The Fermi-sea-like limit of the composite fermion wave function

The experimentally observed filling factors of the fractional quantum Hall effect can be described in terms of the composite fermion wave function of the Jastrow-Slater form [0pt] fully projected into the lowest Landau level. The Slater determinant of the above composite fermion wave function represents the filled Landau levels of composite fermions evaluated at the corresponding reduced magnetic field. For a system of fermions studied in the thermodynamic limit, we prove that in the even-denominator-filled state limit (when the number of filled Landau levels of composite fermions becomes infinite), the above composite fermion wave function exactly transforms into the Rezayi-Read Fermi-sea-like wave function [0pt] constructed by attaching 2m flux quanta to the Slater determinant of two-dimensional free fermions at the density corresponding to that filling. We study the composite fermion wave function and its evolution into the Fermi-sea-like wave function for a range of filling factors very close to the even-denominator-filled state. Received 19 March 1999     

Fractional quantum Hall effect at high fillings in a two-subband electron system

Magnetotransport measurements in a clean two-dimensional electron system confined to a wide GaAs quantum well reveal that, when the electrons occupy two electric subbands, the sequences of fractional quantum Hall states observed at high fillings (ν>2) are distinctly different from those of a single-subband system. Notably, when the Fermi energy lies in the ground state Landau level of either of the subbands, no quantum Hall states are seen at the even-denominator ν=5/2 and 7/2 fillings; instead, the observed states are at ν=[i+p/(2p±1)], where i=2, 3, 4 and p=1, 2, 3, and include several new states at ν=13/5, 17/5, 18/5, 25/7, and 14/3.     

Temperature-dependent magnetotransport around ν=1/2 in ZnO heterostructures

The sequence of prominent fractional quantum Hall states up to ν=5/11 around ν=1/2 in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system confined at oxide heterointerface (ZnO) is analyzed in terms of the composite fermion model. The temperature dependence of R(xx) oscillations around ν=1/2 yields an estimation of the composite fermion effective mass, which increases linearly with the magnetic field. This mass is of similar value to an enhanced electron effective mass, which in itself arises from strong electron interaction. The energy gaps of fractional states and the temperature dependence of R(xx) at ν=1/2 point to large residual interactions between composite fermions.     

Energy gaps for fractional quantum Hall states described by a Chern-Simons composite fermion wavefunction

The Jain's composite fermion wavefunction has proven quite succesful to describe most of the fractional quantum Hall states. Its mathematical foundation lies in the Chern-Simons field theory for the electrons in the lowest Landau level, despite the fact that such wavefunction is different from a typical mean-field level Chern-Simons wavefunction. It is known that the energy excitation gaps for fractional Hall states described by Jain's composite fermion wavefunction cannot be calculated analytically. We note that analytic results for the energy excitation gaps of fractional Hall states described by a fermion Chern-Simons wavefunction are readily obtained by using a technique originating from nuclear matter studies. By adopting this technique to the fractional quantum Hall effect we obtained analytical results for the excitation energy gaps of all fractional Hall states described by a Chern-Simons wavefunction. Received 9 March 2001     

Signatures of non-Abelian statistics in nonlinear Coulomb blockade transport

Signatures of the non-Abelian statistics of quasiparticles in the ν=5/2 quantum Hall state are predicted to be present in the current-voltage characteristics of tunneling through one or two quantum Hall puddles of Landau filling ν(a) embedded in a bulk of filling ν(b) with (ν(a),ν(b))=(2,5/2) and (ν(a),ν(b))=(5/2,2).     

Evolution of the 7/2 fractional quantum Hall state in two-subband systems

We report the evolution of the fractional quantum Hall state (FQHS) at a total Landau level (LL) filling factor of ν=7/2 in wide GaAs quantum wells in which electrons occupy two electric subbands. The data reveal subtle and distinct evolutions as a function of density, magnetic field tilt angle, or symmetry of the charge distribution. At intermediate tilt angles, for example, we observe a strengthening of the ν=7/2 FQHS. Moreover, in a well with asymmetric change distribution, there is a developing FQHS when the LL filling factor of the symmetric subband ν(S) equals 5/2 while the antisymmetric subband has a filling factor of 1<ν(A)<2.     

Nonconventional odd-denominator fractional quantum Hall states in the second Landau level

We report the observation of a new fractional quantum Hall state in the second Landau level of a two-dimensional electron gas at the Landau level filling factor ν=2+6/13. We find that the model of noninteracting composite fermions can explain the magnitude of gaps of the prominent 2+1/3 and 2+2/3 states. The same model fails, however, to account for the gaps of the 2+2/5 and the newly observed 2+6/13 states suggesting that these two states are of exotic origin.     

