Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical findings on the quantum Hall effect in graphene, emphasizing spontaneous symmetry breaking driven by electron interactions and methods to detect associated excitations.

Contribution

It highlights the role of electron-electron interactions in symmetry breaking in graphene's quantum Hall states and discusses experimental detection techniques.

Findings

Quantum Hall states in graphene exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking.

Electron-electron interactions are crucial in symmetry breaking.

Methods to detect collective excitations related to symmetry breaking are discussed.

Abstract

In this article we briefly review recent experimental and theoretical work on quantum Hall effect in graphene, and argue that some of the quantum Hall states exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking that is driven by electron-electron interaction. We will also discuss how to experimentally determine the actual manner in which symmetry breaking occurs, and detect the collective charge and neutral excitations associated with symmetry breaking. Other issues will also be briefly mentioned.