Article abstract
Nature Physics 4, 482 - 488 (2008)
Published online: 20 April 2008 | doi:10.1038/nphys943
Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Quantum physics | Information theory and computation
Anyonic interferometry and protected memories in atomic spin lattices
Liang Jiang1, Gavin K. Brennen2,3, Alexey V. Gorshkov1, Klemens Hammerer2,3, Mohammad Hafezi1, Eugene Demler1, Mikhail D. Lukin1 & Peter Zoller2,3
Abstract
Strongly correlated quantum systems can exhibit exotic behaviour called topological order which is characterized by non-local correlations that depend on the system topology. Such systems can exhibit remarkable phenomena such as quasiparticles with anyonic statistics and have been proposed as candidates for naturally error-free quantum computation. However, anyons have never been observed in nature directly. Here, we describe how to unambiguously detect and characterize such states in recently proposed spin–lattice realizations using ultracold atoms or molecules trapped in an optical lattice. We propose an experimentally feasible technique to access non-local degrees of freedom by carrying out global operations on trapped spins mediated by an optical cavity mode. We show how to reliably read and write topologically protected quantum memory using an atomic or photonic qubit. Furthermore, our technique can be used to probe statistics and dynamics of anyonic excitations.
- Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Science, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Correspondence to: Liang Jiang1 e-mail: jiang@physics.harvard.edu
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