Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 24, 2026

Advanced Experimental Methods for Low-temperature Magnetotransport Measurement of Novel Materials
Published on: January 21, 2016
Hierarchical nature of the quantum Hall effects
1Station Q, Microsoft Research, Santa Barbara, California 93106-6105, USA.
Abstract:
I demonstrate that the wave function for a ν=n+ν[over ˜] quantum Hall state with Landau levels 0,1,…,n-1 filled and a filling fraction ν[over ˜] quantum Hall state with 0<ν[over ˜]≤1 in the nth Landau level can be obtained hierarchically from the ν=n state by introducing quasielectrons which are then projected into the (conjugate of the) ν[over ˜] state. In particular, the ν[over ˜]=1 case produces the filled Landau level wave functions hierarchically, thus establishing the hierarchical nature of the integer quantum Hall states. It follows that the composite fermion description of fractional quantum Hall states fits within the hierarchy theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect. I also demonstrate this directly by generating the composite fermion ground-state wave functions via application of the hierarchy construction to fractional quantum Hall states, starting from the ν=1/m Laughlin states.
Related Concept Videos
The Hall Effect
The de Broglie Wavelength
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
The Uncertainty Principle
Quantum Numbers
The Pauli Exclusion Principle

