We construct models of interacting itinerant non-Abelian anyons moving along one-dimensional chains. We focus on itinerant Ising (Majorana) and Fibonacci anyons, which are, respectively, related to SU
(2)2 and SU
(2)3 anyons and also, respectively, describe quasiparticles of the Moore-Read and
Z3-Read-Rezayi fractional quantum Hall states. Following the derivation of the electronic large-U effective Hubbard model, we derive effective anyonic
t-
J models for the low-energy sectors. Solving these models by exact diagonalization, we find a fractionalization of the anyons into charge and (neutral) anyonic degrees of freedom---a generalization of spin-charge separation of electrons which occurs in Luttinger liquids. A detailed description of the excitation spectrum can be performed by combining spectra for charge and anyonic sectors. The anyonic sector is that of a squeezed chain of localized interacting anyons and, hence, is described by the same conformal field theory (CFT), with central charge
c=1/2 for Ising anyons and
c=7/10 or
c=4/5 for Fibonacci anyons with antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic coupling, respectively. The charge sector is the spectrum of a chain of hard-core bosons subject to phase shifts which coincide with the momenta of the combined anyonic eigenstates, revealing a subtle coupling between charge and anyonic excitations at the microscopic level (which we also find to be present in Luttinger liquids), despite the macroscopic fractionalization. The combined central charge extracted from the entanglement entropy between segments of the chain is shown to be
1+c, where
c is the central charge of the underlying CFT of the localized anyon (squeezed) chain.
Non-Abelian anyons can emerge as fractionalized excitations in two-dimensional systems with topological order. One important example is the Moore–Read fractional quantum Hall state. Its quasihole states are zero-energy eigenstates of a parent Hamiltonian, but its quasiparticle states are not. Both of them can be modeled on an equal footing using the bipartite composite fermion method. We study the entanglement spectrum of the cases with two or four non-Abelian anyons. The counting of levels in the entanglement spectrum can be understood using the edge theory of the Moore–Read state, which reflects the topological order of the system. It is shown that the fusion results of two non-Abelian anyons is determined by their distributions in the bipartite construction.
The quasiparticles in quantum Hall liquids carry fractional charge and obey fractional quantum statistics. Of particular recent interest are those with non-Abelian statistics, since their braiding properties could, in principle, be used for robust coding of quantum information. There is already a good theoretical understanding of quasiholes in both Abelian and non-Abelian quantum Hall states. Here we develop conformal field theory methods that allow for an equally precise description of quasielectrons and explicitly construct two- and four-quasielectron excitations of the non-Abelian Moore-Read state.
Non-Abelian anyons promise to reveal spectacular features of quantum mechanics that could ultimately provide the foundation for a decoherence-free quantum computer. A key breakthrough in the pursuit of these exotic particles originated from Read and Green's observation that the Moore-Read quantum Hall state and a (relatively simple) two-dimensional p+ip superconductor both support so-called Ising non-Abelian anyons. Here we establish a similar correspondence between the Z_3 Read-Rezayi quantum Hall state and a novel two-dimensional superconductor in which charge-2e Cooper pairs are built from fractionalized quasiparticles. In particular, both phases harbor Fibonacci anyons that---unlike Ising anyons---allow for universal topological quantum computation solely through braiding. Using a variant of Teo and Kane's construction of non-Abelian phases from weakly coupled chains, we provide a blueprint for such a superconductor using Abelian quantum Hall states interlaced with an array of superconducting islands. Fibonacci anyons appear as neutral deconfined particles that lead to a two-fold ground-state degeneracy on a torus. In contrast to a p+ip superconductor, vortices do not yield additional particle types yet depending on non-universal energetics can serve as a trap for Fibonacci anyons. These results imply that one can, in principle, combine well-understood and widely available phases of matter to realize non-Abelian anyons with universal braid statistics. Numerous future directions are discussed, including speculations on alternative realizations with fewer experimental requirements.
Quasiholes in certain fractional quantum Hall states are promising candidates for the experimental realization of non-Abelian anyons. They are assumed to be localized excitations, and to display non-Abelian statistics when sufficiently separated, but these properties have not been explicitly demonstrated except for the Moore-Read state. In this work, we apply the newly developed matrix product state technique to examine these exotic excitations. For the Moore-Read and the Z_{3} Read-Rezayi states, we estimate the quasihole radii, and determine the correlation lengths associated with the exponential convergence of the braiding statistics. We provide the first microscopic verification for the Fibonacci nature of the Z_{3} Read-Rezayi quasiholes. We also present evidence for the failure of plasma screening in the nonunitary Gaffnian wave function.
We review some theoretical progress towards understanding the origin of the fractional quantum Hall effect at filling factor 5/2 using numerical techniques. The leading candidate thought to describe the physics is the Moore-Read Pfaffian state which supports non-abelian anyonic excitations. Interestingly, these excitations have possible applications in topologically protected quantum information processing. Specifically, we discuss how the finite-thickness of realistic quasi-two-dimensional systems stabilizes the Moore-Read Pfaffian in the fractional quantum Hall effect at 5/2 and the use of bilayer systems in the second Landau level to investigate the possible quantum phase transition between abelian and non-abelian fractional quantum Hall states.