Previously ignored theoretical particle, “neglectons,” may be the key to unlocking scalable, stable quantum computing without needing exotic new particles.
Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered a surprising key to solving one of quantum computing’s biggest hurdles and it involves a particle that had previously been ignored.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, the USC team found that adding just one extra particle, called a neglecton, could make a specific type of quantum computing, known as topological quantum computing and fully universal. That means it could carry out any quantum algorithm in theory, using just one method: braiding.
Quantum computers promise to solve problems far too complex for regular computers. But they’re still in their early stages, largely because of qubits. The units of quantum information are easily disrupted by their environment.
Topological quantum computing tries to fix this by using special particles called anyons, which store data in their shape or geometry, making them more stable.
Ising anyons are a kind of anyon already being explored in the lab. They can perform some logic operations by being physically moved or braided around each other. But alone, they can’t do everything needed for full-scale quantum computing. They’re limited to what’s known as Clifford gates,
Clifford gates are a special set of quantum gates that are very important in quantum computing, especially in error correction, but cannot do everything needed for quantum computing.
This is where the neglecton comes in. Pulled from an extended version of quantum theory known as non-semisimple topological quantum field theory. The neglecton had been thrown out in earlier models because it looked mathematically unimportant.
But USC researchers showed that when it’s included and kept still, it allows the Ising anyons to do universal computing through braiding alone.
