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# Finding White Dwarfs with Transit Searches

## 1 Introduction

As white dwarf stars are comparable in size to the Earth, searches for terrestrial planets via transit of their parent stars should be capable of discovering white dwarf (WD) binaries as well. These can be distinguished from terrestrial planet systems because the WD will induce detectable Doppler shifts in the spectral lines of a main sequence (MS) companion, whereas an Earth-like planet will not, due to its smaller mass.

An interesting coincidence is that the radius of a white dwarf in a tight binary is comparable to its Einstein radius (Marsh, 2001), which means that both gravitational lensing and eclipse may be important during transit. When combined with other information about the binary, observation of the change of magnitude during transit may allow measurement of the mass and radius of the white dwarf, allowing a test of the relation originally predicted by Chandrasekhar (1935). Recent measurements of white dwarf masses and radii using atmosphere models (Provencal et al, 1998) have modeling uncertainties, which would be useful to test with another technique, and the range of WD masses available in binaries is larger than for single stars. The four known eclipsing WD–M-dwarf binaries are a good start (Marsh, 2000), but a larger, alternatively selected sample could allow measurement of the variation of the relation with WD mass, age, or composition.

This paper addresses the question of how many white dwarf–main sequence (WD–MS) binaries might be found in searches for transiting planets, with application to the Kepler111See http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/ (Borucki et al., 1997) and Eddington222See http://astro.esa.int/SA-general/Projects/Eddington/ (Horne, 2002) missions. We concern ourselves with white dwarfs in detached binaries, since accreting white dwarfs can be found by other means. In $`\mathrm{\S }`$ 2 we discuss the various modes for discovery of white dwarfs and the surveys that might detect them, then in $`\mathrm{\S }`$ 3 we describe the expected properties of WD–MS binaries in our Galaxy. In $`\mathrm{\S }`$ 4 we estimate the number of binaries that might be found in the surveys mentioned above, in $`\mathrm{\S }`$ 5 we discuss what one might do with any binaries discovered via this method, and in $`\mathrm{\S }`$ 6 we conclude.

During the preparation of this paper, Sahu & Gilliland (2003) published a study of near-field WD microlensing for the Kepler mission. In their paper, numerical lightcurves for fiducial systems are presented, similar to the analytic lightcurves presented in Agol (2002); however, they did not attempt to accurately estimate the number of detectable systems, the goal of this paper.

## 2 White dwarf binary variations

First we consider the case in which the WD passes in front of the MS star (primary transit). The Einstein radius is $`R_\mathrm{E}=[4R_Ga]^{1/2}`$, where $`R_G=GM_{\mathrm{WD}}/c^2`$ is the gravitational radius for a lens of mass $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}`$ and $`a`$ is the semi-major axis of the binary. A white dwarf in a binary system has a size, $`R_{\mathrm{WD}}`$, which is comparable to the Einstein radius

$$\frac{R_{\mathrm{WD}}}{R_\mathrm{E}}0.7\left(\frac{M_{\mathrm{WD}}}{M_{}}\right)^{1/2}\left(\frac{a}{0.1\mathrm{AU}}\right)^{1/2}\left(\frac{R_{\mathrm{WD}}}{0.01R_{}}\right).$$
(1)
Thus microlensed images (which will appear a distance $`R_\mathrm{E}`$ from the center of the WD) may be occulted by the WD, so that we may have either dimming (favored if $`R_{\mathrm{WD}}R_\mathrm{E}`$, i.e. small $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}`$, $`a`$) or amplification (if $`R_{\mathrm{WD}}R_\mathrm{E}`$, i.e. large $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}`$, $`a`$).

If the occulting body (here the WD) is much smaller than the occulted body (MS star), the microlensing plus occultation equations take on an exceptionally simple form (Agol, 2003), with the dimming or amplification dependent only on the surface brightness immediately behind the WD, so long as the WD is away from the edge of the MS star. The fractional change in flux during a transit is then given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }f_1\left(\frac{2R_\mathrm{E}^2R_{\mathrm{WD}}^2}{R_{\mathrm{MS}}^2}\right)\left(\frac{F_{\mathrm{MS}}}{F_{\mathrm{MS}}+F_{\mathrm{WD}}}\right)\frac{I(r)}{I}\mathrm{\Theta }(R_{\mathrm{MS}}r),$$
(2)
where $`F_{\mathrm{MS},\mathrm{WD}}`$ are the MS and WD fluxes respectively, $`R_{\mathrm{MS}}`$ is the radius of the MS star, $`r`$ is the projected distance of the WD from the center of the MS star, $`I(r)/I`$ is the limb-darkened intensity profile of the source normalized to the flux-weighted mean intensity, and $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the step function.

For close ($`a0.1`$ AU) WD–MS systems, $`|\mathrm{\Delta }f_1|10^4`$, since $`R_{\mathrm{WD}}R_\mathrm{E}10^2R_{\mathrm{MS}}`$, similar to the transit depth of a terrestrial planet, though the effect will be a flux increase when $`R_{\mathrm{WD}}/R_\mathrm{E}<2^{1/2}`$. In a system of random inclination $`i`$ on the sky, the probability of transits along our line of sight is $`R_{\mathrm{MS}}/a`$, and for a small transiting body, the transit duration will be $`T_{\mathrm{tr}}2R_{\mathrm{MS}}\mathrm{sin}\theta /v_{\mathrm{orb}}`$, where $`R_{\mathrm{MS}}\mathrm{cos}\theta =a\mathrm{cos}i`$ and $`v_{\mathrm{orb}}`$ is the relative orbital velocity.

The fractional change of flux when the MS star passes in front of the WD (secondary transit) is simply given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_2F_{\mathrm{WD}}/(F_{\mathrm{WD}}+F_{\mathrm{MS}})<0`$. The transit will obviously be deeper for younger, more luminous WDs. The luminosity of a typical WD 1–10 Gyr after birth is of the order $`10^310^5`$ L, so that terrestrial planet searches should be well suited to detecting these events too. Note that these will be flat-bottomed transits, but will have the same durations and transit probabilities as the complementary primary transit. If the orbit is circular, as will be the case for close systems, a given lightcurve will exhibit either both primary and secondary transits (though the transit depths $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_2`$ may be very different) or no transits at all.

There are other types of variations in WD–MS lightcurves, including fluctuations as a result of tidal effects, both directly, due to tidal distortion of the MS star, and indirectly due to increased MS rotation rate and hence increased stellar variability, which is described in detail in § 4.1. In addition, we may see variations due to irradiation of the MS star by a hot WD in the very youngest WD systems, neglected here, or due to flickering if the WD is accreting at a low level from the MS stellar wind, also discussed in § 4.1.

