Coupling of incompressible quantum Hall fluids with nuclear spins

John J. Quinn, Arkadiusz Wójs, Kyung-Soo Yi +1 more

Jürg Martin Fröhlich, Urban M. Studer

The main purpose of this paper is to further our theoretical understanding of the fractional quantum Hall effect, in particular of spin effects, in two-dimensional incompressible electron fluids subject to a strong, transverse magnetic field. As a prerequisite for an analysis of the quantum Hall effect, the authors develop a general formulation of the many-body theory of spinning particles coupled to external electromagnetic fields and moving through a general, geometrically nontrivial background. Their formulation is based on a Lagrangian path-integral quantization and is valid in arbitrary coordinates, including coordinates moving according to a volume-preserving flow. It is found that nonrelativistic quantum theory exhibits a fundamental, local U(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2) gauge invariance, and the corresponding gauge fields are identified with physical, external fields. To illustrate the usefulness of their formalism, the authors prove a general form of the quantum-mechanical Larmor theorem and discuss some well-known effects, including the Barnett-Einstein-de Haas effect and superconductivity, emphasizing the implications of U(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2) gauge invariance. They then consider two-dimensional, incompressible quantum fluids in more detail. Exploiting U(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2) gauge invariance, they calculate the leading terms in the effective actions of such systems as functionals of the U(1) and SU(2) gauge fields, on large-distance and low-frequency scales. Among the applications of these results are a simple proof of the Goldstone theorem for spin waves and the linearresponse theory of two-dimensional, incompressible Hall fluids, including a Hall effect for spin currents and sum rules for the response coefficients. For two-dimensional, incompressible systems with broken parity and time-reversal symmetry, a particularly significant implication of U(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2) gauge invariance is a duality between the physics inside the bulk of the system and the physics of gapless, chiral modes propagating along the boundary of the system. These modes form chiral $\stackrel{^}{\mathrm{u}}(1)$ and $\mathrm{s}\stackrel{^}{\mathrm{u}}(2)$ current algebras. The representation theory of these current algebras, combined with natural physical constraints, permits one to derive the quantization of the response coefficients, such as the Hall conductivity. A classification of incompressible Hall fluids is outlined, and many examples, including one concerning a superfluid $^{3}\mathrm{He}$-$\frac{A}{B}$ interface, are discussed.

Jürg Martin Fröhlich, Urban M. Studer, E. Thiran

Jürg Martin Fröhlich, A. Zee

Jürg Martin Fröhlich, Urban M. Studer, E. Thiran

1. Introduction 2. The Pauli Equation and its Symmetries {2.1} Gauge-Invariant Form of the Pauli Equation {2.2} Aharonov-Bohm Effect {2.3} Aharonov-Casher Effect 3. Gauge Invariance in Non-Relativistic Quantum Many-Particle Systems {3.1} Differential Geometry of the Background {3.2} Systems of Spinning Particles Coupled to External Electromagnetic and Geometric Fields {3.3} Moving Coordinates and Quantum-Mechanical Larmor Theorem 4. Some Key Effects Related to the $U(1) \times SU(2)$ Gauge Invariance of Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics {4.1} ``Tidal'' Aharonov-Bohm and ``Geometric'' Aharonov-Casher Effects {4.2} Flux Quantization {4.3} Barnett and Einstein-deHaas Effects {4.4} Meissner-Ochsenfeld Effect and London Theory of Superconductivity {4.5} Quantum Hall Effect 5. Scaling Limit of the Effective Action of Fermi Systems, and Classification of States of Non-Relativistic Matter 6. Scaling Limit of the Effective Action of a Two-Dimensional, Incompressible Quantum Fluid {6.1} Scaling Limit of the Effective Action {6.2} Linear Response Theory and Current Sum Rules {6.3} Quasi-Particle Excitations and a Spin-Singlet Electron Pairing Mechanism 7. Anomaly Cancellation and Algebras of Chiral Edge Currents in Two- Dimensional, Incompressible Quantum Fluids {7.1} Integer Quantum Hall Effect and Edge Currents {7.2} Edge Excitations in Spin-Polarized Quantum Hall Fluids 8. Classification of Incompressible Quantum Hall Fluids {8.1} QH Fluids and QH Lattices: Basic Concepts {8.2} A Dictionary Between the Physics of QH Fluids and the Mathematics of QH Lattices {8.3} Basic Invariants of Chiral QH Lattices (CQHLs) and their Physical Interpretations {8.4} General Theorems and Classification Results for CQHLs {8.5} Maximally Symmetric CQHLs {8.6} Summary and Physical Implications of the Classification Results

Kalyana T. Mahanthappa, Wesley E. Brittin