Quantum Hall Criticality, Superconductor-Insulator Transition and Quantum Percolation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a model combining superconducting and quantum links to describe the integer quantum Hall transition, revealing critical behavior consistent with experimental observations and suggesting a unified universality class for related transitions.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel percolation-based model for the quantum Hall transition that incorporates quantum coherence and links it to superconductor-insulator transition universality.

Findings

Critical exponent ν ≈ 2.4 from scaling analysis

Two-peak conductance distribution at criticality

Quantum coherence influences transition behavior

Abstract

A model consisting of a mixture of superconducting and quantum links is proposed to describe the integer quantum Hall transition. The quantum links correspond to tunneling of electrons between trajectories trapped in adjacent potential valleys, while the superconducting links correspond to merging of these trajectories once the Fermi energy crosses the saddle point energy separating the two valleys. The quantum Hall transition in this model corresponds to percolation of the superconducting links. Numerical calculations and scaling analysis using two different approaches yield the critical exponent $\nu \approx 2.4$ and a two-peak conductance distribution at the critical point. The role of quantum coherence is discussed, and an explanation of experimental observations claiming different universality class for the quantum Hall transition is suggested. The model suggests that the critical behavior of the superconductor-insulator transition from the insulating side is in the same universality class as the quantum Hall transition.