Long-sought particles possibly glimpsed

Majorana fermions, which are their own antiparticle, could prove useful in quantum computing

The hunt for an elusive particle that does not have a distinct antiparticle twin might be over. Dutch physicists report making a new device that appears to create the mysterious entity, called the Majorana fermion.

“It is the fulfillment of a great intellectual challenge that has been with us since 1937,” says Marcel Franz, a physicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.