A different view of the quantum Hall plateau-to-plateau transitions

TL;DR

This paper presents experimental evidence that quantum Hall plateau-to-plateau transitions can be understood as a quantum Hall-to-insulator transition within the top Landau level, considering the inert background of filled levels.

Contribution

It offers a new perspective by linking plateau transitions to a Landau level transition, simplifying the understanding of quantum Hall phenomena.

Findings

Transitions are equivalent to a Landau level transition with inert background

Experimental demonstration of the transition equivalence

Provides a new framework for understanding quantum Hall transitions

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that the transitions between adjacent integer quantum Hall (QH) states are equivalent to a QH-to-insulator transition occurring in the top Landau level, in the presence of an inert background of the other completely filled Landau levels, each contributing a single unit of quantum conductance, $e^{2}/h$, to the total Hall conductance of the system.