Understanding vortex tunneling and charge fractionalization in topological superconductors

Topological insulators and topological superconductors allow for fractionalized excitations, which can be utilized for quantum computation. First of these is a fractionalized charge excitation where a charge e/4 is bound to a magnetic vortex due to the Witten effect. The second one is a charge neutral excitation composed of two Majorana zero modes. There are now experimental setups available to realize these excitations in solid state electronic devices. In this project we will explore how the quantum phase slip (aka vortex tunneling) can be detected by electrically detecting the charge bound to the vortex.