| Abstract: | The one-dimensional interacting Kitaev chain at half filling is studied. The symmetry of the Hamiltonian is examined by dual transformations, and various physical quantities as a function of the fermion-fermion interaction U are calculated systematically using the density matrix renormalization group method. A special value of interaction Up is revealed in the topological region of the phase diagram. We show that at Up the ground states are strictly two-fold degenerate even though the chain length is finite and the zero-energy peak due to the Majorana zero modes is maximally enhanced and exactly localized at the end sites. Here Up may be attractive or repulsive depending on other system parameters. We also give a qualitative understanding of the effect of interaction under the self-consistent mean field framework. |
