In a Twist, Composite Fermions Form and Flow without a Magnetic Field

Abstract

M aterials scientists have engineered systems in the laboratory that yield exotic particles not seen in nature. In particular, when electrons are confined to two dimensions, cooled to near absolute zero, and exposed to a strongmagnetic field, they capture part of this field and turn into weakly interacting particles called composite fermions (CFs). CFs display striking phenomena such as the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE). (See [1] for reviews of CFs, the