The winding Qbit

If we use the picture medium (see Medium Design) to make a square or disk-shaped "quantum chip", or in general, a chip in any shape that allows all loops on it to be contracted, then this chip will have a unique groundstate. This would be a disaster for our computing plans, because it means that such a chip cannot store information (there is only one code state). Fortunately, we can solve this problem by making a chip with a "large" hole in it (that is, much larger than the components of the local model that underlies the medium). On such a holed chip, we can store one qbit: the winding qbit pictured here. The medium now has two independent groundstates, which are distinguished by a topological feature; in one of these states, the hole is not lassoed, or wound, by the pictures on it, whereas in the other state, it is. Even if you don't know any topology, you will probably be able to convince yourself that there is no way we could change wether the hole is wound by either deforming the pictures or creating "small" loops (in this case smaller than the hole). If we want to store more qbits, we can do this by making more holes.