Zero-energy Andreev levels in hybrid semiconductor-superconductor nanowires mimic all expected Majorana phenomenology, including \(2{e}^{2}/h\) conductance quantisation, even where band topology predicts trivial phases. This surprising fact has been used to challenge the interpretation of various transport experiments in terms of Majorana zero modes. Here we show that the Andreev versus Majorana controversy is clarified when framed in the language of non-Hermitian topology, the natural description for quantum systems open to the environment. This change of paradigm allows one to understand topological transitions and the emergence of zero modes in more general systems than can be described by band topology. This is achieved by studying exceptional point bifurcations in the complex spectrum of the system’s non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Within this broader topological classification, Majoranas from both conventional band topology and a large subset of Andreev levels at zero energy are in fact topologically equivalent, which explains why they cannot be distinguished.

混合半导体-超导体纳米线中的零能量Andreev能级模拟所有预期的Majorana现象，包括\（2 {e} ^ {2} / h \）电导量化，即使在频带拓扑预测微不足道的相位的情况下也是如此。这个令人惊讶的事实已被用来挑战关于马约拉纳零模式的各种运输实验的解释。在这里，我们证明，当使用非赫米特拓扑结构（对环境开放的量子系统的自然描述）的语言构架时，安德列夫与马约拉那之争得到了澄清。这种范式的变化使人们能够比带拓扑所描述的更一般的系统了解拓扑转换和零模式的出现。这是通过研究系统的非埃尔米特哈密顿量的复杂谱中的特殊点分叉来实现的。在这种更广泛的拓扑分类中，