Midgap spectrum of the fermion-vortex system

I study the midgap spectrum of the fermion-vortex system in two spatial dimensions. The existence of bound states, in addition to the zero modes found by Jackiw and Rossi, is established. For a singly quantized vortex, I present complete analytical solutions in terms of generalized Laguerre polynomials in the opposite limits of vanishing and large vortex core size. There is an infinite number of such bound states, with a spectrum that is, when squared, given by, respectively, the Coulomb potential and the isotropic harmonic oscillator. Possible experimental signatures of this spectrum in condensed-matter realizations of the system are pointed out. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.