Adiabatic cooling of Majorana zero-modes in topological superconductors

Abstract

We show that the presence of Majorana zero-modes in a one-dimensional topological superconductor can be detected by adiabatic cooling. This cooling effect results from an increase of the topological entropy associated with the ground state degeneracy due to such modes. Here, we consider an experimentally feasible topological superconductor: a strong spin-orbit coupled semiconducting quantum wire interfaced with an s-wave superconductor and subjected to a magnetic field. Numerical simulations of realistic experimental geometries indicate that the creation of Majorana zero-modes, which can be achieved by tuning of electronic gates or the external magnetic field, results in a measurable cooling effect. We also argue that this cooling effect results in an increase in the zero bias peak conductance.