Proposal to stabilize and detect half-quantum vortices in strontium ruthenate thin films: Non-Abelian braiding statistics of vortex matter in a ${p_x}+i{p_y}$ superconductor

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to stabilize and detect half-quantum vortices in strontium ruthenate thin films with chiral p-wave symmetry, aiming to observe non-Abelian braiding statistics relevant for topological quantum computing.

Contribution

It introduces a natural stabilization technique for half-quantum vortices in strontium ruthenate and suggests experiments to observe their non-Abelian braiding, advancing topological quantum computation.

Findings

Proposes a stabilization method for half-quantum vortices in strontium ruthenate.

Suggests experimental approaches to detect non-Abelian braiding statistics.

Links vortex properties to potential applications in quantum computing.

Abstract

We propose a simple way to stabilize half-quantum vortices in superconducting strontium ruthenate, assuming the order parameter is of chiral $p_x + ip_y$ symmetry, as is suggested by recent experiments. The method, first given by Salomaa and Volovik in the context of Helium-3, is very naturally suited for strontium ruthenate, which has a layered, quasi-two-dimensional, perovskite crystal structure. We propose possible experiments to detect their non abelian-braiding statistics. These experiments are of potential importance for topological quantum computation.