Trapping Abelian anyons in fractional quantum Hall droplets

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Abelian anyons, such as quasiholes and quasiparticles, can be trapped and controlled in fractional quantum Hall systems, with implications for topological quantum computing.

Contribution

It demonstrates the conditions under which quasiholes and quasiparticles can be stabilized as ground states in a microscopic model with a trapping potential.

Findings

Quasihole and quasiparticle states can be ground states at ν=1/3 with trapping potential.

Presence of an Abelian quasihole does not affect the edge spectrum.

Stability of anyons depends on the trapping potential's strength and range.

Abstract

We study the trapping of Abelian anyons (quasiholes and quasiparticles) by a local potential (e.g., induced by an AFM tip) in a microscopic model of fractional quantum Hall liquids with long-range Coulomb interaction and edge confining potential. We find, in particular, at Laughlin filling fraction $\nu = 1/3$, both quasihole and quasiparticle states can emerge as the ground state of the system in the presence of the trapping potential. As expected, we find the presence of an Abelian quasihole has no effect on the edge spectrum of the quantum liquid, unlike in the non-Abelian case [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 97}, 256804 (2006)]. Although quasiholes and quasiparticles can emerge generically in the system, their stability depends on the strength of the confining potential, the strength and the range of the trapping potential. We discuss the relevance of the calculation to the high-accuracy generation and control of individual anyons in potential experiments, in particular, in the context of topological quantum computing.