The Haldane-Rezayi Quantum Hall State and Conformal Field Theory

V. Gurarie, M. Flohr, C. Nayak

Published 1997-01-30, updated 1997-03-05Version 2

We propose field theories for the bulk and edge of a quantum Hall state in the universality class of the Haldane-Rezayi wavefunction. The bulk theory is associated with the $c=-2$ conformal field theory. The topological properties of the state, such as the quasiparticle braiding statistics and ground state degeneracy on a torus, may be deduced from this conformal field theory. The 10-fold degeneracy on a torus is explained by the existence of a logarithmic operator in the $c=-2$ theory; this operator corresponds to a novel bulk excitation in the quantum Hall state. We argue that the edge theory is the $c=1$ chiral Dirac fermion, which is related in a simple way to the $c=-2$ theory of the bulk. This theory is reformulated as a truncated version of a doublet of Dirac fermions in which the $SU(2)$ symmetry -- which corresponds to the spin-rotational symmetry of the quantum Hall system -- is manifest and non-local. We make predictions for the current-voltage characteristics for transport through point contacts.