  We study intragap bound states in the topological phase of a Rashba nanowire
in the presence of a magnetic field and with non-uniform spin orbit interaction
(SOI) and proximity-induced superconductivity gap. We show that fermionic bound
states (FBS) can emerge inside the proximity gap. They are localized at the
junction between two wire sections characterized by different directions of the
SOI vectors, and they coexist with Majorana bound states (MBS) localized at the
nanowire ends. The energy of the FBS is determined by the angle between the SOI
vectors and the lengthscale over which the SOI changes compared to the Fermi
wavelength and the localization length. We also consider double-junctions and
show that the two emerging FBSs can hybridize and form a double quantum
dot-like structure inside the gap. We find explicit analytical solutions of the
bound states and their energies for certain parameter regimes such as weak and
strong SOI. The analytical results are confirmed and complemented by an
independent numerical tight-binding model approach. Such FBS can act as
quasiparticle traps and thus can have implications for topological quantum
computing schemes based on braiding MBSs.
