Quantum Lunch: Nonabelian braiding by topological solitons

Speaker: Nuno M. Romão from University of Augsburg

Title:
Nonabelian braiding by topological solitons

Abstract:
Topological quantum computation makes use of systems of anyonic particles that pick up nonabelian Aharonov-Bohm phases upon braiding. I will explain how such “nonabelions” can be implemented by the ground states of certain gauged sigma-models on a compact surface. The upshot is that these models localise on moduli spaces whose fundamental groups yield a generalisation of the pure braid groups of the surface which resembles a discrete Weyl-Heisenberg group.

My talk is based on joint work with Marcel Bökstedt