Light scattering observations of spin reversal excitations in the fractional quantum Hall regime

Resonant inelastic light scattering experiments access the low lying excitations of electron liquids in the fractional quantum Hall regime in the range 2/5≥ν≥1/3. Modes associated with changes in the charge and spin degrees of freedom are measured. Spectra of spin reversed excitations at filling factor ν?1/3 and at ν?2/5 identify a structure of lowest spin-split Landau levels of composite fermions (CFs) that is similar to that of electrons. Observations of spin wave excitations enable determinations of energies required to reverse spin. The spin reversal energies obtained from the spectra illustrate the significant residual interactions of composite fermions. At ν=1/3 energies of spin reversal modes are larger but relatively close to spin conserving excitations that are linked to activated transport. Predictions of composite fermion theory are in good quantitative agreement with experimental results.     

Competing topological orders in the ν=12/5 quantum Hall state

We provide numerical evidence that a p(x)-ip(y) paired Bonderson-Slingerland (BS) non-Abelian hierarchy state is a strong candidate for the observed ν=12/5 quantum Hall plateau. We confirm the existence of a gapped incompressible ν=12/5 quantum Hall state with shift S=2 on the sphere, matching that of the BS state. The exact ground state of the Coulomb interaction at S=2 is shown to have a large overlap with the BS trial wave function. Larger overlaps are obtained with BS-type wave functions that are hierarchical descendants of general p(x)-ip(y) weakly paired states at ν=5/2. We perform a finite-size scaling analysis of the ground-state energies for ν=12/5 states at shifts corresponding to the BS (S=2) and 3-clustered Read-Rezayi (S=-2) universality classes. This analysis reveals very tight competition between these two non-Abelian topological orders.     

Characterizing neutral modes of fractional states in the second Landau level

Fractionally charged quasiparticles, which obey non-abelian statistics, were predicted to exist in the ν=8/3, ν=5/2, and ν=7/3 fractional quantum Hall states (in the second Landau level). Here we present measurements of charge and neutral modes in these states. For both ν=7/3 and ν=8/3 states, we found a quasiparticle charge e=1/3 and an upstream neutral mode only in ν=8/3-excluding the possibility of non-abelian Read-Rezayi states and supporting Laughlin-like states. The absence of an upstream neutral mode in the ν=7/3 state also proves that edge reconstruction was not present in the ν=7/3 state, suggesting its absence also in ν=5/2 state, and thus may provide further support for the non-abelian anti-pfaffian nature of the ν=5/2 state.     

Conformal field theory of composite fermions

We show that the quantum Hall wave functions for the ground states in the Jain series nu=n/(2np+1) can be exactly expressed in terms of correlation functions of local vertex operators Vn corresponding to composite fermions in the nth composite-fermion (CF) Landau level. This allows for the powerful mathematics of conformal field theory to be applied to the successful CF phenomenology. Quasiparticle and quasihole states are expressed as correlators of anyonic operators with fractional (local) charge, allowing a simple algebraic understanding of their topological properties that are not manifest in the CF wave functions. Moreover, our construction shows how the states in the nu=n/(2np+1) Jain sequence may be interpreted as condensates of quasiparticles.     

Observation of reentrant integer quantum Hall States in the lowest landau level

Measurements on very low disorder two-dimensional electrons confined to relatively wide GaAs quantum well samples with tunable density reveal a close competition between the electron liquid and solid phases near the Landau level filling factor ν=1. As the density is raised, the fractional quantum Hall liquid at ν=4/5 suddenly disappears at a well-width dependent critical density, and then reappears at higher densities with insulating phases on its flanks. These insulating phases exhibit reentrant ν=1 integer quantum Hall effects and signal the formation of electron Wigner crystal states. Qualitatively similar phenomena are seen near ν=6/5.     

Correlation-hole induced paired quantum Hall states in the lowest Landau level

A theory is developed for the paired even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states in the lowest Landau level. We show that electrons bind to quantized vortices to form composite fermions, interacting through an exact instantaneous interaction that favors chiral p-wave pairing. There are two canonically dual pairing gap functions related by the bosonic Laughlin wave function (Jastrow factor) due to the correlation holes. We find that the ground state is the Moore-Read Pfaffian in the long-wavelength limit for weak Coulomb interactions, a new Pfaffian with an oscillatory pairing function for intermediate interactions, and a Read-Rezayi composite Fermi liquid beyond a critical interaction strength. Our findings are consistent with recent experimental observations of the 1/2 and 1/4 fractional quantum Hall effects in asymmetric wide quantum wells.     

