Researchers have demonstrated that anyons, a type of quantum particle previously thought to exist only in two dimensions, can also be created in one dimension. This discovery, published in Science, brings scientists closer to using anyons as a fundamental unit of memory in quantum computers.
The team, led by Harvard scientists Joyce Kwan and Markus Greiner, included Alexey Gorshkov from NIST and the Joint Quantum Institute. They used rubidium-87 atoms trapped in an optical lattice to create one-dimensional anyons. By manipulating the atoms with magnetic fields and laser light, they observed the characteristic wavefunction rotation of anyons when particles swapped places.
While the type of one-dimensional anyons found in this experiment cannot serve as quantum memory, other researchers are exploring different types of one-dimensional anyons that may have properties suitable for quantum computing applications. This breakthrough opens new possibilities for harnessing the unique properties of anyons in quantum technologies.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/02/anyone-anyons
Keywords: Quantum, Particles, Memory, Computer, Bosons
