On the interpretation of fermionic zero-modes

Abstract

We examine the effect of fermionic zero modes on tunneling amplitudes within some simple quantum mechanical models. It is shown that the fermionic zero modes do not cause a total suppression of the tunneling, although it may be reduced. With a θ term present, due to a non-trivial topology, it is shown that the θ dependence is not eliminated by the zero modes. Instead the non-trivial topology introduces a “twist” in the fermionic coordinates which breaks a symmetry of the hamiltonian.