Direct observation of the specific heat of Majorana quasiparticles in superfluid3He-B

Abstract

AbstractThe existence of Majorana quasiparticles was predicted in the edge state in topological insulators, especially in the p-wave superfluid medium $${^3}$$ 3 He-B. Due to its purity and coherent quantum state, $${^3}$$ 3 He-B is an ideal platform for searching for Majorana fermions in condensed matter systems. In the limit of extremely low temperatures, the density of Bogolyubov quasiparticles and the heat capacity of $${^3}$$ 3 He-B decrease exponentially. In this article, we present the first observation of the deviation of its heat capacity from exponential dependence in the limit of record low cooling. We found an additional heat capacity that more than doubled the heat capacity of bulk $${^3}$$ 3 He-B and changes as T$$^2$$ 2 . The additional heat capacity is in good agreement with the predicted heat capacity of 2D gas of Majorana. This observation is a direct proof of the existence of Majorana quasiparticles in $${^3}$$ 3 He-B.