= Robert B. Laughlin
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{wiki}
= Robert Laughlin
{c}
{synonym}
= R. B. Laughlin
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{synonym}
<Robert B. Laughlin> proposed correlated many-electron <wave functions> explaining important states of the <fractional quantum Hall effect>. The variational construction strongly suppresses configurations in which <electrons> approach one another while keeping them within the lowest <Landau level>. Its excited states behave as localized disturbances carrying a fraction of the <electron> <electric charge>. The theory connects a microscopic correlated state with an incompressible <quantum fluid>, rather than interpreting the fractional plateau as an ordinary filled <electron> band.<Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect: An Incompressible Quantum Fluid with Fractionally Charged Excitations by Robert Laughlin>[Physical Review Letters 50, 1395 (1983), ground-state and excited-state variational construction]{ref}
A <physicist>.<Professional profile of Robert Laughlin>[Independent professional identity]{ref}
\Image[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Redirect/file/Robert%20B%20Laughlin.jpg?width=250]
{title=Portrait of <Robert B. Laughlin>}
{description=Markus Pössel, own photograph at the 62nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 6 July 2012. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/[Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.], via Wikimedia Commons.}
{source=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_B_Laughlin.jpg}
{width=250}
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