Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

D. E. Feldman

Publications and source records attributed to D. E. Feldman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Thermal equilibration on the edges of topological liquids

Thermal conductance has emerged as a powerful probe of topological order in the quantum Hall effect and beyond. The interpretation of experiments crucially depends on the ratio of the sample size and the equilibration length, on which energy exchange among contra-propagating chiral modes becomes significant. We show that at low temperatures the equilibration length diverges as $1/T^2$ for almost all Abelian and non-Abelian topological orders. A faster $1/T^4$ divergence is present on the edges of the non-Abelian PH-Pfaffian and negative-flux Read-Rezayi liquids. We address experimental consequences of the $1/T^2$ and $1/T^4$ laws in a sample, shorter than the equilibration length.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Edge Probes of Topological Order

According to the bulk-edge correspondence principle, the physics of the gapless edge in the quantum Hall effect determines topological order in the gapped bulk. As the bulk is less accessible, the last two decades saw the emergence of several experimental techniques that invoke the study of the compressible edge. We review the properties of the edge, and describe several experimental techniques that include shot noise and thermal noise measurements, interferometry, and energy (thermal) transport at the edge. We pay special attention to the filling factor 5/2 in the first excited Landau level (in two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs), where experimental evidence of a non-abelian topological order was found. A brief discussion is devoted to recent interferometry experiments that uncovered unexpected physics in the integer quantum Hall effect. The chapter also addresses the theory of edge states, for systems with abelian and non-abelian topological orders.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

The sixteenfold way and the quantum Hall effect at half-integer filling factors

Fractional quantum Hall states at half-integer filling factors have been observed in many systems beyond the $5/2$ and $7/2$ plateaus in GaAs quantum wells. This includes bilayer states in GaAs, several half-integer plateaus in ZnO-based heterostructures, and quantum Hall liquids in graphene. In all cases, Cooper pairing of composite fermions is believed to explain the plateaus. The nature of Cooper pairing and the topological order on those plateaus are hotly debated. Different orders are believed to be present in different systems. This makes it important to understand experimental signatures of all proposed orders. We review the expected experimental signatures for all possible composite-fermion states at half-integer filling. We address Mach-Zehnder interferometry, thermal transport, tunneling experiments, and Fabry-Pérot interferometry. For this end, we introduce a uniform description of the topological orders of Kitaev's sixteenfold way in terms of their wave-functions, effective Hamiltonians, and edge theories.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Partial equilibration of integer and fractional edge channels in the thermal quantum Hall effect

Since the charged mode is much faster than the neutral modes on quantum Hall edges at large filling factors, the edge may remain out of equilibrium in thermal conductance experiments. This sheds light on the observed imperfect quantization of the thermal Hall conductance at $ν=8/3$ and can increase the observed thermal conductance by two quanta at $ν=8/5$. Under certain unlikely but not impossible assumptions, this might also reconcile the observed thermal conductance at $ν=5/2$ with not only the PH-Pfaffian order but also the anti-Pfaffian order.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Comment on S. H. Simon, Interpretation of thermal conductance of the $ν=5/2$ edge, arXiv:1801.09687

We address the interpretation proposed in [S. H. Simon, arXiv:1801.09687] of the thermal conductance data from [M. Banerjee et al., arXiv:1710.00492]. We show that the interpretation is inconsistent with experimental data and the sample structure. In particular, the paper misses the momentum mismatch between contra-propagating modes. Contrary to the claim of the paper, low energy tunneling involves a large momentum change. We consider only the 'small Majorana velocity' mechanism [S. H. Simon, arXiv:1801.09687]. Other mechanisms, interpretations of the experiment, and their difficulties are beyond the scope of this Comment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Interaction-induced interference in the integer quantum Hall effect

In recent interference experiments with an electronic Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), implemented in the integer quantum Hall effect regime, a flux periodicity of $h/2e$ was observed at bulk fillings $ν_B>2.5$. The halved periodicity was accompanied by an interfering charge $e^*=2e$, determined by shot noise measurements. Here, we present measurements, demonstrating that, counterintuitively, the coherence and the interference periodicity of the interfering chiral edge channel are solely determined by the coherence and the enclosed flux of the adjacent edge channel. Our results elucidate the important role of the latter and suggest that a neutral chiral edge mode plays a crucial role in the pairing phenomenon. Our findings reveal that the observed pairing of electrons is not a curious isolated phenomenon, but one of many manifestations of unexpected edge physics in the quantum Hall effect regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Thermoelectric transport in junctions of Majorana and Dirac channels

