Topological Quantum Computing with Anyons - Alexis Morris

Since the advent of error correction codes, it is theoretically possible to perform quantum computations to any desired accuracy, provided that the failure rate for the quantum gates is smaller than a certain threshold value. However, it will still be some time (if ever!) before experimental techniques can be perfected in order to get below this threshold error rate. This is where topological quantum computation comes into play. The idea is to use a Hilbert space that is instrinsically robust against decoherence effects to perform the quantum computations. In this talk I will introduce the ideas behind topological quantum computation (TQC), starting with the concept of anyons. I will show how anyons can be used to perform TQC and conclude by showing how topological quantum gates can be implemented by braiding anyonic quasi-particles.