Claudio Chamon: Designing Topological Quantum Matter

Claudio Chamon

Boston University

"Designing Topological Quantum Matter"

Abstract: Topological states of matter hold the promise to serve as the building blocks for novel technologies for computing applications. However, a vast gap has opened between what has been uncovered theoretically and what has so far been observed experimentally. In this talk, I will focus on the construction plans for topological states of matter in systems with realistic 1- and 2-body interactions that can be either programmed in quantum emulators or engineered in systems of superconducting wire arrays. The centerpiece of the program is a guiding symmetry principle – combinatorial gauge symmetry – designed to mold topologically-ordered quantum liquids and thus serve as a foundation for constructing topological qubits in systems with realistic interactions. I will motivate and introduce combinatorial gauge symmetry, and how it realizes exact (as opposed to emergent) local Abelian and non-Abelian gauge symmetries. As a concrete application, I will present and theoretically analyze a two-leg ladder a system built of interconnected superconducting wires show that it hosts spinon and vison excitations, and suggests an interferometric detection scheme to observe their mutual exchange statistics.