A New Approach to the Quantum Hall Effect

Abstract

A new model is proposed to explain some important experimental results on the quantum Hall effect. The existence of plateaus in the Hall resistance and broad minima in the magneto-resistance can be explained without reference to localized electron states. The main assumption is a moderate inhomogeneity in the electron density across the width of the sample. Earlier experiments on the distribution of the Hall voltage across a sample can be explained when a gradient in the electron density is assumed. The authors performed measurements on the voltage distribution in a new geometry and succeeded in interpreting the results within their model.