Using Anyons as Qubits: A New Approach to Quantum Computing?

How anyons works?

In the world of quantum computing, we typically talk about something being both 0 and 1 at the same time. This is a unique feature of quantum bits or "qubits". When a qubit is both 0 and 1, it's in a "superposition" of states.

When it comes to anyons, however, it's a bit different. Anyons themselves aren't exactly like qubits. They don't hold a value of 0 or 1, or a superposition of both. Instead, the important thing about anyons is their position relative to each other.

Imagine anyons like dancers in a choreographed dance. The specific dance steps (the way anyons move around each other) are what really matters, not the individual dancer. This dance routine, or "braiding" as it's called, is what encodes the information, similar to how a qubit being 0 or 1 (or both) encodes information.

So, while it doesn't make sense to say an anyon is in a state of both 0 and 1 like a qubit, the way anyons dance around each other (or braid) can represent complex information just like a group of qubits can.

Use anyons to create qubits

Alexei Kitaev suggested we could use anyons to build a more stable and reliable type of qubit for quantum computers.

In traditional quantum computing, a qubit can be in a state of 0, 1, or a superposition of both, and it's this state that stores and processes information. However, these qubits are very sensitive and their states can easily be disturbed, causing them to lose their information.

With anyons, instead of the information being stored in the state of an individual particle, it's stored in the pattern of how anyons are braided or "danced" around each other. This makes the information much more resistant to disturbances, because a small change or error won't change the overall pattern of the dance.

So Kitaev's idea was that by using anyons, we could build quantum computers that can maintain their qubits' information for longer periods of time, making them more practical for performing complex calculations. This would be a big step forward in the development of quantum computers.