Nontechnical Abstract: This project is aimed at 'braiding' of the half-flux quantum vortices. 'Braiding' means moving these quantum vortices around each other as a function of time, corresponding to quantum mechanical exchange. These vortices are believed to have unusual quantum mechanical exchange properties, and the ability to braid them is a necessary enabling step towards topological quantum computation. Therefore, the successful braiding of such vortices would be a major achievement in its own right but also a critical enabling milestone along one of the main envisioned routes towards the development of a topological quantum computer. The new ideas and technologies developed here will enable the braiding of non-abelian anyons, a concept that has so far just lived in the imagination of mathematicians and physicists. The project's broader impacts are related to the major societal impacts to which quantum computation might bring, for example, exponentially increased speeds for certain types of computations, which could then enable many new types of scientific and technological endeavors.
goal of this project is to make progress towards braiding half-flux quantum vortices in the p-wave spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4. Such half-flux vortices are believed to be non-abelian anyons whose quantum exchange should be distinct from that of fermions and bosons. The braiding of these anyons is considered to be a major enabling step along one of the main envisioned routes towards the development of a topological quantum computer. Efforts in this project include the synthesis of the Sr2RuO4 materials, the testing of the materials, the device fabrication using these materials, as well as a theoretical program to address some of the issues that might be encountered along the way. While this program is unusually challenging and therefore of high risk, the potential rewards for its success are also very high, as it might enable quantum computation protected from many aspects of decoherence.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
