A Josephson relation for fractionally charged anyons

Probing the dynamics of anyons A two-dimensional electron gas in the fractional quantum Hall regime has unusual excitations called anyons that carry only a fraction of the electron's charge. This fractional charge can be observed through a dynamical response to irradiation by microwaves, but such experiments require a combination of high magnetic fields with sensitive noise measurements and very low temperatures. Kapfer et al. observed this dynamical response in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure hosting a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas with fractional excitations of one-third and one-fifth of the electron's charge. The method may be of interest for use in topological quantum computing. Science , this issue p. 846