Search for Majorana Fermions in Superconductors
Year: 2013
Type: review
Abstract: Majorana fermions (particles that are their own antiparticle) may or may not exist in nature as elementary building blocks, but in condensed matter they can be constructed out of electron and hole excitations. What is needed is a superconductor to hide the charge difference and a topological (Berry) phase to eliminate the energy difference from zero-point motion. A pair of widely separated Majorana fermions, bound to magnetic or electrostatic defects, has non-Abelian exchange statistics. A qubit encoded in this Majorana pair is expected to have an unusually long coherence time. I discuss strategies to detect Majorana fermions in a topological superconductor, as well as possible applications in a quantum computer. The status of the experimental search is reviewed.
Author: C.W.J. Beenakker
Institution: Leiden University
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2128650222