Measuring anyon dispersion with tunneling probes

Abstract

Anyons are usually characterized by their topological data and their fractional quantum numbers under global symmetries. In lattice systems such as fractional Chern insulators (FCI), they are also mobile quasiparticles. Their motion controls the possible ground states of the dilute anyon gas obtained by doping an FCI, including possible superconducting states. We show how tunneling probes can measure this motion. In scanning tunneling spectroscopy, weak disorder produces spatially oscillating quasiparticle-interference patterns whose branches reveal the dispersion of fractionalized constituents. In quantum twisting microscopy, planar momentum-conserving tunneling selects the total momentum of the injected electron, so the continuum thresholds of fractionalized electron spectra encode the dispersion of the constituent anyons. The resulting spectra distinguish compact electron-like excitations, bound anyon molecules, and unbound anyon continuum.