Electromagnetic absorption of quasi-1D Majorana nanowires

Abstract

We calculate the electromagnetic absorption cross section of long and narrow nanowires, in the so-called quasi-1D limit. We consider only two transverse bands and compute the dipole absorption cross section taking into account quasiparticle transitions from negative to positive energy eigenstates of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes Hamiltonian. The presence of the zero energy (Majorana) state manifests in the different absorption spectra for $x$ (parallel) and $y$ (transverse) polarizations of the electromagnetic field. In the $y$-polarized case, the Majorana state causes a low energy absorption plateau extending from mid-gap up to full-gap energy. Increasing further the energy, the plateau is followed by a region of enhanced absorption due to transitions across the full gap. For $x$ polarization the low energy absorption plateau is not observed.