Determining the parity of a permutation using an experimental NMR qutrit

• NMR implementation of a quantum algorithm to determine the parity of a permutation.
• Algorithm implemented on a single qutrit.
• Computational speedup achieved without quantum entanglement.
• Single qutrit shows quantum contextuality.

We present the NMR implementation of a recently proposed quantum algorithm to find the parity of a permutation. In the usual qubit model of quantum computation, it is widely believed that computational speedup requires the presence of entanglement and thus cannot be achieved by a single qubit. On the other hand, a qutrit is qualitatively more quantum than a qubit because of the existence of quantum contextuality and a single qutrit can be used for computing. We use the deuterium nucleus oriented in a liquid crystal as the experimental qutrit. This is the first experimental exploitation of a single qutrit to carry out a computational task.