Comments on `` Scattering of bunched fractionally charged quasiparticles" by Chung, Heiblem and Umansky, cond-mat/0305325

TL;DR

This paper critiques the interpretation of fractional charge measurements in quasiparticle experiments, emphasizing that the measured quantity is a product of charge and magnetic field, and questioning the evidence for quasiparticle bunching.

Contribution

It clarifies the interpretation of experimental data on fractional charge and argues that current measurements do not necessarily imply quasiparticle bunching or splitting.

Findings

Measured quantity is charge times magnetic field, not charge alone

Changing quasiparticle states without splitting does not imply bunching

Experimental data may not conclusively demonstrate quasiparticle bunching

Abstract

In the experiments, the quantity measurd is the product of the charge and the magnetic field from which fractional charge is deduced. There is no objection to measuring the fractional charge as long as it is remembered that the product of the charge and the field has been measured. So If the fraction came from the field rather than from the charge, the experiment will remain unaffected. There is no prescription about the mass splitting so there is no way to combine two masses into one. Therefore, the fractional charge can be obtained by changing the state of the quasiparticle without splitting, then there is no bunching.