A note on magnetic-field induced level-density condensation in a two-dimensional electron gas with point scatterers

Abstract

The density-of-states (DOS) for a magnetized (B) two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) containing point scatterers of arbitrary strengths, concentration ($n_s$) and distribution is analyzed. It is shown from the first principles that for \(n_s \leq B/Φ_o \equiv n_B\), the areal density of flux quanta \(Φ_o \equiv hc/e\), the DOS retains the extensive degeneracy characteristic of the Landau levels, but reduced by a factor \((1 - {n_s}/{n_B})\). This elementary but exact result gives a level condensation for magnetic field \(B > n_sΦ_o\), as first noted by Brézin {\em et al.}. Its implications for the Integral Quantum Hall Effect and for Random Matrix Theory are pointed out.