Specific heat in the integer quantum Hall effect: An exact diagonalization approach

TL;DR

This paper investigates the finite-temperature behavior of the integer quantum Hall effect using exact diagonalization, revealing how specific heat and Hall conductivity vary with energy and temperature, and identifying sharp peaks at plateau transitions.

Contribution

It provides an exact diagonalization study of the specific heat and Hall conductivity in the integer quantum Hall effect at finite temperatures, including analytical comparisons.

Findings

Specific heat exhibits a sharp peak between Hall plateaus.

Numerical results agree with analytical predictions at low temperatures.

Energy dependence of specific heat and Hall conductivity is characterized.

Abstract

We have studied the integer quantum Hall effect at finite temperatures by diagonalizing a single body tight binding model Hamiltonian including Aharonov-Bohm phase. We have studied the energy dependence of the specific heat and the Hall conductivity at a given temperature. The specific heat shows a sharp peak between two consecutive Hall plateaus. At very low temperatures, the numerical results of the temperature variations of specific heat (in the plateau region) are in good agreement with the analytical results.