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Superconductivity · arXiv:1403.4976 v2 · submitted 19 Mar 2014

Colloquium: Majorana Fermions in nuclear, particle and solid-state physics

S.R. Elliott, M. Franz

PDF · arXiv · The abstract, sentence by sentence · Cite

The paper says

“It then provides an overview of the rich experimental programs trying to find a fermion that is its own anti-particle in nuclear, particle, and solid state physics.”

from the abstract · picked out as the main claim by a classifier

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The paper

Abstract

Ettore Majorana (1906-1938) disappeared while traveling by ship from Palermo to Naples in 1938. His fate has never been fully resolved and several articles have been written that explore the mystery itself. His demise intrigues us still today because of his seminal work, published the previous year, that established symmetric solutions to the Dirac equation that describe a fermionic particle that is its own anti-particle. This work has long had a significant impact in neutrino physics, where this fundamental question regarding the particle remains unanswered. But the formalism he developed has found many uses as there are now a number of candidate spin-1/2 neutral particles that may be truly neutral with no quantum number to distinguish them from their anti-particles. If such particles exist, they will influence many areas of nuclear and particle physics. Most notably the process of neutrinoless double beta decay can only exist if neutrinos are massive Majorana particles. Hence, many efforts to search for this process are underway. Majorana's influence doesn't stop with particle physics, however, even though that was his original consideration. The equations he derived also arise in solid state physics where they describe electronic states in materials with superconducting order. Of special interest here is the class of solutions of the Majorana equation in one and two spatial dimensions at exactly zero energy. These Majorana zero modes are endowed with some remarkable physical properties that may lead to advances in quantum computing and, in fact, there is evidence that they have been experimentally observed. This review first summarizes the basics of Majorana's theory and its implications. It then provides an overview of the rich experimental programs trying to find a fermion that is its own anti-particle in nuclear, particle, and solid state physics.

The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

How the main claim is stated: asserted 0.95

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.06 · states limitation 0.07 · human participants 0.08 · controlled comparison 0.02 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.04 · compares with prior results 0.04 · mentions code or data availability 0.01

The abstract, sentence by sentence

This table labels the abstract only (arXiv listing abstract v2). The number is the probability the classifier gave the label.

SentenceRoleThe authors' own workStates the main conclusionStrength
Ettore Majorana (1906-1938) disappeared while traveling by ship from Palermo to Naples in 1938. background 1.00 0.02 0.01 asserted 1.00
His fate has never been fully resolved and several articles have been written that explore the mystery itself. background 1.00 0.03 0.02 asserted 1.00
His demise intrigues us still today because of his seminal work, published the previous year, that established symmetric solutions to the Dirac equation that describe a fermionic particle that is its own anti-particle. background 1.00 0.02 0.06 asserted 1.00
This work has long had a significant impact in neutrino physics, where this fundamental question regarding the particle remains unanswered. background 0.90 0.03 0.05 asserted 1.00
But the formalism he developed has found many uses as there are now a number of candidate spin-1/2 neutral particles that may be truly neutral with no quantum number to distinguish them from their anti-particles. background 0.99 0.04 0.07 asserted 0.84
If such particles exist, they will influence many areas of nuclear and particle physics. background 0.88 0.04 0.06 hedged possibility 0.72
Most notably the process of neutrinoless double beta decay can only exist if neutrinos are massive Majorana particles. background 0.98 0.03 0.10 asserted 0.98
Hence, many efforts to search for this process are underway. background 0.94 0.04 0.03 asserted 1.00
Majorana's influence doesn't stop with particle physics, however, even though that was his original consideration. background 0.80 0.04 0.05 asserted 1.00
The equations he derived also arise in solid state physics where they describe electronic states in materials with superconducting order. background 0.96 0.05 0.05 asserted 1.00
Of special interest here is the class of solutions of the Majorana equation in one and two spatial dimensions at exactly zero energy. background 0.90 0.06 0.04 asserted 0.97
These Majorana zero modes are endowed with some remarkable physical properties that may lead to advances in quantum computing and, in fact, there is evidence that they have been experimentally observed. background 0.81 0.09 0.13 hedged possibility 0.93
This review first summarizes the basics of Majorana's theory and its implications. contribution 0.93 0.40 0.04 asserted 0.93
It then provides an overview of the rich experimental programs trying to find a fermion that is its own anti-particle in nuclear, particle, and solid state physics. contribution 0.97 0.32 0.07 asserted 0.95

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: review 1.00 · evidence from literature 0.98

What was examined, and what was not

Sources read

  • arXiv listing abstract v2

Not examined

  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers

Levels run

  • P abstract

Not run

  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

How the labels were made

Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 10,120 input tokens, $0.0004 reported.

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. This record as JSON

Cited by 4 Pith papers

Reviewed papers on Pith that cite this one. The full citation record

  1. The Type-I Seesaw as a Relativistic Fermionic Proximity Effect: Spectral Moments, EFT Consistency, and Sterile-Sector Reconstruction hep-ph · Sep 2026
  2. LEGEND-1000 Preconceptual Design Report physics.ins-det · Jul 2021
  3. PandaX-III: Searching for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with High Pressure $^{136}$Xe Gas Time Projection Chambers physics.ins-det · Oct 2016
  4. Lepton Number Violation and `Diracness' of massive neutrinos composed of Majorana states hep-ph · Apr 2016
How later papers used it

271 later papers cite it

Evidence: some. 259 of the citing papers share no author with it, and 2 of those carry a confident label from Pith's citation classifier.

Pith read 32 of the 299 citing sentences, choosing only those whose citation markers point at this paper alone, and wrote the paraphrases from them. The summary, the counts, the evidence level, the links and the quotes come from code; the summary counts the papers listed below. A later paper is listed under a label when Pith's citation classifier gives one of its sentences that label at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), Pith's reading finds that the citing paper itself did it, and a second check confirms the paraphrase against the sentence. This section lists uses only. It does not list criticism or disagreement, so their absence here says nothing about how the paper has been received. Papers that share an author with this one are listed apart, under "By the same authors". A quote is the citing authors' own sentence, shown when their paper's licence is CC BY, CC BY-SA or CC0. JSON

Uses its method or tool 1 of 2 papers with this label
How the literature uses it

16 arXiv papers cite this in 18 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 6 sentences without a confident label

Cites it as background 11 papers
  • This, in turn, gives rise to non-trivial topological properties of the band structure, such as Dirac or Weyl band-crossing points [ref] , protected surface states [ref] , and, in the case of superconductors, Majorana quasiparticles which are their own antiparticle [ref] .

    Correct Brillouin zone and electronic structure of BiPd · Introduction · 0.98

  • This problem would be eliminated if the neutrino were its own antiparticle, i.e. a Majorana particle [ref] named after Ettore Majorana.

    Particles and antiparticles · Sterile neutrinos? · 0.84

  • In the pursuit of Majorana zero-energy modes [ref] in topological superconductors several experimental and theoretical directions are being explored.

    Detection of Majorana Kramers pairs using a quantum point contact · Introduction · 1.00

What it cites · 11 sentences without a confident label

Cites as background 8 papers

Challenges and discussion

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