Braid group statistics and exchange matrices of non-abelian anyons : with representations in Clifford algebra

Sammanfattning: When leaving classical physics and entering the realm of quantum physics, there are many new concepts being introduced. One of the most fundamental ideas in quantum mechanics is that particles no longer have exact known positions, but instead expected values and prob- abilities. This leads to the phenomena of truly identical particles, since they no longer can be distinguished simply by their positions. An important property differentiating different kinds of particles is how a system behaves when two such identical particles are exchanged. Historically, this divided particles into bosons and fermions, corresponding to symmetry and antisymmetry under an exchange. However, in two dimensions a new type of particle appears. These particles are called anyons, and behave differently when particles are exchanged. Anyons can be further divided into abelian and non-abelian anyons, of which this thesis will focus on the latter. The ex- changes can then be represented by the fundamental group of the configuration space of the particles, and in two dimensions this fundamental group is the braid group. Using rotors from a Clifford algebra and studying excitations of Majorana fermions, this thesis will show a way to calculate the exchange matrices of non-abelian anyons, and their corresponding eigenvalues. Furthermore, suggestions on a generalization of this framework along with areas where it can be applied are given.