Theory of the quantum Hall effect

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5521993

Niu, Q

The central theme of this thesis is about the quantum Hall effect. Based on the Kubo formula at zero temperature, it is shown that the Hall conductance of a two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of substrate disorder and many-body interactions can be converted into a form a topological invariant which is quantized explicitly. When applied to the case of fraction quantum Hall effect, this theory concludes that there must be a degeneracy in the many-body ground state. The problem of the quantum adiabatic particle transport is also studied. This problem is not only interesting in its own right, but also relates to the quantum Hall effect in many ways. Finally, the effects of the source and drain in the quantum Hall effect is studied through a simple model, leading to the conclusion that non-Ohmic corrections to the quantization may happen but takes an exponential form in the negative inverse of the electric field and thus can be easily controlled in experiments.

• Research Organization: Washington Univ., Seattle (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5521993
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

657002* -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Classical & Quantum Mechanics
658000 -- Mathematical Physics-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ADIABATIC APPROXIMATION
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
ELECTRON GAS
FLUIDS
GASES
HALL EFFECT
KUBO FORMULA
QUANTIZATION
RADIATION TRANSPORT