Crystallization of bosonic quantum Hall states in a rotating quantum gas

The dominance of interactions over kinetic energy lies at the heart of strongly correlated quantum matter, from fractional quantum Hall liquids1, to atoms in optical lattices2 and twisted bilayer graphene3. Crystalline phases often compete with correlated quantum liquids, and transitions between them occur when the energy cost of forming a density wave approaches zero. A prime example occurs for electrons in high-strength magnetic fields, where the instability of quantum Hall liquids towards a Wigner crystal4–9 is heralded by a roton-like softening of density modulations at the magnetic length7,10–12. Remarkably, interacting bosons in a gauge field are also expected to form analogous liquid and crystalline states13–21. However, combining interactions with strong synthetic magnetic fields has been a challenge for experiments on bosonic quantum gases18,21. Here we study the purely interaction-driven dynamics of a Landau gauge Bose–Einstein condensate22 in and near the lowest Landau level. We observe a spontaneous crystallization driven by condensation of magneto-rotons7,10, excitations visible as density modulations at the magnetic length. Increasing the cloud density smoothly connects this behaviour to a quantum version of the Kelvin–Helmholtz hydrodynamic instability, driven by the sheared internal flow profile of the rapidly rotating condensate. At long times the condensate self-organizes into a persistent array of droplets separated by vortex streets, which are stabilized by a balance of interactions and effective magnetic forces.