We investigate the thermoelectric current and heat conductance in a chiral Josephson contact on a surface of a 3D topological insulator, covered with superconducting and magnetic insulator films. The contact consists of two junctions of Majorana and Dirac channels next to two superconductors. Geometric asymmetry results in a supercurrent without a phase bias. The interference of Dirac fermions causes oscillations of the electric and heat currents with an unconventional period $2Φ_0=h/e$ as functions of the Aharonov-Bohm flux. Due to the gapless character of Majorana modes, there is no threshold for the thermoelectric effect and the current-flux relationship is non-sinusoidal. Depending on the magnetic flux, the direction of the electric current can be both from the hot to cold lead and vice versa.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Why a noninteracting model works for shot noise in fractional charge experiments

A fractional quasiparticle charge is a manifestation of strong interactions in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Nevertheless, shot noise of quasiparticles is well described by a formula, derived for noninteracting charges. We explain the success of that formula by proving that in the limits of strong and weak backscattering it holds irrespectively of microscopic details in weakly and strongly interacting systems alike. The derivation relies only on principles of statistical mechanics. We also derive an approximate model-independent formula for shot noise in the regime of intermediate backscattering. The equation is numerically close to the standard `noninteracting' fitting formula but suggests a different physical interpretation of the experimental results. We verify our theoretical predictions with a shot noise experiment at the filling factor $3/5$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Particle-hole symmetry without particle-hole symmetry in the quantum Hall effect at ν = 5/2

Numerical results suggest that the quantum Hall effect at ν = 5/2 is described by the Pfaffian or anti-Pfaffian state in the absence of disorder and Landau level mixing. Those states are incompatible with the observed transport properties of GaAs heterostructures, where disorder and Landau level mixing are strong. We show that the recent proposal of a PH-Pfaffian topological order by Son is consistent with all experiments. The absence of the particle-hole symmetry at ν = 5/2 is not an obstacle to the existence of the PH-Pfaffian order since the order is robust to symmetry breaking.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Edge mode velocities in the quantum Hall effect from a dc measurement

Because of the bulk gap, low energy physics in the quantum Hall effect is confined to the edges of the 2D electron liquid. The velocities of edge modes are key parameters of edge physics. They were determined in several quantum Hall systems from time-resolved measurements and high-frequency ac transport. We propose a way to extract edge velocities from dc transport in a point contact geometry defined by narrow gates. The width of the gates assumes two different sizes at small and large distances from the point contact. The Coulomb interaction across the gates depends on the gate width and affects the conductance of the contact. The conductance exhibits two different temperature dependencies at high and low temperatures. The transition between the two regimes is determined by the edge velocity. An interesting feature of the low-temperature I-V curve is current oscillations as a function of the voltage. The oscillations emerge due to charge reflection from the interface of the regions defined by the narrow and wide sections of the gates.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Fluctuation relations for spin currents

The fluctuation theorem establishes general relations between transport coefficients and fluctuations in nonequilibrium systems. Recently there was much interest in quantum fluctuation relations for electric currents. Since charge carriers also carry spin, it is important to extend the fluctuation theorem to spin currents. We use the principle of microscopic reversibility to derive such theorem. As a consequence, we obtain a family of relations between transport coefficients and fluctuations of spin currents. We apply the relations to the spin Seebeck effect and rectification of spin currents. Our relations do not depend on a microscopic model and hence can be used to test the validity of theoretical approximations in spin-transport problems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Experimental constraints and a possible quantum Hall state at $ν=5/2$

