Topological phase transition between composite-fermion and Pfaffian daughter states near ν = 1/2 FQHS

Abstract

$\nu$=1/2 is among the most enigmatic many-body phases in two-dimensional electron systems as it appears in the ground-state rather than an excited Landau level. It is observed in wide quantum wells where the electrons have a bilayer charge distribution with finite tunneling. Whether this 1/2 FQHS is two-component (Abelian) or one-component (non-Abelian) has been debated since its experimental discovery over 30 years ago. Here, we report strong 1/2 FQHSs in ultrahigh-quality, wide, GaAs quantum wells, with transport energy gaps up to $\simeq$4K, among the largest gaps reported for any even-denominator FQHS. The 1/2 FQHS is flanked by numerous, Jain-sequence FQHSs at $\nu$=$p$/(2$p$$\pm$1) up to $\nu$=8/17 and 9/17. Remarkably, as we raise the density and strengthen the 1/2 FQHS, the 8/17 and 7/13 FQHSs suddenly become strong, much stronger than their neighboring high-order FQHSs. Insofar as FQHSs at $\nu$=8/17 and 7/13 are precisely the theoretically-predicted, simplest, daughter states of the one-component Pfaffian 1/2 FQHS, our data suggest a topological phase-transition of 8/17 and 7/13 FQHSs from the Jain-states to the daughter states of the Pfaffian, and that the parent 1/2 FQHS we observe is the Pfaffian state.

19 pages, 9 figures

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• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
• Even denominator fractional quantum Hall state in bilayer graphene
• Quantum Hall Phase Diagram of Half-filled Bilayers in the Lowest and the Second Orbital Landau Levels: Abelian versus Non-Abelian Incompressible Fractional Quantum Hall States
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• Composite-fermion pairing at half and quarter filled lowest Landau level
• $\nu =1/2$ Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Tilted Magnetic Fields
• Revisiting excitation gaps in the fractional quantum Hall effect

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Quarter- and half-filled quantum Hall states and their topological orders revealed by daughter states in bilayer graphene
• Regularizing 3D conformal field theories via anyons on the fuzzy sphere
• Paired fermions in strong magnetic fields and daughters of even-denominator Hall plateaus
• Identifying the topological order of quantized half-filled Landau levels through their daughter states
• Fractional quantum Hall effect of partons and the nature of the 8/17 state in the zeroth Landau level of bilayer graphene
• Developing fractional quantum Hall states at even-denominator fillings 1/6 and 1/8
• Competing Many-Body Phases at Small Fillings in Ultrahigh-Quality GaAs 2D Hole Systems: Role of Landau Level Mixing
• Topological physics in quantum critical systems
• Critical Majorana fermion at a topological quantum Hall bilayer transition
• Aharonov-Bohm Interference in Even-Denominator Fractional Quantum Hall States
• Dispersion of neutral collective modes in partonic fractional quantum Hall states and its applications to paired states of composite fermions
• Fractional quantum Hall state at $\nu =1/2$ with energy gap up to 6 K, and possible transition from one- to two-component state
• Ordering the topological order in the fractional quantum Hall effect
• Interplay of superconducting, metallic, and crystalline states of composite fermions at $\nu =1/6$ in wide quantum wells
• Even-denominator fractional quantum Hall states in the zeroth Landau level of ABA trilayer graphene
• Cascade of fractional quantum Hall states in 2D system
• Topological Protection in a Landau Flat Band at $\nu =7/11$, a Candidate Filling Factor for Unconventional Correlations