Exact results for systems of electrons in the fractional quantum Hall regime

There has been a great deal of interest over the last two decades on the fractional quantum Hall effect, a novel quantum many-body liquid state of strongly correlated two-dimensional electronic systems in a strong perpendicular magnetic field. The most pronounced fractional quantum Hall states occur at odd denominator filling factors of the lowest Landau level and are described by the Laughlin wave function. It is well known that exact closed-form solutions for many-body wave functions, including the Laughlin wave function, are generally very rare and hard to obtain. In this work we present some exact results corresponding to small systems of electrons in the fractional quantum Hall regime at odd denominator filling factors. Use of Jacobi coordinates is the key tool that facilitates the exact calculation of various quantities. Expressions involving integrals over many variables are considerably simplified with the help of Jacobi coordinates allowing us to calculate exactly various quantities corresponding to systems with several electrons.     

Bipartite composite fermion States

We study a class of ansatz wave functions in which composite fermions form two correlated "partitions." These "bipartite" composite fermion states are demonstrated to be very accurate for electrons in a strong magnetic field interacting via a short-range 3-body interaction potential over a broad range of filling factors. Furthermore, this approach gives accurate approximations for the exact Coulomb ground state at 2+3/5 and 2+4/7 and is thus a promising candidate for the observed fractional quantum Hall states at the hole conjugate fractions at 2+2/5 and 2+3/7.     

Evidence of Landau levels and interactions in low-lying excitations of composite fermions at 1/3<or= nu <or=2/5

Excitation modes in the range 2/5>or=nu>or=1/3 of the fractional quantum Hall regime are observed by resonant inelastic light scattering. Spectra of spin-reversed excitations suggest a structure of lowest spin-split Landau levels of composite fermions that is similar to that of electrons. Spin-flip energies determined from spectra reveal significant composite fermion interactions. The filling factor dependence of mode energies displays an abrupt change in the middle of the range when there is partial population of a composite fermion level.     

Extracting excitations from model state entanglement

We extend the concept of an entanglement spectrum from the geometrical to the particle bipartite partition. We apply this to several fractional quantum Hall wave functions on both sphere and torus geometries to show that this new type of entanglement spectra completely reveals the physics of bulk quasihole excitations. While this is easily understood when a local Hamiltonian for the model state exists, we show that the quasihole wave functions are encoded within the model state even when such a Hamiltonian is not known. As a nontrivial example, we look at Jain's composite fermion states and obtain their quasiholes directly from the model state wave function. We reach similar conclusions for wave functions described by Jack polynomials.     

Optical investigation of spin-wave excitations in fractional quantum hall states and of interaction between composite fermions

We demonstrate that the temperature dependence of the electron spin polarization for the fractional states nu = 1/3 and nu = 2/3 displays activated behavior. This study enables the first measurement of the fractional quantum Hall spin-flip gaps. They are found to be systematically larger in comparison with the gaps simultaneously measured in transport. For nu = 1/3 and nu = 1/2, these spin-flip gaps allow the determination of the composite fermion interaction energy. This energy is investigated as a function of the finite width of the 2D channel.     

Transition from an electron solid to the sequence of fractional quantum Hall states at very low Landau level filling factor

At low Landau level filling of a two-dimensional electron system, typically associated with the formation of an electron crystal, we observe local minima in Rxx at filling factors nu = 2/11, 3/17, 3/19, 2/13, 1/7, 2/15, 2/17, and 1/9. Each of these developing fractional quantum Hall (FQHE) states appears only above a filling-factor-specific temperature. This can be interpreted as the melting of an electron crystal and subsequent FQHE liquid formation. The observed sequence of FQHE states follows the series of composite fermion states emanating from nu = 1/6 and nu = 1/8.     

Integer and fractional quantum Hall effects in bilayer electron systems

Integer and fractional quantum Hall (QH) effects are studied in bilayer electron systems both theoretically and experimentally, especially, at ν=2 and 2/3. Due to the spin and layer degrees of freedom, the SU(4) symmetry underlies the integer QH states, where quantum coherence develops spontaneously and quasiparticles are coherent excitations. It is intriguing that a pair of skyrmions makes one quasiparticle at ν=2. In the fractional QH regime, on the other hand, the composite-fermion cyclotron gap competes with the Zeeman and tunneling gaps, bringing in new phases and excitations. At ν=2/3 our experimental data suggest that a quasiparticle is not a coherent excitation but simply a composite fermion.