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arXiv:1101.5921 · Physical Review B

Spin quantum Hall effect and plateau transitions in multilayer network models

J. T. Chalker, M. Ortuño, A. M. Somoza

Published Mar 15, 2011• 6 citations
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Abstract

We study the spin quantum Hall effect and transitions between Hall plateaus in quasi-two-dimensional network models consisting of several coupled layers. Systems exhibiting the spin quantum Hall effect belong to class C in the symmetry classification for Anderson localization, and for network models in this class there is an established mapping between the quantum problem and a classical one involving random walks. This mapping permits numerical studies of plateau transitions in much larger samples than for other symmetry classes, and we use it to examine localization in systems consisting of $n$ weakly coupled layers. Standard scaling ideas lead one to expect $n$ distinct plateau transitions, but in the case of the unitary symmetry class this conclusion has been questioned. Focusing on a two-layer model, we demonstrate that there are two separate plateau transitions, with the same critical properties as in a single-layer model, even for very weak interlayer coupling.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.83.115317

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We study the spin quantum Hall effect and transitions between Hall plateaus in quasi-two-dimensional network models consisting of several coupled layers. Systems exhibiting the spin quantum Hall effect belong to class C in the symmetry classification for Anderson localization, and for network models in this class there is an established mapping between the quantum problem and a classical one involving random walks. This mapping permits numerical studies of plateau transitions in much larger samples than for other symmetry classes, and we use it to examine localization in systems consisting of nnn weakly coupled layers. Standard scaling ideas lead one to expect nnn distinct plateau transitions, but in the case of the unitary symmetry class this conclusion has been questioned. Focusing on a two-layer model, we demonstrate that there are two separate plateau transitions, with the same critical properties as in a single-layer model, even for very weak interlayer coupling.
A fundamental property of the quantum Hall effect is the presence of edge states at the boundary of the sample, robust against localization and responsible for the perfect quantization of the Hall conductance. The transition between integer quantum Hall plateaus is a delocalization transition, which can be identified as a strong-coupling fixed point of a 1 + 1-dimensional supersymmetric sigma model with topological theta-term. The conformal field theory describing this transition displays unusual features such as non-unitarity, and resisted any attempt of solution so far. In this thesis we investigate the role of edge states at quantum Hall transitions using lattice discretizations of super sigma models. Edge states correspond to twisted boundary conditions for the fields, which can be discretized as quantum spin chains or geometrical (loop) models. For the spin quantum Hall effect, a counterpart of the integer quantum Hall effect for spin transport (class C), our techniques allow the exact computation of critical exponents of the boundary conformal field theories describing higher plateaus transitions. Our predictions for the mean spin conductance are validated by extensive numerical simulations of the related localization problems. Envisaging applications to transport in network models of 2 + 1-dimensional disordered electrons, and to quenches in one-dimensional gapless quantum systems, in this thesis we have also developed a new formalism for dealing with partition functions of critical systems in rectangular geometries. As an application, we derive formulas for probabilities of self-avoiding walks.
The spin quantum Hall effect (SQHE) provides one of the few examples of an Anderson localization transition for which exact critical exponents are known, making it an important testing ground for theories of disordered topological systems and conformal field theory. The corresponding network model, obtained by replacing the random U(1)U(1)U(1) phases of the Chalker--Coddington model with random SU(2)SU(2)SU(2) matrices, belongs to symmetry class C of the Altland--Zirnbauer classification and is believed to describe quasiparticle transport in two-dimensional disordered superconductors with broken time-reversal symmetry. In this work, we perform high-precision numerical calculations of the localization-length exponent (ννν) and the boundary critical exponent (μμμ) for the SQHE network model using the recently developed SSS-matrix approach to random networks.
We solve the problem of the spin quantum Hall transition on random networks using a mapping to classical percolation that focuses on the boundary of percolating clusters. Using tools of two-dimensional quantum gravity, we compute critical exponents that characterize this transition and confirm that these are related to the exponents for the regular (square) network through the KPZ relation. Our results demonstrate the relevance of the geometric randomness of the networks and support conclusions of numerical simulations of random networks for the integer quantum Hall transition.
We consider the problem of quantum and classical phase transitions in double-layer quantum Hall systems at ν=1/mν=1/mν=1/m (m odd integers) from a long-wavelength statistical mechanics viewpoint. We derive an explicit mapping of the long-wavelength Lagrangian of the quantum Hall system into that of a three-dimensional isotropic classical XY model whose coupling constant depends on the quantum fluctuation in the original quantum Hall Hamiltonian. Universal properties of the quantum phase transition at the critical layer separation are completely determined by this mapping. The dependence of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature on layer separation, including quantum fluctuation effects, is approximately obtained by simple finite-size scaling analyses.
We obtain the field-theory representations of several network models that are relevant to two-dimensional transport in high magnetic fields. Among them, the simplest one, which is relevant to the plateau transition in the quantum Hall effect, is equivalent to a particular representation of an antiferromagnetic SU(2N) (N\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0) spin chain. Since the latter can be mapped onto a \ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\ne}0, U(2N)/U(N)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}U(N) \ensuremath{\sigma} model, and since recent numerical analyses of the corresponding network give a delocalization transition with \ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\approxeq}2.3, we conclude that the same exponent is applicable to the \ensuremath{\sigma} model.
Generalized multifractality characterizes system size dependence of pure scaling local observables at Anderson transitions in all 10 symmetry classes of disordered systems. Recently, the concept of generalized multifractality has been extended to boundaries of critical disordered noninteracting systems. Here we study the generalized boundary multifractality in the presence of electron-electron interaction, focusing on the spin quantum Hall symmetry class (class C). Employing the two-loop renormalization group analysis within the Finkel'stein nonlinear sigma model, we compute the anomalous dimensions of the pure scaling operators located at the boundary of the system. We find that generalized boundary multifractal exponents are twice larger than their bulk counterparts. Exact symmetry relations between generalized boundary multifractal exponents in the case of noninteracting systems are explicitly broken by the interaction.