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Skyrmions in the Moore-Read State at ?=5/2

Wójs, Arkadiusz, Möller, Gunnar, Simon, Steven H, Cooper, Nigel R (2010) Skyrmions in the Moore-Read State at ?=5/2. Physical Review Letters, 104 (8). p. 86801. ISSN 0031-9007. E-ISSN 1079-7114. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.086801) (KAR id:55532)

Abstract

We study spinful excitations in the Moore-Read state. Energetics of the skyrmion based on a spin-wave picture support the existence of skyrmion excitations in the plateau below $\nu=5/2$. This prediction is then tested numerically. We construct trial skyrmion wavefunctions for general FQHE states, and obtain significant overlaps for the predicted skyrmions of $\nu=5/2$. The case of $\nu=5/2$ is particularly interesting as skyrmions have twice the charge of quasiparticles (qp's). As the spin polarization of the system is tuned from full to none, we observe a transition between qp- and skyrmion-like behaviour of the excitation spectrum that can be interpreted as binding of qp's. Our ED results confirm that skyrmion states are energetically competitive with quasiparticles at low Zeeman coupling. Disorder and large density of quasiparticles are discussed as further mechanisms for depolarization.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.086801
Uncontrolled keywords: Physics of Quantum Materials
Subjects: Q Science > QC Physics > QC173.45 Condensed Matter
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Gunnar Moeller
Date Deposited: 05 Dec 2017 15:16 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:22 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/55532 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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