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𝐄𝐱𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated that exotic quantum objects known as non-Abelian anyons can perform the full set of operations needed for universal quantum computing. Using 54 qubits on Quantinuum’s H2 trapped-ion processor, scientists created these unusual collective quantum states and manipulated them through two operations known as braiding and fusion. The combination allowed the researchers to demonstrate a universal set of quantum operations, meaning, in principle, the system can perform any quantum computation. The result is particularly significant because non-Abelian anyons may also offer a route toward fault-tolerant quantum computing that avoids some of the most resource-intensive methods currently proposed for quantum error correction.