Composite Fermion Wave Functions Research Articles

Conformal field theory approach to parton fractional quantum Hall trial wave functions

We show that all lowest Landau-level projected and unprojected chiral parton type fractional quantum Hall ground and edge-state trial wave functions, which take the form of products of integer quantum Hall wave functions, can be expressed as conformal field theory (CFT) correlation functions, where we can associate a chiral algebra to each parton state such that the CFT defined by the algebra is the “smallest” such CFT that can generate the corresponding ground and edge-state trial wave functions (assuming that the corresponding chiral algebra does indeed define a physically “sensible” CFT). A field-theoretic generalization of Laughlin's plasma analogy, known as generalized screening, is formulated for these states. If this holds, along with an additional assumption, we argue that the inner products of edge-state trial wave functions, for parton states where the “densest” trial wave function is unique, can be expressed as matrix elements of an exponentiated local action operator of the CFT, generalizing the result of Dubail [], which implies the equality between edge-state and entanglement level counting to state counting in the corresponding CFT. We numerically test this result in the case of the unprojected ν=2/5 composite fermion state and the bosonic ν=1ϕ22 parton state. We discuss how Read's arguments [] still apply, implying that conformal blocks of the CFT defined by the corresponding chiral algebra are valid quasihole trial wave functions, with the adiabatic braiding statistics given by the monodromy of these functions, assuming the existence of a quasiparticle trapping Hamiltonian. Generalizations of these constructions are discussed, with particular attention given to simple current constructions. It is shown that all chiral composite fermion wave functions can be expressed as CFT correlation functions without explicit symmetrization or antisymmetrization and that the ground, edge, and certain quasihole trial wave functions of the ϕnm parton states can be expressed as the conformal blocks of the U(1)⊗SU(n)m WZW models. Finally, we discuss the relation of the ϕ2k series with the Read-Rezayi series, where several examples of quasihole braiding statistics calculations are given. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Search for exact local Hamiltonians for general fractional quantum Hall states

We report on our systematic attempts at finding local interactions for which the lowest-Landau-level projected composite-fermion wave functions are the unique zero energy ground states. For this purpose, we study in detail the simplest non-trivial system beyond the Laughlin states, namely bosons at filling $\nu=\frac{2}{3}$ and identify local constraints among clusters of particles in the ground state. By explicit calculation, we show that no Hamiltonian up to (and including) four particle interactions produces this state as the exact ground state, and speculate that this remains true even when interaction terms involving greater number of particles are included. Surprisingly, we can identify an interaction, which imposes an energetic penalty for a specific entangled configuration of four particles with relative angular momentum of $6\hbar$, that produces a unique zero energy solution (as we have confirmed for up to 12 particles). This state, referred to as the $\lambda$-state, is not identical to the projected composite-fermion state, but the following facts suggest that the two might be topologically equivalent: the two sates have a high overlap; they have the same root partition; the quantum numbers for their neutral excitations are identical; and the quantum numbers for the quasiparticle excitations also match. On the quasihole side, we find that even though the quantum numbers of the lowest energy states agree with the prediction from the composite-fermion theory, these states are not separated from the others by a clearly identifiable gap. This prevents us from making a conclusive claim regarding the topological equivalence of the $\lambda$ state and the composite-fermion state. Our study illustrates how new candidate states can be identified from constraining selected many particle configurations and it would be interesting to pursue their topological classification.

Composite fermion basis for two-component Bose gases

Despite its success, the composite fermion (CF) construction possesses some mathematical features that have, until recently, not been fully understood. In particular, it is known to produce wave functions that are not necessarily orthogonal, or even linearly independent, after projection to the lowest Landau level. While this is usually not a problem in practice in the quantum Hall regime, we have previously shown that it presents a technical challenge for rotating Bose gases with low angular momentum. These are systems where the CF approach yields surprisingly good approximations to the exact eigenstates of weak short-range interactions, and so solving the problem of linearly dependent wave functions is of interest. It can also be useful for studying higher bands of fermionic quantum Hall states. Here we present several ways of constructing a basis for the space of so-called "simple" CF states for two-component rotating Bose gases in the lowest Landau level, and prove that they all give sets of linearly independent wave functions that span the space. Using this basis, we study the structure of the lowest-lying state using so-called restricted wave functions. We also examine the scaling of the overlap between the exact and CF wave functions at the maximal possible angular momentum for simple states.

Entanglement Entropy of the ν=1/2 Composite Fermion Non-Fermi Liquid State.

