Distinguishing between non-abelian topological orders in a Quantum Hall system

Quantum Hall states can harbor exotic quantum phases. The nature of these states is reflected in the gapless edge modes owing to ‘bulk-edge’ correspondence. The most-studied putative non-abelian state is the spin-polarized filling factor ν = 5/2, which permits different topological orders that can be abelian or non-abelian. We develop a method that interfaces the studied quantum state with another state, and employ it to identify the topological order of the ν = 5/2 state. The interface between two half-planes, one hosting the ν = 5/2 state and the other an integer ν = 3 state, supports a fractional ν = 1/2 charge mode and a neutral Majorana mode. The counter-propagating chirality of the Majorana mode, probed by measuring partition noise, is consistent with the particle-hole Pfaffian (PH-Pf) topological order and rules out the anti-Pfaffian order.