Since the predicted transit amplitudes are of the same order of magnitude as those for terrestrial planet transits ($`\mathrm{\Delta }f|\mathrm{\Delta }m|10^4`$ magnitudes), surveys designed to search for other earths ought to pick up WD–MS systems too. To illustrate this, we use as examples the Kepler (Borucki et al., 1997) and Eddington (Horne, 2002) missions. These satellites will continuously monitor the brightness of many stars at high photometric precision to search for periodic dimming characteristic of a transiting planet.

Kepler will monitor $`10^5`$ dwarf stars with $`9<V<14`$ in a $`10^{}\times 10^{}`$ field centered on Galactic coordinates $`(l,b)=(69.6^{},5.7^{})`$, for at least four years. The proposed Eddington design is for a smaller $`3^{}\times 3^{}`$ field, with deeper magnitude limits ($`11<V<18`$) and a lifetime of 3 years. In the absence of published coordinates for the Eddington field, we use here the same $`(l,b)`$ as Kepler. Kepler will have a broad bandpass, extending from $``$ 400 to 850 nm, while Eddington may have two-color information (Bordé et al., 2003). Kepler will read out fluxes every 15 minutes, and will have a fiducial sensitivity (similar to that of Eddington) of $`2\times 10^5`$ for a 6.5-hour exposure of a $`V=12`$ G2V star.

## 3 White dwarfs in binaries

### 3.1 Evolution to the WD–MS stage

The evolution of a zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) binary system to a white dwarf–main sequence (WD–MS) system proceeds via one of two main pathways, according to whether or not Roche lobe overflow occurs en route, the critical initial orbital separation being at $`a_{\mathrm{crit}}10^310^4\mathrm{R}_{}`$; in both cases, the more massive star has evolved into a WD, while the other is still on the MS. The lifetime of this phase depends on the difference in main-sequence lifetimes of the two stars.

If the primary fills its Roche lobe on the RGB or AGB, then the ensuing mass transfer will most likely be dynamically unstable and a common envelope phase will result (see e.g. Iben & Livio 1993), in which the envelope of the evolved star is heated by friction as the secondary and the core of the giant orbit inside it. This ends when either the stars coalesce or the envelope is heated sufficiently that it escapes the system, leaving a WD–MS binary with greatly *reduced* orbital separation compared with the initial ZAMS system. The orbit will be circular, since tidal circularization will have occurred in any system in which a giant star is close to overflow.

If the orbital separation is sufficiently large that the primary does not overflow on the RGB or AGB, then it is affected only as the primary loses its envelope in the planetary nebula phase, leading to an *increase* in the orbital separation. We therefore expect that the Galactic WD–MS population will consist of two *distinct* groups of sources in $`P`$space, the “short” period systems from systems in which overflow has occurred, and the “long” period systems in which no Roche lobe has been filled.

### 3.2 Population Synthesis

A population synthesis approach was used to quantify the properties of the Galactic WD–MS population. Evolutionary tracks were computed using the rapid evolution bse code (Hurley, Pols & Tout, 2000). Following the preferred Model A of Hurley et al. (2000), we distribute the primary mass according to the initial mass function (IMF) of Kroupa, Tout & Gilmore (1993), while the secondary mass distribution we choose to be flat in the mass ratio $`q=M_2/M_1`$, for $`0<q<1`$. The initial orbital semi-major axis distribution is flat in $`\mathrm{log}a`$. These initial conditions, along with, most notably, a constant star formation rate over the age of the Galaxy, a binary fraction of 100%, solar metallicity across all stars, a common envelope efficiency parameter333Note that the common envelope formalism used in Hurley et al. (2000) defines the efficiency parameter $`\alpha `$ as $`E_{\mathrm{bind},\mathrm{i}}=\alpha (E_{\mathrm{orb},\mathrm{f}}E_{\mathrm{orb},\mathrm{i}})`$, where $`E_{\mathrm{bind},\mathrm{i}}`$ is the binding energy of the envelope, and $`E_{\mathrm{orb},\mathrm{i},\mathrm{f}}`$ are the initial and final orbital energies, respectively. A smaller $`\alpha `$ corresponds to a lower ejection efficiency and hence a larger loss of orbital energy, and greater orbital shrinkage. Here we use $`\alpha =3.0`$, since this is found by Hurley et al. (2000) to best reproduce the Galactic double degenerate population. $`\alpha =3.0`$, and zero initial orbital eccentricity, were found by Hurley et al. (2000) to best reproduce the observed numbers of double degenerate, symbiotic, cataclysmic variable and other binary star populations in the Galaxy. Here, we evolve pairs in which both stars have masses between 0.1 and 20 M, and the initial semi-major axis distribution extends from 2 to $`10^5`$ ZAMS stellar diameters. Note that the bse code uses the Nauenberg (1972) mass-radius relation for WDs.

We distribute this population according to a double exponential disk model, with scale length 2.75 kpc. The scale height $`h`$ is chosen to vary according to stellar age $`t`$, with $`ht^{1/2}`$, set equal to 100 pc for stars born today and to 300 pc for the oldest stars in the disk. We use the extinction corrections of Bahcall & Soneira (1980), and thus model the stars in the Kepler field of view within the magnitude limits of the survey. We normalize to the number of dwarf stars counted in this field ($`136,000`$ with $`9<V<14`$, from *Kepler* webpage; results can be re-scaled if this number is later revised). We estimate that the total number of WD–MS systems within this sample of stars is $`15,000`$, while the Eddington sample should contain $``$ 35,000 WD–MS systems. The resulting orbital period distribution of target WD–MS systems is plotted in Figure 3.1, and is seen to display the double-peaked structure expected from § 3.1, with a relative dearth of systems with periods from months to years. A similar distribution was predicted by de Kool & Ritter (1993).

## 4 Detecting white dwarfs

The detectability depends on the signal-to-noise ratio of all transits combined in the time series for a given system. We require that the transit duration be at least 1 hour (four Kepler time-samples) for detection.

We assume photon counting statistics typically dominate the noise, but also add in a fractional instrumental noise of $`10^5`$. For simplicity, we neglect limb-darkening. Shorter period systems are doubly favored, since the time spent in transit and the probability of a transit in a system with random orientation both scale as $`P^{2/3}`$. For this reason, Kepler’s sensitivity — designed to detect the longer-period terrestrial systems — is easily good enough to detect a large fraction of the transiting WD–MS systems within the magnitude limits at good signal to noise. The same is not true of *Eddington*, with its deeper magnitude limits, which restrict most detectable transits to lower-mass MS primaries. The properties of the detectable systems, assuming an $`8\sigma `$ detection threshold, and the parent population from which they are drawn, are illustrated in Figures 3.1, 3.2, and 4 for Kepler. The total numbers of WD–MS systems detectable are summarised for both Kepler and Eddington in Table 1. We split the transits into the three modes of detection described in § 2. Note that many systems have both detectable primary and secondary transits. For a blind search, a number of transits ($`3`$) would need to be seen for detection as a periodic signal amongst the noise, but if radial velocity information were additionally available, it is possible that an identification could be made based on fewer transits. For this reason, systems at all periods are included as detectable (weighted by their transit probabilities and appropriate signal-to-noise ratios); if no such additional information is available, the curves in Figure 1 should be cut off at about $`P1.3`$ years, though it can be seen that this makes little difference to the overall number of detectable systems, as a result of the underlying WD–MS period distribution.

