Laughlin wavefunction

<p>In <a href="/facts/Condensed_matter_physics/EBVI5nmL">condensed matter physics</a>, the Laughlin wavefunction is an <a href="/facts/Ansatz/3epoB3Rg">ansatz</a>, proposed by <a href="/facts/Robert_B._Laughlin/WnlXJWbx">Robert Laughlin</a> for the <a href="/facts/Ground_state/ML7cfCug">ground state</a> of a <a href="/facts/Two-dimensional_electron_gas/tkGhkJxG">two-dimensional electron gas</a> placed in a uniform background <a href="/facts/Magnetic_field/Ta8Ev588">magnetic field</a> in the presence of a uniform <a href="/facts/Jellium/X7kghINT">jellium</a> background when the <a href="/facts/Quantum_Hall_effect/yK3zcCgu">filling factor</a> of the <a href="/facts/Lowest_Landau_level/gRUrzBMd">lowest Landau level</a> is 
  
    
      
        ν
        =
        1
        
          /
        
        n
      
    
    {\displaystyle \nu =1/n}
  
 where 
  
    
      
        n
      
    
    {\displaystyle n}
  
 is an odd positive integer. It was constructed to explain the observation of the 
  
    
      
        ν
        =
        1
        
          /
        
        3
      
    
    {\displaystyle \nu =1/3}
  
  <a href="/facts/Fractional_quantum_Hall_effect/bkRtdmxX">fractional quantum Hall effect</a> (FQHE), and predicted the existence of additional 
  
    
      
        ν
        =
        1
        
          /
        
        n
      
    
    {\displaystyle \nu =1/n}
  
 states as well as quasiparticle excitations with fractional electric charge 
  
    
      
        e
        
          /
        
        n
      
    
    {\displaystyle e/n}
  
, both of which were later experimentally observed. Laughlin received one third of the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Nobel Prize in Physics</a> in 1998 for this discovery. 
</p>

Laughlin wavefunction open-in-new

Laughlin wavefunction