2013/03/31 by J. Maciejko, Joseph Maciejko, Benjamin Hsu +5 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.88.125137
published as Phys. Rev. B 88, 125137 (2013) · 14 pages, 1 figure; for a short summary, see http://www.princeton.edu/~jmaciejk/fqhn/. v2: added references and comment on Hall viscosity (Sec. IV.B), v3: published version
arxiv created 2013/09/27 · openalex publication_date 2013/09/27 · arxiv updated 2013/09/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The topological physics of quantum Hall states is efficiently encoded in purely topological quantum field theories of the Chern-Simons type. The reliable inclusion of low-energy dynamical properties in a continuum description, however, typically requires proximity to a quantum critical point. We construct a field theory that describes the quantum transition from an isotropic to a nematic Laughlin liquid. The soft mode associated with this transition approached from the isotropic side is identified as the familiar intra-Landau level Girvin-MacDonald-Platzman mode. We obtain z=2 dynamic scaling at the critical point and a description of Goldstone and defect physics on the nematic side. Despite the very different physical motivation, our field theory is essentially identical to a recent ``geometric'' field theory for a Laughlin liquid proposed by Haldane.