Evidence for charge-flux duality near the quantum Hall liquid to insulator transition

TL;DR

This experimental study provides evidence for charge-flux duality near the quantum Hall liquid-insulator transition, showing a simple mapping between current-voltage characteristics on either side of the transition, supporting the composite boson theory.

Contribution

It demonstrates experimentally that charge-flux duality manifests near the quantum Hall transition, confirming theoretical predictions in a disorder-dominated regime.

Findings

Current-voltage characteristics are related by a simple exchange of current and voltage.

Charge-flux duality is observed near the transition point.

The results support the composite boson description of the transition.

Abstract

We examine the longitudinal, non-linear, current-voltage characteristics near the quantum Hall liquid to insulator transition and show that a simple mapping exists between the characteristics on the quantum Hall side and those on the insulating side of the transition. More precisely, at filling factors related by the law of corresponding states the current and voltage simply trade places. We interpret these observations as evidence for the existence, in the composite boson description, of charge-flux duality near disorder dominated transitions in quantum Hall systems. (Appearances notwithstanding, this is an experimental paper.)