Integer Quantum Hall Effect for Lattice Fermions

Abstract

A two-dimensional lattice model for non-interacting fermions in a magnetic field with half a flux quantum per plaquette and $N$ levels per site is considered. This is a model which exhibits the Integer Quantum Hall Effect (IQHE) in the presence of disorder. It presents an alternative to the continuous picture for the IQHE with Landau levels. The large $N$ limit can be solved: two Hall transitions appear and there is an interpolating behavior between the two Hall plateaux. Although this approach to the IQHE is different from the traditional one with Landau levels because of different symmetries (continuous for Landau levels and discrete here), some characteristic features are reproduced. For instance, the slope of the Hall conductivity is infinite at the transition points and the electronic states are delocalized only at the transitions.