Emergence of supersymmetry on the surface of three dimensional topological insulators

Abstract

We propose two possible experimental realizations of a 2+1 dimensional spacetime supersymmetry at a quantum critical point on the surface of three dimensional topological insulators. The quantum critical point between the semi-metallic state with one Dirac fermion and the s-wave superconducting state on the surface is described by a supersymmetric conformal field theory within $ε$-expansion. We predict the exact voltage dependence of the differential conductance at the supersymmetric critical point.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: A metallic substrate placed above a three dimensional topological insulator.
• Figure 2: A Josephson junction array on the surface of a three dimensional topological insulator. The capacitances $C_0$ and $C$ controls the charging energy and the tunneling of Cooper pairs respectively.