Quantum phases of disordered three-dimensional Majorana-Weyl fermions

Abstract

The gapless Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) quasiparticles of a clean three dimensional spinless p_x + ip_y superconductor provide an intriguing example of a thermal Hall semimetal (ThSM) phase of Majorana-Weyl fermions; such a phase can support a large anomalous thermal Hall conductivity and protected surface Majorana-Fermi arcs at zero energy. We study the effects of quenched disorder on such a gapless topological phase by carrying out extensive numerical and analytical calculations on a lattice model for a disordered, spinless p_x + ip_y superconductor. Using the kernel polynomial method, we compute both average and typical density of states for the BdG quasiparticles, from which we construct the phase diagram of three dimensional dirty p_x + ip_y superconductors as a function of disorder strength and chemical potential of the underlying normal state. We establish that the power law quasi-localized states induced by rare statistical fluctuations of the disorder potential give rise to an exponentially small density of states at zero energy, and even infnitesimally weak disorder converts the ThSM into a thermal diffusive Hall metal (ThDM). Consequently, the phase diagram of the disordered model only consists of ThDM and thermal insulating phases. We show the existence of two types of thermal insulators: (i) a trivial thermal band insulator (ThBI) [or BEC phase] with a smeared gap that can occur for suitable band parameters and all strengths of disorder, supporting only exponentially localized Lifshitz states (at low energy), and (ii) a thermal Anderson insulator that only exists for large disorder strengths compared to all band parameters. We determine the nature of the two distinct localization-delocalization transitions between these two types of insulators and ThDM. Additionally, we establish the scaling properties of an avoided (or hidden) quantum critical point for moderate disorder strengths, which govern the crossover between ThSM and ThDM phases over a wide range of energy scales. We also discuss the experimental relevance of our findings for three dimensional, time reversal symmetry breaking, triplet superconducting states.

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