Anyonic Excitations Research Articles

Fault-tolerant renormalization group decoder for Abelian topological codes

We present a three-dimensional generalization of a renormalization group decoding algorithm for topological codes with Abelian anyonic excitations that we introduced for two dimensions in [7, 8]. W...

Entropic Barriers for Two-Dimensional Quantum Memories

Comprehensive no-go theorems show that information encoded over local two-dimensional topologically ordered systems cannot support macroscopic energy barriers, and hence will not maintain stable quantum information at finite temperatures for macroscopic time scales. However, it is still well motivated to study low-dimensional quantum memories due to their experimental amenability. Here we introduce a grid of defect lines to Kitaev's quantum double model where different anyonic excitations carry different masses. This setting produces a complex energy landscape which entropically suppresses the diffusion of excitations that cause logical errors. We show numerically that entropically suppressed errors give rise to superexponential inverse temperature scaling and polynomial system size scaling for small system sizes over a low-temperature regime. Curiously, these entropic effects are not present below a certain low temperature. We show that we can vary the system to modify this bound and potentially extend the described effects to zero temperature.

Spectroscopy of a topological phase

Dynamical correlation functions of the toric code in a uniform magnetic field are studied inside the topological phase, in the small-field limit. Such an experimentally measurable quantity displays rich field-dependent features that can be understood via the interplay of the kinetics and the interaction of the anyonic excitations. In particular, it is sensitive to the two-quasiparticle bound states that are present in the spectrum for a wide range of magnetic fields. Interestingly, such collective modes can even constitute the lowest-energy excitations of the system.

Phase transitions in three-dimensional topological lattice models with surface anyons

We study the phase diagrams of a family of 3D "Walker-Wang" type lattice models, which are not topologically ordered but have deconfined anyonic excitations confined to their surfaces. We add a perturbation (analogous to that which drives the confining transition in Z_p lattice gauge theories) to the Walker-Wang Hamiltonians, driving a transition in which all or some of the variables associated with the loop gas or string-net ground states of these models become confined. We show that in many cases the location and nature of the phase transitions involved is exactly that of a generalized Z_p lattice gauge theory, and use this to deduce the basic structure of the phase diagram. We further show that the relationship between the phases on opposite sides of the transition is fundamentally different than in conventional gauge theories: in the Walker-Wang case, the number of species of excitations that are deconfined in the bulk can increase across a transition that confines only some of the species of loops or string-nets. The analogue of the confining transition in the Walker-Wang models can therefore lead to bulk deconfinement and topological order.

Topological Entanglement Entropy with a Twist

Defects in topologically ordered models have interesting properties that are reminiscent of the anyonic excitations of the models themselves. For example, dislocations in the toric code model are known as twists and possess properties that are analogous to Ising anyons. We strengthen this analogy by using the topological entanglement entropy as a diagnostic tool to identify properties of both defects and excitations in the toric code. Specifically, we show, through explicit calculation, that the toric code model including twists and dyon excitations has the same quantum dimensions, the same total quantum dimension, and the same fusion rules as an Ising anyon model.

Three-dimensionalZ2topological phases enriched by time-reversal symmetry

We study three-dimensional ${Z}_{2}$ topological phases enriched by ${Z}_{2}^{T}$ time-reversal symmetry with bosonic bulk excitations. Some of these phases can be constructed by simply coupling the three-dimensional symmetry protected topological phases with ${Z}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}^{T}$ symmetry to a deconfined ${Z}_{2}$ gauge field. Besides these simple phases, we also construct two special root phases, whose boundary can have an extra ${Z}_{2}$ topological order in addition to their bulk topological order, and the boundary anyon excitations can have fractional time-reversal transformation $\mathcal{T}$ with ${\mathcal{T}}^{4}=\ensuremath{-}1$. In particular, the boundary $e$ and $m$ anyons of one of the two root phases are interchanged under time-reversal transformation, and they must be degenerate and orthogonal with each other. Eventually we obtain ${({\mathbb{Z}}_{2})}^{2}\ensuremath{\bigoplus}{({\mathbb{Z}}_{2})}^{2}$ classification (8 different phases) for ${Z}_{2}^{T}$-enriched ${Z}_{2}$ topological phases with bosonic bulk excitations in three dimensions.

