arXiv subjects

Songyang Pu

Publications and source records attributed to Songyang Pu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Local spectroscopy of anyons bound to charge traps

Fractional quantum Hall states host anyons, emergent quasiparticles with fractional charge and nontrivial exchange statistics. Controlling, trapping, and braiding anyons are central goals for both fundamental physics and topological quantum computation. A key step toward such control is understanding how anyons behave when confined in local potentials, where their internal structure can become relevant. Here, we use the scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) to study the excitation spectrum in integer and fractional quantum Hall states of monolayer graphene near individual charged impurities. In the integer quantum Hall states, the STS spectra show lifting of orbital degeneracy near defects, appearing as a band of discrete energy levels. In fractional states, (v=1/3 and 2/5), however, we observe an additional energy splitting of the lowest-energy spectral feature that occurs only when the chemical potential lies within a fractional gap and is absent in compressible or integer regimes. We attribute this to many-body configurations of anyons trapped by an impurity potential. Strikingly, numerical calculations show that the splitting requires an anisotropic confining potential, vanishing for a rotationally symmetric trap. The competing multi-anyon states carry nearly identical charge within the core of the potential but differ in how that charge is redistributed at larger radius. Our results establish local tunneling spectroscopy as a direct probe of anyon bound states, providing a key step toward understanding and controlling their behavior in confined geometries relevant for braiding and fusion.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Photonic antiferromagnetic topological insulator with a single surface Dirac cone

Antiferromagnetism, characterized by magnetic moments aligned in alternating directions with a vanished ensemble average, has garnered renewed interest for its potential applications in spintronics and axion dynamics. The synergy between antiferromagnetism and topology can lead to the emergence of an exotic topological phase unique to certain magnetic order, termed antiferromagnetic topological insulators (AF TIs). A hallmark signature of AF TIs is the presence of a single surface Dirac cone--a feature typically associated with strong three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators--only on certain symmetry-preserving crystal terminations. However, the direct observation of this phenomenon poses a significant challenge. Here, we have theoretically and experimentally discovered a 3D photonic AF TI hosting a single surface Dirac cone protected by the combined symmetry of time reversal and half-lattice translation. Conceptually, our setup can be viewed as a z-directional stack of two-dimensional Chern insulators, with adjacent layers oppositely magnetized to form a 3D type-A AF configuration. By measuring both bulk and surface states, we have directly observed the symmetry-protected gapless single-Dirac-cone surface state, which shows remarkable robustness against random magnetic disorders. Our work constitutes the first realization of photonic AF TIs and photonic analogs of strong topological insulators, opening a new chapter for exploring novel topological photonic devices and phenomena that incorporate additional magnetic degrees of freedom.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Simulating Composite Fermion Excitons by Density Functional Theory and Monte Carlo on a Disk

The Kohn-Sham density functional method for the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect has recently been developed by mapping the strongly interacting electrons into an auxiliary system of weakly interacting composite fermions (CFs) that experience a density-dependent effective magnetic field. This approach has been successfully applied to explore the edge rescontruction, fractional charge and fractional braiding statistics of quasiparticle excitations. In this work, we investigate composite fermion excitons in the bulk of the disk geometry. By varying the separation of the quasiparticle-quasihole pairs and calculating their energy, we compare the dispersion of the magnetoroton mode with results from other numerical methods, such as exact diagonalization (ED) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Furthermore, through an evaluation of the spectral function, we identify chiral ``graviton'' excitations: a spin $-2$ mode for the particle-like Laughlin state and a spin $2$ mode for the hole-like Laughlin state. This method can be extended to construct neutral collective excitations for other fractional quantum Hall states in disk geometry.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Entanglement scaling and charge fluctuations in a Fermi liquid of composite fermions

The composite fermion Fermi liquid (CFL) state at $\nu=1/2$ filling of a Landau level is a paradigmatic non-Fermi liquid borne out purely by Coulomb interactions. But in what ways is this exotic state of matter different from a Fermi liquid? The CFL entanglement entropy was indeed found to exhibit a significant enhancement compared to free electrons [Shao et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 206402 (2015)], which was subsequently ruled out as a finite-size effect by the study of a lattice CFL analog [Mishmash and Motrunich, Phys. Rev. B 94, 081110 (2016)]. Moreover, the enhancement was not observed in a quasi-one-dimensional limit of the Coulomb ground state at $\nu=1/2$ [Geraedts et al., Science 352, 197 (2016)]. Here, we revisit the problem of entanglement scaling in the CFL state realized in a two-dimensional electron gas. Using Monte Carlo evaluation of the second R\'enyi entropy $S_2$ for the CFL variational wave function, we show that the entanglement enhancement is present not only at $\nu=1/2$ but also at $\nu=1/4$, as well as in bosonic CFL states at $\nu=1$ and $\nu=1/3$ fillings. In all cases, we find the scaling of $S_2$ with subsystem size to be enhanced compared to the non-interacting case, and insensitive to the choice of geometry and projection to the lowest Landau level. We also demonstrate that, for CFL states, the variance of the particle number in a subsystem obeys area-law scaling with a universal subleading corner contribution, in stark contrast with free fermions. Our results establish the enhanced entanglement scaling and suppressed charge fluctuations as fingerprints of non-Fermi-liquid correlations in CFL states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Topologically protected emergent Fermi surface in an Abrikosov vortex lattice

