Binary disorder in quantum Ising chains and induced Majorana zero modes

Abstract: Dynamical structure factor (S(k,$\omega$)) is calculated for the one-dimensional (1D) transverse field Ising model, and its recent extension to include a three spin term, with quenched binary disorder. We study the low energy modes for lattices as large as 256 sites. We show that the intense zero energy modes appear whenever the binary disorder straddles two different winding numbers. We argue that these are Majorana modes, which reside on the boundaries of the rare regions. The size distribution of Majorana pairs has a fractal behavior at the critical points. With the longer ranged interactions a spin glass transition is observed as well.