Researchers at Nanjing University in China have used a superconducting quantum chip to simulate a system of particles that are neither fermions nor bosons. As part of this simulation, they measured a parameter known as the quantum geometric tensor that provides local information about the system’s topological properties. The work marks the first time this quantity has been measured in a so-called non-Abelian system – a result that will be useful for studying the physics of complex systems such as topological materials.
According to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, all elementary particles fall into one of two groups: fermions or bosons. Fermions such as electrons obey the Pauli exclusion principle, meaning that no two fermions can ever occupy the same quantum state. This propensity to flee from each other is at the heart of a wide range of phenomena, including the electronic structure of atoms, the stability of neutron stars and the difference between metals (which conduct electric current) and insulators (which do not). Bosons such as photons, on the other hand, tend to group together – something that gives rise to superfluid and superconducting behaviours when many bosons exist in the same quantum state.
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