Observation of Interaction -Induced Modulations of a Quantum Hall Liquid's Area

Studies of electronic interferometers in the quantum Hall effect regime focus on the abelian and non-abelian anyonic statistics of fractional charges. Previous research identified that Coulomb interactions mask coherent Aharonov-Bohm interference, evidenced by the outermost edge channel's lack of interference as the magnetic field varies. This behavior is attributed to the interference area shrinking with increasing magnetic field. Here, we present observations of area 'breathing' by partially screening Coulomb interactions, revealing that external variations in phase are not fully canceled by the area response. Our conductance measurements, sensitive to continuous phase variations, indicate abrupt phase jumps smaller than 2π. These findings provide new experimental insights into anyonic statistics and propose a novel approach for probing these elusive properties in mesoscopic systems. This work advances our understanding of electron behavior and the interplay of wave and particle nature in quantum Hall systems.