Semiclassical analysis of edge state energies in the integer quantum Hall effect

TL;DR

This paper uses semiclassical methods to analyze edge state energies in the integer quantum Hall effect, deriving accurate eigenvalue approximations and revealing a scaling law for edge states.

Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical approach to compute edge state energies and derives an explicit scaling law, improving understanding of edge states in quantum Hall systems.

Findings

Accurate approximation of eigenvalues using WKB connection formulae

Analysis of the b3(E,x_c) dependence on position

Derivation of an explicit scaling law for edge state energies

Abstract

Analysis of edge-state energies in the integer quantum Hall effect is carried out within the semiclassical approximation. When the system is wide so that each edge can be considered separatly, this problem is equivalent to that of a one dimensional harmonic oscillator centered at x=x_c and an infinite wall at x=0, and appears in numerous physical contexts. The eigenvalues E_n(x_c) for a given quantum number n are solutions of the equation S(E,x_c)=\pi [n+ \gamma(E,x_c)] where S is the WKB action and 0<\gamma<1 encodes all the information on the connection procedure at the turning points. A careful implication of the WKB connection formulae results in an excellent approximation to the exact energy eigenvalues. The dependence of \gamma [E_n(x_c),x_c] \equiv \gamma_c (x_c) on x_c is analyzed between its two extreme values 1/2 as x_c goes to -infinity far inside the sample and 3/4 as x_c goes to infinity far outside the sample. The edge-state energies E_n(x_c) obey an almost exact scaling law of the form E_n(x_c)=4 [n+\gamma_n(x_c)] f(x_c/4 n +3) and the scaling function f(y) is explicitly elucidated