Kavli Institute For Theoretical Physics
Presents
The KITP Public Lecture Series
Presents
The KITP Public Lecture Series
Particle Physics On a Chip: the Search for Majorana Fermions
sponsored by Friends of KITP
Majorana fermions were predicted in 1937 by Ettore Majorana in Rome. These are particles with the mysterious property that they are equal to their anti-particles. This defining property immediately implies that these "Majoranas' have zero charge and zero energy. Ongoing searches for detecting Majoranas occur in the context of high-energy physics and dark matter, but yet without success. Simultaneously, condensed matter theorists proposed specially designed electronics that can host Majoranas. This insight led to a successful experiment that has the signature of a Majorana, potentially the key to developing a quantum computer.