Fractionalization via ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ Gauge Fields at a Cold Atom Quantum Hall Transition

Abstract

We study a single species of fermionic atoms in an "effective" magnetic field at total filling factor ${\nu }_f=1$, interacting through a p-wave Feshbach resonance, and show that the system undergoes a quantum phase transition from a ${\nu }_f=1$ fermionic integer quantum Hall state to ${\nu }_b=1/4$ bosonic fractional quantum Hall state as a function of detuning. The transition is in the $(2+1)$-D Ising universality class. We formulate a dual theory in terms of quasiparticles interacting with a ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ gauge field, and show that charge fractionalization follows from this topological quantum phase transition. Experimental consequences and possible tests of our theoretical predictions are discussed.

4+epsilon pages

References in corpus (3)

• Vortices and Superfluidity in a Strongly Interacting Fermi Gas
• Superfluidity and phase transitions in a resonant Bose gas
• Density waves and supersolidity in rapidly rotating atomic Fermi gases

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Existence of strong-pairing quantum Hall phase in bilayer cold atom systems with dipolar interactions
• Topological Quantum Phase Transition from Fermionic Integer Quantum Hall Phase to Bosonic Fractional Quantum Hall Phase through P-Wave Feshbach Resonance