Topological Quantum Computation via Non-Abelian Statistics

Jiannis K. Pachos

Chuanwei Zhang, V. W. Scarola, Sumanta Tewari +1 more

Topological quantum states of matter, both Abelian and non-Abelian, are characterized by excitations whose wavefunctions undergo nontrivial statistical transformations as one excitation is moved (braided) around another. Topological quantum computation proposes to use the topological protection and the braiding statistics of a non-Abelian topological state to perform quantum computation. The enormous technological prospect of topological quantum computation provides new motivation for experimentally observing a topological state. Here, we explicitly work out a realistic experimental scheme to create and braid the Abelian topological excitations in the Kitaev model built on a tunable robust system, a cold atom optical lattice. We also demonstrate how to detect the key feature of these excitations: their braiding statistics. Observation of this statistics would directly establish the existence of anyons, quantum particles that are neither fermions nor bosons. In addition to establishing topological matter, the experimental scheme we develop here can also be adapted to a non-Abelian topological state, supported by the same Kitaev model but in a different parameter regime, to eventually build topologically protected quantum gates.

Chetan Nayak, Steven H. Simon, Ady Stern +2 more

Topological quantum computation has emerged as one of the most exciting approaches to constructing a fault-tolerant quantum computer. The proposal relies on the existence of topological states of matter whose quasiparticle excitations are neither bosons nor fermions, but are particles known as non-Abelian anyons, meaning that they obey non-Abelian braiding statistics. Quantum information is stored in states with multiple quasiparticles, which have a topological degeneracy. The unitary gate operations that are necessary for quantum computation are carried out by braiding quasiparticles and then measuring the multiquasiparticle states. The fault tolerance of a topological quantum computer arises from the nonlocal encoding of the quasiparticle states, which makes them immune to errors caused by local perturbations. To date, the only such topological states thought to have been found in nature are fractional quantum Hall states, most prominently the $\ensuremath{\nu}=5∕2$ state, although several other prospective candidates have been proposed in systems as disparate as ultracold atoms in optical lattices and thin-film superconductors. In this review article, current research in this field is described, focusing on the general theoretical concepts of non-Abelian statistics as it relates to topological quantum computation, on understanding non-Abelian quantum Hall states, on proposed experiments to detect non-Abelian anyons, and on proposed architectures for a topological quantum computer. Both the mathematical underpinnings of topological quantum computation and the physics of the subject are addressed, using the $\ensuremath{\nu}=5∕2$ fractional quantum Hall state as the archetype of a non-Abelian topological state enabling fault-tolerant quantum computation.

R. W. Ogburn, John P. Preskill

Giuseppe Mussardo

Jun‐Yi Cao, Jia Liu, L. B. Shao +1 more

In view of the fundamental importance and many promising potential applications, non-Abelian statistics of topologically protected states have attracted much attention recently. However, due to the operational difficulties in solid-state materials, experimental realization of non-Abelian statistics is lacking. The superconducting quantum circuit system is scalable and controllable, and thus is a promising platform for quantum simulation. Here we propose a scheme to demonstrate non-Abelian statistics of topologically protected zero-energy edge modes on a chain of superconducting circuits. Specifically, we can realize topological phase transition by varying the hopping strength and magnetic field in the chain, and the realized non-Abelian operation can be used in topological quantum computation. Considering the advantages of the superconducting quantum circuits, our protocol may shed light on quantum computation via topologically protected states.