The so-called "non-Fermi liquid" behavior is very common in strongly correlated systems. However, its operational definition in terms of "what it is not" is a major obstacle for the theoretical understanding of this fascinating correlated state. Recently there has been much interest in entanglement entropy as a theoretical tool to study non-Fermi liquids. So far explicit calculations have been limited to models without direct experimental realizations. Here we focus on a two-dimensional electron fluid under magnetic field and filling fraction ν=1/2, which is believed to be a non-Fermi liquid state. Using a composite fermion wave function which captures the ν=1/2 state very accurately, we compute the second Rényi entropy using the variational MonteCarlo technique. We find the entanglement entropy scales as LlogL with the length of the boundary L as it does for free fermions, but has a prefactor twice that of free fermions.

Tripartite composite fermion states

The Read-Rezayi wave function is one of the candidates for the fractional quantum Hall effect at filling fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}=2+⅗$, and thereby also its hole conjugate at $2+⅖$. We study a general class of tripartite composite fermion wave functions, which reduce to the Rezayi-Read ground state and quasiholes for appropriate quantum numbers, but also allow a construction of wave functions for quasiparticles and neutral excitations by analogy to the standard composite fermion theory. We present numerical evidence in finite systems that these trial wave functions capture well the low energy physics of a four-body model interaction. We also compare the tripartite composite fermion wave functions with the exact Coulomb eigenstates at $2+⅗$, and find reasonably good agreement. The ground state as well as several excited states of the four-body interaction are seen to evolve adiabatically into the corresponding Coulomb states for $N=15$ particles. These results support the plausibility of the Read-Rezayi proposal for the $2+⅖$ and $2+⅗$ fractional quantum Hall effect. However, certain other proposals also remain viable, and further study of excitations and edge states will be necessary for a decisive establishment of the physical mechanism of these fractional quantum Hall states.

Composite fermion wavefunctions derived by conformal field theory

The Jain theory of hierarchical Hall states is reconsidered in the light of recent analyses that have found exact relations between projected Jain wavefunctions and conformal field theory correlators. We show that the underlying conformal theory is precisely given by the W-infinity minimal models introduced earlier. This theory involves a reduction of the multicomponent Abelian theory that is similar to the projection to the lowest Landau level in the Jain approach. The analysis closely parallels the bosonic conformal theory description of the Pfaffian and Read–Rezayi states.

Spinful composite fermions in a negative effective field

In this paper we study fractional quantum Hall composite fermion wavefunctions at filling fractions \nu = 2/3, 3/5, and 4/7. At each of these filling fractions, there are several possible wavefunctions with different spin polarizations, depending on how many spin-up or spin-down composite fermion Landau levels are occupied. We calculate the energy of the possible composite fermion wavefunctions and we predict transitions between ground states of different spin polarizations as the ratio of Zeeman energy to Coulomb energy is varied. Previously, several experiments have observed such transitions between states of differing spin polarization and we make direct comparison of our predictions to these experiments. For more detailed comparison between theory and experiment, we also include finite-thickness effects in our calculations. We find reasonable qualitative agreement between the experiments and composite fermion theory. Finally, we consider composite fermion states at filling factors \nu = 2+2/3, 2+3/5, and 2+4/7. The latter two cases we predict to be spin polarized even at zero Zeeman energy.

Change in the character of quasiparticles without gap collapse in a model of fractional quantum Hall effect

It is commonly assumed in the studies of the fractional quantum Hall effect that the physics of a fractional quantum Hall state, in particular the character of its excitations, is invariant under a continuous deformation of the Hamiltonian during which the gap does not close. We show in this article that, at least for finite systems, as the interaction is changed from a model three body interaction to Coulomb, the ground state at filling factor $\nu=2/5$ evolves continuously from the so-called Gaffnian wave function to the composite fermion wave function, but the quasiholes alter their character in a nonperturbative manner. This is attributed to the fact that the Coulomb interaction opens a gap in the Gaffnian quasihole sector, pushing many of the states to very high energies. Interestingly, the states below the gap are found to have a one-to-one correspondence with the composite fermion theory, suggesting that the Gaffnian model contains composite fermions, and that the Gaffnian quasiholes are unstable to the formation of composite fermions when a two-body interaction term is switched on. General implications of this study are discussed.

