Multiple Edges of a Quantum Hall System in a Strong Electric Field

Abstract

In this article we show that if the electrons in a quantum Hall sample are subjected to a constant electric field in the plane of the material, comparable in magnitude to the background magnetic field on the system of electrons, a multiplicity of edge states localised in different regions of space is produced in the sample. The actions governing the dynamics of these edge states are obtained starting from the well-known Schrödinger field theory for a system of non-relativistic electrons, where on top of the constant background electric and magnetic fields, the electrons are further subject to slowly varying weak electromagnetic fields. In the regions between the edges, dubbed as the "bulk", the fermions can be integrated out entirely and the dynamics expressed in terms of a local effective action involving the slowly varying electromagnetic potentials. It is further shown how the "bulk" action is gauge non-invariant in a particular way and how the edge states conspire to restore the U(1) electromagnetic gauge invariance of the system.