Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme

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SYSD: Symposium SKM Dissertation-Prize 2016

SYSD 1: SKM Dissertation-Prize 2016

SYSD 1.3: Invited Talk

Monday, March 7, 2016, 11:20–11:45, H2

Signatures of Majorana states in magnetic adatom chains — •Falko Pientka — Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany — Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA

Recently, topological phases in superconductors hosting exotic Majorana states have become the subject of intense experimental and theoretical investigation. Majoranas exhibit nonabelian exchange statistics potentially useful for topologically protected quantum computing.

Possible signatures of Majorana states have been found in a recent STM experiment probing magnetic adatoms chains on the surface of a superconductor. In this talk, I will discuss the intriguing physics of the proximity effect in this system, which gives rise to a series of unexpected phenomena such as strongly localized Majorana states and an unconventional topological phase with long-range couplings.

I will also address experimental challenges of STM experiments on superconductors and show how an improved understanding of the relevant tunneling processes can be used to determine quasiparticle dynamics of superconducting bound states.