Fractional quantum Hall hierarchy and the second Landau level

Abstract

We generalize the fractional quantum Hall hierarchy picture to apply to arbitrary, possibly non-Abelian, fractional quantum Hall states. Applying this to the nu=5/2 Moore-Read state, we construct explicit trial wave functions to describe the fractional quantum Hall effect in the second Landau level. The resulting hierarchy of states, which reproduces the filling fractions of all observed Hall conductance plateaus in the second Landau level, is characterized by electron pairing in the ground state and an excitation spectrum that includes non-Abelian anyons of the Ising type. We propose this as a unifying picture in which p-wave pairing characterizes the fractional quantum Hall effect in the second Landau level.