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arXiv:1806.09971 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Engineering statistical transmutation of identical quantum particles

Simone Barbarino, Rosario Fazio, Vlatko Vedral, Yuval Gefen

Published Jan 22, 2019• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A fundamental pillar of quantum mechanics concerns indistinguishable quantum particles. In three dimensions they may be classified into fermions or bosons, having, respectively, antisymmetric or symmetric wave functions under particle exchange. One of the numerous manifestations of this quantum statistics is the tendency of fermions (bosons) to antibunch (bunch). In a two-particle scattering experiment with two possible outgoing channels [C. K. Hong, Z. Y. Ou, and L. Mandel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2044 (1987)], the probability of the two particles to arrive each at a different terminal is enhanced (with respect to classical particles) for fermions, and reduced for bosons. Here we show that by entangling the particles with an external degree of freedom, we can engineer quantum statistical transmutation, which may cause fermions to bunch. Our analysis may have consequences on the observed fractional statistics of anyons, including non-Abelian statistics, with serious implications for quantum computing operations in the presence of external degrees of freedom.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.99.045430

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A fundamental pillar of quantum mechanics concerns indistinguishable quantum particles. In three dimensions they may be classified into fermions or bosons, having, respectively, antisymmetric or symmetric wave functions under particle exchange. One of the numerous manifestations of this quantum statistics is the tendency of fermions (bosons) to antibunch (bunch). In a two-particle scattering experiment with two possible outgoing channels [C. K. Hong, Z. Y. Ou, and L. Mandel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2044 (1987)], the probability of the two particles to arrive each at a different terminal is enhanced (with respect to classical particles) for fermions, and reduced for bosons. Here we show that by entangling the particles with an external degree of freedom, we can engineer quantum statistical transmutation, which may cause fermions to bunch. Our analysis may have consequences on the observed fractional statistics of anyons, including non-Abelian statistics, with serious implications for quantum computing operations in the presence of external degrees of freedom.
As opposed to classical mechanics, quantum mechanical particles can be truly identical and lead to new and interesting phenomena. Identical particles can be of different types, determined by their exchange symmetry, which in turn gives rise to statistical repulsion. The exchange symmetry is given by a representation of the exchange group; the fundamental group of the configuration space of identical particles. In three dimensions the exchange group is the permutation group and there are only two types of identical particles; bosons and fermions. While any number of bosons can be at the same place or in the same state, fermions repel each other. In two dimensions the exchange group is the braid group and essentially any exchange symmetry is allowed, such particles are called anyons. Abelian anyons are described by abelian representations of the exchange group and can be seen as giving a continuous interpolation between bosons and fermions. Non-abelian anyons are much more complex and their statistical repulsion is yet largely unexplored. We use the framework of modular tensor categories to show how the statistical repulsion of non-abelian anyons depends on the exchange symmetry. The Fibonacci anyon model is studied, for which explicit results are obtained. We also show how Fibonacci anyons can be used to implement topological quantum computation, providing topologically stable quantum information encoded in the state of non-abelian anyons that can be manipulated via the non-abelian exchange symmetry.
We present a study of a Hanbury Brown-Twiss interferometer realized with anyons. Such a device can directly probe entanglement and fractional statistics of initially uncorrelated particles. We calculate Hanbury Brown-Twiss cross correlations of Abelian Laughlin anyons. The correlations we calculate exhibit partial bunching similar to bosons, indicating a substantial statistical transmutation from the underlying electronic degrees of freedom. We also find qualitative differences between the anyonic signal and the corresponding bosonic or fermionic signals, indicating that anyons cannot be simply thought of as intermediate between bosons and fermions.
According to the identity principle in quantum theory, states of a system consisted of identical particles should maintain unchanged under interchanging between two of the particles. The whole wavefunction should be symmetrized or antisymmetrized. This leads to statistical correlations between particles, which exhibit observable effects. We design an experiment to directly observe such effects for bosons. The experiment is performed with two photons. The effect of statistical correlations is clearly observed when the wavepackets of two photons are completely overlapped, and this effect varies with the degree of overlapping. The results of our experiment substantiate the statistical correlation in a simple way. Experiment reported here can also be regarded as another kind of two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, occurs in the polarization degree of freedom of photon.
In this article, we discuss the identity and indistinguishability of quantum systems and the consequent need to introduce an extra postulate in Quantum Mechanics to correctly describe situations involving indistinguishable particles. This is, for electrons, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, or in general, the Symmetrization Postulate. Then, we introduce fermions and bosons and the distributions respectively describing their statistical behaviour in indistinguishable situations. Following that, we discuss the spin-statistics connection, as well as alternative statistics and experimental evidence for all these results, including the use of bunching and antibunching of particles emerging from a beam splitter as a signature for some bosonic or fermionic states.
In this article, we discuss the identity and indistinguishability of quantum systems and the consequent need to introduce an extra postulate in Quantum Mechanics to correctly describe situations involving indistinguishable particles. This is, for electrons, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, or in general, the Symmetrization Postulate. Then, we introduce fermions and bosons and the distributions respectively describing their statistical behaviour in indistinguishable situations. Following that, we discuss the spin-statistics connection, as well as alternative statistics and experimental evidence for all these results, including the use of bunching and antibunching of particles emerging from a beam splitter as a signature for some bosonic or fermionic states.
The quantum-mechanical description of assemblies of particles whose motion is confined to two (or one) spatial dimensions offers many possibilities that are distinct from bosons and fermions. We call such particles anyons. The simplest anyons are parameterized by an angular phase parameter θθθ. θ=0,πθ= 0, πθ=0,π correspond to bosons and fermions respectively; at intermediate values we say that we have fractional statistics. In two dimensions, θθθ describes the phase acquired by the wave function as two anyons wind around one another counterclockwise. It generates a shift in the allowed values for the relative angular momentum. Composites of localized electric charge and magnetic flux associated with an abelian U(1) gauge group realize this behavior. More complex charge-flux constructions can involve non-abelian and product groups acting on a spectrum of allowed charges and fluxes, giving rise to nonabelian and mutual statistics. Interchanges of non-abelian anyons implement unitary transformations of the wave function within an emergent space of internal states. Anyons of all kinds are described by quantum field theories that include Chern--Simons terms. The crossings of one-dimensional anyons on a ring are uni-directional, such that a fractional phase θθθ acquired upon interchange gives rise to fractional shifts in the relative momenta between the anyons. The quasiparticle excitations of fractional quantum Hall states have long been predicted to include anyons. Recently the anyon behavior predicted for quasiparticles in the ν=1/3ν= 1/3ν=1/3 fractional quantum Hall state has been observed both in scattering and in interferometric experiments. Excitations within designed systems, notably including superconducting circuits, can exhibit anyon behavior. Such systems are being developed for possible use in quantum information processing.