Half-integer contributions to the quantum Hall conductivity from single Dirac cones

Abstract

While the quantum Hall effect in graphene has been regarded as a realization of the anomaly associated with the massless Dirac particle carrying half the usual topological integer, this is hidden due to the doubling of the Dirac cones. In order to confirm the half-integer contribution from each Dirac cone, here we theoretically consider a lattice model in which the relative energy between the two Dirac points is systematically shifted. With an explicit calculation of the topological (Chern) number, we have demonstrated that each Dirac cone does indeed contribute to the Hall conductivity as the half odd integer series (... -3/2, -1/2, 1/2, 3/2, ...) when the Fermi energy traverses the (shifted sets of) Landau levels. The picture is also endorsed, via the bulk-edge correspondence, from the edge mode spectrum for the present model.