Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

2 p.m., Thursday, February 8, 2001
Room 1201, Physics Building

Liquid Crystal Phases in Quantum Hall Systems

Alan Dorsey

(Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville)

Abstract: Recent transport measurements of quantum Hall samples in higher Landau levels by Lilly et al. have revealed a surprisingly large anisotropy in the conductivity for nearly half filled Landau levels. It is now believed that this anisotropy is due to the formation of a unidirectional charge density wave; the elastic theory of such a state is similar to that of a smectic liquid crystal. I will discuss the statistical mechanics of this quantum Hall "smectic" phase, including the role of dislocations in restoring the symmetry.

Some references:

C. Wexler and A. T. Dorsey, "Disclination unbinding transition in quantum Hall liquid crystals," cond-mat/0009096.
C. Wexler and A. T. Dorsey, "Physics on the edge: contour dynamics, waves, and solitons in the quantum Hall effect," Phys. Rev. B 60, 10971 (1999).
C. Wexler and A. T. Dorsey, "Solitons on the edge of a two-dimensional electron system," Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 620 (1999).

Host: Chris Lobb

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