Conductance Correlations near Integer Quantum Hall Transitions

Abstract
In a disordered mesoscopic system, the typical spacing between the peaks and the valleys of the conductance as a function of Fermi energy EF is called the conductance energy correlation range Ec. Under the ergodic hypothesis, the latter is determined by the half-width of the ensemble averaged conductance correlation function F=δg(EF)δg(EF+ΔE). In ordinary diffusive metals, EcD/L2, where D is the diffusion constant and L is the linear dimension of the phase-coherent sample. However, near a quantum phase transition driven by the location of the Fermi energy EF, the above picture breaks down. As an example of the latter, we study, for the first time, the conductance correlations near the integer quantum Hall transitions of which EF is a critical coupling constant. We point out that the behavior of F is determined by the interplay between the static and the dynamic properties of the critical phenomena.