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arXiv:2508.14162 · Physical Review Research

Numerical case for identifying paired quantum Hall phases by their daughter states

Misha Yutushui, Arjun Dey, David F. Mross

Published Feb 4, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Many candidate non-Abelian quantum Hall states are accompanied by nearby “daughter” states, which are proposed to identify their topological order. Combining exact diagonalization and trial wave functions, we provide numerical evidence that daughter states reliably predict the parent topological phase. In the context of bilayer graphene and wide GaAs quantum wells, we show that the same interactions simultaneously stabilize Pfaffian, anti-Pfaffian, and their daughters, while suppressing the Jain states. The competition between Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian, which is decided by particle-hole symmetry-breaking interactions, can likewise be deduced from their daughters. These findings strongly support the daughter-state-based identification of non-Abelian quantum Hall phases.

DOI
10.1103/g4nc-cpcr

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Many candidate non-Abelian quantum Hall states are accompanied by nearby “daughter” states, which are proposed to identify their topological order. Combining exact diagonalization and trial wave functions, we provide numerical evidence that daughter states reliably predict the parent topological phase. In the context of bilayer graphene and wide GaAs quantum wells, we show that the same interactions simultaneously stabilize Pfaffian, anti-Pfaffian, and their daughters, while suppressing the Jain states. The competition between Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian, which is decided by particle-hole symmetry-breaking interactions, can likewise be deduced from their daughters. These findings strongly support the daughter-state-based identification of non-Abelian quantum Hall phases.
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Quantum Hall plateaus at quarter fillings occur in GaAs wide quantum wells, hole-doped GaAs, and bilayer graphene. However, the interactions favoring incompressible states over compressible composite-Fermi liquids at such fillings are not well understood. We devise a method for the computation of the trial energies for Haldane pseudopotentials via Monte Carlo sampling. Applying it to the quarter-filled lowest Landau level, we find that tuning the third and fifth pseudopotential values can stabilize the anti-Pfaffian, Moore-Read, and fff-wave states. The smallest deviations from pure Coulomb interactions are required by anti-Pfaffian, whose presence is indicated by daughter states in recent experiments of bilayer graphene at $\ensuremath{\nu}=\frac{3}{4}$.
After decades since its discovery, a complete understanding of the topological phase of matter at 52\frac{5}{2}25​ filling appears to be lacking. Previous numerical studies have narrowed the candidates to the Moore-Read Pfaffian or the anti-Pfaffian. Recent thermal transport measurements point to another variant, the particle-hole Pfaffian, which has a nonholomorphic pairing part that complicates comparison with other competing states. Here, the authors have constructed the exact holomorphic particle-hole Pfaffian wave function with full particle-hole symmetry and compared its energetics with the Moore-Read Pfaffian and the anti-Pfaffian.
Numerical results suggest that the quantum Hall effect at ν=5/2 is described by the Pfaffian or anti-Pfaffian state in the absence of disorder and Landau-level mixing. Those states are incompatible with the observed transport properties of GaAs heterostructures, where disorder and Landau-level mixing are strong. We show that the recent proposal of a particle-hole (PH)-Pfaffian topological order by Son is consistent with all experiments. The absence of particle-hole symmetry at ν=5/2 is not an obstacle to the existence of the PH-Pfaffian order since the order is robust to symmetry breaking.
Particle-hole (PH) Pfaffian topological phases may exist in a uniform system due to strong Landau level (LL) mixing according to theoretical predictions based on the Son-Dirac composite fermion theory. Numerical investigations in the presence of large LL mixing are limited due to numerical complexities, when taking into account at least one more LL. Because of this, we apply the same field theoretical approach to the quantum Hall bilayer at total filling factor equal to one, for which many numerical studies exist. The most advanced in Zhu et al. [Zheng Zhu, Liang Fu, D. N. Sheng, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 177601 (2017)] predicts an intermediate phase (for intermediate distances between layers) with an even-odd effect. According to our approach, the intermediate phase represents a mixed negative-flux ppp-wave pairing i.e., coexisting intra (PH Pfaffian in each layer) and inter (a la PH Pfaffian) pairing correlations. This again underlines a necessity for strong entanglement with additional degrees of freedom, i.e., at least one more (additional) LL in the search for a stable PH Pfaffian phase in a single layer. Based on the analogy with the bilayer physics, we propose a PH Pfaffian wave function that resides in two LLs.
In this review, the physics of Pfaffian paired states, in the context of fractional quantum Hall effect, is discussed using field-theoretical approaches. The Pfaffian states are prime examples of topological ([Formula: see text]-wave) Cooper pairing and are characterized by non-Abelian statistics of their quasiparticles. Here we focus on conditions for their realization and competition among them at half-integer filling factors. Using the Dirac composite fermion description, in the presence of a mass term, we study the influence of Landau level mixing in selecting a particular Pfaffian state. While Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian are selected when Landau level mixing is not strong, and can be taken into account perturbatively, the particle–hole (PH) Pfaffian state requires non-perturbative inclusion of at least two Landau levels. Our findings, for small Landau level mixing, are in accordance with numerical investigations in the literature, and call for a non-perturbative approach in the search for PH Pfaffian correlations. We demonstrated that a method based on the Chern–Simons field-theoretical approach can be used to generate characteristic interaction pseudo-potentials for Pfaffian paired states.