Professor
- Address:
- GCIS E39AD
929 East 57th Street
Chicago, Il, 60637
- Email:
- w-kang@uchicago.edu
- Physics Faculty Profile
- https://physics.uchicago.edu/people/profile/woowon-kang/
Research
In recent years my group has been pursuing research on fractional quantum Hall effect connected to topological quantum computation. Topological quantum computing is a fascinating interplay of topology, quantum field theory, physics of fractional quantum Hall effect, and theories of quantum computing.
The fractional quantum Hall effect is presently the most promising platform for a topological quantum computer among various candidate systems. The global topological protection afforded by fractional quantum Hall effect produces fault-tolerance in a topological quantum computer. A topological quantum computer consequently becomes immune against the effects of local quantum decoherence.
A fault-tolerant qubit can be constructed by taking advantage of the non-Abelian braiding statistics of elementary excitations (called anyons) which are thought to exist in certain, exotic fractional quantum Hall states. Experimental goals include detection and manipulations of the postulated non-Abelian anyons in quantum interferometers constructed from high quality semiconductor heterostructures.