Shape Deformation driven Structural Transitions in Quantum Hall Skyrmions

Abstract

The Quantum Hall ground state away from $\nu =1$ can be described by a collection of interacting skyrmions. We show within the context of a nonlinear sigma model, that the classical ground state away from $\nu =1$ is a skyrmion crystal with a generalized Néel order. We show that as a function of filling $\nu$, the skyrmion crystal undergoes a triangle to square to triangle transition at zero temperature. We argue that this structural transition, driven by a change in the shape of the individual skyrmions, is stable to thermal and quantum fluctuations and may be probed experimentally.

4 pages (REVTEX) and 4 .eps figures

References in corpus (1)

• Collective Excitations, NMR, and Phase Transitions in Skyrme Crystals

Cited by in corpus (16)

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