Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy

We demonstrate that the widely used plasma analogy is unreliable at predicting edge properties of quantum Hall states. This discrepancy arises from a fundamental difference between quantum Hall droplets and plasmas (Coulomb gases): The former are incompressible liquids subject to area-preserving def...

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Main Authors: Per Moosavi, Blagoje Oblak, Bastien Lapierre, Benoit Estienne, Jean-Marie Stéphan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2025-05-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023134
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author Per Moosavi
Blagoje Oblak
Bastien Lapierre
Benoit Estienne
Jean-Marie Stéphan
author_facet Per Moosavi
Blagoje Oblak
Bastien Lapierre
Benoit Estienne
Jean-Marie Stéphan
author_sort Per Moosavi
collection DOAJ
description We demonstrate that the widely used plasma analogy is unreliable at predicting edge properties of quantum Hall states. This discrepancy arises from a fundamental difference between quantum Hall droplets and plasmas (Coulomb gases): The former are incompressible liquids subject to area-preserving deformations, while the latter are governed by electrostatics and thus involve conformal transformations. Consequently, the plasma analogy fails at the edge, except in fine-tuned geometries, as it does not account for the emergent local edge velocity. We quantitatively show how the analogy's failure affects physical quantities, such as fluctuations of local observables and absorption rates in microwave spectroscopy, measurable in both solid-state experiments and quantum simulators.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 2643-1564
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher American Physical Society
record_format Article
series Physical Review Research
spelling doaj-art-aee2198a451240b09199ecf0a22e7b682025-08-20T03:52:46ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642025-05-017202313410.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023134Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogyPer MoosaviBlagoje OblakBastien LapierreBenoit EstienneJean-Marie StéphanWe demonstrate that the widely used plasma analogy is unreliable at predicting edge properties of quantum Hall states. This discrepancy arises from a fundamental difference between quantum Hall droplets and plasmas (Coulomb gases): The former are incompressible liquids subject to area-preserving deformations, while the latter are governed by electrostatics and thus involve conformal transformations. Consequently, the plasma analogy fails at the edge, except in fine-tuned geometries, as it does not account for the emergent local edge velocity. We quantitatively show how the analogy's failure affects physical quantities, such as fluctuations of local observables and absorption rates in microwave spectroscopy, measurable in both solid-state experiments and quantum simulators.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023134
spellingShingle Per Moosavi
Blagoje Oblak
Bastien Lapierre
Benoit Estienne
Jean-Marie Stéphan
Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
Physical Review Research
title Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
title_full Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
title_fullStr Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
title_full_unstemmed Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
title_short Quantum Hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
title_sort quantum hall edges beyond the plasma analogy
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023134
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AT blagojeoblak quantumhalledgesbeyondtheplasmaanalogy
AT bastienlapierre quantumhalledgesbeyondtheplasmaanalogy
AT benoitestienne quantumhalledgesbeyondtheplasmaanalogy
AT jeanmariestephan quantumhalledgesbeyondtheplasmaanalogy