Reconstructing the electron in a fractionalized quantum fluid

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the existence of long-lived electron-like quasiparticles in fractional quantum Hall liquids, which can be experimentally observed via tunneling conductance resonances, challenging the traditional Fermi liquid paradigm.

Contribution

It reveals that electron creation and annihilation operators couple to high-energy bound states of composite fermions, providing a new understanding of electron behavior in fractional quantum Hall systems.

Findings

Electron-like quasiparticles exist in fractional quantum Hall liquids.

Bound states can be detected through tunneling conductance experiments.

The Fermi liquid paradigm breaks down in these systems.

Abstract

The low energy physics of the fractional Hall liquid is described in terms quasiparticles that are qualitatively distinct from electrons. We show, however, that a long-lived electron-like quasiparticle also exists in the excitation spectrum: the state obtained by the application of an electron creation operator to a fractional quantum Hall ground state has a non-zero overlap with a complex, high energy bound state containing an odd number of composite-fermion quasiparticles. The electron annihilation operator similarly couples to a bound complex of composite-fermion holes. We predict that these bound states can be observed through a conductance resonance in experiments involving a tunneling of an external electron into the fractional quantum Hall liquid. A comment is made on the origin of the breakdown of the Fermi liquid paradigm in the fractional hall liquid.