Emergent Space-Time Supersymmetry at the Boundary of a Topological Phase

Abstract

Hope for SUSY? Supersymmetry (SUSY), the symmetry between fermions, particles that form matter, and bosons, which mediate the interactions between them, has been proposed as one of the more likely extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics; however, it has so far received little experimental support. Condensed matter systems, such as the superfluid helium-3, may save the concept. In preparation for experimentation, Grover et al. (p. 280 , published online 3 April) develop a theoretical approach that suggests SUSY describes the quantum phase transition on the boundary of a topological superconductor between a magnetic phase characterized by a bosonic order parameter and a neighboring phase hosting Majorana fermions.