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A new phase of matter: Physicists show non-Abelian anyons in quantum processor

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Re: A new phase of matter: Physicists show non-Abelian anyons in quantum processor

#6
I've always found it to be a bit of a stretch when they say they've demonstrated a new phase of matter when the phase is being simulated by a quantum computer. They've simulated the phase -- but then you get into the same argument of "what is and isn't a simulation of a phase of matter" which is really tiresome.

Re: A new phase of matter: Physicists show non-Abelian anyons in quantum processor

#10
post #6

I've always found it to be a bit of a stretch when they say they've demonstrated a new phase of matter when the phase is being simulated by a quantum computer. They've simulated the phase -- but then you get into the same argument of "what is and isn't a simulation of a phase of matter" which is really tiresome.

Way over my pay grade, but they appear to be claiming this is not just a simulation. Whether you agree may depend on your metaphysics.

> These experiments go beyond merely simulating non-Abelian order and statistics. As we elaborate in A1, the data obtained from prior benchmarking [36] is compatible with the fact that both the quantum operations as well as the dominant imperfections follow the 2D geometry to which the qubits are assigned. Thus, the ions are entangled in precisely the same way as the low-energy states of Eq. (1), making them indistinguishable from states arising in the low-temperature limit of, e.g., a solid-state system governed by the same Hamiltonian. Ground state degeneracy then refers to the number of locally indistinguishable states, while anyons are local deformations which cannot be individually created by a local process.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2305.03766.pdf

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