Explaining a research topic to the general, non-scientific public is not something that appears in the daily work of a PhD student. However, science communication is an important building block in trying to transfer scientific progress to society.

Science slams try to achieve this goal in an entertaining and fun way for both the audience and the speakers. In a science slam, different scientists compete for the audience’s attention and approval by fitting their research topic into a 10-minute presentation. With almost no rules on the contents, the talks are usually filled with jokes and memes or even music.

In my talk “Majorana Fermions in Nanowires” (German: Majorana Fermionen in Nanodrähten), I try to explain to the interested audience what Majorana Fermions are and how long-distance relationships between them can help us in building a quantum computer. The key ingredient for this is a nanowire with superconducting coupling between electrons. Splitting the electrons into a pair of two Majorana fermions, turns the physical model of the so-called Kitaev chain into a Swinger club for electrons. Once a Majorana fermion appears at each end of the wire, we are able to define a qubit protected by the stability of the long-distance relationship between both Majorana fermions, making it a promising candidate for future qubit implementations.

In October 28 2022, I first presented my talk as part of the 10-year anniversary of Science Slams at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Düsseldorf. Around 200 people in the audience enjoyed a total of 8 talks from different branches of the faculty and free wine on the red carpet afterwards.

I again presented the same talk at the Science Fight in the House of the University in Düsseldorf in January 2023. This time, 6 slammers from all faculties presented their research in front of a booked-out seminar room with about 125 people, after some had to be rejected at the doors due to limited capacities.

Even though I wasn´t able to win in both cases, it was great fun to be part of the slams earning warm resonances from the audience as my true reward. There will be another chance to see my talk in a slightly reworked form in English at this year´s Pint of Science Cologne in May. Also, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Düsseldorf will host another Science Slam in July.

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