Composite Fermions: Motivation, Successes, and Application to Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene

Abstract

The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is one of the most amazing collective states discovered in modern times. A remarkably detailed and accurate understanding of its nonperturbative physics has been achieved in terms of a new class of exotic particles called composite fermions. I will begin with a brief review of the composite fermion theory and its outstanding successes. The rest of the talk will be concerned with fractional quantum Hall effect in graphene, observed recently. I will present results of theoretical studies that demonstrate that composite fermions are formed in graphene as well, but the spin and valley degeneracies and the linear dispersion of electrons produce interesting new physics relative to that in the usual two‐dimensional GaAs systems. Composite fermion theory allows detailed predictions about FQHE in graphene in regimes when either or both of the spin and valley degeneracies are broken. I will discuss the relevance of our theory to recent experiments. This work on FQHE in graphene has been performed in collaboration with Csaba Toke.