The integer quantum hall effect revisited
Spyridon Michalakis, Matthew B. Hastings
For T - L x L a finite subset of Z{sup 2}, let H{sub o} denote a Hamiltonian on T with periodic boundary conditions and finite range, finite strength intetactions and a unique ground state with a nonvanishing spectral gap. For S {element_of} T, let q{sub s} denote the charge at site s and assume that the total charge Q = {Sigma}{sub s {element_of} T} q{sub s} is conserved. Using the local charge operators q{sub s}, we introduce a boundary magnetic flux in the horizontal and vertical direction and allow the ground state to evolve quasiadiabatically around a square of size one magnetic flux, in flux space. At the end of the evolution we obtain a trivial Berry phase, which we compare, via a method reminiscent of Stokes Theorem. to the Berry phase obtained from an evolution around an exponentially small loop near the origin. As a result, we show, without any averaging assumption, that the Hall conductance is quantized in integer multiples of e{sup 2}/h up to exponentially small corrections of order e{sup -L/{zeta}}, where {zeta}, is a correlation length that depends only on the gap and the range and strength of the interactions.
•Jan 1, 2009•0 citations