We develop a bosonization scheme for the collective dynamics of a spinless
two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the lowest Landau level. The system is
treated as a continuous elastic medium, and quantum commutation relations are
imposed between orthogonal components of the elastic displacement field. This
theory provides a unified description of bulk and edge excitations of
compressible and incompressible phases, and explains the results of recent
tunneling experiments at the edge of the 2DEG.Comment: 4 pages, includes 1 figur