Theory of Transport Phenomena in Coherent Quantum Hall Bilayers

TL;DR

This paper develops a mean-field transport theory to explain anomalous transport behaviors in coherent quantum Hall bilayers, emphasizing the role of disorder in reducing interlayer tunneling and accounting for experimental I-V characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces a mean-field framework incorporating disorder effects to explain transport anomalies in quantum Hall bilayers, aligning theory with experimental observations.

Findings

Critical current causes abrupt increase in tunneling resistance.

Non-local interactions observed between inner and outer edges.

Disorder significantly reduces effective interlayer tunneling strength.

Abstract

We argue that all anomalous transport properties of coherent quantum quantum Hall bilayers can be understood in terms of a mean-field transport theory in which the condensate phase is nearly uniform across the sample, and the strength of condensate coupling to interlayer tunneling processes is substantially reduced compared to the predictions of disorder-free microscopic mean-field theory. These ingredients provide a natural explanation for recently established I-V characteristics which feature a critical current above which the tunneling resistance abruptly increases and a non-local interaction between interlayer tunneling at the inner and outer edges of Corbino rings. We propose a microscopic picture in which disorder is the main agent responsible for the reduction of the effective interlayer tunneling strength.