We study strongly correlated ground and excited states of rotating quasi-2D Fermi gases constituted of a small number of dipole-dipole interacting particles with dipole moments polarized perpendicular to the plane of motion. As the number of atoms grows, the system enters an intermediate regime, where ground states are subject to a competition between distinct bulk-edge configurations. This effect obscures their description in terms of composite fermions and leads to the appearance of novel quasihole ground states. In the presence of dipolar interactions, the principal Laughlin state at filling $\nu =1/3$ exhibits a substantial energy gap for neutral (total angular momentum conserving) excitations and is well-described as an incompressible Fermi liquid. Instead, at lower fillings, the ground state structure favors crystalline order.

• Received 7 March 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.160403