Stability of the particle-hole Pfaffian state and the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mfrac><mml:mn>5</mml:mn><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mfrac></mml:math>-fractional quantum Hall effect

Abstract

After decades since its discovery, a complete understanding of the topological phase of matter at $\frac{5}{2}$ filling appears to be lacking. Previous numerical studies have narrowed the candidates to the Moore-Read Pfaffian or the anti-Pfaffian. Recent thermal transport measurements point to another variant, the particle-hole Pfaffian, which has a nonholomorphic pairing part that complicates comparison with other competing states. Here, the authors have constructed the exact holomorphic particle-hole Pfaffian wave function with full particle-hole symmetry and compared its energetics with the Moore-Read Pfaffian and the anti-Pfaffian.

Topics & Concepts