We see from Table 1 that several hundred transiting WD–MS systems are in principle detectable with each mission. However, the most serious (and least well-defined) limitation is still to be added: that of stellar variability noise, which is discussed in the following section.

### 4.1 Stellar Variability

The issue of stellar microvariability is of concern in terrestrial planet transit surveys (e.g. Jenkins 2002, Batalha et al. 2002, Aigrain et al. 2002). Variability levels are higher, and hence more of a problem for WD–MS systems. This is because the majority of detectable systems (Fig. 3.1) have short orbital periods, $`P30`$d, and at these short periods, tidal effects due to the WD are significant (note that the bse code follows tidal effects in detail). Synchronization of the MS star’s rotation with the orbital period is rapid if the MS star has a convective envelope ($`M_{\mathrm{MS}}1.6\mathrm{M}_{}`$) and $`P10`$d. This is the case for about half of the transits in principle detectable with Kepler (see Fig. 3.2), and most for Eddington. Rapidly rotating late-type stars display increased starspot activity (Messina, Rodonò & Guinan, 2001), and hence greater photometric variability, due to these starspots rotating into and out of sight. Individual spots persist for only a few rotational cycles, meaning that over time the variability has a random nature. The amplitude of this variability scales with rotational period approximately as $`\sigma P_{\mathrm{rot}}^{1.5}`$. Examination of the power spectrum of solar irradiance variations (Fröhlich et al., 1997; Jenkins, 2002) shows that this starspot noise is present up to frequencies $`25/P_{\mathrm{rot},}`$.

Of most importance in transit detection is the stellar noise on the timescale of a transit, since one can in principle filter out variability on other timescales (e.g. Jenkins 2002, Aigrain et al. 2002). For WD–MS systems with $`P110`$d, we have $`T_{\mathrm{tr}}13`$h. If a WD transit has $`P_{\mathrm{rot}}P_{\mathrm{orb}}<25T_{\mathrm{tr}}`$, then the fractional starspot noise will be $`10^4`$, and will drown out almost all WD transit signals, even if there are many transits during the survey lifetime. Effectively this places a lower limit on the orbital period of detectable systems (of around $`P2`$d for typical systems). At frequencies $`25/P_{\mathrm{rot}}`$, the noise is governed by convective (super-)granulation, has an amplitude $`5\times 10^5`$ in the Sun on the appropriate transit timescale, and is likely unaffected by rotation rate. This noise will however reduce detectability of faint transits.

We approximate all convective stars as solar in these respects, and in Table 1 show the sizable effects of adding this variability noise upon the detection rates for Kepler, again requiring $`8\sigma `$ detections. The Eddington mission, which will observe in two colors, may be able to use the color signature of the stellar variability to enhance detection probabilities (Bordé et al., 2003), in which case our predictions without stellar variability may be more appropriate.

More massive MS stars have radiative envelopes, and smaller $`|\mathrm{\Delta }f|`$ for transits, since their radii are larger. For these stars, there is less detailed literature available on stellar microvariability, so we do not attempt to calculate its expected impact on the WD–MS detection rate. We do however note that these stars can be intrinsically quite variable. Since the radiative tide is weaker, systems are most likely asynchronous, but Zaqarashvili, Javakhishvili & Belvedere (2002) suggest that in this case, tides can excite the fundamental mode of pulsation of the star, potentially leading to oscillations on roughly the timescale of a transit. We note also that some observations (e.g. Dempsey et al. 1993) suggest that stars in close binaries display greater activity than single stars of the same rotation rate. Thus, the numbers of detectable systems given in Table 1 for MS primaries with radiative envelopes are likely to be reduced by variability, but we have not attempted to quantify this reduction. Extensive data on these topics may only be acquired once space-based transit searches fly.

An additional source of microvariability in the lightcurve may be from flickering as the WD accretes at a low level from the MS star’s wind. To have an accretion luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{WD}}10^4\mathrm{L}_{}`$, the WD needs to accrete at a rate $`10^{13}\mathrm{M}_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$, cf. the solar mass loss rate $`10^{14}\mathrm{M}_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$. Only a fraction of the mass lost from the MS star will be accreted by the WD, though we note that stellar wind mass loss may be enhanced in close binaries.

## 5 Discussion

As can be seen from Figure 3.1, it is unlikely that WDs will provide a significant source of spurious earth-like transits at $`P`$ years, given the dearth of WD–MS systems and (hypothesized) large numbers of terrestrial planets at these periods. In addition, primary transits will be microlensing events at these periods. Although WD companions are easily distinguished using radial-velocity observations, it is useful to know that terrestrial planet signatures will not be swamped by those of WDs.

A large sample of close WD–MS systems would enable useful tests of binary star evolution theories (such as common envelope evolution). Also, if the mass and radius of the WD can be separately determined, then the WD mass-radius relation could be tested. The transiting WDs cannot, in general, be observed other than by their dimming effect upon the MS star, so that all properties must be inferred. This approach is however independent of WD atmosphere modeling.

The Kepler and Eddington missions easily have the sensitivity to produce high-quality lightcurves of short-period WD–MS systems, since they are designed to search for longer-period terrestrial planets. The inclusion of stellar variability may affect this somewhat. However, there is still a population of $`50`$ WD–MS systems in principle detectable with each, given adequate signal processing power. Many of these systems display both detectable primary and secondary transits, which can be distinguished using their transit profiles. WD transits are longer in duration than, and shaped differently from, grazing MS–MS transits of the same depth. Radial velocity measurements should eliminate blending (dilution of a larger transit depth to the expected WD–MS level due to the presence of a brighter star within the same resolution element) as a source of confusion. This is simpler than in the planetary case, since WDs induce larger radial velocity variations on the orbital timescale. If variability or ellipsoidal modulation of the MS star flux, radial velocity variations, or characteristic accretion luminosity from the WD, should draw attention to a system as a candidate close WD–MS system, then transit searches could also be targeted towards these sources, since the geometric transit probability can be of order 10% or more. Provided none of these is a significant noise source on the transit timescale, discovery of the transits in the lightcurve is possible, and system parameters therefore extractable. Although it has been proposed that systems displaying large radial velocity variations be left out of the Kepler survey (D. Sasselov, private communication, 2003), the findings of this paper strongly argue for the inclusion of candidate WD–MS systems in the target lists of transit surveys.

