New directions in the pursuit of Majorana fermions in solid state systems

Understand

The 1937 theoretical discovery of Majorana fermions--whose defining property is that they are their own anti-particles--has since impacted diverse problems ranging from neutrino physics and dark matter searches to the fractional quantum Hall effect and superconductivity.

• Despite this long history the unambiguous observation of Majorana fermions nevertheless remains an outstanding goal.
• This review article highlights recent advances in the condensed matter search for Majorana that have led many in the field to believe that this quest may soon bear fruit.
• We begin by introducing in some detail exotic `topological' one- and two-dimensional superconductors that support Majorana fermions at their boundaries and at vortices.