Majorana fermions in a quantum spin Hall insulator
Event details
| Date | 24.02.2014 |
| Hour | 16:15 › 17:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Carlo Beenakker, Instituut Lorentz, Leiden University, Netherlands |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Topological insulators in proximity to a superconductor have been predicted to support Majorana zero-modes: midgap states with identical creation and annihilation operators and non-Abelian braiding statistics, that are presently under intense scrutiny. The conducting edge of a quantum spin Hall insulator (a quantum well with an inverted band gap)seems like an ideal system to search for these elusive particles in a transport experiment: Only a single mode propagates in each direction along the edge, unaffected by disorder since backscattering of these helical modes is forbidden by time-reversal symmetry. We discuss the prospects for the detection of Majoranas as a short-term application, and braiding as a longer term perspective.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Section de Physique