Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: The theory of the insulating state discriminates between insulators and metals by means of a localization tensor, which is finite in insulators and divergent in metals. In absence of time-reversal symmetry, this same tensor acquires an off-diagonal imaginary part, proportional to the dc transverse conductivity, leading to quantization of the latter in two-dimensional systems. I provide evidence that electron localization--in the above sense--is the common cause for both vanishing of the dc longitudinal conductivity and quantization of the transverse one in quantum Hall fluids.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Author: Raffaele Resta
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2050714209