Revealing Majorana Fermion states in a superfluid of cold atoms subject to a harmonic potential

Abstract

We here explore Majorana Fermion states in an s-wave superfluid of cold atoms in the presence of spin-orbital coupling and an additional harmonic potential. The superfluid boundary is induced by a harmonic trap. Two locally separated Majorana Fermion states are revealed numerically based on the self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. The local density of states are calculated, through which the signatures of Majorana excitations may be indicated experimentally.