Physical Society Colloquium

Direct observation of anyonic braiding statistics

Michael Manfra

Department of Physics and Astronomy
Purdue University
Microsoft Quantum Purdue

Anyons are quasiparticles that, unlike fermions and bosons, show fractional statistics when two of them are exchanged. In this presentation I will describe our experimental observation of anyonic braiding statistics for quasiparticles of the ν=1/3 fractional quantum Hall state using an electronic Fabry-Perot interferometer. Utilizing a purpose-designed GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure we demonstrate strong Aharonov-Bohm interference of the edge mode that is punctuated by discrete phase slips that indicate an anyonic phase anyon ϑ=2/3. Our results are consistent with theoretical predictions for anyonic phase at ν=1/3 made nearly 40 years ago. Our results are also consistent with a recent theory that describes an interferometer operated in a regime in which device charging energy is small compared to the energy of formation of charged quasiparticles, which indicates that we have observed anyonic braiding.

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFyqLIEsIzc