Boyarsky, Alexey and Cheianov, Vadim and Froehlich, Juerg (2009) Effective-field theories for the nu=5/2 quantum Hall edge state. Physical review B, 80 (23): 233302. -. ISSN 1098-0121
Abstract
The quantum Hall state at the filling fraction nu=5/2 is the leading candidate to be a physical system supporting excitations with non-Abelian braid statistics. While a direct experimental evidence for the latter is still absent, recent experiments by Radu [I. P. Radu, J. B. Miller, C. M. Marcus, M. A. Kastner, L. N. Pfeiffer, and K. W. West, Science 320, 899 (2008)] yielded results favoring some previously proposed non-Abelian theories over Abelian ones. Here, we systematically investigate candidate theories of the quantum Hall edge at the filling fraction nu=5/2. We find a set of candidate theories, both Abelian and non-Abelian, which are equally consistent with the experimental data and cannot therefore be distinguished in the quasihole tunneling experiment only. We discuss what experimental information may be useful in resolving the ambiguity.