Detecting Non-Abelian Statistics in the nu=5/2 Fractional Quantum Hall State

Abstract

In this letter we propose an interferometric experiment to detect non-Abelian quasiparticle statistics -- one of the hallmark characteristics of the Moore-Read state expected to describe the observed FQHE plateau at nu=5/2. The implications for using this state for constructing a topologically protected qubit as has been recently proposed by Das Sarma et. al. are also addressed.

5 pages, 2 eps figures v2: A few minor changes and citation corrections. In particular, the connection to cond-mat/9711087 has been clarified. v3: Minor changes: fixed references to Fig. 2, updated citations, changed a few words to conform to the version published in PRL