12.

4 Ractional Quantum Hall Effect 707

zeroes. For instance, taking @1/3 as a polynom of 21, it has N - 1 zeroes

.
at z2,. . ,z ~ and
, 2 ( N - 1) zeroes elsewhere; the latter are wasted from
the point of view of keeping the electrons away from one another. The
Laughlin state is unique inasmuch as it has all its zeroes at the positions
of the electrons. If the interactions were of short range, one could do
no better, and Q1i3 would be the exact ground state. The fact that
the actual interaction is of long range, should explain why 91,3 differs
slightly from the true ground state.
Let us observe that Q1/3 depends only on the differences of coordi-
nates but not on the absolute positions. The Laughlin state describes
a homogeneous quantum Auid18. For reasons which we discuss shortly,
we may speak about an incompressible quantum fluid. - Using the ex-
pression “quantum fluid” may seem to suggest a degree of familiarity
and a relationship to the long-studied helium quantum fluids, or BCS
superconductors. Well, the relationship is extremely remote and every
aspect of the FQHE is quite unfamiliar; the incompressible quantum flu-
ids we axe talking about constitute a family of startlingly novel phases
of condensed matter.
What about the other magic values of Y: can we construct the corre-
sponding ground states? The obvious recipe is to try P = n,<.(zi -2.)‘
with some other integer r. However, we have to ensure that P is a fully
antisymmetrized many-fermion statelg; this requires that T = 2m + 1,
an odd integer. The Laughlin states belong to v = 1/3, 1/5, 1/7, ... Of
these, only Q1/3, and possibly Q1l5, are useful as FQHE ground states;
fillings around 1/7 and below, are thought to belong to a (translational
invariance breaking) Wigner crystal phase.

Fractionally Charged Quasiparticles

The fact that a Laughlin state can be constructed at v = 1/3, but
not at nearby values of Y , shows that the 1/3-filled Landau level has
‘*It is a droplet of quantum fluid, since it has a circular edge (defined, in reality,
by a confining potential). The statement about the uniform density holds well inside
the droplet; within a distance 1 about the edge, the density falls to essentially zero.
N

The behaviour at the edge is fundamentally different from the bulk behaviour, and
it is important for the QHE.
“p is symmetric, so P must change sign if we interchange z; and zj.