The quantum geometric tensor - the Berry curvature together with the quantum metric - now underlies a long list of observables, from the anomalous Hall effect to the superfluid weight of a flat band. We ask which of these observables actually require quantum mechanics. To answer this question, we study a purely classical system: a point particle carrying a classical magnetic moment ℓ that precesses in a momentum-dependent magnetic field 𝐁(𝐩). Within Hamiltonian classical mechanics, the component of ℓ along the field reproduces the Berry-curvature phenomena, while its precessing transverse component reproduces the quantum-metric phenomena. The particle acquires a position spread whose second moment is the metric, an orbital magnetic moment, and - most strikingly - an inertial mass generated by a position-dependent force, and with it a nonzero Drude weight in a system that is nominally dispersionless.
We develop a theoretical framework for probing superconductivity with momentum resolution using the quantum twisting microscope (QTM), a planar tunneling device where a graphene tip is rotated relative to a two-dimensional sample. Because of in-plane momentum conservation, the QTM directly measures the superconducting spectral function along well-defined trajectories in momentum space. The relative intensities of electron and hole excitations encode the Bogoliubov coherence factors, revealing the momentum dependence of the pairing magnitude. Three C_3z-related tunneling channels enable direct detection of rotational symmetry breaking, as well as nodal points in the superconducting order parameter. We apply our framework to superconductivity within the Bistritzer-MacDonald model of noninteracting electrons and the topological heavy-fermion model, which accounts for electron-electron interactions. Together, these capabilities establish the QTM as a direct probe of the pairing symmetry and microscopic origin of superconductivity in two-dimensional materials.
Even-denominator quantum Hall states can host several types of anyons with distinct exchange statistics. Depending on the anyon type, exchanging two quasiparticles can impart a phase to the many-body wave function or even transform it into a different state. Here, we realize a gate-tunable Fabry-Pérot interferometer with an embedded antidot that provides local control over the number of anyons within the interference loop. By independently tuning the magnetic field, carrier densities across the device, and the antidot potential, we access regimes in which localized anyons form reproducibly and measure the associated statistical phases e^i θ_braid. We resolve braiding phases of θ_braid=π and θ_braid=2, which we attribute to e/2 quasiparticles encircling either e/2 or e/4 quasiparticles, respectively. We further observe switching between different anyon occupancies of the antidot over time, directly resolving individual anyon tunnelling events into the interference loop. Similar behavior occurs at filling factor one third. Our work addresses one of the two key challenges in observing non-Abelian braiding, which requires control of both localized and interfering anyon types.
The hallmark of two-dimensional chiral topological phases is the existence of anomalous gapless modes at the spatial boundary. Yet, the manifestation of this edge anomaly within the bulk ground-state wavefunction itself remains only partially understood. In this work, we introduce a family of multipartite entanglement measures that probe chirality directly from the bulk wavefunction. Our construction involves applying different permutations between replicas of the ground state wavefunction in neighboring spatial regions, creating "permutation defects" at the boundaries between these regions. We provide general arguments for the robustness of these measures and develop a field-theoretical framework to compute them systematically. While the standard topological field theory prescription misses the chiral contribution, our method correctly identifies it as the chiral conformal field theory partition function on high-genus Riemann surfaces. This feature is a consequence of the bulk-edge correspondence, which dictates that any regularization of the theory at the permutation defects must introduce gapless boundary modes. We numerically verify our results with both free-fermion and strongly-interacting chiral topological states and find excellent agreement. Our results enable the extraction of the chiral central charge and the Hall conductance using a finite number of wavefunction replicas, making these quantities accessible to Monte-Carlo numerical techniques and noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices.
