12.

3 Integer Quantum Hall Effect 695

band is replaced by the phase space integral divided by the phase volume
unit h. To see how this works let us re-evaluate the number of states
per unit area

as it has to be. We proceed similarly when evaluating the Hall current

density of i filled Landau bands

(12.78)

-.-/dye --
- ne2H 1
ch L,
acp = ne2 c p ( ~ , ) - cp(0)
HdYo h
c
-
=Y
-
ie2
-- * Ey.
h
Hence we conclude that the plateau value of the Hall conductivity cor-
responding to i filled Landau levels must be
ie2
( 12.79)
= h *

The high-field argument makes it plausible that plateaus occur at

the integer quantized values which coincide with the free electron value
for the same number of filled Landau levels, in spite of the fact that a
large number of states became localized by disorder.
Though the result is impressive, we cannot be content. The limit
H -+ 00 made the electrons move classically, and we would certainly like
to see the QHE explained by a fully quantum-mechanical treatment. Al-
lowing l to be finite, our argument could not exclude that corrections of
order Z/&, l / L , appear. Now, this is what does not happen. Finite-size
corrections of this sort could easily be as large as However, exper-
iments tell us that the Hall conductivity is quantized with an accuracy
of or better. This suggests that there must exist a more general
and profound argument to justify (12.79).

12.3.2 The Gauge Argument

In the Landau gauge, we use periodic boundary conditions in the x-
direction, and open boundary conditions at the edges y = 0 and y = L,.