Skyrmions in integral and fractional quantum Hall systems

Numerical results are presented for the spin excitations of a two-dimensional electron gas confined to a quantum well of width w. Spin waves and charged skyrmion excitations are studied for filling factors ν=1,3, and 1/3. Phase diagrams for the occurrence of skyrmions of different size as a function of w and the Zeeman energy are calculated. For ν=3, skyrmions occur only if w is larger than about twice the magnetic length. A general necessary condition on the interaction pseudopotential for the occurrence of stable skyrmion states is proposed.