We show that a three-dimensional (3D) fully gapped type-II superconductor can feature emergent in-gap Fermi surfaces of Caroli-de Gennes Matricon (CdGM) quasiparticles in the presence of an Abrikosov vortex lattice. In particular, these CdGM Fermi surfaces manifest in the emergent 3D band structure enabled by the intervortex tunneling physics, and their stability is guaranteed by a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological index. By developing an effective analytical theory, we find that each vortex line carrying a 1D nodal dispersion is a sufficient condition for the vortex lattice to form CdGM Fermi surfaces. Following this prediction, in-gap CdGM Fermi surfaces are numerically confirmed in a microscopic vortex-lattice simulation of a superconducting Dirac semimetal with an $s$-wave spin-singlet pairing, which is directly applicable to a large class of type-II superconductors such as LiFeAs. Remarkably, the CdGM Fermi surfaces persist even when the normal state is deformed to a doped insulator of trivial band topology. Our work establishes the vortex lattice as a new experimentally feasible control knob for emergent topological phenomena in conventional superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Microscopic Model for Fractional Quantum Hall Nematics

Geometric fluctuations of the density mode in a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state can give rise to a nematic FQH phase, a topological state with a spontaneously broken rotational symmetry. While experiments on FQH states in the second Landau level have reported signatures of putative FQH nematics in anisotropic transport, a realistic model for this state has been lacking. We show that the standard model of particles in the lowest Landau level interacting via the Coulomb potential realizes the FQH nematic transition, which is reached by a progressive reduction of the strength of the shortest-range Haldane pseudopotential. Using exact diagonalization and variational wave functions, we demonstrate that the FQH nematic transition occurs when the system's neutral gap closes in the long-wavelength limit while the charge gap remains open. We confirm the symmetry-breaking nature of the transition by demonstrating the existence of a "circular moat" potential in the manifold of states with broken rotational symmetry, while its geometric character is revealed through the strong fluctuations of the nematic susceptibility and Hall viscosity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Fingerprints of Composite Fermion Lambda Levels in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Composite fermion (CF) is a topological quasiparticle that emerges from a non-perturbative attachment of vortices to electrons in strongly correlated two-dimensional materials. Similar to non-interacting fermions that form Landau levels in a magnetic field, CFs can fill analogous ``Lambda'' levels, giving rise to the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect of electrons. Here, we show that Lambda levels can be directly visualized through the characteristic peak structure in the signal obtained via spectroscopy with the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) on a FQH state. Complementary to transport, which probes low-energy properties of CFs, we show that \emph{high-energy} features in STM spectra can be interpreted in terms of Lambda levels. We numerically demonstrate that STM spectra can be accurately modeled using Jain's CF theory. Our results show that STM provides a powerful tool for revealing the anatomy of FQH states and identifying physics beyond the non-interacting CF paradigm.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Deformed Fredkin model for the $\nu{=}5/2$ Moore-Read state on thin cylinders

We propose a frustration-free model for the Moore-Read quantum Hall state on sufficiently thin cylinders with circumferences $\lesssim 7$ magnetic lengths. While the Moore-Read Hamiltonian involves complicated long-range interactions between triplets of electrons in a Landau level, our effective model is a simpler one-dimensional chain of qubits with deformed Fredkin gates. We show that the ground state of the Fredkin model has high overlap with the Moore-Read wave function and accurately reproduces the latter's entanglement properties. Moreover, we demonstrate that the model captures the dynamical response of the Moore-Read state to a geometric quench, induced by suddenly changing the anisotropy of the system. We elucidate the underlying mechanism of the quench dynamics and show that it coincides with the linearized bimetric field theory. The minimal model introduced here can be directly implemented as a first step towards quantum simulation of the Moore-Read state, as we demonstrate by deriving an efficient circuit approximation to the ground state and implementing it on IBM quantum processor.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Signatures of Supersymmetry in the $\nu{=}5/2$ Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