Quantum Hall quasielectron operators in conformal field theory

In the conformal field theory (CFT) approach to the quantum Hall effect, the multi-electron wave functions are expressed as correlation functions in certain rational CFTs. While this approach has led to a well-understood description of the fractionally charged quasihole excitations, the quasielectrons have turned out to be much harder to handle. In particular, forming quasielectron states requires non-local operators, in sharp contrast to quasiholes that can be created by local chiral vertex operators. In both cases, the operators are strongly constrained by general requirements of symmetry, braiding and fusion. Here we construct a quasielectron operator satisfying these demands and show that it reproduces known good quasiparticle wave functions, as well as predicts new ones. In particular we propose explicit wave functions for quasielectron excitations of the Moore-Read Pfaffian state. Further, this operator allows us to explicitly express the composite fermion wave functions in the positive Jain series in hierarchical form, thus settling a longtime controversy. We also critically discuss the status of the fractional statistics of quasiparticles in the Abelian hierarchical quantum Hall states, and argue that our construction of localized quasielectron states sheds new light on their statistics. At the technical level we introduce a generalized normal ordering, that allows us to "fuse" an electron operator with the inverse of an hole operator, and also an alternative approach to the background charge needed to neutralize CFT correlators. As a result we get a fully holomorphic CFT representation of a large set of quantum Hall wave functions.

Quantum Hall hierarchy wave functions: From conformal correlators to Tao-Thouless states

Laughlin's wave functions, which describe the fractional quantum Hall effect at filling factors $\ensuremath{\nu}=1/(2k+1)$, can be obtained as correlation functions in a conformal field theory, and recently, this construction was extended to Jain's composite fermion wave functions at filling factors $\ensuremath{\nu}=n/(2kn+1)$. Here, we generalize this latter construction and present ground state wave functions for all quantum Hall hierarchy states that are obtained by successive condensation of quasielectrons (as opposed to quasiholes) in the original hierarchy construction. By considering these wave functions on a cylinder, we show that they approach the exact ground states, which are the Tao-Thouless states, when the cylinder becomes thin. We also present wave functions for the multihole states, make the connection to Wen's general classification of Abelian quantum Hall fluids, and discuss whether the fractional statistics of the quasiparticles can be analytically determined. Finally, we discuss to what extent our wave functions can be described in the language of composite fermions.

Paired composite-fermion wave functions

We construct a family of BCS paired composite-fermion wave functions that generalize but remain in the same topological phase as the Moore-Read Pfaffian state for the half-filled Landau level. It is shown that for a wide range of experimentally relevant interelectron interactions, the ground state can be very accurately represented in this form.

Composite-fermion wave functions as correlators in conformal field theory

It is known that a subset of fractional quantum Hall wave functions has been expressed as conformal field theory (CFT) correlators, notably the Laughlin wave function at filling factor $\nu=1/m$ ($m$ odd) and its quasiholes, and the Pfaffian wave function at $\nu=1/2$ and its quasiholes. We develop a general scheme for constructing composite-fermion (CF) wave functions from conformal field theory. Quasiparticles at $\nu=1/m$ are created by inserting anyonic vertex operators, $P_{\frac{1}{m}}(z)$, that replace a subset of the electron operators in the correlator. The one-quasiparticle wave function is identical to the corresponding CF wave function, and the two-quasiparticle wave function has correct fractional charge and statistics and is numerically almost identical to the corresponding CF wave function. We further show how to exactly represent the CF wavefunctions in the Jain series $\nu = s/(2sp+1)$ as the CFT correlators of a new type of fermionic vertex operators, $V_{p,n}(z)$, constructed from $n$ free compactified bosons; these operators provide the CFT representation of composite fermions carrying $2p$ flux quanta in the $n^{\rm th}$ CF Landau level. We also construct the corresponding quasiparticle- and quasihole operators and argue that they have the expected fractional charge and statistics. For filling fractions 2/5 and 3/7 we show that the chiral CFTs that describe the bulk wave functions are identical to those given by Wen's general classification of quantum Hall states in terms of $K$-matrices and $l$- and $t$-vectors, and we propose that to be generally true. Our results suggest a general procedure for constructing quasiparticle wave functions for other fractional Hall states, as well as for constructing ground states at filling fractions not contained in the principal Jain series.

Conformal Field Theory of Composite Fermions

We show that the quantum Hall wave functions for the ground states in the Jain series nu=n/(2np+1) can be exactly expressed in terms of correlation functions of local vertex operators Vn corresponding to composite fermions in the nth composite-fermion (CF) Landau level. This allows for the powerful mathematics of conformal field theory to be applied to the successful CF phenomenology. Quasiparticle and quasihole states are expressed as correlators of anyonic operators with fractional (local) charge, allowing a simple algebraic understanding of their topological properties that are not manifest in the CF wave functions. Moreover, our construction shows how the states in the nu=n/(2np+1) Jain sequence may be interpreted as condensates of quasiparticles.

