The 3D version shows a Landau-level lattice orbiting camera-side and simply multiplies the total angle traveled by 2π/m at the end. This 2D companion instead renders the composite-fermion / flux-attachment picture: the fixed (red) quasihole carries a synthetic Aharonov–Bohm flux line of strength Φ = 2π/m threading the plane, drawn as tangential field arrows whose length falls off as 1/ρ. The moving (yellow) quasiparticle's statistical phase is computed every animation frame as a genuine discretized line integral of that vector field along its actual velocity — not read off a lookup formula.
Flux-line vector potential: A(r) = (Φ/2π) · (-Δy, Δx) / ρ², ρ = |r - r_fixed|
Per-frame phase increment: dθ = (A · v) · dt (numerical ∮A·dl)
Accumulated phase: θ = Σ dθ over the frame history
For any closed loop around the flux line, A·v · dt integrates to exactly
Φ · (Δφ / 2π) regardless of loop radius, speed, or shape — the phase
is a topological invariant, which this simulator now demonstrates by
actually computing the integral rather than assuming the result.
The panel also tracks the geometric winding (raw angle traveled ÷ 2π) completely separately from the integrated phase — the two are computed by unrelated code paths, so their agreement (phase ≈ winding × 2π/m) is a live cross-check of the topological statistics, not a coincidence of a shared formula.
- ν selector — sets m (1/3, 1/5, 1/7), changing the flux strength Φ = 2π/m and the quasiparticle charge e/m.
- Loops — how many full windings "Braid Once" performs before stopping.
- Braid speed — angular speed of the orbiting quasiparticle; the integrated phase is unaffected, since A·v·dt = Φ·dφ/2π has no speed dependence once dφ is fixed.
Real-world relevance: fractional statistics of Laughlin quasiparticles were confirmed via shot-noise and interferometry measurements; the flux-attachment picture used here is Jain's composite-fermion construction, the standard way condensed-matter theory explains why these excitations are neither bosons nor fermions.