Probing Non-Abelian Statistics in the $\nu=5/2$ Fractional Quantum Hall State

We analyse an interferometric experiment to detect non-Abelian quasiparticle statistics -- one of the hallmark characteristics of the Moore-Read state expected to describe the observed FQHE plateau at $\nu= 5/2$. The implications for using this state for constructing a topologically protected qubit as has been recently proposed by Das Sarma, Freedman and Nayak are also addressed.