Reanalysis of fractional quantum Hall effect for vanishing range interactions

Abstract

We study two-dimensional bosons and fermions in a magnetic field with vanishing range interactions. This model was previously proposed for fermions to illustrate the exactness and uniqueness of Laughlins wave function as a ground state within the lowest Landau level. We show that the restriction to the lowest Landau level is not a valid approximation of these models for arbitrarily high (but finite) cyclotron frequency, since it predicts fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) at an incorrect filling factor. In particular, in contrast to the lowest-Landau-level theory, hard-core bosons are shown not to exhibit any FQHE. However, the set of filling factors for the FQHE are identical in the two cases, thus reaffirming the universality of the FQHE. © 1992 The American Physical Society.