The Asymptotic Form of the Lower Landau Bands in a Strong Magnetic Field

Abstract

The asymptotic form of the bottom part of the spectrum of the two-dimensional magnetic Schrodinger operator with a periodic potential in a strong magnetic field is studied in the semiclassical approximation. Averaging methods permit reducing the corresponding classical problem to a one-dimensional problem on the torus; we thus show the “almost integrability” of the original problem. Using elementary corollaries from the topological theory of Hamiltonian systems, we classify the almost invariant manifolds of the classical Hamiltonian. The manifolds corresponding to the bottom part of the spectrum are closed or nonclosed curves and points. Their geometric and topological characteristics determine the asymptotic form of parts of the spectrum (spectral series). We construct this asymptotic form using the methods of the semiclassical approximation with complex phases. We discuss the relation of the asymptotic form obtained to the magneto-Bloch conditions and asymptotics of the band spectrum.