The quantum Hall effect, discovered in the early 1980s, is a phenomenon that was observed in a two-dimensional gas of electrons existing at the interface between two semiconductor layers. Subject to the severe criteria of very high material purity and very low temperatures, the electrons, when under the influence of a large magnetic field, will organize themselves into an ensemble state featuring remarkable properties.

Many physicists believe that quantum Hall physics is not unique to electrons, and thus it should be possible to observe this behavior elsewhere, such as in a collection of trapped ultracold atoms. Experiments at JQI and elsewhere are being planned to do just that. On the theoretical front, scientists* at JQI and University of Maryland have also made progress, which they describe in the journal Physical Review Letters. The result, to be summarized here, proposes using quantum matter made from a neutral atomic gas, instead of electrons. In this new design, elusive exotic states that are predicted to occur in certain quantum Hall systems should emerge. These states, known as parafermionic zero modes, may be useful in building robust quantum gates.