Landau level mixing in the nu=5/2 fractional quantum Hall state

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates Landau level mixing in the nu=5/2 fractional quantum Hall state, revealing its impact on excitation gaps and the nature of quasiparticles, which has implications for experimental realization.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of Landau level mixing effects on the nu=5/2 state, highlighting its influence on excitation gaps and wavefunction overlaps.

Findings

Landau level mixing significantly reduces the excitation gap.

LL mixing decreases overlaps with the Moore--Read wavefunction.

Results suggest challenges in realizing nonabelian quasiparticles experimentally.

Abstract

The nu=5/2 fractional quantum Hall state is studied numerically, directly including the effects of electron scattering between neighboring Landau levels. Significant reduction of the excitation gap caused by the LL mixing explains the discrepancy between earlier calculations and experiments. On the other hand, LL mixing also considerably reduces overlaps with the Moore--Read wavefunction, raising a question of the actual realization of nonabelian quasiparticles in present experiments.