Trivial Andreev band mimicking topological bulk gap reopening in the non-local conductance of long Rashba nanowires

We consider a one-dimensional Rashba nanowire in which multiple Andreev bound states in the bulk of the nanowire form an Andreev band. We show that, under certain circumstances, this trivial Andreev band can produce an apparent closing and reopening signature of the bulk band gap in the non-local conductance of the nanowire. Furthermore, we show that the existence of the trivial bulk reopening signature (BRS) in non-local conductance is essentially unaffected by the additional presence of trivial zero-bias peaks (ZBPs) in the local conductance at either end of the nanowire. The simultaneous occurrence of a trivial BRS and ZBPs mimics the basic features required to pass the so-called “topological gap protocol”. Our results therefore provide a topologically trivial minimal model by which the applicability of this protocol can be benchmarked.