FELIX VON OPPEN - Magnetic adatoms on superconductors - a new venue for Majorana bound states?

• Coloquios

Felix von Oppen. 

Aula Seminario, 2do piso, Pabellón I. 

Motivated in part by the quest for topological quantum computation, there is a substantial ongoing research effort to realize Majorana bound states and topological superconductivity in condensed matter systems. Majorana bound states are related to Majorana fermions in high-energy physics, but obey an exotic - and yet unobserved - form of quantum statistics called non-abelian statistics.

Following prominent experiments on semiconductor quantum wires, Nadj-Perge et al. [Science 346, 602 (2014)] recently provided possible evidence for Majorana bound states in chains of magnetic adatoms on a conventional superconductors. In this talk, I will begin with a general introduction to the physics of Majorana bound states. The second part will then discuss the physical picture underlying this experiment, including an explanation of the unexpectedly strong localization of the observed end states.