2010/03/15 by Parsa Bonderson, Sankar Das Sarma, Bonderson, Parsa +6 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.str-el #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1003.2856
6 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2010/03/15 · openalex publication_date 2010/03/15 · arxiv updated 2010/03/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The advancement of information processing into the realm of quantum mechanics promises a transcendence in computational power that will enable problems to be solved which are completely beyond the known abilities of any "classical" computer, including any potential non-quantum technologies the future may bring. However, the fragility of quantum states poses a challenging obstacle for realization of a fault-tolerant quantum computer. The topological approach to quantum computation proposes to surmount this obstacle by using special physical systems -- non-Abelian topologically ordered phases of matter -- that would provide intrinsic fault-tolerance at the hardware level. The so-called "Ising-type" non-Abelian topological order is likely to be physically realized in a number of systems, but it can only provide a universal gate set (a requisite for quantum computation) if one has the ability to perform certain dynamical topology-changing operations on the system. Until now, practical methods of implementing these operations were unknown. Here we show how the necessary operations can be physically implemented for Ising-type systems realized in the recently proposed superconductor-semiconductor and superconductor-topological insulator heterostructures. Furthermore, we specify routines employing these methods to generate a computationally universal gate set. We are consequently able to provide a schematic blueprint for a fully topologically-protected Ising based quantum computer using currently available materials and techniques. This may serve as a starting point for attempts to construct a fault-tolerant quantum computer, which will have applications to cryptanalysis, drug design, efficient simulation of quantum many-body systems, solution of large systems of linear equations, searching large databases, engineering future quantum computers, and -- most importantly -- those applications which no one in our classical era has the prescience to foresee.