By applying the idea of parafermionic clustering to composite bosons with positive as well as negative flux, a new series of trial wave functions to describe fractional quantum Hall states is proposed. These states compete at filling factors nu=k/(3k+/-2) with other ground states like stripes or composite-fermion states. These series contain all the states recently discovered by Pan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 016801 (2003)10.1103/Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 016801(2003)] including the even-denominator cases. Exact diagonalization studies on the sphere and torus point to their relevance for nu=3/7, 3/11, and 3/8.
By applying the idea of parafermionic clustering to composite bosons with positive as well as negative flux, a new series of trial wave functions to describe fractional quantum Hall states is proposed. These states compete at filling factors nu=k/(3k+/-2) with other ground states like stripes or composite-fermion states. These series contain all the states recently discovered by Pan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 016801 (2003)10.1103/Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 016801(2003)] including the even-denominator cases. Exact diagonalization studies on the sphere and torus point to their relevance for nu=3/7, 3/11, and 3/8.
Abstract Fractional quantum Hall states have been observed at filling factor ν = 3/4 in GaAs hole system and bilayer graphene. In theoretical bootstrap analysis, it was revealed that non-Abelian topological orders with Ising anyons can be realized at ν = 3/4, which exhibit 12 fold ground state degeneracy on the torus. The properties of ν = 3/4 states can be analyzed using two complementary approaches. In the first one, they are treated as particle–hole conjugate of ν = 1/4 Moore–Read types states. In the second one, they are mapped to composite fermions with reverse flux attachment at effective filling factor 3/2, whose integral part realizes an integer quantum Hall state and the fractional part realizes ν = 1/2 Moore–Read type states. For bilayer graphene with appropriate Landau level mixing, numerical calculations have found 12 quasi-degenerate ground states on the torus at ν = 3/4. Chiral graviton spectral functions of these states have one low energy peak with negative chirality and one high energy peak with positive chirality. This points to a specific member of the Moore–Read type states and agrees with the deduction based on daughter states.
We investigate the structure of gapless edge modes propagating at the boundary of some fractional quantum Hall states. We show how to deduce explicit trial wavefunctions from the knowledge of the effective theory governing the edge modes. In general, quantum Hall states have many edge states. Here, we discuss the case of fractions having only two such modes. The case of spin-polarized and spin-singlet states at filling fraction ν = 2/5 is considered. We give an explicit description of the decoupled charged and neutral modes. Then we discuss the situation involving negative flux acting on the composite fermions. This happens notably for the filling factor ν = 2/3 which supports two counterpropagating modes. Microscopic wavefunctions for spin-polarized and spin-singlet states at this filling factor are given. Finally, we present an analysis of the edge structure of a non-Abelian state involving also negative flux. Counterpropagating modes involve, in all cases, explicit derivative operators diminishing the angular momentum of the system.
We investigate the structure of gapless edge modes propagating at the boundary of some fractional quantum Hall states. We show how to deduce explicit trial wavefunctions from the knowledge of the effective theory governing the edge modes. In general quantum Hall states have many edge states. Here we discuss the case of fractions having only two such modes. The case of spin-polarized and spin-singlet states at filling fraction 2/5 is considered. We give an explicit description of the decoupled charged and neutral modes. Then we discuss the situation involving negative flux acting on the composite fermions. This happens notably for the filling factor 2/3 which supports two counterpropagating modes. Microscopic wavefunctions for spin-polarized and spin-singlet states at this filling factor are given. Finally we present an analysis of the edge structure of a non-Abelian state involving also negative flux. Counterpropagating modes involve in all cases explicit derivative operators diminishing the angular momentum of the system.
There are several possible theoretically allowed non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states that could potentially be realized in one- and two-component FQH systems at total filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=n+2/3$, for integer n. Some of these states even possess quasiparticles with non-Abelian statistics that are powerful enough for universal topological quantum computation, and are thus of particular interest. Here we initiate a systematic numerical study, using both exact diagonalization and variational Monte Carlo, to investigate the phase diagram of FQH systems at total filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=n+2/3$, including in particular the possibility of the non-Abelian Z4 parafermion state. In $\ensuremath{\nu}=2/3$ bilayers we determine the phase diagram as a function of interlayer tunneling and repulsion, finding only three competing Abelian states, without the Z4 state. On the other hand, in single-component systems at $\ensuremath{\nu}=8/3$, we find that the Z4 parafermion state has significantly higher overlap with the exact ground state than the Laughlin state, together with a larger gap, suggesting that the experimentally observed $\ensuremath{\nu}=8/3$ state may be non-Abelian. Our results from the two complementary numerical techniques agree well with each other qualitatively.
