Tracing non-Abelian anyons via impurity particles

Non-Abelian excitations are an interesting feature of many fractional quantum Hall phases, including those phases described by the Moore-Read (or Pfaffian) wave function. However, the detection of the non-Abelian quasiparticles is challenging. Here, we consider a system described by the Moore-Read wave function and assume that impurity particles bind to its quasiholes. Then, the angular momentum of the impurities, reflected also by the impurity density, provides a useful witness of the physics of the non-Abelian excitations. By demanding that the impurities are constrained to the lowest Landau level, we are able to write down the corresponding many-body wave function describing both the Moore-Read liquid and the impurities. Through Monte Carlo sampling, we determine the impurity angular momentum, and we show that it suggests a quantum-statistical parameter alpha = a nu - b + P/2 for the quasiholes, where alpha ranges from 0 for bosons to 1 for fermions. A reasonable agreement with the Monte Carlo results is obtained for a = 1/4, b = 1/8, and P = 0, 1 depending on the parity of the particle number in the Moore-Read liquid. This parity dependence of the angular momentum serves as an unambiguous demonstration of the non-Abelian nature of the excitations. In addition to the studies of excitations in the Moore-Read liquid, we also apply our scheme to Laughlin liquids, for which we focus on interacting bosonic impurities. With this, the impurities themselves form Laughlin states, which allows for a study of hierarchical fractional quantum Hall states.

Automated summary

The relationship between impurity particles and quasiholes in a system described by the Moore-Read wave function reveals the connection between their angular momentum and the physics of non-Abelian excitations, providing important evidence for proving the non-Abelian nature of the excitations.