Many skyrmion wave functions and skyrmion statistics in quantum Hall ferromagnets

We determine the charge and statistical angle of skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets by performing Berry phase calculations based on the microscopic variational wave functions for many-skyrmion states. We find, in contradiction to a recent claim by Dziarmaga, that both the charge and the statistical angle of a skyrmion are independent of its spin (size), and are identical to those of Laughlin quasiparticles at the same filling factor. We discuss some subtleties in the use of these variational wave functions.