence for flat band is similar to the bulk-surface correspondence discussed earlier in the media with topologically protected lines of zeroes. In the latter case the flat band emerges on the surface of the system, and its boundary is determined by projection of the bulk nodal line on the surface.