Three- and four-body interactions from two-body interactions in spin models: A route to Abelian and non-Abelian fractional Chern insulators

We describe a method for engineering local $k+1$-body interactions ($k=1,2,3$) from two-body couplings in spin-${1}{2}$ systems. When implemented in certain systems with a flat single-particle band with a unit Chern number, the resulting many-body ground states are fractional Chern insulators which exhibit abelian and non-abelian anyon excitations. The most complex of these, with $k=3$, has Fibonacci anyon excitations; our system is thus capable of universal topological quantum computation. We then demonstrate that an appropriately tuned circuit of qubits could faithfully replicate this model up to small corrections, and further, we describe the process by which one might create and manipulate non-abelian vortices in these circuits, allowing for direct control of the system's quantum information content.

Superconductivity with intrinsic topological order induced by pure Coulomb interaction and time-reversal symmetry breaking

Recently, in certain flat band lattice systems at commensurate fillings, fractional quantum Hall states have been found -- which have anyonic excitations. We study such systems away from commensuration, i.e. the ground state of an anyon gas in such a system. The presence of the underlying lattice allows access to an entirely new regime where the anyon kinetic energy can be larger than their interaction energy. Within the flux-attachment approach, using mean-field then adding fluctuations, we find several possible superfluid states. Two have intrinsic topological order, i.e. fractionalized quasiparticles with a fusion structure of (Z_2)^4 and (Z_8)^2 respectively, and a third has no fractionalized excitations similar to a BCS-type state. This represents a mechanism for superconductivity driven purely by strong repulsion and complex hopping of electrons.

Bekenstein-Hawking entropy as topological entanglement entropy

Black holes in 2+1 dimensions enjoy long range topological interactions similar to those of non-abelian anyon excitations in a topologically ordered medium. Using this observation, we compute the topological entanglement entropy of BTZ black holes, via the established formula S_top = log(S^a_0), with S_b^a the modular S-matrix of the Virasoro characters chi_a(tau). We find a precise match with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. This result adds a new twist to the relationship between quantum entanglement and the interior geometry of black holes. We generalize our result to higher spin black holes, and again find a detailed match. We comment on a possible alternative interpretation of our result in terms of boundary entropy.

Continuous-variable topological codes

Topological code is a stabilizer quantum error correcting code whose generators are local but logical operators are topologically nontrivial and nonlocal. It offers interesting features such as the homological deformations of string operators and anyonic excitations on it. Topological codes are also closely related to the ``topological order,'' which has been an important concept in condensed-matter physics. In this paper, we consider continuous-variable versions of topological codes, including the toric code by Kitaev [A. Y. Kitaev, Ann. Phys. 303, 2 (2003)] with a single type of stabilizer on the checkerboard lattice, and the color code by Bombin and Martin-Delgado [H. Bombin and M. A. Martin-Delgado, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 180501 (2006)]. We show that it is possible to consider continuous-variable analog of these topological codes.

Quantum simulation architecture for lattice bosons in arbitrary, tunable, external gauge fields

I describe a lattice of asymmetrical qubit pairs in arbitrary dimension, with couplings arranged so that the motion of single-qubit excited states mimics the behavior of charged lattice bosons hopping in a magnetic field. I show, in particular, that one can choose the parameters of the many-body circuit to reach a regime where the complex hopping phase between any two elements can be tuned to any value by simply adjusting the relative phases of two applied oscillating voltage signals. I also propose specific realizations of our model using coupled three junction flux qubits or transmon qubits, in which one can reach the strongly interacting bosonic quantum Hall limit where one will find anyonic excitations. This model could also be studied in trapped ions, and the superconducting circuits could be used for topological quantum computation.

Kitaev honeycomb and other exotic spin models with polar molecules

We show that ultracold polar molecules pinned in an optical lattice can be used to access a variety of exotic spin models, including the Kitaev honeycomb model. Treating each molecule as a rigid rotor, we use DC electric and microwave fields to define superpositions of rotational levels as effective spin degrees of freedom, while dipole–dipole interactions give rise to interactions between the spins. In particular, we show that, with sufficient microwave control, the interaction between two spins can be written as a sum of five independently controllable Hamiltonian terms proportional to the five rank-2 spherical harmonics Y 2, q (θ, φ), where (θ, φ) are the spherical coordinates of the vector connecting the two molecules. To demonstrate the potential of this approach beyond the simplest examples studied in [S.R. Manmana et al., Phys. Rev. B. 87, 081106 (2013)], we focus on the realisation of the Kitaev honeycomb model, which can support exotic non-Abelian anyonic excitations. We also discuss the possibility of generating spin Hamiltonians with arbitrary spin S, including those exhibiting SU(N=2S+1) symmetry.