It has been noted by Gould, Pepper & DePoy (2002) that the sensitivity of Kepler to habitable planets could be significantly increased by pushing the magnitude limit for red MS stars to $`V=17`$. Such a change would also be expected to increase the survey’s sensitivity to WD–MS systems, since the typical orbital periods of transiting systems are shorter, and so the required signal-to-noise is more easily achieved. In addition, we expect there to be a large underlying population of late MS star–WD systems available for detection. However, it should be noted that later-type stars tend to be more photometrically variable, which may complicate the situation.

We need 8 quantities to fully characterize a given system: $`M_{\mathrm{MS}},R_{\mathrm{MS}},M_{\mathrm{WD}},R_{\mathrm{WD}},P,i,L_{\mathrm{WD}}`$, and $`L_{\mathrm{MS}}`$. Orbits are expected to be circular. The effect of microlensing complicates the parameter extraction in some sense, since the primary transit depth depends on both WD mass and radius. We have a number of observables from the transit lightcurves: $`P,T_{\mathrm{tr}}`$, and the primary and secondary transit magnitude changes, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_2`$. Ingress/egress times, $``$minutes in duration, will be unmeasurable if the proposed 15 minute exposures of Kepler are used. With radial velocity follow-up, we can also measure $`v_{\mathrm{orb},\mathrm{MS}}`$. More information is clearly necessary to solve for all system parameters. MS modeling can give us $`M_{\mathrm{MS}},R_{\mathrm{MS}}`$, and $`L_{\mathrm{MS}}`$, at least in principle, though this may not be accurate for particularly active stars, or those which have passed through common envelopes. If the distance to the system is known (for example from Space Interferometry Mission444See http://sim.jpl.nasa.gov parallax measurements) then the situation may be improved. If one is able to model the limb-darkening of the MS star in the primary transit then perhaps more information might be extracted. The potentially large numbers of such systems available in transit surveys make feasible statistical tests of WD and binary star theory.

## 6 Conclusions

Since the Kepler and Eddington missions are designed to detect terrestrial planets, they are ideal for detecting white dwarfs as well. White dwarfs have more modes of detection than planets due to their larger masses (and luminosities), but their detection is complicated by the (tidal) effects of these larger masses. In principle, at least 50 new WD–MS systems might be unambiguously detected with either mission, while at most 500 could be detected if stellar variability were less significant than our estimates. Follow-up observations of the systems might yield mass and radius estimates for the (unseen except by transit) WDs, and hence give a test of the WD mass-radius relation, or of theories of binary star evolution.

We thank J. Hurley for providing the bse code, and S. Seager for an idea leading to this work. Support for E. A. was provided by NASA through Chandra Postdoctoral Fellowship award PF0-10013. We are grateful to the referee, A. Gould, for helpful and detailed comments.


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# Tuning of the superconducting and ferromagnetic transitions by Cu doping for Ru in GdSr2RuCu2O8

## I Introduction

Superconductivity (SC) and ferromagnetism (FM) are generally believed to be two mutually antagonistic orders. However, many interesting consequences like coexistence of triplet SC with FM, formation of a spontaneous vortex phase ref1 , spatially inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov type superconducting order ref2 , etc. can arise if such a coexistence occurs. Thus, the observation of SC (with a high superconducting transition temperature Tc $``$ 46K) coexisting with FM (with the magnetic transition temperature Tm $``$ 132K) in the hybrid rutheno-cuprate GdSr2RuCu2O8 ref3 ; ref4 ; ref5  has motivated intense activity to characterize the families of compounds ref6  LnSr2RuCu2O8 and Ln1+xCe1-xSr2RuCu2O10 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd), and to study the nature of superconductivity, magnetism and their inter-relation.

GdSr2RuCu2O8 is isostructural with the well known YBa2Cu3O7-δ with Y and Ba being completely replaced by Gd and Sr respectively, and the CuO chain replaced by RuO2 planes. While the current broad understanding of the system is that SC originates in the CuO2 planes and FM in the RuO2 planes, details of the nature of both SC and magnetism require further understanding. GdSr2RuCu2O8 has a very low Hc1 ($`<`$ $``$100 Oe) and the superconducting properties are highly dependent on the details of sample preparation. Rietveld refinement of the x-ray diffraction pattern of GdSr2RuCu2O8 showed ref7  that oxygen annealing leads to variation of the cation composition without change in the oxygen content. The formal charge of Cu, which is less than the optimal value (for the occurrence of SC) for the as-prepared sample, increases upon prolonged annealing ref7 . It thus appears that the purity of the starting materials and the heating schedules play a crucial role in the structure and microstructure of the final product ref8 , thereby rationalizing contradictory reports ref9  of existence and non-existence of SC in this compound.

The neutron diffraction studies ref10 ; ref11 ; ref12  suggest that the magnetic order in GdSr2RuCu2O8 is predominantly G-type antiferromagntic alignment of the Ru moments with a low temperature moment $``$1 mB along c axis. However, the magnetization studies ref11 ; ref13  show a spontaneous magnetization Ms $``$0.1mB (per Ru). These two results can be reconciled if the Ru moments are canted to give a net magnetic moment in a direction perpendicular to the c axis. Neutron diffraction study ref14  of the related compound YSr2RuCu2O8 showed a spontaneous magnetic moment $``$0.28 mB (which could be enhanced by applying an external magnetic field) perpendicular to the c axis. A recent analysis ref15  of the magnetization data suggests I-type ordering consistent with a band structure calculation ref16 , but inconsistent with the neutron diffraction studies. Further, the magnetism will also be affected by the valence of Ru. The formal valence of Ru has been taken to be 5+ in most of the previous Rietveld analyses. Recent NMR ref17  and XANES ref18  studies indicate mixed valence for Ru with 40% Ru4+ and 60% Ru5+ in GdSr2RuCu2O8. This also entails several possibilities ref18  for the magnetic order in this compound. Thus, the precise nature of magnetic order in this compound still remains controversial and needs to be explored.

The effect of substitution on the physical properties of this system is also very interesting and has been reported in literature ref3 ; ref4 ; ref19 ; ref21 . Sn doping ref19  suppresses Tm from 138K for x = 0 to 78K for x = 0.4 in GdSr2Ru1-xSnxCu2O8 and Tc increases from 36K at x = 0 to 48K at x = 0.2 but falls thereafter. On the other hand even a small fraction of Zn (for Cu) rapidly reduces Tc and superconductivity is completely suppressed for the 3% substituted sample ref3 ; ref4 . Motivated by above considerations, we have undertaken a study of tuning of the superconducting and magnetic properties by Cu doping for Ru in GdSr2RuCu2O8. In this regard, and in continuation of our previous work ref20 , we have prepared GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) and investigated their properties, which are presented below.

