English

Butterflies and topological quantum numbers

Mathematical Physics 2007-05-23 v1 math.MP

Abstract

The Hofstadter model illustrates the notion of topological quantum numbers and how they account for the quantization of the Hall conductance. It gives rise to colorful fractal diagrams of butterflies where the colors represent the topological quantum numbers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math-ph/0110026,
  title  = {Butterflies and topological quantum numbers},
  author = {J. E. Avron and D. Osadchy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math-ph/0110026},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

9 pages, 5 figures