AWhat changed
Mourik and colleagues measured zero-bias conductance peaks in InSb nanowires coupled to a superconductor. The reported peaks persisted across ranges of magnetic field and gate settings, with dependence on field orientation; the authors interpreted these features as consistent with Majorana bound states.
Scientific scope
Mourik and colleagues measured zero-bias conductance peaks in InSb nanowires coupled to a superconductor. The reported peaks persisted across ranges of magnetic field and gate settings, with dependence on field orientation; the authors interpreted these features as consistent with Majorana bound states. The measured conductance peaks are experimental observations; their Majorana interpretation is not uniquely established. The peak height was about 5% of the ideal zero-temperature conductance prediction. The paper reports no demonstration of topological protection or braiding. A later 2012 numerical study showed that finite-temperature, disordered multiband wires can exhibit nonquantized zero-bias peaks even without topological end states, under the model conditions studied. Its countermodel does not prove the microscopic origin of this particular experimental signal. The remaining supplemental figures are now reviewed: the authors report that changing a barrier gate can change both chemical potential and transmission, so the phase diagram is not separately resolved. In superconducting-contact control devices, a zero-bias peak at zero field is attributed to supercurrent, illustrating why contact geometry matters. These observations do not establish non-Abelian statistics or topological protection.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The measured conductance peaks are experimental observations; their Majorana interpretation is not uniquely established. The peak height was about 5% of the ideal zero-temperature conductance prediction. The paper reports no demonstration of topological protection or braiding. A later 2012 numerical study showed that finite-temperature, disordered multiband wires can exhibit nonquantized zero-bias peaks even without topological end states, under the model conditions studied. Its countermodel does not prove the microscopic origin of this particular experimental signal. The remaining supplemental figures are now reviewed: the authors report that changing a barrier gate can change both chemical potential and transmission, so the phase diagram is not separately resolved. In superconducting-contact control devices, a zero-bias peak at zero field is attributed to supercurrent, illustrating why contact geometry matters. These observations do not establish non-Abelian statistics or topological protection.
Contributors
- The named authors in the research record · SCIENCE: These are the listed authors of the cited contribution sources. Paper authorship does not quantify individual effort. An incomplete list is explicitly marked; same names are not automatically merged.
- Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
- Zero-bias peaks in spin-orbit coupled superconducting wires with and without Majorana end-states
Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-28.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.
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