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Non-Abelian states of matter

Nature volume 464, pages 187–193 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Quantum mechanics classifies all elementary particles as either fermions or bosons, and this classification is crucial to the understanding of a variety of physical systems, such as lasers, metals and superconductors. In certain two-dimensional systems, interactions between electrons or atoms lead to the formation of quasiparticles that break the fermion–boson dichotomy. A particularly interesting alternative is offered by 'non-Abelian' states of matter, in which the presence of quasiparticles makes the ground state degenerate, and interchanges of identical quasiparticles shift the system between different ground states. Present experimental studies attempt to identify non-Abelian states in systems that manifest the fractional quantum Hall effect. If such states can be identified, they may become useful for quantum computation.

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Figure 1: Characteristics of non-Abelian systems.
Figure 2: Interferometric measurement setups in quantum Hall systems.
Figure 3: Experimental results from interferometers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US–Israel Binational Science Foundation, the Minerva foundation and Microsoft's Station Q.

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  1. Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Ady Stern

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Stern, A. Non-Abelian states of matter. Nature 464, 187–193 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08915

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