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arXiv:cond-mat/9609079 · Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Quasiholes and fermionic zero modes of paired fractional quantum Hall states: The mechanism for non-Abelian statistics

N. Read, Edward H. Rezayi

Published Dec 15, 1996• 265 citations
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Abstract

The quasihole states of several paired states, the Pfaffian, Haldane-Rezayi, and 331 states, which under certain conditions may describe electrons at filling factor \ensuremath{\nu}=1/2 or 5/2, are studied analytically and numerically in the spherical geometry, for the Hamiltonians for which the ground state are known exactly. We also find all the ground states (without quasiparticles) for these systems in the toroidal geometry. In each case, a complete set of linearly independent functions that are energy eigenstates of zero energy is found explicitly. For fixed positions of the quasiholes, the number of linearly independent states is ${2}^{\mathit{n}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ for the Pfaffian, and ${2}^{2\mathit{n}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$ for the Haldane-Rezayi state; these degeneracies are needed if these systems are to possess non-Abelian statistics, and they agree with predictions based on conformal field theory. The dimensions of the spaces of states for each number of quasiholes agree with numerical results for moderate system sizes. The effects of tunneling and of the Zeeman term are discussed for the 331 and Haldane-Rezayi states, as well as the relation to Laughlin states of electron pairs. A model introduced by Ho, which was supposed to connect the 331 and Pfaffian states, is found to have the same degeneracies of zero-energy states as the 331 state, except at its Pfaffian point where it is much more highly degenerate than either the 331 or the Pfaffian. We introduce a modification of the model which has the degeneracies of the 331 state everywhere including the Pfaffian point; at the latter point, tunneling reduces the degeneracies to those of the Pfaffian state. An experimental difference is pointed out between the Laughlin states of electron pairs and the other paired states, in the current-voltage response when electrons tunnel into the edge. An appendix contains results for the permanent state, in which the zero modes can be occupied by composite bosons, rather than by composite fermions as in the other cases; the system is found to have an incipient instability toward a spin-polarized state. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.54.16864

