Skyrmion Physics Beyond the Lowest Landau Level Approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Landau level mixing and finite thickness influence skyrmion stability in quantum Hall systems, revealing that these effects lower skyrmion energies but interact non-coherently, with finite thickness suppressing Landau level mixing.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of Landau level mixing and finite thickness effects on skyrmion excitations beyond the lowest Landau level approximation.

Findings

Landau level mixing lowers skyrmion energies.

Finite thickness favors skyrmions with fewer spin flips.

Finite thickness suppresses the effect of Landau level mixing.

Abstract

The effects of Landau level mixing and finite thickness of the two-dimensional electron gas on the relative stability of skyrmion and single spin-flip excitations at Landau level filling factor $\nu=1$ have been investigated. Landau level mixing is studied by fixed-phase diffusion Monte Carlo and finite thickness is included by modifying the effective Coulomb interaction. Both Landau level mixing and finite thickness lower skyrmion excitation energies and favor skyrmions with fewer spin flips. However, the two effects do not work `coherently'. When finite thickness is included the effect of Landau level mixing is strongly suppressed.