Dissipation-assisted preparation of topological boundary states

Abstract

Robust states emerging at the boundaries of a system are an important hallmark of topological matter. Here, using the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and the Kitaev chain as examples, we study the impact of a type of experimentally realizable bond dissipation on topological systems by calculating the steady-state density matrix, and demonstrate that such dissipation applied near the system boundary can assist in preparing topological edge states of the parent Hamiltonian, irrespective of the initial state or filling. This effect stems from the matching between the phase distribution encoded in the topological edge states and the target state prepared through bond dissipation. This work provides new insights into the preparation of topological edge states, particularly in the context of Majorana zero modes.