The Moore-Read state, one of the leading candidates for describing the fractional quantum Hall effect at filling factor $\nu{=}5/2$, is a paradigmatic $p$-wave superconductor with non-Abelian topological order. Among its many exotic properties, the state hosts two collective modes: a bosonic density wave and a neutral fermion mode that arises from an unpaired electron in the condensate. It has recently been proposed that the descriptions of the two modes can be unified by postulating supersymmetry (SUSY) that relates them in the long-wavelength limit. Here we extend the SUSY description to construct wave functions of the two modes on closed surfaces, such as the sphere and torus, and we test the resulting states in large-scale numerical simulations. We demonstrate the equivalence in the long-wavelength limit between SUSY wave functions and previous descriptions of collective modes based on the Girvin-MacDonald-Platzman ansatz, Jack polynomials, and bipartite composite fermions. Leveraging the first-quantized form of the SUSY wave functions, we study their energies using the Monte Carlo method and show that realistic $\nu{=}5/2$ systems are close to the putative SUSY point, where the two collective modes become degenerate in energy.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Torus geometry eigenfunctions of an interacting multi-Landau level Hamiltonian

A short-ranged, rotationally symmetric multi-Landau-level model Hamiltonian for strongly interacting electrons in a magnetic field was proposed [A. Anand et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 136601 (2021)] with the key feature that it allows exact many-body eigenfunctions on the disk not just for quasiholes but for all charged and neutral excitations of the entire Jain sequence filling fractions. We extend this to geometries without full rotational symmetry, namely the torus and cylinder geometries, and present their spectra. Exact diagonalization of the interaction on the torus produces the low-energy spectra at filling fraction $\nu=n/(2pn+1)$ that is identical, up to a topological $(2pn+1)$-fold multiplicity, to that of the integer quantum Hall spectra at $\nu=n$, for the incompressible state as well as all excitations. While the ansatz eigenfunctions in the disk geometry cannot be generalized to closed geometries such as torus or sphere, we show how to extend them to cylinder geometry. Meanwhile, we show eigenfunctions for charged excitations at filling fractions between $\frac{1}{3}$ and $\frac{2}{5}$ can be written on the torus and the spherical geometries.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Fractional quantum Hall effect with unconventional pairing in monolayer graphene

Motivated by the observation of even denominator fractional quantum Hall effect in the $n=3$ Landau level of monolayer graphene [Y. Kim $\textit{et al.}$, Nature Physics $\textbf{15}$, 154 (2019)], we consider a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer variational state for composite fermions and find that the composite-fermion Fermi sea in this Landau level is unstable to an $f$-wave pairing. Analogous calculation suggests the possibility of a $p$-wave pairing of composite fermions at half filling in the $n=2$ graphene Landau level, whereas no pairing instability is found at half filling in the $n=0$ and $1$ graphene Landau levels. The relevance of these results to experiments is discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Local density of states and particle entanglement in topological quantum fluids

The understanding of particle entanglement is an important goal in the studies of correlated quantum matter. The widely-used method of scanning tunneling spectroscopy -- which measures the local density of states (LDOS) of a many-body system by injecting or removing an electron from it -- is expected to be sensitive to particle entanglement. In this paper, we systematically investigate the relation between the particle entanglement spectrum (PES) and the LDOS of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states, the paradigmatic strongly-correlated phases of electrons with topological order. Using exact diagonalization, we show that the counting of levels in both the LDOS and PES in the Jain sequence of FQH states can be predicted from the composite fermion theory. We point out the differences between LDOS and PES characterization of the bulk quasihole excitations, and we discuss the conditions under which the LDOS counting can be mapped to that of PES. Our results affirm that tunneling spectroscopy is a sensitive tool for identifying the nature of FQH states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Composite anyons on a torus

An adiabatic approach put forward by Greiter and Wilczek interpolates between the integer quantum Hall effects of electrons and composite fermions by varying the statistical flux bound to electrons continuously from zero to an even integer number of flux quanta, such that the intermediate states represent anyons in an external magnetic field with the same "effective" integer filling factor. We consider such anyons on a torus, and construct representative wave functions for their ground as well as excited states. These wave functions involve higher Landau levels in general, but can be explicitly projected into the lowest Landau level for many parameters. We calculate the variational energy gap between the first excited state and ground state and find that it remains open as the statistical phase is varied. Finally, we obtain from these wave functions, both analytically and numerically, various topological quantities, such as ground-state degeneracy, the Chern number, and the Hall viscosity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Anderson localization in fractional quantum Hall effect

The interplay between interaction and disorder-induced localization is of fundamental interest. This article addresses localization physics in the fractional quantum Hall state, where both interaction and disorder have nonperturbative consequences. We provide compelling theoretical evidence that the localization of a single quasiparticle of the fractional quantum Hall state at filling factor $ν=n/(2n+1)$ has a striking {\it quantitative} correspondence to the localization of a single electron in the $(n+1)$th Landau level. By analogy to the dramatic experimental manifestations of Anderson localization in integer quantum Hall effect, this leads to predictions in the fractional quantum Hall regime regarding the existence of extended states at a critical energy, and the nature of the divergence of the localization length as this energy is approached. Within a mean field approximation these results can be extended to situations where a finite density of quasiparticles is present.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pairing of composite fermions

