Exact zero modes in a quantum compass chain under inhomogeneous transverse fields

We study the emergence of exact Majorana zero modes (EMZMs) in a one-dimensional quantum transverse compass model with both the nearest-neighbor interactions and transverse fields varying over space. By transforming the spin system into a quadratic Majorana-fermion model, we derive an exact formula for the number of the emergent EMZMs, which is found to depend on the partition nature of the lattice sites on which the magnetic fields vanish. We also derive explicit expressions for the wave functions of these EMZMs and show that they indeed depend on fine features of the foregoing partition of site indices. Based on the above rigorous results about the EMZMs, we provide an interpretation for the interesting dependence of the eigenstate degeneracy on the transverse fields observed in prior literature. As a special case, we employ a plane-wave ansatz to exactly solve an open compass chain with alternating nearest-neighbor interactions and staggered magnetic fields. Explicit forms of the canonical Majorana modes diagonalizing the model are given even for finite chains. We show that besides the possibly existing EMZMs no almost Majorana zero modes exist unless the fields on both the two sublattices are turned off. Our results might shed light on the control of ground-state degeneracies by solely tuning the external fields in related systems.