Ville Lahtinen — Page 2

arXiv2008

Non-abelian statistics from an abelian model

It is well known that the abelian $Z_2$ anyonic model (toric code) can be realized on a highly entangled two-dimensional spin lattice, where the anyons are quasiparticles located at the endpoints of string-like concatenations of Pauli operators. Here we show that the same entangled states of the same lattice are capable of supporting the non-abelian Ising model, where the concatenated operators are elements of the Clifford group. The Ising anyons are shown to be essentially superpositions of the abelian toric code anyons, reproducing the required fusion, braiding and statistical properties. We propose a string framing and ancillary qubits to implement the non-trivial chirality of this model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Spectrum of the non-abelian phase in Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model

The spectral properties of Kitaev's honeycomb lattice model are investigated both analytically and numerically with the focus on the non-abelian phase of the model. After summarizing the fermionization technique which maps spins into free Majorana fermions, we evaluate the spectrum of sparse vortex configurations and derive the interaction between two vortices as a function of their separation. We consider the effect vortices can have on the fermionic spectrum as well as on the phase transition between the abelian and non-abelian phases. We explicitly demonstrate the $2^n$-fold ground state degeneracy in the presence of $2n$ well separated vortices and the lifting of the degeneracy due to their short-range interactions. The calculations are performed on an infinite lattice. In addition to the analytic treatment, a numerical study of finite size systems is performed which is in exact agreement with the theoretical considerations. The general spectral properties of the non-abelian phase are considered for various finite toroidal systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