The nu=5/2 enigma: Recent insights from theory and experiment
CMSA EVENTS: CMSA QUANTUM MATTER IN MATH & PHYSICS SEMINAR
When: July 29, 2021
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Where: Virtually
Speaker: Ady Stern & David Mross - Weizmann
Non-Abelian phases of matter have long inspired quantum physicists across various disciplines. The strongest experimental evidence of such a phase arises in quantum Hall systems at the filling factor 5/2 but conflicts with decades of numerical works. We will briefly introduce the 5/2 plateau and explain some of the key obstacles to identifying its topological order. We will then describe recent experimental and theoretical progress, including a proposal for resolving the 5/2 enigma based on electrical conductance measurements.