Chiral matter: theory and applications

Chirality is a recurring cross-disciplinary theme in modern science, from particle physics to biology. In quantum physics, the chirality of fermions is linked to the topology of gauge fields by the chiral anomaly. While the chiral anomaly is usually associated with the short-distance behavior in field theory, recently, it has been realized that it also affects the macroscopic behavior of chiral matter. In particular, the local imbalance between left- and right-handed fermions in the presence of a magnetic field induces non-dissipative transport of electric charge ("the Chiral Magnetic Effect", CME). Recently, the CME has been discovered in Dirac and Weyl semimetals possessing chiral quasi-particles. Here we report on the investigation of related phenomena in non-centrosymmetric superconductors and Josephson junctions and discuss their potential applications in quantum computing.