Multi-channel Luttinger Liquids at the Edge of Quantum Hall Systems

Abstract

We consider the edge transport properties of a generic class of interacting quantum Hall systems on a cylinder, in the infinite volume and zero temperature limit. We prove that the large-scale behavior of the edge correlation functions is effectively described by the multi-channel Luttinger model. In particular, we prove that the edge conductance is universal, and equal to the sum of the chiralities of the non-interacting edge modes. The proof is based on rigorous renormalization group methods, that allow to fully take into account the effect of backscattering at the edge. Universality arises as a consequence of the integrability of the emergent multi-channel Luttinger liquid combined with lattice Ward identities for the microscopic 2d theory.