Several topological orders have been proposed to explain the quantum Hall plateau at $ν=5/2$. The observation of an upstream neutral mode on the sample edge [Bid et al., Nature (London) 466, 585 (2010)] supports the non-Abelian anti-Pfaffian state. On the other hand, the tunneling experiments [Radu et al., Science 320, 899 (2008); Lin et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, 165321 (2012); Baer et al., arXiv:1405.0428] favor the Halperin 331 state which exhibits no upstream modes. We find a topological order, compatible with the results of both types of experiments. That order allows both finite and zero spin polarizations. It is Abelian but its signatures in Aharonov-Bohm interferometry can be similar to those of the Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Fluctuation theorems without time-reversal symmetry

Fluctuation theorems establish deep relations between observables away from thermal equilibrium. Until recently, the research on fluctuation theorems was focused on time-reversal-invariant systems. In this review we address some newly discovered fluctuation relations that hold without time-reversal symmetry, in particular, in the presence of an external magnetic field. One family of relations connects non-linear transport coefficients in the opposite magnetic fields. Another family relates currents and noises at a fixed direction of the magnetic field in chiral systems, such as the edges of some quantum Hall liquids. We review the recent experimental and theoretical research, including the controversy on the microreversibility without time-reversal symmetry, consider the applications of fluctuation theorems to the physics of topological states of matter, and discuss open problems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Exact zero modes and decoherence in systems of interacting Majorana fermions

Majorana fermions often coexist with other low-energy fermionic degrees of freedom. In such situation, topological quantum computation requires the use of fermionic zero modes of a many-body system. We classify all such modes for interacting fermions and show how to select the mode that maximizes the decoherence time. We find that in a typical interacting system the maximal decoherence time is within one order of magnitude from the decoherence time of a qbit based on the local part of the fermion parity operator.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Influence of device geometry on tunneling in ν=5/2 quantum Hall liquid

Two recent experiments [I. P. Radu et al., Science 320, 899 (2008) and X. Lin et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, 165321 (2012)] measured the temperature and voltage dependence of the quasiparticle tunneling through a quantum point contact in the ν= 5/2 quantum Hall liquid. The results led to conflicting conclusions about the nature of the quantum Hall state. In this paper, we show that the conflict can be resolved by recognizing different geometries of the devices in the experiments. We argue that in some of those geometries there is significant unscreened electrostatic interaction between the segments of the quantum Hall edge on the opposite sides of the point contact. Coulomb interaction affects the tunneling current. We compare experimental results with theoretical predictions for the Pfaffian, SU(2)_2, 331 and K=8 states and their particle-hole conjugates. After Coulomb corrections are taken into account, measurements in all geometries agree with the spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized Halperin 331 states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Chirality, causality, and fluctuation-dissipation theorems in non-equilibrium steady states

Edges of some quantum Hall liquids and a number of other systems exhibit chiral transport: excitations can propagate in one direction only, e.g., clockwise. We derive a family of fluctuation-dissipation relations in non-equilibrium steady states of such chiral systems. The theorems connect nonlinear response with fluctuations far from thermal equilibrium and hold only in case of chiral transport. They can be used to test chiral or non-chiral character of the system.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Fluctuation-dissipation theorem for chiral systems in non-equilibrium steady states

We consider a three-terminal system with a chiral edge channel connecting the source and drain terminals. Charge can tunnel between the chiral edge and a third terminal. The third terminal is maintained at a different temperature and voltage than the source and drain. We prove a general relation for the current noises detected in the drain and third terminal. It has the same structure as an equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation with the nonlinear response in place of the linear conductance. The result applies to a general chiral system and can be useful for detecting "upstream" modes on quantum Hall edges.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Rectification in Y-junctions of Luttinger liquid wires

We investigate rectification of a low-frequency ac bias in Y-junctions of one-channel Luttinger liquid wires with repulsive electron interaction. Rectification emerges due to three scatterers in the wires. We find that it is possible to achieve a higher rectification current in a Y-junction than in a single wire with an asymmetric scatterer at the same interaction strength and voltage bias. The rectification effect is the strongest in the absence of the time-reversal symmetry. In that case, the maximal rectification current can be comparable with the total current $\sim e^2V/h$ even for low voltages, weak scatterers and modest interaction strength. In a certain range of low voltages, the rectification current can grow as the voltage decreases. This leads to a bump in the $I$-$V$ curve.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