Projects build research capacity and pipeline for regional institutions

A collaboration between Los Alamos scientist Jianxin Zhu and Armin Rahmani, associate professor at Western Washington University, will explore the emergent properties and interaction of Majorana fermions using high-performance computing and noisy intermediate-scale quantum computing. Majorana fermions are fundamental counterparts of ordinary electrons but have also been interesting because of their potential for topological quantum computing. The project will support a postdoctoral student and an undergraduate on the research, including a paid summer internship at Los Alamos for the undergraduate student. The project will build infrastructure for advanced research at WWU, primarily an undergraduate institution. It will provide educational opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to gain experience on solving challenging fundamental science problems.