Suppression of dephasing and phase lapses in the fractional quantum Hall regime

Abstract

A charge fluctuator which is electrostatically coupled to a conducting channel may fully dephase quantum transport through the latter. Here, we address the case where a quantum dot (QD), playing the role of a charge fluctuator, is tunnel-coupled to an additional channel. In the case where the latter may support fractional charge, distinct differences from the integer case arise: Abrupt phase lapses of the transmission through the conducting channel occur (which may or may not be equal to $\pi$). This is accompanied by a cusp-like suppression of the interferometer's visibility, yet no full dephasing. We interpret our findings in terms of the entanglement between the fluctuator and the conducting channels.