The case of the elusive Majorana: The so-called 'angel particle' is still a mystery

A 2017 report of the discovery of a particular kind of Majorana fermion—the chiral Majorana fermion, referred to as the "angel particle"—is likely a false alarm, according to new research. Majorana fermions are enigmatic particles that act as their own antiparticle and were first hypothesized to exist in 1937. They are of immense interest to physicists because their unique properties could allow them to be used in the construction of a topological quantum computer.