Half-integer thermal conductance in integer quantum Hall states

Considering a range of candidate quantum phases of matter, half-integer thermal conductance is believed to be an unambiguous evidence of non-Abelian states. It has been long known that such half-integer values arise due to the presence of Majorana edge modes, representing a significant step towards topological quantum computing. Here, we challenge this prevailing notion by presenting a comprehensive theoretical and experimental study where half-integer two-terminal thermal conductance plateau is realized employing integer quantum Hall states. Our proposed setup features a confined geometry of bilayer graphene, interfacing distinct particle and hole-like integer quantum Hall edges. Each segment of the device exhibits full charge and thermal equilibration. Our approach is amenable to generalization to other quantum Hall platforms, and may give rise to other values of fractional quantized transport. Our study demonstrates that the observation of robust non-integer values of thermal conductance can arise as a manifestation of mundane equilibration dynamics as opposed to underlying non-trivial topology.