Measuring fermion parity correlations in 1D topological superconducting wires

ORAL

Abstract

Zero energy Majorana fermion states (Majoranas) can arise at the ends of a semiconducting wire in proximity with a superconductor. A first generation of experiments has detected a zero bias conductance peak in these systems that strongly suggests these Majoranas do exist; however, a definitive demonstration of the long-ranged entanglement that is crucial for potential applications in quantum computing has yet to be carried out. We will discuss a possible measurement scheme to detect this long-ranged entanglement in a wire system with two coupled pairs of Majoranas, by varying the coupling between one pair and measuring the effect this has on the state of the second pair.

*This work was supported by DFG, TAMU, ISF, EU FP7 Project SOLID, and ERC (FP7/2007-2013) 340210 grants, and the BMBF Project RUS 10/053 ``Topologische Materialien f\"ur Nanoelektronik.''

Authors

  • F.J. Burnell

    • University of Minnesota
  • Alexander Shnirman

    • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
  • Yuval Oreg

    • Weizmann Institute