## II Synthesis and Characterization

The compounds have been synthesized by the high temperature solid state reaction technique, which is commonly employed for the synthesis of high temperature superconductors. Stoichiometric quantities of Gd2O3, SrCO3, CuO and Ru powder, all $`>`$ 99.99% pure, have been mixed and ground. The mixture (in the form of powder) is heated at 600C for 48 hours to avoid RuO2 volatility and then at 950C, in air, for 24 hours. It is then compressed into pellets and then heated at 1000C in air for 72 hours. Repeated grinding and heating at 1000C in air is necessary to obtain phase pure samples. A final step involving annealing at 1060C in oxygen for 96 hours is necessary to obtain the desired superconducting characteristics. High resolution X-ray powder diffraction analysis is carried out using a STOE Powder diffractometer in the step scanning mode. Electrical resistivity (four probe method, 4.2-300K) and AC Susceptibility (4.2-300K) have been carried out using home-assembled equipments. D.C. Magnetization studies have been performed using a Quantum Design SQUID Magnetometer (5K-300K). All the samples have been prepared in two batches to test for reproducibility.

## III Results and Discussions

Figure 1a shows the XRD of GdSr2RuCu2O8. Phase analysis by XRD indicates that the impurity phase content is $`<`$ 5%. The XRD pattern has been analyzed on the basis of the reported tetragonal structure with space group P4/mmm, and lattice constants have been found to be a=3.83$`\AA `$ and c=11.58$`\AA `$ which are in close agreement with the values reported in the literature ref3 ; ref4 . From the analysis of several other samples of GdSr2RuCu2O8 it is estimated that the detectability limit of the impurity phases like SrRuO3 and GdSr2RuO6 type phases and CuO by XRD is $`<`$ 1%. The crystallite sizes of the sample are small $``$500-1000$`\AA `$ as calculated from XRD line widths using the Scherrer formula. Figure 2 shows the resistance (R) vs temperature (T) curve of GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8. This plot clearly indicates the occurrence of superconductivity in these samples, with Tc onset of 26.5K and zero resistance at around 6.4K for the stoichiometric composition GdSr2RuCu2O8. The broadness of the transition may be due to the small crystallite size. Figure 3 shows the ac susceptibility, $`\chi `$, of GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 as a function of temperature. This figure shows peaks corresponding to the magnetic ordering of the samples with the peak occurring at 139.2K for the stoichiometric composition GdSr2RuCu2O8. The relatively small value of the signal indicates the weak nature of ferromagnetism of the material. On closer examination of the R vs T plot, the magnetic ordering transition can be seen as a change in slope at $``$139.2K. The diamagnetic shift corresponding to the superconducting transition at 26.5K is not observed in the susceptibility data for the stoichiometric composition GdSr2RuCu2O8 (Figure 3) below 26.5K. On the other hand, the $`\chi `$ increases with decrease in T below 26.5K (Figure 3). The steep increase in $`\chi `$ at low temperature arises due to the paramagnetic contribution of the Gd moments which order antiferromagneticaly at 2.5K. It is believed that the superconductivity is weak and is also perhaps not homogeneous with the result that the magnetic signal due to the paramagnetic contribution of the Gd moments overwhelms the diamagnetic superconducting signal. In order to confirm ferromagnetism in GdSr2RuCu2O8, isothermal magnetization studies have been carried out as a function of field at T=5K. Figure 4a presents the M-H plot for GdSr2RuCu2O8 along with an inset indicating the low field part of the hysteresis loop .The shape of the M-H curve (Fig. 4a) is characteristic of FM and shows weak hysteresis with a low coercive field of $``$200 Oe (Fig. 4a inset). The magnetization studies at high fields indicate a saturation magnetization of 7 mB corresponding to ordering of Gd moments in high field.

Fig. 1 b, c and d show the XRD patterns of compounds GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2). The samples with x = 0.05, x=0.1 and x=0.2 have impurity phase content approximately $`<`$ 2%, $`<`$ 1% and $`<`$ 3%, respectively. All these compositions have the tetragonal structure with space group P4/mmm, isostructural with the stoichiometric composition. The lattice parameters of the compounds GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2,) are almost identical, a $``$ 3.83 $`\AA `$ and c $``$ 11.57 $`\AA `$ and do not differ significantly from the stoichiometric GdSr2RuCu2O8.

Figure 2 shows the temperature dependence of resistance for GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) along with that of the x=0 sample. All of them exhibit superconductivity with zero resistance. The onset and zero resistance temperatures are (26.5, 6.4), (39.5, 12.6), (47.2, 28.3) and (40.0, 16.8)K respectively for x = 0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2. One of the most important observations is that by Cu doping Tc can be increased and x=0.1 appears to be the optimum Cu doping concentration. It is also to be noted that these compounds are metallic over most of the temperature range down to 100K. Below 100K there is a semiconducting-like upturn just above the transition to superconducting state. This may be due to the effect of granularity or magnetic scattering. Further experiments in a magnetic field would clarify this and are in progress. However it is interesting to note that the sample x=0.1, which shows the highest Tc, also has the minimum semiconducting upturn. The ac susceptibility vs temperature plots for GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8 (x=0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) are shown in Figure 3. It may be noted that the undoped composition did not show a diamagnetic signal corresponding to superconductivity, whereas all the Cu substituted compositions show signature of superconductivity in the ac susceptibility measurements as well. This may be due to an increase in grain size and/or homogeneity. The ferromagnetic transitions are also observed in the Cu doped samples (Figure 3) but at a significantly lower temperature (the magnetic transition temperature Tm being 135.8K, 129.9K and 123.2K respectively for x = 0.05, 0.1 and x=0.2 ) as compared to 139.2K for the stoichiometric GdSr2RuCu2O8. Figure 4b shows the isothermal magnetization hysteresis at 5, 30 and 80K for a typical Cu doped sample with composition GdSr2Ru0.9Cu2.1O8. This confirms the presence of weak ferromagnetism in the Cu doped samples similar to the stoichiometric GdSr2RuCu2O8.

