Quantum Hall to Insulator Transition in the Bilayer Quantum Hall Ferromagnet
Quantum Hall to Insulator Transition in the Bilayer Quantum Hall Ferromagnet
We describe a phase transition of the bilayer quantum Hall ferromagnet at nu=1. In the presence of static disorder (modeled by a periodic potential), bosonic S=1/2 spinons undergo a superfluid-insulator transition while preserving ferromagnetism. The Mott insulating phase has an emergent U(1) photon, and the transition is between Higgs and …