Position exchange of non-Abelian anyons affects the quantum state of their system in a topologically protected way1. Their expected manifestations in even-denominator fractional quantum Hall (FQH) systems offer the opportunity to directly study their unique statistical properties in interference experiments2. Here we present the observation of coherent Aharonov-Bohm interference at two even-denominator states in high-mobility bilayer-graphene-based van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures by using the Fabry-Pérot interferometry technique. Operating the interferometer at a constant filling factor, we observe an oscillation period corresponding to two flux quanta inside the interference loop, ΔΦ = 2Φ0, at which the interference does not carry signatures of non-Abelian statistics. The absence of the expected periodicity of ΔΦ = 4Φ0 may indicate that the interfering quasiparticles carry the charge e * = 1 2 e or that interference of e * = 1 4 e quasiparticles is thermally smeared. Notably, at two hole-conjugate states, we also observe oscillation periods of half the expected value, indicating interference of e * = 2 3 e quasiparticles instead of e * = 1 3 e . To investigate statistical phase contributions, we operated the Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI) with controlled deviations of the filling factor, thereby introducing fractional quasiparticles inside the interference loop. The resulting changes to the interference patterns at both half-filled states indicate that the extra bulk quasiparticles carry the fundamental charge e * = 1 4 e , as expected for non-Abelian anyons.
We evaluate electromagnetic-response observables in a half-filled Chern band, across a topological phase transition between a composite Fermi liquid (CFL) and a Fermi liquid (FL) phase. While a sharp gapped plasma mode exists deep in the CFL phase, we demonstrate that it is damped near the proposed continuous phase transition between CFL and FL. This plasmon-damping phenomenon originates from emergent gauge fields and a Dirac-fermion-like spectrum. Similar features also occur in other continuous deconfined topological phase transitions, such as the Laughlin to superfluid transition in a bosonic system. In particular, this damping behavior extends over a finite range across the phase boundary, and, hence, we expect it to persist even when the transition is weakly first order. Furthermore, we analyze the characteristic conductivity behavior, such as the Drude weight, the wave-vector-dependent conductivity, the chiral mirror effect, and thermodynamic behavior, including compressibility and magnetic susceptibility across these topological phase transitions.
Quantum computers based on crystals of electrically trapped ions are a prominent technology for quantum computation. A unique feature of trapped ions is their long-range Coulomb interactions, which come about as an ability to naturally realize large-scale multi-qubit entanglement gates. However, scaling up the number of qubits in these systems, while retaining high-fidelity and high-speed operations is challenging. Specifically, designing multi-qubit entanglement gates in long ion crystals of 100s of ions involves an NP-hard optimization problem, rendering scaling up the number of qubits a conceptual challenge as well. Here we introduce a method that vastly reduces the computational challenge, effectively allowing for a polynomial-time design of fast and programmable entanglement gates, acting on the entire ion crystal. We use this method to investigate the utility, scaling and requirements of such multi-qubit gates. Our method delineates a path towards scaling up quantum computers based on ion-crystals with 100s of qubits.
We propose a way to generate a one-dimensional topological superconductor from a monolayer of a transition metal dichalcogenide coupled to a Bernal-stacked bilayer of graphene under a displacement field. With proper gating, this structure may be tuned to form three parallel pads of superconductors creating two planar Josephson junctions in series, in which normal regions separate the superconductors. Two characteristics of the system which are essential for our discussion are spin orbit coupling induced by the transition metal dichalcogenides and the variation of the Fermi velocities along the Fermi surface. We demonstrate that these two characteristics lead to one-dimensional topological superconductivity occupying large parts in the parameter space defined by the two phase differences across the two junctions and the relative angle between the junctions and the lattice. An angle-shaped device in which this angle varies in space, combined with proper phase tuning, can lead to the formation of domain walls between topological and trivial phases, supporting a zero-energy Majorana mode, within the bulk of carefully designed devices. We derive the spectrum of the Andreev bound states and show that Ising spin-orbit coupling leaves the topological superconductor gapless, and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling opens a gap in its spectrum. Our analysis shows that the transition to a gapped topological state is a result of the band inversion of Andreev states.
We study the edges of fractional quantum spin Hall insulators (FQSH) with half-integer spin Hall conductance. These states can be viewed as symmetric combinations of a spin-up and spin-down half-integer fractional quantum Hall state (FQH) that are time-reversal invariant, and conserve the z-component of spin. We consider the non-Abelian states based on the Pfaffian, anti-Pfaffian, PH-Pfaffian, and 221 FQH, and generic Abelian FQH. For strong enough spin-conserving interactions, we find that all the non-Abelian and Abelian edges flow to the same fixed point that consists of a single pair of charged counter-propagating bosonic modes. If spin-conservation is broken, the Abelian edge can be fully gapped in a time-reversal symmetric fashion. The non-Abelian edge with broken spin-conservation remains gapless due to time-reversal symmetry, and can flow to a new fixed point with a helical gapless pair of Majorana fermions. We discuss the possible relevance of our results to the recent observation of a half-integer edge conductance in twisted MoTe2.