Probing non-Abelian anyonic statistics with cold atoms in an optical lattice

We propose a scheme to probe the non-Abelian statistics of the collective anyonic excitation in Kitaev's honeycomb model with cold atoms in an optical lattice. The generation of the anyonic excitation can be realized by simple rotating operation acting on an effective spin-1/2 system, which is encoded in the atomic hyperfine energy levels. The non-Abelian nature of the anyonic excitation is manifested by the braiding of four vortices, which leads to different operations on the subspace of degenerate ground states, and thus results in different final states. Here, by introducing an ancilla atom, the effective control over the lattice atoms can be realized and the final different states can also be imprinted on the ancilla and further distinguished by measurement.

One-dimensional itinerant interacting non-Abelian anyons

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 Z_3-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 the one 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 hardcore 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.

The fractional quantum Hall effect at filling factor 5/2: numerically searching for non-abelian anyons

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.

Self-correcting quantum memory with a boundary

We study the two-dimensional toric-code Hamiltonian with effective long-range interactions between its anyonic excitations induced by coupling the toric code to external fields. It has been shown that such interactions allow an arbitrary increase in the lifetime of the stored quantum information by making $L$, the linear size of the memory, larger [Chesi et al., Phys. Rev. A 82, 022305 (2010)]. We show that for these systems the choice of boundary conditions (open boundaries as opposed to periodic boundary conditions) is not a mere technicality; the influence of anyons produced at the boundaries becomes in fact dominant for large enough $L$. This influence can be either beneficial or detrimental. In particular, we study an effective Hamiltonian proposed by Pedrocchi et al. [Phys. Rev. B 83, 115415 (2011)] that describes repulsion between anyons and anyon holes. For this system, we find a lifetime of the stored quantum information that grows exponentially in ${L}^{2}$ for both periodic and open boundary conditions, although the exponent in the latter case is found to be less favorable. However, $L$ is upper bounded through the breakdown of the perturbative treatment of the underlying Hamiltonian.

Implementation of single-qubit and CNOT gates by anyonic excitations of two-body topological color code

The anyonic excitations of topological two-body color code model are used to implement a set of gates. Because of two-body interactions, the model can be simulated in optical lattices. The excitations have nontrivial mutual statistics, and are coupled to nontrivial gauge fields. The underlying lattice structure provides various opportunities for encoding the states of a logical qubit in anyonic states. The interactions make the transition between different anyonic states, so being logical operation in the computational bases of the encoded qubit. Two-qubit gates can be performed in a topological way using the braiding of anyons around each other.

Implementing a topological quantum model using a cavity lattice

Kitaev model has both Abelian and non-Abelian anyonic excitations. It can act as a starting point for topological quantum computation. However, this model Hamiltonian is difficult to implement in natural condensed matter systems. Here we propose a quantum simulation scheme by constructing the Kitaev model Hamiltonian in a lattice of coupled cavities with embedded Λ-type three-level atoms. In this scheme, several parameters are tunable, for example, via external laser fields. Importantly, our scheme is based on currently existing technologies and it provides a feasible way of realizing the Kitaev model to explore topological excitations.

Geometric phase in the Kitaev honeycomb model and scaling behaviour at critical points

In this paper a geometric phase of the Kitaev honeycomb model is derived and proposed to characterize the topological quantum phase transition. The simultaneous rotation of two spins is crucial to generate the geometric phase for the multi-spin in a unit-cell unlike the one-spin case. It is found that the ground-state geometric phase, which is non-analytic at the critical points, possesses zigzagging behavior in the gapless $B$ phase of non-Abelian anyon excitations, but is a smooth function in the gapped $A$ phase. Furthermore, the finite-size scaling behavior of the non-analytic geometric phase along with its first- and second-order partial derivatives in the vicinity of critical points is shown to exhibit the universality. The divergent second-order derivative of geometric phase in the thermodynamic limit indicates the typical second-order phase transition and thus the topological quantum phase transition can be well described in terms of the geometric-phase.

Fractionalization of Itinerant Anyons in One-Dimensional Chains

We construct models of interacting itinerant non-Abelian anyons moving along one-dimensional chains, focusing, in particular, on itinerant Ising anyon chains, and 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 (non-Abelian) anyonic degrees of freedom--a generalization of spin-charge separation of electrons which occurs in Luttinger liquids. A detailed description of the excitation spectrum by combining spectra for charge and anyonic sectors requires 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.