Majorana Fermions in Condensed Matter Physics

Much effort has been devoted recently to the search for experimental demonstrations of Majorana fermions and the exotic quantum statistics that can be encoded by them. Originally suggested by the Italian theoretician Ettore Majorana as relativistic particles which are their own anti-particles, the concept of Majorana fermions has been fruitful in condensed matter physics. In my talk, I will discuss model systems for the description of Majorana fermions, explain their potential for topological quantum computation, and describe experimental attempts at observing them.