Theoretical physicists at Emory University have discovered a way to use light to detect the “spectral fingerprints” of anyons—exotic quasiparticles that emerge from the collective behavior of many electrons. Their findings are published in Physical Review Letters. The work offers a new tool for the study of anyons, which hold potential as fundamental building blocks for quantum computing.

“Using a particular frequency of light, we’ve developed a sensor that can pinpoint the location of an anyon in a material,” says Luiz Santos, professor of physics at Emory University and senior author of the study.

“The dream goal is the ability to manipulate anyons to achieve topological quantum computation,” says Tianhong Lu, first author of the paper and an Emory Ph.D. candidate in physics. “Our theoretical work takes another step in that direction.”