As GdSr2Ru0.9Cu2.1O8 had the highest Tc and also happens to have the highest purity ($`<`$ 1% impurity phase content) more detailed measurements have been carried out on it. Zero Field Cooled (ZFC) and Field Cooled (FC) measurements of ac susceptibility yielded identical results. Fig. 5 shows the field cooled ac susceptibility in different measuring fields (amplitude = 0.25, 0.125 and 0.0625 Oe) for GdSr2Ru0.9Cu2.1O8. The ac $`\chi `$ starts to decrease at T$``$38K indicating the onset of superconductivity. A significant change in slope of $`\chi `$ vs T is observed at Tm $``$23K below the superconducting transition. This is perhaps an evidence of the transition from a bulk Meissner state to a spontaneous vortex state similar to that observed by Bernhard et. al.22 in dc $`\chi `$ measurements. A smaller amplitude of the measuring field results in a stronger diamagnetic signal (see Fig. 5). The incomplete shielding effect is due to the low value of the lower critical field Hc1 that has been reduced by impurity scattering or small grain size.

The dc magnetization studies on GdSr2Ru0.9Cu2.1O8 as a function of temperature under different applied fields are presented in Fig. 6. The magnetization shows a tendency to decrease at T$``$38K. This temperature corresponds to the onset (of superconducting transition) Tc measured by ac $`\chi `$. However at lower temperature magnetization starts increasing and goes through a maximum in the ZFC measurements and increases monotonically in the FC measurements. The increase may be due to the paramagnetic contribution of Gd moments. The magnetization curves can be reconciled with as an additive effect due to the contributions to the signal of diamagnetism related to superconductivity and the paramagnetic response of the Gd3+ ions.

## IV Conclusions

In conclusion, GdSr2Ru1-xCu2+xO8(x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) exhibits superconducting and ferromagnetic transitions, which can be tuned by Cu doping for Ru. Tc is increased by partial substitution of Ru by Cu. A doping level of 0.1 gives a maximum Tc amongst the investigated compositions. Partial substitution of Ru by Cu also has the effect of decreasing the magnetic ordering temperature, from 139.2K for the undoped composition to 123.2K for 0.2 Cu doped composition.


text:
# Fractional Quantum Hall Effect of Composite Fermions

\[

## Abstract

In a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well of density $`1\times 10^{11}`$ cm-2 we observed a fractional quantum Hall effect at $`\nu =4/11`$ and 5/13, and weaker states at $`\nu =6/17,4/13,5/17`$, and 7/11. These sequences of fractions do not fit into the standard series of integral quantum Hall effects (IQHE) of composite fermions (CF) at $`\nu =p/(2mp\pm 1)`$. They rather can be regarded as the FQHE of CFs attesting to residual interactions between these composite particles. In tilted magnetic fields the $`\nu =4/11`$ state remains unchanged, strongly suggesting it to be spin-polarized. The weak $`\nu =7/11`$ state vanishes quickly with tilt.

\]

The composite fermion (CF) model  has been very successful in providing a rationale for the observed sequences of principal fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) states at Landau level fillings $`\nu =p/(2mp\pm 1)`$ ($`p`$, $`m`$ = 1, 2, 3, $`\mathrm{}`$) around major even-denominator fractions, $`\nu =1/2m`$. In this model, the dominating electron-electron interaction is very effectively incorporated into the carriers by transforming them into new particles, 2mCFs, by virtue of the attachment of an even number, 2$`m`$, of magnetic flux quanta. As a consequence CFs can be treated as independent particles in an effective magnetic field, $`B_{eff}`$, which is reduced from the external field, $`B`$, by the density of the attached magnetic flux. As $`B_{eff}`$ deviates from zero, Landau levels of CFs develop, giving rise to an integral quantum Hall effect (IQHE) of these flux-transformed, non-interacting composite particles. This IQHE of CFs in the effective magnetic field becomes equivalent to the FQHE of the original, highly interacting electrons exposed to the full external field. Experiments in the FQHE regime closely follow the sequence of proposed states according to this model. Prime examples for the applicability of this model are the sequences of FQHE states at filling factors $`\nu =p/(2p\pm 1)`$ around $`\nu =1/2`$ – made from 2CFs – and $`\nu =p/(4p\pm 1)`$ around $`\nu =1/4`$ – made from 4CFs – which match, when appropriately shifted, the sequence of IQHE states around $`B=0`$.

The question arises as to the ultimate validity of the assumption of vanishing interaction between CFs. Much of the modeling of CF physics requires a mean field approach, whose exact applicability to the conditions at hand is doubtful. Residual interactions between CFs may simply lead to small corrections of the CF properties or – more interestingly – they themselves may create novel electronic states. Experimentally, distortions of the shape of $`R_{xx}`$ maxima between neighboring FQHE states (or IQHE states of CFs) have hinted in the past towards residual CF-CF interactions . In this paper we present extensive experimental evidence for the considerable strength of these interactions by observing the appearance of FQHE states at filling factors $`\nu =4/11`$, 5/13, 7/11, 4/13, 6/17 and 5/17, located between the minima of the primary FQHE sequences. Regarding the primary sequences as the IQHE of CFs, the new states can be viewed as the FQHE of CFs, brought about by CF-CF interactions. From angular dependent measurements we can deduce the spin polarization of the strong $`\nu =4/11`$ state and find it to be spin polarized in our specimen. Its much weaker, electron-hole symmetric state at $`\nu =7/11`$ rapidly disappears under tilt leaving its spin polarization uncertain.

The sample consists of a 500 Å-wide modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well and has a size of about 5mm $`\times `$ 5mm. The well is $`\delta `$-doped with silicon from both sides at a distance of $``$ 2200 Å. Electrical contacts to the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) are accomplished by rapid thermal annealing of indium beats along the edge. An electron density of $`n1.0\times 10^{11}`$ cm-2 and a mobility of $`\mu 10\times 10^6`$ cm2/Vs were achieved after illumination of the sample at low temperatures by a red light-emitting diode. A self-consistent calculation shows that at this density only one electrical subband is occupied, consistent with the low-field Shubnikov-de Haas data. Conventional low frequency ($``$ 7Hz) lock-in amplifier techniques were employed to measure the magnetoresistance $`R_{xx}`$ and Hall resistance $`R_{xy}`$.

Fig.1 shows an experimental trace of $`R_{xx}`$ in the regime of $`2/3>\nu >2/7`$, taken at $`T35`$ mK. The very low and very high-field data are omitted to emphasize the field range central to this study. Several outstanding features are apparent in Fig.1: (1) Very high-denominator FQHE states at $`\nu =10/19`$ and $`\nu =10/21`$ appear around $`\nu =1/2`$, attesting to the exceptionally high quality of the specimen. (2) Slight undulations, previously observed between $`\nu =1/3`$ and 2/5 , are resolved into clear $`R_{xx}`$ minima at $`\nu =5/13`$, 3/8, 4/11, and 6/17. The minimum at $`\nu =4/11`$ is particularly strong. (3) $`R_{xx}`$ minima are even observed at fractions $`\nu =4/13`$, 3/10, and 5/17 between $`\nu =1/3`$ and 2/7. Between $`\nu =2/3`$ and 3/5, a minimum appears at $`\nu =7/11`$  and a weaker feature around $`\nu =5/8`$. (4) A clear slope change is apparent in $`R_{xy}`$ (dashed lines) at $`\nu =4/11`$ and 7/11, although, as in the early stages of many developing fractions, the quantization value remains poorly defined.

