Fermion zero modes on vortices in chiral superconductors

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Abstract
The energy levels of fermions bound to the vortex core are considered for the general case of chiral superconductors. There are two classes of chiral superconductivity: in the class I superconducting state the axisymmetric singly quantized vortex has the same energy spectrum of bound states as in an s-wave superconductor: E=(n+1/2)ω0, with integral n. In class II the corresponding spectrum is E=nω0 and thus contains a state with exactly zero energy. The effect of a single impurity on the spectrum of bound states is also considered. For class I the spectrum acquires the doubled period ΔE=2ω0 and consists of two equidistant sets of levels, in accordance with A. I. Larkin and Yu. N. Ovchinnikov, Phys. Rev. B 57, 5457 (1998). For the class II states the spectrum is not influenced by a single impurity if the same approximation is applied.