His NSF project involves investigating the topological properties of superconductors — materials in which, below a certain critical temperature, electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled. Such superconductors are predicted to host boundary states called Majorana bound states. “There is a race around the world to identify the first Majorana bound states,” Zhang said. “Once we can predict, create, observe and manipulate the Majorana bound states, we will add another layer to our understanding of nature. In particular, he is investigating how time-reversal symmetry makes Majorana bound states more exotic.