The sum of new fractions, appearing between traditional FQHE states, can be understood naively as the FQHE of CFs. In terms of 2mCF Landau level filling factor, $`\nu _{2m}`$, the states at $`\nu =4/11`$, 5/13, 6/17 reside between the consecutive minima of the $`\nu _2=1`$ and $`\nu _2=2`$ IQHE of 2CFs as counted from $`B_{eff}=0`$ at $`\nu =1/2`$. In the same spirit, the $`\nu =4/13`$ and 5/17 reside between the $`\nu _4=1`$ and $`\nu _4=2`$ IQHE of 4CFs as counted from $`B_{eff}=0`$ at $`\nu =1/4`$. At $`\nu =4/11`$ the lowest 2CF Landau level, $`\nu _2=1`$, is completely filled whereas the second 2CF Landau level is filled to 1/3 of its 2CF capacity. Hence $`\nu =4/11`$, in terms of electrons, corresponds to $`\nu _2=1+1/3`$ in terms of 2CFs, which, therefore, can be regarded as the 1+1/3 FQHE of 2CFs. The correspondence of the other fractions is as follows: $`\nu =5/13\nu _2=1+2/3`$, $`\nu =6/17\nu _2=1+1/5`$, $`\nu =3/8\nu _2=1+1/2`$, $`\nu =4/13\nu _4=1+2/3`$, $`\nu =5/17\nu _4=1+1/3`$, $`\nu =3/10\nu _4=1+1/2`$, $`\nu =7/11\nu _2=1+1/3`$, $`\nu =5/8\nu _2=1+1/2`$. There are also hints in the data for further features between $`\nu =2/5`$ and $`\nu =3/7`$ as well as between $`\nu =2/9`$ and $`\nu =1/5`$. Furthermore, we have observed similar deformation in $`R_{xx}`$ traces of other, higher density samples (not shown) between $`\nu =3/5`$ and $`\nu =4/7`$, between $`\nu =2/3`$ and $`\nu =5/7`$, and between $`\nu =1+1/3`$ and $`\nu =1+2/5`$ as well as between $`\nu =1+2/7`$ and $`\nu =1+1/3`$ , hinting towards a continuation of FQHE states of CFs to higher CF Landau levels.

The relative strength of these features resembles the relative strength of the electron FQHE and the progression of their discovery . A selfsimilarity seems to be at work in which the pattern of FQHE features, initially observed in electrons, is now observed in CFs and may progress further to higher-order CFs in yet lower disorder samples. Of course, one may already regard the sequence of FQHE state at $`\nu =p/(4p\pm 1)`$ as the FQHE of 2CFs, since their lowest 2CF Landau level is only partially occupied. However, the situation is equally well, and more naturally, described as the IQHE of 4CF, emanating from $`\nu =1/4`$ . Instead of two flux quanta, each electron is now carrying four flux quanta.

For the new sequences the hypothetical flux attachment process would be much more intricate. For example the $`\nu =4/11`$ state is created by the following mental sequence. Two flux quanta attach themselves to each electron forming 2CFs, which, at $`\nu =1/2`$, form a fermi sea with $`B_{eff}=0`$. At $`\nu =1/3`$, the lowest 2CF Landau level created by the now finite $`B_{eff}`$ has reached a degeneracy sufficient to accept all 2CFs and the $`\nu _2=1`$ IQHE of 2CF occurs. As $`B_{eff}`$ is reduced to 1/2 of its strength, all 2CFs fill exactly two 2CF Landau levels and the $`\nu _2=2`$ IQHE of 2CFs occurs (equivalent to $`\nu =2/5`$). At $`\nu =3/8`$, equivalent to $`\nu _2=3/2`$ the lowest 2CF Landau level is totally occupied, whereas the second 2CF Landau level is occupied only to 1/2 of its 2CF capacity, assuming total spin-polarization. At this stage, two flux quanta attach themselves to the 2CFs in the higher 2CF Landau level. The lower one, being completely full, can be ignored. In total, 1/3 of all CFs have become 4CFs, whereas 2/3 remained 2CFs . This is a rather intricate situation, in which every 3 electron carry 8 flux quanta. It exactly cancels out the external $`B`$-field at $`\nu =3/8`$ and $`B_{eff}=0`$, again . As $`B`$ moves toward $`\nu =4/11`$ the rising $`B_{eff}`$ creates 4CF Landau levels with a degeneracy sufficient to accept all 4CFs into the lowest 4CF Landau level and a $`\nu _4=1`$ IQHE of 4CFs occurs. This would be the $`\nu =4/11`$ FQHE state.

The other observed fractions can be derived in an equivalent fashion. The $`\nu =6/17`$ requires 1/5 6CFs and 4/5 2CFs. The states around $`\nu =3/10`$ requires 2/3 2CFs and 1/3 4CFs. In all cases we have assumed complete spin polarization, as one may expect at such high fields. If this were indeed the case, then the $`\nu =3/8`$ (equivalent to $`\nu _2=3/2`$) would, in fact, be equivalent to the $`\nu =5/2`$ electron state, since it occupies the second 2CF Landau level and not the upper spin state of the lowest Landau level as is the case for electrons. This may explain the observation of a minimum at $`\nu =3/8`$. At $`\nu =5/2`$ electrons show a FQHE, believed to originate from paired 2CFs. At $`\nu =3/8`$ the 4CFs of the fermi liquid may pair and form a paired state of 4CFs . Furthermore, the suppression in $`R_{xx}`$ observed around $`\nu =5/12`$ between $`\nu =2/5`$ and $`\nu =3/7`$, equivalent to $`\nu =5/2`$ would, in fact, be equivalent to the anisotropic electron state at $`\nu =9/2`$ , since all spins are polarized due to the large external $`B`$-field.

Beyond the qualitative demonstration of this apparent selfsimilarity in the FQHE sequences we have also performed quantitative studies on the stronger of the fractional states. Fig.2 summarizes the $`T`$-dependences for the states at $`\nu =4/11`$ and 7/11 states. Three temperature traces are shown in Fig. 2(a) and four in Fig. 2(b). Unlike the well-developed FQHE states, $`R_{xx}`$ at exactly $`\nu =4/11`$ barely changes with temperature. On the other hand, the strength of the whole $`\nu =4/11`$ feature decreases markedly with increasing temperature. Such a $`T`$-dependence is reminiscent of the initial $`T`$-dependence of many FQHE states. In analogy to earlier procedures , we deduce the gap energy of the $`\nu =4/11`$ state of approximately 30-50 mK from the strength of its minimum. The enormous change of shape of the data around $`\nu =7/11`$ leads to an erratic $`T`$-dependence and no effective energy scale can be deduced.

