%0 Journal Article
%T Observation of a transition from a topologically ordered to a spontaneously broken symmetry phase
%A N. Samkharadze
%A K. A. Schreiber
%A G. C. Gardner
%A M. J. Manfra
%A E. Fradkin
%A G. A. Cs¨¢thy
%J Physics
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%R 10.1038/NPHYS3523
%X Until the late 1980s, phases of matter were understood in terms of Landau's symmetry breaking theory. Following the discovery of the quantum Hall effect the introduction of a second class of phases, those with topological order, was necessary. Phase transitions within the first class of phases involve a change in symmetry, whereas those between topological phases require a change in topological order. However, in rare cases transitions may occur between the two classes in which the vanishing of the topological order is accompanied by the emergence of a broken symmetry. Here, we report the existence of such a transition in a two-dimensional electron gas hosted by a GaAs/AlGaAs crystal. When tuned by hydrostatic pressure, the $\nu=5/2$ fractional quantum Hall state, believed to be a prototype non-Abelian topological phase, gives way to a quantum Hall nematic phase. Remarkably, this nematic phase develops spontaneously, in the absence of any externally applied symmetry breaking fields.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.03658v1