Deterministic creation and braiding of chiral edge vortices

Abstract

Majorana zero modes in a superconductor are midgap states localized in the core of a vortex or bound to the end of a nanowire. They are anyons with non-Abelian braiding statistics, but when they are immobile one cannot demonstrate this by exchanging them in real space and indirect methods are needed. As a real-space alternative, we propose to use the chiral motion along the boundary of the superconductor to braid a mobile vortex in the edge channel with an immobile vortex in the bulk. The measurement scheme is fully electrical and deterministic: Edge vortices (π-phase domain walls) are created on demand by a voltage pulse at a Josephson junction and the braiding with a Majorana zero mode in the bulk is detected by the charge produced upon their fusion at a second Josephson junction.