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The quasihole states of several paired states, the Pfaffian, Haldane-Rezayi, and 331 states, which under certain conditions may describe electrons at filling factor \ensuremath{\nu}=1/2 or 5/2, are studied analytically and numerically in the spherical geometry, for the Hamiltonians for which the ground state are known exactly. We also find all the ground states (without quasiparticles) for these systems in the toroidal geometry. In each case, a complete set of linearly independent functions that are energy eigenstates of zero energy is found explicitly. For fixed positions of the quasiholes, the number of linearly independent states is 2n\ensuremath−1{2}^{\mathit{n}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}2n\ensuremath−1 for the Pfaffian, and 22n\ensuremath−3{2}^{2\mathit{n}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}22n\ensuremath−3 for the Haldane-Rezayi state; these degeneracies are needed if these systems are to possess non-Abelian statistics, and they agree with predictions based on conformal field theory. The dimensions of the spaces of states for each number of quasiholes agree with numerical results for moderate system sizes. The effects of tunneling and of the Zeeman term are discussed for the 331 and Haldane-Rezayi states, as well as the relation to Laughlin states of electron pairs. A model introduced by Ho, which was supposed to connect the 331 and Pfaffian states, is found to have the same degeneracies of zero-energy states as the 331 state, except at its Pfaffian point where it is much more highly degenerate than either the 331 or the Pfaffian. We introduce a modification of the model which has the degeneracies of the 331 state everywhere including the Pfaffian point; at the latter point, tunneling reduces the degeneracies to those of the Pfaffian state. An experimental difference is pointed out between the Laughlin states of electron pairs and the other paired states, in the current-voltage response when electrons tunnel into the edge. An appendix contains results for the permanent state, in which the zero modes can be occupied by composite bosons, rather than by composite fermions as in the other cases; the system is found to have an incipient instability toward a spin-polarized state. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The Hilbert spaces of the edge excitations of several ``paired'' fractional quantum Hall states, namely, the Pfaffian, Haldane-Rezayi, and 331 states, are constructed and the states at each angular momentum level are enumerated. The method is based on finding all the zero-energy states for those Hamiltonians for which each of these known ground states is the exact, unique, zero-energy eigenstate of lowest angular momentum in the disk geometry. For each state, we find that, in addition to the usual bosonic charge-fluctuation excitations, there are fermionic edge excitations. The wave functions for each case have a similar form, related to Slater determinants, and the edge states satisfy a ``projection rule,'' that the parity of the number of fermions added to the edge equals the parity of the charge added. The edge states can be built out of quantum fields that describe the fermions, in addition to the usual scalar bosons (or Luttinger liquids) that describe the charge fluctuations. The fermionic fields in the Pfaffian and 331 cases are a noninteracting Majorana (i.e., real Dirac) and Dirac field, respectively. For the Haldane-Rezayi state, the field is an anticommuting scalar. For this system, we exhibit a chiral Lagrangian that has manifest SU(2) symmetry, but breaks Lorentz invariance, because of the breakdown of the spin-statistics connection implied by the scalar nature of the field and the positive-definite norm on the Hilbert space. Finally, we consider systems on a cylinder, where the fluid has two edges, and construct the sectors of zero-energy states, discuss the projection rules for combining states at the two edges, and calculate the partition function for each edge excitation system at finite temperature in the thermodynamic limit. The corresponding theory for the hierarchy and its generalizations is also given. It is pointed out that the conformal field theories for the edge states are examples of orbifold constructions. Two appendixes contain technical details. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
We present a comprehensive numerical study of a microscopic model of the fractional quantum Hall system at filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=5∕2$, based on the disk geometry. Our model includes Coulomb interaction and a semirealistic confining potential. We also mix in a three-body interaction in some cases to help elucidate the physics. We obtain a phase diagram, discuss the conditions under which the ground state can be described by the Moore-Read state, and study its competition with neighboring stripe phases. We also study quasihole excitations and edge excitations in the Moore-Read-like state. From the evolution of the edge spectrum, we obtain the velocities of the charge and neutral edge modes, which turn out to be very different. This separation of velocities is a source of decoherence for a non-Abelian quasihole and/or quasiparticle (with charge $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}e∕4$) when propagating at the edge; using numbers obtained from a specific set of parameters, we estimate the decoherence length to be around $4\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$. This sets an upper bound for the separation of the two point contacts in a double point-contact interferometer, designed to detect the non-Abelian nature of such quasiparticles. We also find a state that is a potential candidate for the recently proposed anti-Pfaffian state. We find the speculated anti-Pfaffian state is favored in weak confinement (smooth edge), while the Moore-Read Pfaffian state is favored in strong confinement (sharp edge).
We construct a wave function, generalizing the well-known Moore-Read Pfaffian, that describes spinless electrons at filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=2∕5$ (or bosons at filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=2∕3$) as the ground state of a very simple three body potential. We find, analogous to the Pfaffian, that when quasiholes are added there is a ground state degeneracy which can be identified as zero modes of the quasiholes. The zero modes are identified as having semionic statistics. We write this wave function as a correlator of the Virasoro minimal model conformal field theory M(5,3)\mathcal{M}(5,3)M(5,3). Since this model is nonunitary, we conclude that this wave function is likely a quantum critical state. Nonetheless, we find that the overlaps of this wave function with exact diagonalizations in the lowest and first excited Landau level are very high, suggesting that this wave function may have experimental relevance for some transition that may occur in that regime.
Particles obeying non-Abelian braid statistics have been predicted to emerge in the fractional quantum Hall effect. In particular, a model Hamiltonian with short-range three-body interaction (${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{V}}_{3}^{\text{Pf}}$) between electrons confined to the lowest Landau level provides exact solutions for quasiholes, and thereby allows a proof of principle for the existence of quasiholes obeying non-Abelian braid statistics. We construct, in terms of two- and three-body Haldane pseudopotentials, a model Hamiltonian that can be solved exactly for both quasiholes and quasiparticles, and provide evidence of non-Abelian statistics for the latter as well. The structure of the quasiparticle states of this model is in agreement with that predicted by the bipartite composite-fermion model of quasiparticles. We further demonstrate, for systems for which exact diagonalization is possible, adiabatic continuity for the ground state, the ordinary neutral excitation, and the topological exciton as we deform our model Hamiltonian continuously into the lowest Landau-level ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{V}}_{3}^{\text{Pf}}$ Hamiltonian.
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.