The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), now entering it's fourth decade, continues to draw attention from the condensed matter community. New experiments in recent years are raising hopes that it will be possible to observe quasi-particles with non-abelian anyonic statistics. These particles could form the building blocks of a quantum computer. The quantum Hall states have topologically protected energy gaps to the low-lying set of excitations. This topological order is not a locally measurable quantity but rather a non-local object, and it is one of the keys to it's stability. From an early stage understanding of the FQHE has been facilitate by constructing trial wave functions. The topological classification of these wave functions have given further insight to the nature of the FQHE. An early, and successful, wave function construction for filling fractions ν=p/(2p+1) was that of composite fermions on planar and spherical geometries. Recently, new developments using conformal field theory have made it possible to also construct the full Haldane-Halperin hierarchy wave functions on planar and spherical geometries. In this thesis we extend this construction to a toroidal geometry, i.e. a flat surface with periodic boundary conditions. One of the defining features of topological states of matter in two dimensions is that the ground state is not unique on surfaces with non trivial topology, such as a torus. The archetypical example is the fractional quantum Hall effect, where a state at filling fraction ν=p/q, has at least a q-fold degeneracy on a torus. This has been shown explicitly for a few cases, such as the Laughlin states and the the Moore-Read states, by explicit construction of candidate electron wave functions with good overlap with numerically found states. In this thesis, we construct explicit torus wave functions for a large class of experimentally important quantum liquids, namely the chiral hierarchy states in the lowest Landau level. These states, which includes the prominently observed positive Jain sequence at filling fractions ν=p/(2p+1), are characterized by having boundary modes with only one chirality. Our construction relies heavily on previous work that expressed the hierarchy wave functions on a plane or a sphere in terms of correlation functions in a conformal field theory. This construction can be taken over to the torus when care is taken to ensure correct behaviour under the modular transformations that leave the geometry of the torus unchanged. Our construction solves the long standing problem of engineering torus wave functions for multi-component many-body states. Since the resulting expressions are rather complicated, we have carefully compared the simplest example, that of ν=2/5, with numerically found wave functions. We have found an extremely good overlap for arbitrary values of the modular parameter τ, that describes the geometry of the torus. Having explicit torus wave functions allows us to use the methods developed by Read and Read \\& Rezayi to numerically compute the quantum Hall viscosity. Hall viscosity is conjectured to be a topologically protected macroscopic transport coefficient characterizing the quantum Hall state. It is related to the shift of the same QH-fluid when it is put on a sphere. The good agreement with the theoretical prediction for the 2/5 state strongly suggests that our wave functions encodes all relevant topologically information. We also consider the Hall viscosity in the limit of a very thin torus. There we find that the viscosity changes as we approach the thin torus limit. Because of this we study the Laughlin state in that limit and see how the change in viscosity arises from a change in the Hamiltonian hopping elements. Finally we conclude that there are both qualitative and quantitative difference between the thin and the square torus. Thus, one has to be careful when interpreting results in the thin torus limit.
We use exact numerical diagonalization in the search of fractional quantum Hall states with non-Abelian quasiparticle statistics. For the (most promising) states in a partially filled second Landau level, the search is narrowed to the range of filling factors 7/3 < v e < 8/3. In this range, the analysis of energy spectra and correlation functions, calculated including finite width and Landau level mixing, supports the prominent non-Abelian candidates at v e = 5/2 (paired Moore–Read "pfafian" state) and 12/5 (clustered Read–Rezayi "parafermion" state). Outside of this range, the noninteracting composite fermion model with four attached flux quanta is validated, yielding the family of quantum liquids with fractional, but Abelian statistics. The borderline v e = 7/3 state is shown to be adiabatically connected to the Laughlin liquid, but its short-range correlations are significantly different.