Unconventional Fractional Phases in Multiband Vortexable Systems

We study topological flat bands with distinct features that deviate from conventional Landau level behavior. We show that even in the ideal quantum geometry limit, moiré flat band systems can exhibit physical phenomena fundamentally different from Landau levels without lattices. In particular, we find new fractional quantum Hall states emerging from multiband vortexable systems, where multiple exactly flat bands appear at the Fermi energy. While the set of bands as a whole exhibits ideal quantum geometry, individual bands separately lose vortexability, and thus making them very different from a stack of Landau levels. At certain filling fractions, we find fractional states whose Hall conductivity deviates from the filling factor. Through careful numerical and analytical studies, we rule out all known mechanisms-such as fractional quantum Hall crystals or separate filling of trivial and topological bands-as possible explanations. Leveraging the exact solvability of vortexable systems, we use analytic Bloch wave functions to uncover the origin of these new fractional states, which arises from the commensurability between the moiré unit cell and the magnetic unit cell of an emergent effective magnetic field.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-11-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/jmk4-46tj
Primary Topic
Topological Materials and Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Unconventional Fractional Phases in Multiband Vortexable Systems

Kai Sun, Ang-Kun Wu, Shi‐Zeng Lin, Xiaohan Wan et al.
Physical Review Letters
Topological Materials and Phenomena
article

Unconventional Fractional Phases in Multiband Vortexable Systems

Kai Sun, Ang-Kun Wu, Shi‐Zeng Lin, Xiaohan Wan, Siddhartha Sarkar
article en

Abstract

We study topological flat bands with distinct features that deviate from conventional Landau level behavior. We show that even in the ideal quantum geometry limit, moiré flat band systems can exhibit physical phenomena fundamentally different from Landau levels without lattices. In particular, we find new fractional quantum Hall states emerging from multiband vortexable systems, where multiple exactly flat bands appear at the Fermi energy. While the set of bands as a whole exhibits ideal quantum geometry, individual bands separately lose vortexability, and thus making them very different from a stack of Landau levels. At certain filling fractions, we find fractional states whose Hall conductivity deviates from the filling factor. Through careful numerical and analytical studies, we rule out all known mechanisms-such as fractional quantum Hall crystals or separate filling of trivial and topological bands-as possible explanations. Leveraging the exact solvability of vortexable systems, we use analytic Bloch wave functions to uncover the origin of these new fractional states, which arises from the commensurability between the moiré unit cell and the magnetic unit cell of an emergent effective magnetic field.

Physical Review LettersVol. 135(21)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), University of Michigan (US), Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (DE), Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (US)
U.S. Department of Energy, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Office of Science, National Nuclear Security Administration, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Office of Naval Research, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 72%
Topological Materials and Phenomena
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