The quasiparticles (QPs) or quasiholes (QHs) of fractional quantum Hall states have been predicted to obey fractional braid statistics, which refers to the Berry phase (in addition to the usual Aharonov-Bohm phase) associated with an exchange of two QPs or two QHs or, equivalently, to half of the phase associated with a QP or QH going around another. Certain phase slips in interference experiments in the fractional quantum Hall regime have been attributed to fractional braid statistics, where the interference probes the Berry phase associated with a closed path which has segments along the edges of the sample as well as through the bulk (where tunneling occurs). Noting that QPs and QHs with sharply quantized fractional charge and fractional statistics do not exist at the edge of a fractional quantum Hall state due to the absence of a gap there, we provide arguments that the existence of composite fermions at the edge is sufficient for understanding the primary experimental observations; unlike QPs and QHs, composite fermions are known to be well defined in compressible states without a gap. We further propose that transport through a closed tunneling loop contained entirely in the bulk can, in principle, allow measurement of the braid statistics in a way that the braiding object explicitly has a fractionally quantized charge over the entire loop. Optimal parameters for this experimental geometry are determined from quantitative calculations.
more »
« less
A highly correlated topological bubble phase of composite fermions
Strong interactions and topology drive a wide variety of correlated ground states. Some of the most interesting of these ground states, such as fractional quantum Hall states and fractional Chern insulators, have fractionally charged quasiparticles. Correlations in these phases are captured by the binding of electrons and vortices into emergent particles called composite fermions. Composite fermion quasiparticles are randomly localized at high levels of disorder and may exhibit charge order when there is not too much disorder in the system. However, more complex correlations are predicted when composite fermion quasiparticles cluster into a bubble, and then these bubbles order on a lattice. Such a highly correlated ground state is termed the bubble phase of composite fermions. Here we report the observation of such a bubble phase of composite fermions, evidenced by the re-entrance of the fractional quantum Hall effect. We associate this re-entrance with a bubble phase with two composite fermion quasiparticles per bubble. Our results demonstrate the existence of a new class of strongly correlated topological phases driven by clustering and charge ordering of emergent quasiparticles.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1904497
- PAR ID:
- 10469537
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Physics
- Volume:
- 19
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 1745-2473
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 689 to 693
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The thermopower of a clean two-dimensional electron system is directly proportional to the entropy per charge carrier and can probe strongly interacting quantum phases such as fractional quantum Hall liquids. In particular, thermopower is a valuable parameter to probe the quasiparticle statistics that give rise to excess entropy in certain even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states. Here we demonstrate that the magneto-thermopower detection of fractional quantum Hall states is more sensitive than resistivity measurements. We do this in the context of Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene and highlight several even-denominator states at a relatively low magnetic feld. These capabilities of thermopower measurements support the interest in fractional quantum Hall states for fnding quasiparticles with non-Abelian statistics and elevate bilayer graphene as a promising platform for achieving this.more » « less
-
We study novel itinerant phases that can be accessed by doping a fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) insulator, with a focus on the experimentally observed Jain states at lattice filling 𝜈 =𝑝/(2𝑝 +1). Unlike in the lowest Landau level, where charge motion is confined into cyclotron orbits, the charged excitations in the FQAH occupy Bloch states with well-defined crystal momenta. At a nonzero doping density, this feature enables the formation of itinerant states of the doped anyons just beyond the FQAH plateau region. Focusing on the vicinity of 𝜈 =2/3, we describe a few possible itinerant states, including a topological superconductor with chiral neutral fermion edge modes as well as a more exotic pair density wave (PDW) superconductor with non-Abelian topological order. A Fermi liquid metal with a doping-induced period-3 charge density wave also occurs naturally in our analysis. This Fermi liquid (as well as the PDW) arises from pairing instabilities of a composite Fermi liquid metal that can emerge near filling 2/3. Though inspired by the theory of anyon superconductivity, we explain how our construction is qualitatively different. At a general Jain filling 𝜈 =𝑝/(2𝑝 +1), the same analytical framework leads to a wider variety of phases, including higher-charge superconductors and generalized composite Fermi liquids. We predict unusual physical signatures associated with each phase and analyze the crossover between different temperature regimes. These results provide a proof-of-principle that exotic itinerant phases can be stabilized by correlations intrinsic to the FQAH setup.more » « less
-
articles 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 (V^3 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 VˆPf Hamiltonian.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)The interplay between topology and correlations can generate a variety of unusual quantum phases, many of which remain to be explored. Recent advances have identified monolayer WTe2 as a promising material for exploring such interplay in a highly tunable fashion. The ground state of this two-dimensional (2D) crystal can be electrostatically tuned from a quantum spin Hall insulator (QSHI) to a superconductor. However, much remains unknown about the nature of these ground states, including the gap-opening mechanism of the insulating state. Here we report systematic studies of the insulating phase in WTe2 monolayer and uncover evidence supporting that the QSHI is also an excitonic insulator (EI). An EI, arising from the spontaneous formation of electron-hole bound states (excitons), is a largely unexplored quantum phase to date, especially when it is topological. Our experiments on high-quality transport devices reveal the presence of an intrinsic insulating state at the charge neutrality point (CNP) in clean samples. The state exhibits both a strong sensitivity to the electric displacement field and a Hall anomaly that are consistent with the excitonic pairing. We further confirm the correlated nature of this charge-neutral insulator by tunneling spectroscopy. Our results support the existence of an EI phase in the clean limit and rule out alternative scenarios of a band insulator or a localized insulator. These observations lay the foundation for understanding a new class of correlated insulators with nontrivial topology and identify monolayer WTe2 as a promising candidate for exploring quantum phases of ground-state excitons.more » « less
An official website of the United States government

