Do Anyons Exist? Detecting via Gravitational Waves

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In summary, while anyons have been experimentally detected, the evidence is not yet fully convincing and there is still much to learn about their nature.
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atyy
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Have anyons been experimentally detected (even indirectly, like gravitational waves via binary pulsars)?
 
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I have never heard about anyons so checked wikipedia:

In 2005 a group of physicists at Stony Brook University constructed a quasiparticle interferometer, detecting the patterns caused by interference of anyons which were interpreted to suggest that anyons are real, rather than just a mathematical construct.[3] However, these experiments remain controversial and are not fully accepted by the community.

This gives a reference to http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502406 (Camino, F.; Zhou, Wei; Goldman, V. (2005). "Realization of a Laughlin quasiparticle interferometer: Observation of fractional statistics". Physical Review B 72 (7)).

Not that I know or understand much more now.
 
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Borek said:
This gives a reference to http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502406 (Camino, F.; Zhou, Wei; Goldman, V. (2005). "Realization of a Laughlin quasiparticle interferometer: Observation of fractional statistics". Physical Review B 72 (7)).

Thanks! I asked the question because I was trying to read Stern's notes about anyons, and in the abstract he indicates that definitive evidence is lacking. Interestingly, he does comment on Camino et al's work

"In a series of beautiful experiments of Camino et al., devices of the Fabry-Perot type were fabricated, and were measured in the integer and fractional quantum Hall regime. The results of these experiments are not yet fully understood, and several interpretations have been put forward in subsequent theoretical works (5; 85; 62; 58; 40; 90). While we will not get into a detailed discussion of these experiments here, we will describe the main results and comment on several factors that are crucial for their interpretation. ...

These measurements reveal a major difference between the theoretical construct we introduced above and its experimental realization ...

In any case, the anyonic nature of the quasi-particles is probably involved in the determination of the periods of the oscillations, but the precise way, and the role of the other factors, are not fully understood yet. In fact, different models of the experimental system yield different periodicities (58; 85; 40), none of which is presently able to fully account for the experimental observations. ...
 
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1. What are anyons?

Anyons are hypothetical particles that are neither fermions nor bosons, but possess properties of both. They have been predicted by theoretical physicists and could potentially exist in certain condensed matter systems.

2. How would the existence of anyons be detected?

One proposed method for detecting anyons is through the observation of their fractional statistics, which would manifest as a fractional quantum Hall effect. Another proposed method is through the detection of their topological properties, such as braiding statistics.

3. What role do gravitational waves play in detecting anyons?

Gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, could potentially be used as a tool for detecting anyons. This is because anyons are predicted to have a gravitational charge, which would interact with gravitational waves in a distinct way.

4. Have anyons been observed or detected yet?

No, anyons have not been observed or detected experimentally yet. However, there have been several promising theoretical and experimental studies that suggest their existence.

5. What implications would the discovery of anyons have on our understanding of physics?

The discovery of anyons would have significant implications on our understanding of quantum mechanics and the fundamental laws of physics. It would provide further evidence for the existence of exotic particles and could potentially lead to new technologies and applications in fields such as quantum computing and information storage.

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