The search for fractional quantized Hall phases in the absence of a magnetic field has primarily targeted flat-band systems that mimic the features of a Landau level. In an alternative approach, the fractional excitonic insulator (FEI) has been proposed as a correlated electron-hole fluid that arises near a band inversion between bands of different angular momentum with strong interactions. It remains an interesting challenge to find Hamiltonians with realistic interactions that stabilize this state. Here, we describe composite boson and composite fermion theories that highlight the importance of (p_x+ip_y)^m excitonic pairing in stabilizing FEIs in a class of band inversion models. We predict a sequence of Jain-like and Laughlin-like FEI states, the simplest of which has the topological order of the bosonic ν=1/2 fractional quantized Hall state. We discuss implications for recent numerical studies on a chiral spin liquid phase in interacting Chern insulator models.
Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) hosts a multitude of strongly correlated states at partial fillings of its flat bands. In a magnetic field, these flat bands further evolve into a unique Hofstadter spectrum renormalized by strong Coulomb interactions. Here, we study the interacting Hofstadter states spontaneously formed within the topological magnetic subbands of an ultraclean MATBG device, notably including symmetry-broken Chern insulator (SBCI) states and fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states. The observed SBCI states form a cascade with their Chern numbers mimicking the main sequence correlated Chern insulators. The FQH states in MATBG form in Jain sequence; however, they disappear at high magnetic field, distinct from conventional FQH states which strengthen with increasing magnetic field. We reveal a unique magnetic field-driven phase transition from composite fermion phases to a dissipative Fermi liquid. Our theoretical analysis of the magnetic subbands hosting FQH states predicts non uniform quantum geometric properties far from the lowest Landau level. This points towards a more natural interpretation of these FQH states as in-field fractional Chern insulators of the magnetic subbands.
We propose a way to generate a one-dimensional topological superconductor from a monolayer of a transition metal dichalcogenide coupled to a Bernal-stacked bilayer of graphene under a displacement field. With proper gating, this structure may be tuned to form three parallel pads of superconductors creating two planar Josephson junctions in series, in which normal regions separate the superconductors. Two characteristics of the system, which are essential for our discussion, are spin orbit coupling induced by the transition metal dichalcogenides and the variation of the Fermi velocities along the Fermi surface. We demonstrate that these two characteristics lead to one-dimensional topological superconductivity occupying large parts in the parameter space defined by the two phase differences across the two junctions and the relative angle between the junctions and the lattice. An angle-shaped device in which this angle varies in space, combined with proper phase tuning, can lead to the formation of domain walls between topological and trivial phases, supporting a zero-energy Majorana mode, within the bulk of carefully designed devices. We derive the spectrum of the Andreev bound states and show that Ising spin-orbit coupling leaves the topological superconductor gapless, and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling opens a gap in its spectrum. Our analysis shows that the transition to a gapped topological state is a result of the band inversion of Andreev states.
We address the problem of identifying a 2+1D topologically ordered phase using measurements on the ground-state wave function. For nonchiral topological order, we describe a series of bulk multipartite entanglement measures that extract the invariants ∑_{a} d_{a}^{2}θ_{a}^{r} for any r≥2, where d_{a} and θ_{a} are the quantum dimension and topological spin of an anyon a, respectively. These invariants are obtained as expectation values of permutation operators between 2r replicas of the wave function, applying different permutations on four distinct regions of the plane. Our proposed measures provide a refined tool for distinguishing topological phases, capturing information beyond conventional entanglement measures such as the topological entanglement entropy. We argue that any operator capable of extracting the above invariants must act on at least 2r replicas, making our procedure optimal in terms of the required number of replicas. We discuss the generalization of our results to chiral states.
