Absorption spectroscopy of charged spin texture excitations at v = 1

Both experimental and theoretical investigations of the v = 1 quantum Hall state have provided a broad range of evidence that the excitation gap and the resulting quasiparticle spectrum at v = 1 are dominated by the ferromagnetic many-body exchange interaction. We review recent experimental progress on Skyrmions and detail our own optical investigations of the v = 1 quantum Hall regime, with a focus on new data. In lower density samples, textures with as many as five spin flips are observed, and the temperature dependence matches both finite size calculations and quantum continuum ferromagnet models. Finally, simultaneous measurements of the absorption, photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectra show that relaxation effects limit the use of emission spectroscopy in determining electron spin populations.