Fractional statistics in anyon collisions

Abstract

Looking for intermediate statistics Elementary particles in three dimensions are either bosons or fermions, depending on their spin. In two dimensions, it is in principle possible to have particles that lie somewhere in between, but detecting the statistics of these so-called anyons directly is tricky. Bartolomei et al. built a collider of anyons in a two-dimensional electron gas of GaAs/AlGaAs (see the Perspective by Feldman). Two beams of anyons collided at a beam splitter and then exited the device at two outputs. The researchers studied the correlations of current fluctuations at the outputs, which revealed signatures of anyonic statistics. Science , this issue p. 173 ; see also p. 131