Torsten Karzig

About

About me:

My work focuses on the theoretical description of the proposed hardware for topological quantum computation in close collaboration with our experimental groups. I am also interested in effects that arise when dynamically manipulating topological systems. An understanding of the associated effects will be a crucial ingredient for developing a fast topological quantum computer.

A list of selected publications is available in the Publications section. A full list of my publications can be found on the arXiv.

What is topological quantum computation?

Quantum computation holds the promise to drastically outperform classical computers in a wide range of problems. Quantum computers are, however, difficult to realize because they require strong shielding from noise that can disturb their complex quantum states. This is where the concept known as topological quantum computation comes into play. Some physical system are known to exhibit topological protection, which means that certain observables only depend on coarse (global) quantities and are independent of fine details. This is the underlying mechanism for some of most robust effects known in quantum physics (e.g. the quantum Hall effect). The goal of topological quantum computation is to use these robust systems as a basis of a quantum computer.