Massive skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets

We apply the theory of elasticity to study the effects of skyrmion mass on lattice dynamics in quantum Hall systems. We find that massive Skyrme lattices behave like a Wigner crystal in the presence of a uniform perpendicular magnetic field. We make a comparison with the microscopic Hartree-Fock results to characterize the mass of quantum Hall skyrmions at $\nu=1$ and investigate how the low temperature phase of Skyrme lattices may be affected by the skyrmion mass.Comment: 6 pages and 2 figure

Statistical significance of fine structure in the frequency spectrum of Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations

We discuss a statistical analysis of Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations measured in a two-dimensional ring, in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Measurements performed at different values of gate voltage are used to calculate the ensemble-averaged modulus of the Fourier spectrum and, at each frequency, the standard deviation associated to the average. This allows us to prove the statistical significance of a splitting that we observe in the h/e peak of the averaged spectrum. Our work illustrates in detail the role of sample specific effects on the frequency spectrum of Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations and it demonstrates how fine structures of a different physical origin can be discriminated from sample specific features.Comment: accepted for publication in PR

Solitons in polarized double layer quantum Hall systems

A new manifestation of interlayer coherence in strongly polarized double layer quantum Hall systems with total filling factor $\nu=1$ in the presence of a small or zero tunneling is theoretically predicted. It is shown that moving (for small tunneling) and spatially localized (for zero tunneling) stable pseudospin solitons develop which could be interpreted as mobile or static charge-density excitations. The possibility of their experimental observation is also discussed.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (accepted

Broken-Symmetry States in Quantum Hall Superlattices

We argue that broken-symmetry states with either spatially diagonal or spatially off-diagonal order are likely in the quantum Hall regime, for clean multiple quantum well (MQW) systems with small layer separations. We find that for MQW systems, unlike bilayers, charge order tends to be favored over spontaneous interlayer coherence. We estimate the size of the interlayer tunneling amplitude needed to stabilize superlattice Bloch minibands by comparing the variational energies of interlayer-coherent superlattice miniband states with those of states with charge order and states with no broken symmetries. We predict that when coherent miniband ground states are stable, strong interlayer electronic correlations will strongly enhance the growth-direction tunneling conductance and promote the possibility of Bloch oscillations.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, 4 figures EPS, to be published in PR

Mass spectrum and elastic scattering in the massive SU(2)_f Schwinger model on the lattice

We calculate numerically scattering phases for elastic meson-meson scattering processes in the strongly coupled massive Schwinger-model with an SU(2) flavour symmetry. These calculations are based on Luescher's method in which finite size effects in two-particle energies are exploited. The results from Monte-Carlo simulations with staggered fermions for the lightest meson ("pion") are in good agreement with the analytical strong-coupling prediction. Furthermore, the mass spectrum of low-lying mesonic states is investigated numerically. We find a surprisingly rich spectrum in the mass region [m_\pi,4 m_\pi].Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, LaTeX, uses feynmf.st

Crossover between ionic/covalent and pure ionic bonding in magnesium oxyde clusters

An empirical potential with fluctuating charges is proposed for modelling (MgO)_n clusters in both the molecular (small n) and bulk (n->infty) regimes. Vectorial polarization forces are explicitely taken into account in the self-consistent determination of the charges. Our model predicts cuboid cluster structures, in agreement with previous experimental and theoretical results. The effective charge transferred between magnesium and oxygen smoothly increases from 1 to 2, with an estimated crossover size above 300 MgO molecules

The Effects of Disorder on the ν=1\nu=1 Quantum Hall State

A disorder-averaged Hartree-Fock treatment is used to compute the density of single particle states for quantum Hall systems at filling factor $\nu=1$. It is found that transport and spin polarization experiments can be simultaneously explained by a model of mostly short-range effective disorder. The slope of the transport gap (due to quasiparticles) in parallel field emerges as a result of the interplay between disorder-induced broadening and exchange, and has implications for skyrmion localization.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure

Bias-voltage induced phase-transition in bilayer quantum Hall ferromagnets

We consider bilayer quantum Hall systems at total filling factor $\nu=1$ in presence of a bias voltage $\Delta_v$ which leads to different filling factors in each layer. We use auxiliary field functional integral approach to study mean-field solutions and collective excitations around them. We find that at large layer separation, the collective excitations soften at a finite wave vector leading to the collapse of quasiparticle gap. Our calculations predict that as the bias voltage is increased, bilayer systems undergo a phase transition from a compressible state to a $\nu=1$ phase-coherent state {\it with charge imbalance}. We present simple analytical expressions for bias-dependent renormalized charge imbalance and pseudospin stiffness which are sensitive to the softening of collective modes.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Minor changes, one reference adde

Lattice Pseudospin Model for ν=1\nu=1 Quantum Hall Bilayers

We present a new theoretical approach to the study of $\nu=1$ quantum Hall bilayer that is based on a systematic mapping of the microscopic Hamiltonian to an anisotropic SU(4) spin model on a lattice. To study the properties of this model we generalize the Heisenberg model Schwinger boson mean field theory (SBMFT) of Arovas and Auerbach to spin models with anisotropy. We calculate the temperature dependence of experimentally observable quantities, including the spin magnetization, and the differential interlayer capacitance. Our theory represents a substantial improvement over the conventional Hartree-Fock picture which neglects quantum and thermal fluctuations, and has advantages over long-wavelength effective models that fail to capture important microscopic physics at all realistic layer separations. The formalism we develop can be generalized to treat quantum Hall bilayers at filling factor $\nu=2$.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures. The final version, to appear in PR