Calendar of Events

Speaker: Yuval Oreg (Weizmann Institute)

Majorana zero modes in condensed matter systems have been the subject of much interest in recent years. Their non-Abelian exchange statistics, which make them a unique state of matter, as well as their potential applications in topological quantum computation, have earned the Majorana zero modes attention from both theorists and experimentalists. It is generally understood that in order to form Majorana zero modes time-reversal symmetry must be broken. The straightforward mechanisms for doing so, e.g. the application of strong magnetic Zeeman fields, turned out to have many unwanted side effects, such as the formation of in-gap magnetic impurity states.

This is one of the reasons Majorana zero modes have been eluding direct experimental detection for a long time. However, with the proper design, the superconducting phases can be tuned with tiny - order of micro-tesla - orbital magnetic fields. In this talk, I will review several proposals for creating and manipulating topological states by relying only on controlling the phase of the superconducting order parameter. These proposals hold practical promise to improve Majorana realization and detection, and they shed light on the physics underlying the formation of the topological superconducting state. If time permits, we will discuss the possibility of forming 2D topological states by controlling the superconductors phases.

Host:  Natan Andrei