10.6084/m9.figshare.1012021.v1 Sylvain Nascimbène Sylvain Nascimbène (a) Scheme of the electronic states used for creating spin-dependent optical lattices with a <em>J</em> → <em>J</em>' = <em>J</em> − 1 optical transition IOP Publishing 2013 latter acts topological superfluidity Majorana fermions 1 D gas laser configuration ultracold fermionic atoms Feshbach molecules topological superfluid fermionic atoms Majorana edge state perturbative limit 1 D system superfluid gap topological superfluid boundaries 2 D topological superfluid phase plane wave uniform gas x lattice Cooper pair reservoir 1 D tube Atomic Physics Molecular Physics 2013-06-24 00:00:00 Figure https://iop.figshare.com/articles/figure/_a_Scheme_of_the_electronic_states_used_for_creating_spin_dependent_optical_lattices_with_a_em_J_em_/1012021 <p><strong>Figure 10.</strong> (a) Scheme of the electronic states used for creating spin-dependent optical lattices with a <em>J</em> → <em>J</em>' = <em>J</em> − 1 optical transition. (b) Lattice potential along <em>x</em> obtained by interfering a standing wave along <em>z</em> with a plane wave along <em>x</em>. The required spin-dependent lattice configuration is achieved for specific choices of polarization. (c) Geometry of the complete laser configuration generating the optical lattice potential and the laser-induced tunnelling in the <em>x</em> lattice.</p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p>We propose an experimental implementation of a topological superfluid with ultracold fermionic atoms. An optical superlattice is used to juxtapose a 1D gas of fermionic atoms and a 2D conventional superfluid of condensed Feshbach molecules. The latter acts as a Cooper pair reservoir and effectively induces a superfluid gap in the 1D system. Combined with a spin-dependent optical lattice along the 1D tube and laser-induced atom tunnelling, we obtain a topological superfluid phase. In the regime of weak couplings to the molecular field and for a uniform gas, the atomic system is equivalent to Kitaev's model of a p-wave superfluid. Using a numerical calculation, we show that the topological superfluidity is robust beyond the perturbative limit and in the presence of a harmonic trap. Finally, we describe how to investigate some physical properties of the Majorana fermions located at the topological superfluid boundaries. In particular, we discuss how to prepare and detect a given Majorana edge state.</p>