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Quantum Computer

01 /Quantum Computers 02 /How to build a qubit 03 /Spin qubits (beginner level) 04 /Operations on spin qubits (beginner level) 05 /Electron spin qubits 06 /Capturing a single electron 07 /Quantum dot qubits 08 /Quantum control and readout 09 /Qubit errors 10 /NV center qubits 11 /Operations on NV center qubits 12 /The Transmon Qubit - A basis for the Quantum Computer 13 /Operations on the Transmon Qubit - Circuit QED 14 /Single-qubit operations on the Transmon qubit 15 /Measurements on the Transmon Qubit 16 /Two-qubit operations on the Transmon qubit 17 /Topological qubits: Anyons 18 /Operations on anyons: Braiding 19 /Operations on anyons: Real-life experiments 20 /Topological quantum computing: Majorana fermions and where to find them 21 /Majorana bound states in superconductors 22 /How do you measure Majorana bound states? 23 /A framework for the future Quantum Computer 24 /The Building Blocks of a Quantum Computer 25 /How to build a Quantum Algorithm - Quantum Circuits 26 /How do you program a quantum algorithm? 27 /The compiler of a quantum computer 28 /Micro-architectures 29 /How do we connect our quantum system to a classical interface? 30 /Assembling a Quantum Processor 31 /Microwave drivers for qubits 32 /Implementation of microwave drivers 33 /Quantum error correction 34 /Surface codes 35 /Fault-tolerant Quantum Error Correction with surface codes

Majorana bound states in superconductors

Particle-hole symmetry is fundamental to Majoranas. This is the reason that Majorana bound states can appear quite naturally in superconductors. In fact, it is that symmetry that also protects the bound state!

In this video, Michael Wimmer will talk you through finding Majorana bound states in superconductors. After noting the particle-hole symmetry, he will explain why it is essential to look for superconductors with zero energy, which is difficult to find due to the Quantum mechanical zero-point motion. Michael concludes by giving an experimentalist's view on the subject.

Prerequisite knowledge

  • Basic particle physics (e.g., what are anti-particles and fermions)
  • Superconductors (e.g., Cooper pairs, vortices, energy gap)
  • Quantum mechanical zero-point motion

Further thinking

In the video Michael mentions that in reality the Majorana pairs cannot be placed infinitely far apart from each other. How far do you think is enough in order to achieve the goal of Majorana based quantum computing?

Solution

Further reading

The video on this page only covers the beginning of topological quantum computing. Make sure to check out other videos on the subject that we have on our platform!

If you are interested in an introduction that is a bit more mathematical than this video, make sure to check out these notes from Arnold Sommerfeld Center for theoretical physics (LMU Munich). These notes cover more content than is covered in the video above.

Is the Majorana concept still a bit vague? Or are you interested in reading a bit of a less formal text about the subject? Make sure to check out this blog post of a Ph.D. student at QuTech about Majorana bound states!

For an expert insight on topological superconductivity and Majorana fermions, take a look at this review paper. The paper is quite technical, but gives an excellent introduction to the subject: