Topological Quantum Computing
A tutorial presented at the University of Queensland by Steve Flammia.
Dates: June 22, June 27, July 4, July 11.
Time: 4-5 PM.
Place: Conference Room, Physics Annexe.
The primary purpose of this tutorial is to gain an understanding of topological quantum computing with non-abelian anyons. There is a lot to cover in just four lectures, so I'm assigning some homework (optional) for those who would like to cement their understanding.
Notes
Homework
References
- There are two primary references. The first is Preskill's Notes, Chapter 9. We will be following this closely for the first part of the course. The second is a more in-depth look at some of the physics from a field theorist's perspective: hep-th/9511201.
- A well written review of homotopy groups is, N.D. Mermin, Rev. Mod. Phys. 51 (1979) 591. Click here for the paper (11 Mb).
- Kitaev's original paper, quant-ph/9707021.
- An elaboration and analysis of surface codes (like the toric code), quant-ph/0110143.
- Carlos Mochon discusses anyonic quantum computers with small and/or non-solvable groups, quant-ph/0206128 and quant-ph/0306063.
- Finally, here are three popular articles about topological quantum computing, two from Physics Today, one short and one long, and the third from Scientific American.
- The talks from the KITP conference on topological phases are all available online here.
Links