| We will begin by reviewing recent experiments which have established the existence of topological insulators in two and three dimensions and probe their unique conducting edge and surface states. We will then argue theoretically that the interface between a topological insulator and a superconductor leads to a state that supports Majorana fermions, which are the basis for proposals for topological quantum computation. At the surface of a 3D topological insulator, Majorana fermion bound states occur at vortices, and can be created, manipulated and measured by engineering suitable superconducting junctions on the surface. Chiral Majorana Fermion states occur at the inteface between regions with magnetic and superconducting order. We will describe possible experiments to probe these novel states. |
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