Topological states of matter exhibit unique protection against scattering by disorder. Different topological classes exhibit distinct forms and degrees of protection. Here, we investigate the response of the ferromagnetic nodal line semimetal Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ to disorder and electronic interactions. By combining global magneto-transport with atomic-scale scanning tunneling spectroscopy we find a simultaneous onset of diverse phenomena below a common temperature scale of about 15 K: A crossover from metallic to insulating temperature dependence of the longitudinal resistivity, saturation of the anomalous Hall conductivity to its maximal value, formation of a sharp zero-bias dip in the tunneling density of state, and emergence of multi-fractal structure of the electronic wavefunction peaking at the Fermi energy. These concurrent observations reflect the emergence of a novel energy scale possibly related to the opening of a gap in the nodal line band of Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$. Our study provides overarching insight into the role of disorder, electronic interactions and Berry curvature in setting the micro- and macro-scale responses of topological semimetals.
We study the quantum critical point between the fermionic ν=8 quantum Hall state and the bosonic ν=2 quantum Hall state of Cooper pairs. Our study is motivated by the composite fermion construction for the daughter states of even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states and the experimentally observed transition between the daughter and the Jain states at the same filling. We show that this transition is equivalent to the transition between a neutral invertible E_8 state and a topologically trivial state. These transitions can be described in a partonic framework as a cascade of mass changes of four neutral Dirac fermions coupled to multiple Abelian Chern-Simons U(1) gauge fields. In the absence of fine-tuning, the transition is split into a series of four or more different transitions, with at least three distinct intermediate topologically ordered phases hosting neutral anyons.
Multiple topologically distinct quantum Hall phases can occur at the same Landau level filling factor. It is a major challenge to distinguish between these phases as they only differ by the neutral modes, which do not affect the charge conductance in conventional geometries. We show that the neutral sector can be determined with coherent charge conductance in a π-shaped geometry that interfaces three different filling factors. Specifically, non-Abelian paired states at a half-filled Landau level and the anti-Read-Rezayi state can be identified. Interestingly, for interfaces between paired states and Jain states, the electric current in the π geometry behaves as if pairs of neutral Majorana edge modes were charge modes of Jain states.
The remarkable complexity of a topologically ordered many-body quantum system is encoded in the characteristics of its anyons. Quintessential predictions emanating from this complexity employ the Fibonacci string net condensate (Fib SNC) and its anyons: sampling Fib-SNC would estimate chromatic polynomials while exchanging its anyons would implement universal quantum computation. However, physical realizations remained elusive. We introduce a scalable dynamical string net preparation (DSNP) that constructs Fib SNC and its anyons on reconfigurable graphs suitable for near-term superconducting processors. Coupling the DSNP approach with composite error-mitigation on deep circuits, we create, measure, and braids Fibonacci anyons; charge measurements show 94% accuracy, and exchanging the anyons yields the expected golden ratio ϕ with 98% average accuracy. We then sample the Fib SNC to estimate chromatic polynomial at ϕ + 2 for several graphs. Our results establish the proof of principle for using Fib-SNC and its anyons for fault-tolerant universal quantum computation and aim at a classically hard problem.
Simulation of quantum systems is notoriously challenging for classical computers, while quantum hardware is naturally well-suited for this task. However, the imperfections of contemporary quantum systems pose a considerable challenge in carrying out accurate simulations over long evolution times. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a method for quantum simulations on a small-scale trapped-ion-based quantum simulator. Our method enables quantum simulations of programmable spin-Hamiltonians, using only simple global fields, driving all qubits homogeneously and simultaneously. We measure the evolution of a quantum Ising ring and accurately reconstruct the Hamiltonian parameters, showcasing an accurate and high-fidelity simulation. Our method enables a significant reduction in the required control and depth of quantum simulations, thus generating longer evolution times with higher accuracy.
We explore the possibility of quantum liquids that are compressible but have vanishing dc conductivity in the absence of disorder. We show that the composite Fermi liquid emerging from strong interaction in a generic Chern band has zero Drude weight, in stark contrast to normal Fermi liquids. Our Letter establishes the absence of Drude weight as the defining property of the composite Fermi liquid phase, which distinguishes it from the Fermi liquid or other types of non-Fermi liquids. Our findings point to a possibly wide class of gapless quantum phases with unexpected transport and optical properties.