In Fig.3 we address the spin polarization of the strongest state. At $`B=11`$ T the Zeeman energy of electrons in GaAs is $``$ 3K. These energies are vastly larger than the characteristic energies (several mK) extracted from Fig. 2(a). Already at this point it appears highly unlikely that $`\nu =4/11`$ is spin unpolarized. The ground state energy and Zeeman energy would have to balanced each other closely in order to show such small gap energies for the states. To further strengthen this conjecture we measured $`R_{xx}`$, in situ, as a function of tilted magnetic field as shown Fig. 3 for the $`\nu =4/11`$ minima and several representative angles, $`\theta `$ . For an ideal 2DES the correlation energy remains unchanged under tilt, while the Zeeman energy increases as 1/cos($`\theta `$), rising to $``$ 4.5K at $`\theta 42^{}`$ for the $`\nu =4/11`$ state. The huge differential increase of $``$ 1.5K over the Zeeman energy at $`\theta =0^{}`$ should move any possible close balance of correlation energy and Zeeman energy at $`\theta =0^{}`$, vastly in favor of the latter at $`\theta 42^{}`$ and lead to a transition in the spin polarization. Any such macroscopic change of the spin property between $`\theta =0^{}`$ and $`\theta 42^{}`$ would be visible as a vanishing or strongly reduced strength of the $`\nu =4/11`$ state. The data of Fig.3 for tilts up to $`\theta =42.2^{}`$ show practically no variation in the strength nor the shape of the $`\nu =4/11`$ state, from which we infer that no spin transition occurs. Therefore, the $`\nu =4/11`$ state in our sample must be spin polarized for all angles. Even the feature at $`\nu =5/13`$ shows no angular dependence. Although this fraction is not very well developed, this lack of variation suggests this state to be also spin polarized.

We also measured the angular dependence of the $`\nu =7/11`$ state at base temperature (not shown). In contrast to the $`\nu =4/11`$ state the features of the $`\nu =7/11`$ state change considerably under tilt and the minimum seems to have disappeared entirely by $`\theta =29.5^{}`$. This points to a spin transition in the $`\nu =7/11`$ state and hence a spin unpolarized or, at least, partially polarized state at $`\theta =0^{}`$. However, as in previous tilt data on the $`\nu =5/2`$ state one cannot rule out that it is an orbital effect that is destroying the $`\nu =7/11`$ gap. We therefore refrain from assigning any spin polarization to the $`\nu =7/11`$ state at this time.

The drawing of analogies, such as those presented above, about the continuations of the CF picture to higher orders in a selfsimilar scheme is rather simple. However, theoretical calculations as to the stability of such higher order FQHE states are very difficult, since they requires many particles to treat the inherent correlations realistically. Consequently, the theoretical situation regarding such states remains in flux. The early hierarchical model of the FQHE  obviously allows for the existence of all of our observed states, since it covers all odd-denominator fractions . However, several of the newly discovered states are expected not to be stable . A paper by Wojs and Quinn studies quasiparticle interactions in the FQHE regime and compares different hierarchies . It finds the $`\nu =6/17`$ state to be possibly stable, but the $`\nu =4/11`$ and $`\nu =4/13`$ states to be definitely unstable within their pseudopotential classification approach and an 8-electron exact diagonalization for zero-thikness layers. These studies rely on total spin polarization and the apparent absence of an incompressible state at $`\nu =4/11`$ persuaded Park and Jain  to investigate partially polarized states at $`\nu =4/11`$, for which they find, indeed, a small energy gap. However, both investigation seem to conflict with our experimental result of the existence of a spin polarized state at $`\nu =4/11`$. A very recent preprint by Mandal and Jain  tests for the existence of higher order CF states via a new numerical scheme, which neglects CF Landau level mixing, but can handle as many as 24 electrons. Surprisingly, this approach generates no condensed state at any of the higher-order states we observe. The study concludes that “the physical mechanism, in which some of the CFs turn into higher order CFs and condense into new Landau levels to exhibit a QHE, does not appear to be relevant for fully polarized electrons”. This would negate a simple, selfsimilar model for CFs as we have proposed on the basis of the newly observed sequences of FQHE states. On the one hand, this conflict may arise from some fundamentally important aspect of the interaction, which has been omitted in the numerics. On the other hand it may arise from the neglect of more subtle experimental realities such a finite thickness of the 2DES or mixing between Landau levels. Yet it appears unlikely that the stability of all sequences of observed higher-order states would be a finite-thickness effect. In fact, we have observed the strong $`\nu =4/11`$ state and weaker reflection of the other states also in a triangular well and in square wells of thichnesses from 30 nm to 60 nm. This suggests a large independence of the stability of such states from the confining potential.

At this stage, the origin of the minima observed in $`R_{xx}`$ at $`\nu =4/11`$, 5/13, 6/17, 4/13, 5/17 and 7/11 is unresolved. Numerical calculations seem to exclude the existence of incompressible states at such filling factors for spin polarized systems, at least for zero-thichness systems. Yet angular dependent measurement on the $`\nu =4/11`$ state and the existence of any such state, in spite of large Zeeman energies compared to their characteristic energies, suggests all of them to be fully spin polarized. This clearly points to a lack of our understanding of these new features. Furthermore, the simple-minded and intuitive continuation of the CF flux attachment scheme to partially filled CF Landau levels and the analogies that can be drawn from the sequential observation of the principal FHQE sequence to the observation of the new fractions seem to work so well that one is tempted to accept their fundamental appropriateness. The same naive analogy thinking would also provide a rationale for the existence of minima at $`\nu =3/8`$ and $`\nu =3/10`$, since those would be equivalent to the $`\nu =5/2`$ FQHE state. Even the relative strength of the $`\nu =6/17`$ state finds its similarity in the state at the $`\nu =11/5`$. The aggregate of our experimental observations highly suggests a continuation of the CF model to higher orders, or, equivalently, the existence of a FQHE of CFs. Such a selfsimilarity in the sequence of FQHE states is too appealing to be discarded yet.

We would like to thank the E. Palm, T. Murphy, and S. Hannas for experimental help. We are grateful to E. Fradkin, F.D.M. Haldane, J. K. Jain, J. Moore, K. Park, E. Rezayi, and S. Simon for useful discussions. A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by NSF Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-9527035 and by the State of Florida. D.C.T. and W.P. are supported by the AFOSR, the DOE, and the NSF. H.L.S. is supported by DOE and the W.M. Keck Foundation.