Exotic non-Abelian anyons from conventional fractional quantum Hall states

Abstract

Non-Abelian anyons—particles whose exchange noncommutatively transforms a system’s quantum state—are widely sought for the exotic fundamental physics they harbour and for quantum computing applications. Numerous blueprints now exist for stabilizing the simplest type of non-Abelian anyon, defects binding Majorana modes, by interfacing widely available materials. Here we introduce a device fabricated from conventional fractional quantum Hall states and s-wave superconductors that supports exotic non-Abelian defects binding parafermionic zero modes, which generalize Majorana bound states. We show that these new modes can be experimentally identified (and distinguished from Majoranas) using Josephson measurements. We also provide a practical recipe for braiding parafermionic zero modes and show that they give rise to non-Abelian statistics. Interestingly, braiding in our setup produces a richer set of topologically protected operations when compared with the Majorana case. As a byproduct, we establish a new, experimentally realistic Majorana platform in weakly spin–orbit-coupled materials such as gallium arsenide.