Emulation of Majorana zero modes in molecular magnets

Majorana zero modes (MZMs) have garnered interest owing to their non-Abelian exchange statistics and potential application for quantum computing. While theoretical proposals have suggested that MZMs could be realized in heterostructures of superconductors and semiconductors, definitive detection of MZMs remains inconclusive. Rather than realizing MZMs in electronic systems, several proposals have suggested emulation of MZMs in quantum spins.

In this talk, I will discuss a suite of molecular magnets, modeled as coupled quantum spins, which emulate MZMs. Taking advantage of various transformations from spins to fermions, I show that MZMs can be effectively mimicked in a Co trimer, Blume-Capel models, and (partial) Kitaev lattices. While topological protection of MZMs is typically lost, some of the spectacular properties for which MZMs are famous persist in these spin systems. In particular, I demonstrate the analogue of braiding MZMs in molecular magnets and discuss how it can be leveraged to perform some quantum computing operations.