MATHEMATICS OF TOPOLOGICAL QUANTUM COMPUTING Academic Article

In topological quantum computing, information is encoded in knotted quantum states of topological phases of matter, thus being locked into topology to prevent decay. Topological precision has been confirmed in quantum Hall liquids by experiments to an accuracy of 10 10 10^{-10} and harnessed to stabilize quantum memory. In this survey, we discuss the conceptual development of this interdisciplinary field at the juncture of mathematics, physics, and computer science. Our focus is on computing and physical motivations, basic mathematical notions and results, open problems and future directions related to and/or inspired by topological quantum computing.