Skyrmions and edge-spin excitations in quantum Hall droplets

Spectral properties of rotating electrons in quantum dots and their relation to quantum Hall liquids

The exact diagonalization technique is used to study many-particle properties of interacting electrons with spin, confined in a two-dimensional harmonic potential. The single-particle basis is limited to the lowest Landau level. The results are analysed as a function of the total angular momentum of the system. Only at angular momenta corresponding to the filling factors 1, 1/3, 1/5, etc is the system fully polarized. The lowest energy states exhibit spin waves, domains, and localization, depending on the angular momentum. Vortices exist only at excited polarized states. The high angular momentum limit shows localization of electrons and separation of the charge and spin excitations.

Pairing of spin excitations in lateral quantum dots

We demonstrate the existence of correlated electronic states as paired spin excitations of lateral quantum dots in the integer quantum Hall regime. Starting from the spin-singlet filling-factor nu=2 droplet, by increasing the magnetic field we force the electrons to flip spins and increase the spin polarization. We identify the second spin-flip process as one accompanied by correlated, spin depolarized phases, interpreted as pairs of spin excitons. The correlated states are identified experimentally in few-electron lateral quantum dots using high source-drain voltage spectroscopy.