Topological pairing of composite fermions has led to remarkable ideas, such as excitations obeying non-Abelian braid statistics and topological quantum computation. We construct a $p$-wave paired Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) wave function for composite fermions in the torus geometry, which is a convenient geometry for formulating momentum space pairing as well as for revealing the underlying composite-fermion Fermi sea. Following the standard BCS approach, we minimize the Coulomb interaction energy at half filling in the lowest and the second Landau levels, which correspond to filling factors $ν=1/2$ and $ν=5/2$ in GaAs quantum wells, by optimizing two variational parameters that are analogous to the gap and the Debye cut-off energy of the BCS theory. Our results show no evidence for pairing at $ν=1/2$ but a clear evidence for pairing at $ν=5/2$. To a good approximation, the highest overlap between the exact Coulomb ground state at $ν=5/2$ and the BCS state is obtained for parameters that minimize the energy of the latter, thereby providing support for the physics of composite-fermion pairing as the mechanism for the $5/2$ fractional quantum Hall effect. We discuss the issue of modular covariance of the composite-fermion BCS wave function, and calculate its Hall viscosity and pair correlation function. By similar methods, we look for but do not find an instability to $s$-wave pairing for a spin-singlet composite-fermion Fermi sea at half-filled lowest Landau level in a system where the Zeeman splitting has been set to zero.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Origin of the $ν=1/2$ fractional quantum Hall effect in wide quantum wells

The nature of the fractional quantum Hall effect at $ν=1/2$ observed in wide quantum wells almost three decades ago is still under debate. Previous studies have investigated it by the variational Monte Carlo method, which makes the assumption that the transverse wave function and the gap between the symmetric and antisymmetric subbands obtained in a local density approximation at zero magnetic field remain valid even at high perpendicular magnetic fields; this method also ignores the effect of Landau level mixing. We develop in this work a three-dimensional fixed phase Monte Carlo method, which gives, in a single framework, the total energies of various candidate states in a finite width quantum well, including Landau level mixing, directly in a large magnetic field. This method can be applied to one-component states, as well two-component states in the limit where the symmetric and antisymmetric bands are nearly degenerate. Our three-dimensional fixed-phase diffusion Monte Carlo calculations suggest that the observed 1/2 fractional quantum Hall state in wide quantum wells is likely to be the one-component Pfaffian state supporting non-Abelian excitations. We hope that this will motivate further experimental studies of this state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Hall Viscosity of the Composite-Fermion Fermi Seas for Fermions and Bosons

The Hall viscosity has been proposed as a topological property of incompressible fractional quantum Hall states and can be evaluated as Berry curvature. This paper reports on the Hall viscosities of composite-fermion Fermi seas at $ν=1/m$, where $m$ is even for fermions and odd for bosons. A well-defined value for the Hall viscosity is not obtained by viewing the $1/m$ composite-fermion Fermi seas as the $n\rightarrow \infty$ limit of the Jain $ν=n/(nm\pm 1)$ states, whose Hall viscosities $(\pm n+m)\hbar ρ/4$ ($ρ$ is the two-dimensional density) approach $\pm \infty$ in the limit $n\rightarrow \infty$. A direct calculation shows that the Hall viscosities of the composite-fermion Fermi sea states are finite, and also relatively stable with system size variation, although they are not topologically quantized in the entire $τ$ space. I find that the $ν=1/2$ composite-fermion Fermi sea wave function for a square torus yields a Hall viscosity that is expected from particle-hole symmetry and is also consistent with the orbital spin of $1/2$ for Dirac composite fermions. I compare my numerical results with some theoretical conjectures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Bloch Ferromagnetism of Composite Fermions

In 1929 Felix Bloch suggested that the paramagnetic Fermi sea of electrons should make a spontaneous transition to a fully-magnetized state at very low densities, because the exchange energy gained by aligning the spins exceeds the enhancement in the kinetic energy. We report here the observation of an abrupt, interaction-driven transition to full magnetization, highly reminiscent of Bloch ferromagnetism that has eluded experiments for the last ninety years. Our platform is the exotic two-dimensional Fermi sea of composite fermions at half-filling of the lowest Landau level. Via quantitative measurements of the Fermi wavevector, which provides a direct measure of the spin polarization, we observe a sudden transition from a partially-spin-polarized to a fully-spin-polarized ground state as we lower the composite fermions' density. Our detailed theoretical calculations provide a semi-quantitative account of this phenomenon.

cond-mat.str-el↗