Persistence of zero modes in a gauged Dirac model for bilayer graphene

A recently constructed model for low lying excitations in bilayer graphene exhibits mid-gap, zero energy modes in its Dirac-like spectrum, when a scalar order parameter takes a vortex profile. We show that these modes persist when the dynamics is extended by a gauge field interaction, which also renders finite the vortex energy. The effect of the gauge field on the zero energy wave function is to shift the phase of the (damped) oscillatory component of the wave function in the absence of the gauge field.