Electron correlations and fractional quantum Hall states in a double-layer electron system

An analytically solvable few-electron model of a double-layer electron system is presented which includes mixing with all Landau levels. Inter-layer correlations are found to give rise to novel ground states which differ fundamentally from previously suggested Jastrow-like wavefunctions for double layer N-electron systems. Comparison with experimental data suggests that these states may represent small-N precursors of recently observed fractional quantum Hall states in double-layer (large-N) systems.