Quasihole dynamics as a detection tool for quantum Hall phases

Existing techniques for synthesizing gauge fields are able to bring a two-dimensional cloud of harmonically trapped bosonic atoms into a regime where the occupied single-particle states are restricted to the lowest Landau level. Repulsive short-range interactions drive various transitions from fully condensed into strongly correlated states. In these different phases we study the response of the system to quasihole excitations induced by a laser beam. We find that in the Laughlin state the quasihole performs a coherent constant rotation around the center, ensuring conservation of angular momentum. This is distinct to any other regime with higher density, where the quasihole is found to decay. At a characteristic time, the decay process is reversed, and revivals of the quasihole can be observed in the density. Measuring the period and position of the revival can be used as a spectroscopic tool to identify the strongly correlated phases in systems with a finite number of atoms.