anyon

Researchers from University of California, Santa Barbara, have developed a device that could prove the existence of non-Abelian anyons. These 2-dimensional quantum particles were theorized and mathematically predicted to exist but have not been synthesized till now.

A (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature23893) study published in the journal Nature has taken the first steps toward finding conclusive evidence of the existence of non-Abelian anyons. The researchers used graphene, an atomically thin material derived from graphite, to develop "an extremely low-defect, highly tunable device in which non-Abelian anyons should be much more accessible," said a news release published on the university website.

These anyons are a type of quasiparticle that occur only in two-dimensional systems, with properties much less restricted than those of fermions and bosons.

Anyons have a strange property that may make them the key to topological quantum computation.

Imagine several anyons on a surface, and suppose they move around along complicated paths, ending up where they started.

Anyons come in a variety of types, and if two different anyons bump into each other, they either annihilate each other or fuse into a single particle.