Topological orders and edge excitations in fractional quantum Hall states

Abstract

Fractional quantum Hall (FQH) liquids contain extremely rich internal structures which represent a whole new kind of ordering. We discuss the characterization and classification of the new orders (which are called topological orders). We also discuss the edge excitations in FQH liquids, which form the so-called chiral Luttinger liquids. The chiral Luttinger liquids at the edges also have very rich structures as a reflection of the rich topological orders in the bulk. Thus edge excitations provide us a practical way to measure topological orders in experiments.