Composite-fermion description of rotating Bose gases at low angular momenta

We study the composite-fermion (CF) construction at and below the single vortex (L=N) state of weakly interacting rotating Bose gases, presenting a new method for handling the large number of derivatives typically occurring via the Slater determinant. Remarkably, the CF wave function at L=N becomes asymptotically exact in the thermodynamic limit, even though this construction is not, a priori, expected to work in the low angular momentum regime. This implies an interesting mathematical identity which may be useful in other contexts.

Algebraic analysis of composite fermion wavefunctions

Composite fermion wavefunctions have been used to describe electrons in a strong magnetic field. We show that the polynomial part of these wavefunctions can be obtained by applying a normal ordered product of suitably defined annihilation and creation operators to an even power of the Vandermonde determinant, which can been considered as a kind of a nontrivial Fermi sea. In the case of the harmonic interaction we solve the system exactly in the lowest Landau level. The solution makes explicit the boson-fermion correspondence proposed recently.

Nature of quasiparticle excitations in the fractional quantum Hall effect

We investigate the 1/3 fractional quantum Hall state with one and two quasiparticle excitations. It is shown that the quasiparticle excitations are best described as excited composite fermions occupying higher composite-fermion quasi-Landau levels. In particular, the composite-fermion wave function for a single quasiparticle has 15% lower energy than the trial wave function suggested by Laughlin, and for two quasiparticles, the composite fermion theory also gives new qualitative structures.

Energy gaps for fractional quantum Hall states described by a Chern-Simons composite fermion wavefunction

The Jain's composite fermion wavefunction has proven quite succesful to describe most of the fractional quantum Hall states. Its mathematical foundation lies in the Chern-Simons field theory for the electrons in the lowest Landau level, despite the fact that such wavefunction is different from a typical mean-field level Chern-Simons wavefunction. It is known that the energy excitation gaps for fractional Hall states described by Jain's composite fermion wavefunction cannot be calculated analytically. We note that analytic results for the energy excitation gaps of fractional Hall states described by a fermion Chern-Simons wavefunction are readily obtained by using a technique originating from nuclear matter studies. By adopting this technique to the fractional quantum Hall effect we obtained analytical results for the excitation energy gaps of all fractional Hall states described by a Chern-Simons wavefunction.

Theoretical estimates for the correlation energy of the unprojected composite fermion wave function

The most prominent filling factors of the fractional quantum Hall effect are very well described by the Jain's microscopic composite fermion wave function. Through these wave functions, the composite fermion theory recovers the Laughlin's wave function as a special case and exposes itself to rigorous tests. Considering the system as being in the thermodynamic limit and using simple arguments, we give theoretical estimates for the correlation energy corresponding to all unprojected composite fermion wave functions in terms of the accurately known correlation energies of the Laughlin's wave function. The provided theoretical estimates are in very good agreement with available Monte Carlo data extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit. These results can be quite instructive to test the reliability and accuracy of different computational methods employed on the study of these phenomena.

The Fermi-sea-like limit of the composite fermion wave function

The experimentally observed filling factors of the fractional quantum Hall effect can be described in terms of the composite fermion wave function of the Jastrow-Slater form [0pt] fully projected into the lowest Landau level. The Slater determinant of the above composite fermion wave function represents the filled Landau levels of composite fermions evaluated at the corresponding reduced magnetic field. For a system of fermions studied in the thermodynamic limit, we prove that in the even-denominator-filled state limit (when the number of filled Landau levels of composite fermions becomes infinite), the above composite fermion wave function exactly transforms into the Rezayi-Read Fermi-sea-like wave function [0pt] constructed by attaching 2m flux quanta to the Slater determinant of two-dimensional free fermions at the density corresponding to that filling. We study the composite fermion wave function and its evolution into the Fermi-sea-like wave function for a range of filling factors very close to the even-denominator-filled state.

Exact results for a composite-fermion wave function

It is noted that the radial distribution function and the interaction energy per particle can be exactly computed for a class of composite fermion wave functions obtained at the mean-field level of the Chern-Simons theory for the fractional quantum Hall effect. These results can be quite instructive and useful to test different numerical methods and approximations used to study these phenomena.