arXiv:1509.01780 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Striped quantum Hall state in a half-filled Landau level

Xin Wan, Kun Yang

Published May 23, 2016• 45 citations

Abstract

The nature of the fractional quantum Hall state at Landau level filling factor 5/2 remains elusive despite intensive experimental and theoretical work. While the leading theoretical candidates are Moore-Read Pfaffian (Pf) and its particle-hole conjugate anti-Pfaffian (APf), neither received unambiguous experimental support. We show that a state that is intermediate between them, made of alternating stripes of Pf and APf in the bulk, is a viable candidate. Such a state is shown to be incompressible and thus a charge insulator in the bulk, but a heat conductor due to the presence of gapless neutral bulk modes. We argue that the properties of such a state are consistent with existing numerical and experimental work, and discuss possible experimental probes of its presence.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.93.201303

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