Physics Club - Ashwin Vishwanath - Harvard University

Event time: 
Monday, September 23, 2024 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Location: 
Sloane Physics Laboratory (SPL), Room 57 See map
217 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

“Using measurements to sculpt quantum entanglement and create non-Abelian topological order on a quantum device”

Traditionally, measurements have been synonymous with extracting information from physical systems. Yet, in quantum systems measurement can actively modify and steer quantum states, acting as a quantum chisel to sculpt new patterns of entanglement. I will describe how this power of measurements can be leveraged to efficiently create the long sought after non-Abelian topological phases. Surprisingly, the particular non-Abelian states created in this way are closely related to Galois’ characterization of solvable polynomial equations.
Finally, I will describe our recent collaboration with Quantinuum that utilizes this approach. In particular, I will discuss the Borromean braiding of excitations, a signature unique to non-Abelian topological order, and its measurement on the Quantinuum platform.

Host: Steven Girvin